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FIVE PREVIOUS INCARNATIONS
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dvipa. Śriṣena and Abhinanditā were man and woman respectively; and Sikhinanditā and Satyabhāmā the same. They had life-terms of three palyas, were three gavyūtis tall, and led a very pleasant life, experiencing peerless pleasure.
Former births of Induşena and Binduşena (94-132)
While Induşena and Binduşena were fighting, a king of the Vidyadharas came in his aerial car. He stood between them, his arm upraised, like the doorkeeper of a friendly deity, restraining them, and said: "Why, princes, do you fight, wanting her for a wife, ignorant of the fact that she is your sister? Hear my story in detail.
In Mahāvideha of this same Jambudvipa, on the north bank of the river Sītā there is a very extensive province Puşkalāvati. In it there is a lofty mountain, named Vaitāḍhya, the abode of Vidyadharas, like a silver diadem of the earth. In the northern row on the mountain in the city Adityabha there is a king, named Sukunḍalin, like Kundalendra (Seṣanaga) in splendor. He has a virtuous wife, Ajitasena. I am their son, named Manikuṇḍalin.
One day I went from that place through the air, like Garuda, to the city Pundarikiņi to worship the lord of Jinas. After I had worshipped the blessed Amitayaśas,266 the Jineśvara, with hands placed together, I heard a sermon. At the end of the sermon, I asked the Blessed One, 'By what action did I became a Vidyadhara?' He said:
'In the very magnificent western half of Puskaravaradvipa, on the broad southern bank of the great river Sitoda, in the province Salilāvati, there is a city Vītaśokā, filled with people free from sorrow, like a svastika of the earth. Once upon a time a cakravartin lived there, named Ratnadhvaja, a Minadhvaja (Kāma) in beauty, a Kuliśadhvaja (Indra) in strength. He had two chief-wives,
A Jina in Videha in a past cycle.
266 102.
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