|
Home
Mandir
Jee
News
and views
Jainism
Fundamentals
Make
Donations
Kid's
world
Jains
Groups
Jains
Web Sites
Guiding features
Contact
Us
|
|
THE
NARRATIVE OF VARISHEN KUMAR IN STHITIKARAN ANGA
Raja
Shrenik, who was the king of Magadh desh, lived with his queen
Chelna and son Varishen at Rajgrahi, the capital of Magadh Desh.
Varishen was a true Shravak and adopted the Panch Anuvratas i.e.
Non-Violence (Ahimsa), Truth (Satya), Non-stealing (Achaurya),
Chastity (Brahmacharya) and limited essential holdings (Aparigraha).
Once, on the night of Chaturdarshi, Varishen fasted and stood
statuesque (Kayatsarga) in a crematory for deep meditation.
.
.
On this
day, Magadh Sundari, a prostitute of the town, happened to see a
beautiful necklace of Shree Kirti Sethani while she was in a
garden. The necklace was not only very beautiful but also very
costly. The prostitute took a great fancy for it and desired to
have it. She felt that without the necklace, her life was of no
use ; and she laid herself on cot and was full of grief. At night,
Vidyut, one of her admirer, came to her house and found her very
sad and unhappy. He enquired from the prostitute, the reason for
her grief. Magadh Sundari told him about the necklace of Shri
Kirti Sethani, and asked him to bring it to her at any cost. She
added that if he did not bring the necklace to her, she would not
only make no more love with him, but she may even die. Vidyut, on
hearing this, promised to bring the necklace for her and went to
the palace of shri Kirti Sethani. He stole the necklace, and while
leaving the palace, the shine and glitter of the necklace alerted
the guards, who followed him. He tried to escape, but when he
could not do so, he threw away the necklace, which fell at the
place where Varishen, was meditating in the crematory and he hide
himself behind a tree. Varishen, who was in deep meditation, knew
nothing about this matter. When
41 |
|
the guards, who were running after the
thief came there, they saw the necklace near Varishen and
thought that he was the thief. The guards reported the matter to
the king, who became very angry and ordered that the head of
Varishen be chopped off.
The hangman was immediately called and
was ordered to
chop off the head of Varishen.
But as soon as
he tried to chop off his head, the
sword was transformed into a garland and encircled the neck of
Varishen. As soon as Raja Shrenik came to know of this, he
rushed to Varishen and begged for pardon. Vidyutchor also came
there and disclosed the facts, admitted his guilt and begged for
mercy.
Raja Shrenik after knowing that
Varishen was not guilty, asked him to return to the palace, but
Varishen refused to do so and expressed his desire to adopt Jain
deeksha. Later he became a Muni under the auspices of Guru
Sursena and adopted the way of penance.
One day, Varishen went to Palashkuta-a
town near Rajgrahi for his meal (Ahar). He met a friend of his
childhood named Pushapadal. Pushapadal was the son of Agnibhuti,
who was then a minister of Raja Shrenik. Pushapadal bowed to the
Muni and took him to his house for food. He himself offered the
food (Ahar) to the Muni and accepted him as his Guru.
Thereafter, Pushapadal, after telling his wife Somitta, went
with Muni Varishen to see him off to the place of his living in
the forest. The forest was quiet and far· away and, therefore,
they continued to walk together for a long time. Pushapadal was
tired and wanted to return home. Several times, he drew the
attention of the Muni by saying Namostu. But, as Muni was
Avadhigyani (could read his thoughts and his future), he
understood his
42 |
|
desire and did not
permit him to go back. He held his hand and took him into the
forest. Muni Varishen preached him Jain Philosophy and
inculcated a desire for asceticism in him. As a result,
Pushapadal became a Muni, but could not forget his wife Somilla.
Mohakarma, was still so strong with him and had not been
conquered.
Muni Varishen and
Muni Pushapadal both traveled together for twelve years. Once,
they went to the Samavsharan of Lord Mahavira. In this
Samavsharan a song was being sung by celestial beings about
worldly creatures. The meaning of this song was that whenever,
the husband went away, the wife, in his absence, never put on
ornaments out of grief and loneliness. But, if the husband left
the house for ever, how could one expect the wife to survive. On
hearing this song, Pushapadal was reminded
of
his
wife, he became sad, and started for his house to meet Somilla.
Muni Varishen knew his feeling and he thought that it was
necessary to reinstate his mind; -otherwise his past penance for
attaining salvation would be wasted. (This is the Sthitikaran
Anga). He, therefore, first went to Rajgrahi with Pushapadal.
