________________
134
THE WAY OF LIFE
Mandavgadh. In some stories, he is also called Sri Ram. Some members of the court and state officials out of jealousy carried tales to the King against Pethad Shah and prejudiced him against Pethad Shah. The King, of course, had absolute confidence in his Chief Minister. Those jealous people told the King, "Your highness! You have great confidence in Pethad Shah ; but he is scheming to usurp you and to occupy your throne." The King asked them, “What proof have you in support of this? I cannot believe it just because you say so. Do you have any proof ?"
THE PLAN AGAINST PETHAD SHAH
The King, Jayasimha was very intelligent. He knew that Pethad Shah's fame was increasing day by day; that the people of the Kingdom were showing boundless love to him; and that the state-officials were jealous of him. In this world, there are not many people who can feel happy, seeing the prosperity and progress of others. People who are prompted by jealousy automatically begin to make false accusations against others. They try to throw down those great men from the peaks of fame and prosperity. The King listened to what the state-officials said. They said, "Oh King, the Chief Minister goes at noon every day to the temple under the pretext of worshipping the Paramatma. There, he secretly meets your enemies; and he has been conspiring against you with those enemy-kings. Kindly do not repose so much trust and confidence in the Chief Minister."
The allegations made by the state-officials against Pethad Shah did not create even the slightest suspicion in the mind of the King regarding Pethad Shah's integrity; and devotion to duty. After sending away the state-officials, the King planned to go to the temple at noon when Pethad Shah also would go there. When he went to the temple and saw that sight of Pethad Shah seated in deep meditation, the King was greatly thrilled with delight; and his eyes welled up with tears of joy. He saw the beautiful image of the Lord with his face radiant with a sublime serenity. Pethad Shah sat before the image of the Lord, calmly concentrating on the Lord and worshipping him with
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
