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586
The Unknown Pilgrims
had been betrothed. This, however, was not Dākhi's desire. She felt an attraction for the ascetic life and to fulfil this aspiration, she carried on a tenacious struggle with her paternal grandfather, who loved her dearly and refused to give his consent to the dikşă. The young man's family, perturbed and unhappy, also applied pressure. Dākhi struggled alone with a grandfather whom, at the same time, she loved - alone, for neither could her mother or the sādhvis help her in any way, for the grandfather would have accused them of bringing influence to bear upon the child. The story of this struggle follows.
At the outsct, Dākhi tried to obtain her grandfather's permission for the engagement to be broken off and for herself to be admitted to dikṣā among the sādhvis. The grandfather would hear nothing of it; he even employed several stratagems to lure Dākhi into the family of her betrothed and celebrate the marriage. For her part, Sādhvi Suvarna, showing considerable wisdom, had not yet fully decided to accept Dākhi. Over and above the question of her tender years, she considered that so gistcd a child ought to be encouraged to study, in order later on to become an expert on Jainism who would instruct not only members of the saingha but would go as a missionary all over the world. Such was her vision. Funhermore, she was not one to admit to dikšā whoever presented herself. However, Dākhi succeeded in persuading the guruņi to accept her as a disciple and, after several converations not without strain on both sides, the grandfather yielded.
The double dikşă of Rūpāmadevi and her daughter Dākhi was due to take place at Pipāda, the city of Dākhi's parents' birth,where the grandfather and other members of the family were living. The entire local samgha was rejoicing in the making of preparations. According to the tradition, in the days preceding the dikṣā, relatives and friends invite the vairāgini to a meal. On one of these days Dåkhi was leaving the house of a relative, mounted on a pony, with musicians going ahead and hymn-singing women and girls following behind. All of a sudden the grandfather appcarcd, ordered Dākhi to dismount from the pony and to follow him to his house. Preparations were at a standstill, the joy was extinguished and gave place to a great anxiety, fear and uncertainty. What had happened? This: the grandfather, who was already highly perturbed, had met a friend who began to remonstrate with him very severely, reproaching him for his lack of concern, for his weaknes towards Dākhi, his only.grand-daughter, whom he was
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