Queen Chelna, the mother of Muni Varishen saw both of them and
some doubt arose in her mind about his son's return. With a view
to test and find the cause of their return, she offered them two
seats,' one made of gold (Saraag Asana) and the other of wood (Veetrag
Asan). Varishen sat on the wooden seat i.e. Veetrag Asana and
Pushapadal sat on the golden seat i.e. Saraag Asana. Varishen,
then asked his mother to call all his 32 queens, who were young
and most beautiful, Chelna called all her daughter-in- Jaws.
All of them came, well dressed, and were wearing precious
ornaments, and stood before the Muni. Varishen, then asked
Pushapadat to accept his kingdom and all his queens. The wife of
Pushapadal was nothing in
43 |
|
comparison to these beautiful queens
of Varishen. Pushapadal understood the situation and felt
ashamed. He immediately changed his mind and reverted back to
true asceticism. He started a course of penance and destroyed
all his Karmik matter.
Thus Varishen had steadied the
wavering mind of Muni Pushapadal to the path of true Dharma and
presented an ideal example of the Sthitikaran Angaof
Samyagdarshan. |
|
THE NARRATIVE OF VISQNUKUMAR
MUNI IN VATSALYAANGA
There was a king
named Shrivarma. He was living in the city of Ujjani in Avanti
Desh. The king had four ministers, Bali, Brashaspati, Prahlad
and Namuchi.
Once Acharya
Akampana a Muni, who was Avadhinjnani (Divya Gyani) came to
Ujjayni with his five hundred disciples and stayed in one of the
king's garden. Through his Avadhi Gyan, Muni Akampanacharya
perceived trouble for the Sangh in that city. He, therefore,
warned all his disciples that whenever the king Shrivarma came
to pay homage to them, they should not speak. If they spoke to
him there would be great trouble and the entire Sangh might be
killed.
One day, King
Shrivarma, who did not know about this matter, saw a crowd of
people passing by his palace with items of worship. He asked his
ministers where so many people were going because it was not a
season of pilgrimage. The ministers informed him that a Muni
sangh had arrived and was staying in one of the king's gardens
just out side the city. As the king was religious minded he went
to have darshan of the Muni Sangh. The ministers, who were not
religious minded had to accompany him reluctantly. The king had
darshan of all the Munis one by one, but no one blessed him. He
felt that they were all absorbed in deep meditation. The king
was happy and praised them a lot. When the king was returning,
his wicked ministers gave him a wrong interpretation. They
derided the Munis and told the king that they were not Munis,
but they were all bullocks. They did not know any thing and were
all foolish, and that is why all the Munis were silent. While
45 |
|
they were placing
such things with the king, one of the Sangh's Muni named
Shrutsagar was returning from the city after taking his meals
i.e. Ahar. On seeing him, the ministers said to the king. "0
Rajan! See! one of the Sangh's Munis is coming back after taking
meals. He seems to be the youngest bull". On hearing these
intolerable words the Muni started
discussion with
them
intolerable words the Muni started discussion
With them
about religious
matters. The ministers, who were
ignorant of
religion and
Jainism
could not discuss with
the Muni. So they
failed miserably and had to cut a
sorry figure. All
the ministers felt bad about it and
decided to take
revenge on the Muni Sangh.
When Muni
Shrutsagar reached the Sangh, he told his Guru about all that
had happened. Akampanacharya informed him that it might bring
death to the Sangh. He told the Muni, that if he went back to
the place of the discussion and stood their for the whole night,
then the mistake might be rectified and the Sangh might be
saved. The Muni, being an obedient pupil, went back to the place
of discussion and started meditation in a standing position i.e.
Kayotsarg.
All the ministers,
who felt insulted and were revengeful on having been defeated
during religious discussions, were determined to take revenge on
the Muni sangh. They all moved at night towards the Sangh with
the intention of killing Munis. But, on the way they met Muni
Shrutsagar in the Kayotsarg position. They thought that as he
was the only Muni, who had brought shame to them, he must be
killed. Having so decided they all took out their weapons and
got ready to kill the Muni. At that time Nagardevta appeared and
made them still like stone and they could neither move nor do
anything. The next day everyone saw them in the same position.
When the king heard about it and also saw the
46 |
|
scene himself, he
lost his temper. As they had served him for many years, he did
not give them any major punishment, but publicly insulted them
and exiled them from his kingdom.
At that time there
lived a king named Mahapadma at Hastinapur of Kurujungle Desh.
His wife was Lakshmimati and they had two sons named Padma and
Vishnu. The king, who had good personality and was religious
minded ruled over his kingdom justly. As a result all the people
in his kingdom were happy and satisfied.
Having ruled for a
long time, the king Mahapadma gave up his kingdom to his elder
son Padma and he along with his younger son Vishnu went to
Acharya Shrutsagar. Both of them earnestly requested the Acharya
to give them Deeksha. The Acharya on realising their keen desire
and their simplicity and the purity of their thoughts gave them
Deeksha. Thus, the king Mahapadma and his younger son Vishnu
became Munis.
