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PREVIOUS BIRTHS OF PÄRŚVANÄTHA
165 Then the sādhu delivered a sermon for the benefit of Kiraņavega seated at his feet.
Sermon (131-133)
"A human birth, which is capable of obtaining the fourth object of existence (emancipation), is very hard to win in this forest of births. A foolish man with an undiscerning soul, even when he has won it, wastes it in service to sense-objects, like a low person a fine jewel for a little money. Sense-objects, served for a long time, lead only to a fall into hell. Therefore, the dharma taught by the Omniscient, which has emancipation äs its fruit, must be served."
After hearing this serinon which was like nëctar to the ears, disgusted with existence, he placed his son, Kiraṇatejas, on the throne. He himself became a mendicant at the side of Suraguru and, after finishing his studies, became in course of time like an embodied chapter of traditional learning. With permission of his guru, he engaged in wandering alone. One day he went through the air to Puşkaradvipa. After bowing to the eternal Arhats there he stood in pratimā in a spot on Mt. Hema near Vaitādhya. The muni continued passing the time, practicing severe penance, enduring trials, sunk in tranquillity.
Kamatha's fourth incarnation (139–145)
The soul of the kukkuța-serpent, having risen from hell, was born as a great serpent in a thicket of Mt. Hema. He wandered day and night in this forest for food, destroying many creatures, like a long arm of Kāla (Death).
One day in his roaming the serpent saw Rşi Kiranavega standing in a bower, his mind fixed on meditation, motionless as a pillar. Because of his hostility from a former birth, the serpent, red-eyed from anger, at once surrounded the sadhu, like a sandal tree, with coils. The serpent, pouring poison into his fangs, bit the muni in many places with fangs terrible
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