________________
51
the King. As a result of this, the King began to suffer from leprosy The king informed the Guru about this through the minister Udayana and he cured the disease by sprinkling water that was previously enchanted.
The Brāhmins had invited their celebrated Ācārya Devabodhi in order to make the King free from the influence of Jainism. Devabodhi at first had a debate with Hemc'andrāc'āry where in he was defeated. Then with his magical power Devabodhi showed to the king the gods Hari, Hara, Brahmă etc and through them it was said to the king that the Shiva-religion was the best one and it must be accepted. Then, the ancestors of the seven generations of the royal family were also shown to the king and through them the same message was conveyed to him. This miracle suprised the king and he began to be engrossed in thoughts. He disclosed this matter to the minister who said, “ Why are your majesty confused. We shall consult Hemac'andrac'arya Then the minister related the matter to him, so the Quru made a plan to free Kumārapāla from illusion At the time of preaching the Gutu arranged seven wooden seats one on the other and then he occupied the highest one, and began to give sermons After the arrival of Kûmārapala one seat after another was removed and the guru seemed to be floating above the ground. Kumārapāla was struck with wonder at the sight. After the meeting was dispersed the Gürū showed him 24 Tirthañkaras (is 24 Jain Saints ) and the ancestors of 21 royal generations. When Kūmürapāla inquired the reason of this, he was inforned that all such things were possible by means of the power of Yoga', and therefore he should not be under illusion by the sights shown by Dévabodhi. By this, the faith of the King in Jainism became firm
Once Hémac'andrāc'ărya and Devabodhi vere sitting together. The king was trying to understand from the great teacher the intricacies of the holy broks Suddenly at the time, the Guru
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org