Stories From Jainism

Author(s): Mrugendramuni
Publisher: Jain Yoga Foundation

Page 28

King Shrenik thought that the above conditions could be fulfilled. The next day he asked his maid servant to give alms to the monks willingly. So she began to give alms to the Sadhu while uttering that the alms were being given not by her but by the ladle of the king. The king heard her words and felt that it was an exercise in vain.
Then the king dropped the butcher into an old waterless well so that the latter would refrain from slaughtering animals, like buffaloes for a day. At the end of the day the butcher was hauled out of the well and the king asked him how he had passed his time in the well. The butcher said unwillingly that he went on drawing pictures of buffaloes and slaughtered them by the tip of his fingers. Hearing this account the king was disappointed, though the pitcher of the butcher into the well was handsomely paid for carrying out the appointed task.
In order to get the third condition fulfilled, the king went to Puniya and demanded from him the merit of one samayik. The king was prepared to offer half of his kingdom to the Bania. But then, how can one's merit be transferred to others? One must earn one's own merit. Hence, failure resulted in this attempt also.
But all the three failures opened the King's eyes to the fact that what is destined cannot be undone. He thus learnt to accept this truth. This led him to the way of emancipation in the end.
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