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king, with presents of various kinds with the object of manifesting their rejoicing, as the king had a son during his old age, and also because, the child was said to be long-lived. Varaha-mihira had a suitable opportunity of taking a revenge. "He told the king:-All the people in the town have become pleased by the birth of your son, and a large majority of them have paid you their respects; but the Jaina Sadhu Bhadrabahu has not at all come. You may not perhaps be knowing. The king informed Sakaḍāla Mantri (the Chief Minister), to to make inquiries into the matter, Śakadāla Mantri had a talk with Bhadra-bahu Swāmīji, on the matter of inquiry. Auru Mahārāja at once realised the whole situation. He knew that the ears of the king had been poisoned against him. With a cool lead, the Acarya Mahārāja said " Why should I needlessly come twice for one incident. The child will meet with death by the mouth of a cat on the seventh day, and I will come on that day for condolerce." Śakaḍāla Mantri at once informed the king. The king was greatly astonished; on hearing different statements from Varaha-mihira and Bhadra-bahu Swami, he became very anxious He established diligent watch-guards around his palace, and he ordered all the cats to be driven away from the town, with the object of falsifying the statement of Bhadra-bahu Swǎmi In the first place, the king had this son of his, during his old age, and secondly, the child was of royal blood Every humanly possible effort was done for the protection of the life of the child. But the inevitables of Fate, cannot be effaced by human hands. As had been previously fore-fold by Bhadrabāhu Swāmiji, when, exactly on the seventh day, a wet-nurse, sitting near a door, with the newly-born child in her lap, was suckling the child, a fastening trap-bolt of the door with an engraving of a cat's mouth at its end, accidentally fell on the head of the sucking child, and he immediately died. Bhadra bāhu Swāmī went to king's palace for condolence He advised the king to have patience and fortitude. Explaining him the various phases of the different kinds of karmas and their
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