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CHAPTER V
ŚRI DHARMANATHACARITRA
I resort to the feet of Śri Dharmanātha, the Himavat of the Gangă of dharma, the sun for the darkness of heretical congregations, for protection. The life of that same Tirthanatha is herewith related, extended like a bridge for crossing the river of worldly existence.
Previous incarnation as Drdharatha (3-14)
There is a large city, Bhadrilapura, in the province Bharata 100 in East Videha in Dhatakikhandadvipa. Its king was Drdharatha, resplendent with strong arms like an elephant with tusks. He devoured the brilliance of kings, like the sun that of the heavenly bodies. He was the recipient of their tribute, like the ocean of rivers. He, discerning, did not assume any arrogance at all at his great sovereignty, knowing that the splendor even of Indra is as wavering as fluff. Even though experiencing various pleasures of the senses, he did not show any regard for living in worldly existence, like a guest,
Feeling strong disgust with pleasures, with no interest in his own body even, he abandoned his kingdom and subjects as easily as impurities of the body. Then the king went to the teacher Vimalavāhana, sole physician for the disease of the great pain of worldly existence. He, the crest-jewel of kings, received from him the shining jewel of right-conduct, hard to obtain, at the price of desire. Maintaining tranquillity alone, the mother of self-concentration, as it were, enduring trials, he practiced severe penance. He purified his soul which had been defiled by the Mlecchas of sense-objects by draughts of the scriptures absorbed like pure water from holy places. Grasping the
190 3. See above, n. 133.
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