Book Title: Treasury of Jain Tales
Author(s): V M Kulkarni
Publisher: Shardaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre

Previous | Next

Page 157
________________ 102 and leave their property etc. to their eldest sons. The new king Manduka made arrangements for a magnificent renunciation ceremony. In due course of time, Sailaka studied eleven angas, observed the various fasts to the satisfaction of his teacher Suka. Suka then left Sailakapura and after having visited many places in the neighbourhood, finally reached the Pundari ka mountain where he attained salvation. Sailaka could not really get reconciled to the harsh way of life as a monk. He thought the food coarse and insipid. His bed was hard and the surroundings very often dirty. He was soon afflicted with skin eruptions, got burning sensation inside his body and developed bilious fever. He became emaciated. In such a condition, he came to his own town and camped in Subhūmibhāga Park. Large numbers of people came to listen to his discourses. King Manduka also went there and when he saw the condition of his father, he requested him to stay in one of the humble abodes of the king and undergo medical treatment by expert physicians, he should eat wholesome food and live in clean surroundings. Sailaka did not hesitate to accept the proposal. His five hundred disciples headed by Panthaka also accompanied him and the whole entourage lived as king Manduka's guests. The royal physicians treated Sailaka with proper medicines, clean food and drink. They even prescribed the use of alcoholic drinks. Sailaka's disease was cured in no time and he recouped his health very quickly but he became attached to this easy life and got addicted to drinks. His life hereafter was ill-behaved, careless in respect of all discipline; he was attached to pleasures and came to have loose character. Even after he had regained normal health, he would not think in terms of taking leave of king Manduka and going back to the monk's way of life. The five hundred monks thought a great deal about Sailaka who had abandoned his life as a king, became a monk but now has reverted to the luxuries of food and drink and has lost his claims to be our leader. Then they blamed themselves for having stayed in the capital for such a long time knowing fully well that it was not proper for the monks to stay at one place for such a length of time. Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468