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The Followers of the Ever Growing One
137
story is told of his infancy. He was just six months old when Dhanagiri, passing by, presented himself at the door of his erstwhile home in order to beg for food. Sunandā, the child's mother, deposited the baby by way of an offering in the pätra (bowl) of Dhanagiri. The ācārya received the little mite with joy and, intuitively foreseeing the gifts of the future muni, named him Vajra, which means thunderbolt or diamond, and entrusted him to some sādhvi who in their turn put him in the care of a śrāvik, who was living at the upāśraya. When he was about three years old, Sunandā wanted to take him back, but the munis refused. She appealed to the king, who decreed that Vajra
hould be put in the presence of his father and his mother and should himself decide which of the two he wished to accompany. Sunandā offered him some dainty titbits, while Dhanagiri showed him the rajoharaṇa, the small woollen brush of the munis. Vajra, already possessing an innate knowledge concerning his own future, seized the rajoharana. He opted for the ascetic life. Sunandă, finding herself alone, asked to receive dikṣā. While living in the company of the sādhvi , Vajra heard them reciting passages of Scripture and absorbed them very specdily. At the age of eight he received dikșă and joined a group of munis. 4
The long history of the Jaina dharma from the beginning of our era up to our own days has been characterised by periods of growth and periods of decline, which do not always occur alternately for the whole process depends upon differing regions, local rulers, social factors and also upon individual persons, in particular the ācāryasgrowth and decline in faith, in fidelity to the teachings of the tirthankaras and sthaviras, in the degree of fervour applied to study of the doctrine, in the performance of worship and also in the number of adherents. The dharma spread in almost every region.” Its message was transmitted by word of mouth, by the testimony of faithful lives and by the writings. It flourished exceedinly in certain places and in certain ages, but also knew dark periods and was even threatened with extinction. Nevertheless, it survived. The fact that it did so, even if
4 Cf. Pariśistaparva XII; XIII; PPN, pp. 660-661; Samgamitrā, 1979, pp. 137-153.
5 Cf. Deo., 1956, pp. 40-41, for a complete list of epigraphs according to the various regions.
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