________________
267
Stuti (777–84) “One man praises another, reciting merits that do not exist. How can I praise you, when I am unable to recite even your merits that do exist? Nevertheless, O Lord of the World, I shall make a panegyric to you. Does not a poor man give a gift even to a rich man? Merely by the sight of your feet, sins even though committed in another birth, fade away like sephāli-flowers 828 from the moon's rays. Like juice of the herb of nectar, O Master, your words are efficacious with people ill with disease of the three humors in the form of delusion hard to cure. All your glances, O Lord, like the yearly rains, are the source of a wealth of joy to cakravartin or beggar. By the merit of such as us, you wander over this earth, O Master, a sun for destroying the snowball of cruel karma. Your three steps Aripadi) consisting of origination, perishing, and permanence, O Lord, prevail, like_sūtras teaching the meaning of technical terms which pervade grammar. O Blessed One, this is the last existence in this world of anyone who praises you, to say nothing of one who serves you, or meditates on you.” After praising the Blessed One in this way, the Lord of Bharata bowed and sat down in the right place in the northeast quarter.
Sundari, after paying homage to the Master, Vrşabhabannered, with folded hands spoke in a choking voice as follows: “You were seen continually in the mind all this time, O Lord of the World; by good fortune because of much merit you are seen in person, O Gentle One. Because of their merit the people have reached you like a great lake of nectar in the desert of samsara whose happiness is like a mirage. Even though free from affection, you are kind to the world. Otherwise,
828 779. The sephāli is the Nyctanthes arbor tristis, the nightflowering jasmine. I have not found any belief about its flowers perishing from moonlight.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
