________________
Chapter 9
TIRTHANKAR BHAGYAN MAHAVIR
ONE evening at bed time Abhaybhai told Ajay and Neela the story of Bhagvan Mahavir.
More than 2500 years ago, there was a place called Kshatriyakund, which was part of the ancient kingdom of Vaishali in North India. King Siddhartha ruled Khsatriyakund. His queen was Trishala.
One day queen Trishala saw 14 auspicious objects in her dreams. Some time later a wonderful baby boy was born to her. The new-born prince was named Vardhman. Soon after his birth, reports of increased
crops, increased wealth, happiness and health kept coming to the palace. Prince Vardhman had an elder brother called Nandivardhan.
Jain Education International
One day, when Prince Vardhman was seven years old, he was playing with his friends in the fields. The children were jumping up and down. Some children were up in a peepul tree. Suddenly, they heard a hissing noise. Alarmed, the children looked to see where the noise was coming from. They saw a huge frightening snake, under the peepul tree. All the boys, except Prince Vardhman, were frightened.
They all ran as fast as they could, away from the snake. Those who were on the tree held tightly to the branches, frightened of falling near the snake.
24
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
