Yasastilaka and Indian Culture

Author(s): Krishnakant Handiqui
Publisher: Jain Sanskruti Samrakshak Sangh Solapur

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YASASTILAKA AND INDIAN CULTURE
brim; and delighted with the flowers, and contented with the fruits, they indulge in sports in the waters."
In that country was the famous city of Ujjayini where reigned a great king named Yaśorgha. "The Mandara mountain gave him the quality of firmness, the ocean gave him depth, the god of love gave him beauty, Bphaspati gave him mastery of traditional lore, the Kalpa tree made him accessible to suppliants, the Earth gave him the virtue of forbearance, and the sky gave him dignity. The goddess of speech gave him eloquence, the goddess of wealth gave him success in the art of commanding, the Cintāmaņi gem gave him intellectual power, and the family goddess gave him physical fitness, while the god of death gave him the power of bringing all men under his control. In this way, other deities, too, such as Varuna and Kubera, gave him their essential qualities, like ancestral wealth (p. 218).”
Candramati was the consort of Yaśorgha, and is no other than the ascetic girl Abhayamati in her present birth. Yasodhara was t son of Yaśorgha and Candramati, and is no other than the ascetic boy himself in his present birth. One day king Yaśorgha happened to see a growth of grey hair on his head, and immediately his thoughts turned to renunciation of worldly ties; and he revolved in his mind the twelve topics of meditation prescribed by the Jaina faith, commonly known as the Anupreksās. Thereafter the king gave orders for the marriage and coronation of his son Yasodhara, and himself renounced the world and took the monastic vow under the direction of a learned sage named Samyamadhara. Pratāpavardhana, the chief of the army, with the help of an architect, made the requisite preparations for the coronation. A. branch city with spacious avenues was built on the bank of the Siprā as well as a bejewelled pavilion, protected from the sun by beautiful curtains, and equipped with numerous gates, towers, altars and apartments. Round about were the camps of the princes who had come to witness the festival
The selection of a suitable elephant and a horse for the new king was the next important item preliminary to the coronation. Under instructions from Pratāpavardhana, a committee of experts selected an elephant named Udayagiri from among those sent by the king of Kalinga as part of his annual tribute, and the chief keeper of the royal elephants communicated to Yasodhara the findings of the experts, an elaborate report
1 What follows may be termed the STORY OF YAŠODHARA. Throughout the narrative
Abhayaruci identifies himself with Yaśodhara and speaks in the first person, YASASTILAKA is another name of Abhayaruci,