Stories From Jainism

Author(s): Mrugendramuni
Publisher: Jain Yoga Foundation

Page 91

to God”. Therefore, the teacher was pleased by the reply. He concluded that there was heaven for this brahmin boy.
In course of time, Parvat succeeded Kshirkadambak as a teacher while prince Vasu inherited the throne of King Abhichandra.
One day, a hunter shot an arrow at a deer but it did not hit its target. It struck a transparent slab hiding the deer. It was a crystal slab. The king heard of this and so the king got the slab placed secretly under his throne. Hence, it looked as if the throne did not touch the ground. People, therefore, believed that due to the king's sattvik powers the throne floated above the ground. They also believed that the king was ever truthful.
Once Narad went to the school in order to see his former colleague Parvat. Parvat was teaching that “a goat" is sacrificed in a yagna or fire sacrifice. So Narad told him the true meaning of the word “aja” was old paddy and not “a goat”. A thing which does not grow is “aja."
When Parvat saw that his prestige was being lowered in the presence of his pupils, he bet that either of them would get his tongue cut, if he be declared wrong by King Vasu, When Parvat's mother came to know of the bet, she felt uneasy and full of dismay. She feared that her son Parvat would be declared wrong and so she approached the king to spare his son as she was sure of the wrong meaning given by 78