Stories From Jainism

Author(s): Mrugendramuni
Publisher: Jain Yoga Foundation

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NAMIRAJARSHI
I n the city of Sudarshan of Malva, there lived a King
I called Manirath. His brother Yugabahu was the heir-apparent.
Prince Yugabahu's wife was Madanrekha who was very beautiful. King Manirath desired his younger brother's wife. But Madanrekha considered her husband's elder brother as her father. The King, however, craved for her and so began to send messages of love. She was shocked at these advances of the King. Since she did not yield to the King's desire, King Manirath wanted to kill his younger brother to get Madanrekha.
One night, both Yugabahu and his wife Madanrekha were sleeping in a garden. King Manirath went there in disguise. He killed the sleeping brother with a rapid blow of his sword and ran away. But Madanrekha noticed him running away. Yugabahu was born as one of the gods in the fifth heaven after his death.
Madanrekha feared her molestation at the hands of King Manirath. So, she left the city all alone at night and entered a forest. There she gave birth to a child. She wrapped the baby in a shawl and put it on the bank of a lake which she
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