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Prasannacandra was practising his penance, he had already regained the equanimity of his mind. He looked calm and steady as the king paid his respects to him. He was full of admiration for the vigour with which the royal sage practised his penance. When Srenika met Mahavira and did obeisance to him, he asked him where according to him the ascetic Prasannacandra would be reborn if he had died at the very moment king Srenika was saluting him. The Revered One replied, "He would be fit enough to be born in the seventh hell." The king wondered " Why should an ascetic be born in hell ?" He asked Mahāvira another question, "O Revered Sir, where would he be born if he were to die at this moment ?" Mahāvira replied, "He would be fit to be born in Sarvārthsiddhi heaven."
Srenika questioned, "O Revered Sir, how can one and the same person be born in hell as well as in heaven ?" Mahāvira explained, "When you passed him by, the ascetic was greatly agitated in his mind. He had just overheard about his son's humiliation and his mind was agitated by the war he had declared against his ministers. In the course of the battle which he was fighting in his mind, he placed his hand on his head to feel his helmet before he hit his enemy and then realised that he had already plucked out his hair and become an ascetic. That moment, he felt enlightened. Now he is repenting his inclination to meddle in the affairs of others and overlook his own advancement."
Srenika further asked, "Why did king Prasannacandra give up his kingdom and install his son on the throne when he was so young?" Mahāviira narrated the following story:
In the town of Potanapura, there ruled king Somacandra and Dharini was his queen. Once, when the king was sitting at the window and the queen was dressing his hair, she detected a gray hair. She showed it to the king and remarked that a messenger of religion had come. The king looked around but did not see any or coming. He remarked to the queen that she seemed to possess divine eyes. But the queen pointed out the gray hair and the king felt melancholy. The queen wiped the tears from his eyes and said: "If you feel ashamed of old age, get rid of your own people." The
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