After sometime all
the four exiled ministers of Shrivarma went to king Padma at
Hastinapur and became his ministers.
At that time in the
city of Kumbhpur, there lived a king named Sinhabal who was a,
powerful person and was causing trouble for Padmaraja in
Hastinapur. Padmaraja was growing weaker and weaker with worries
day by day.
One day one of his
minister Bali, asked the king why he was worried. The king told
him that the king Sinhabal had a strong fort, and because of
that fort his own
47 |
|
position had
become very weak. On hearing this Bali
became very
angry and with the permission of the king Padmaraja, attacked
and destroyed the fort of Sinhabal, and brought Sinhabal
before king Padmaraja. This pleased Padmaraja so much that he
granted him one boon. Bali was happy, but very shrewd and
intelligent. He told the king that he needed nothing at the,
time but he would ask for his boon whenever he needed it.
After a long time
Akampanacharya came to Hastinapur with his 700 disciples. When
the Muni Sangha's entered Hastinapur, everyone came to have
the Sangha's darshan. Bali, Brahspati, Prahlad and Namauchi
recognised the Sangha at once and decided to take revenge. But
they thought, their king was a devotee of the Muni Sangha and
he would not tolerate any trouble to the Sangha. So they drew
a plan and Bali asked for the boon from the king. He asked for
the king’s crown for himself for seven days only. According to
the given word, Padmaraja gave him his kingdom for seven days
and retired to his palace.
Now Bali' started
causing trouble to the Sangha. He started a Yajna (sacrificial
performance) at the place where all the Munis of the Sangha
were meditating on their souls. He surrounded the place with
all types of dirt such as defiled pots, dead skins, old
leather etc. and put them to fire. When Munis realised what
was happening they vowed to abstain from the four kinds of
foods (Khadya, Svadya, Leha and Peya i.e. rice, chapati etc.
Ladu, Chuda etc.,Chatani, Achar etc. and Juice, Milk etc.)
till calamity (upsarga) was over.
Meanwhile, in
Mithilanagari, there was Avadhinjani Acharya whose name was
Shrutsagar. One day, at midnight he Came out and saw Shravan
Nakshatra (a
48 |
|
star) trembling
in the sky. Seeing this Nakshatra he, through his Avadhigyan,
came to know about the calamity (upsarga) on Muni Sangha. He
was in Mithila and the upsarga was being arranged to the
Sangha in Hastinapur. There was a long distance. He had no
Ridhi. Also, he was not Vidyadhar, but, through his
Avadhigyan, he knew everything about the upsarga in
Hastinapur. At that time a Kshullaka named Pushpadhari, who
was Vidhyadar, was with Acharyaji. Acharya told Kshullaka
all about the upsarga. So he asked the Acharya where the
upsarga was and how could it be removed. Acharya told him
that in Hastinapur there was a Muni Sangha of 700 Munirajas
headed by Akampanacharya. Wicked ministers of the king were
causing upsarga on this sangha. He further told him that on
Dharanibhushan Parvat there was Vishnukumar Muni, who had
Vaikriya Ridhi and was capable of removing the upsarga. The
Kshullaka received permission from the Acharya immediately
to go to Vishnukumar Muni through his Vidya. After meeting
he told Vishnukumar all about the upsarga and Muni
Shrutsagar. Vishnukumar had attained the Vaikriya Ridhi, but
he had never used it. He was a great saint. Because of his
great penance, many other Ridhis were achieved by him. But
his aim was to achieve Moksha (salvation) and not to achieve
any Ridhi, so he did not know about it.
In Jain
religion, important things are Samyagdarshan, Samyaggyan and
Samyagcharitra. Unity of all these three is a path to Moksha.
Before achieving Moksha the Digamber Munis achieve many
kinds of Ridhis, but they do not use them for themselves.
But they may use their Ridhis for protection of Jain Darshan
and Jain Munis etc.
49 |
|
Vishnukumar Muni heard the
matter from the Kshullaka. Then to test his Ridhi,
Vishnukumar Muni extended his hand. Due to his Vaikriya
Ridhi his hand reached across the mountain and so it was
confirmed that he had this and he immediately proceeded to
Hastinapur. Straight away, he went to Padmaraja and asked
him what the matter was? He told the king that for many
generations they had been respecting the Jain religion and
the Digamber Munis. He further asked why he had been
causing upsarg to Muni Sangha. Hearing it Padmaraja told
Vishnukumar that the Kingdom was taken by minister Bali
for seven days and his four ministers were ruling it. They
were troubling the Munis.
Vishnukumar then disguised
himself as a dwarf Brahmin and went where the ministers
were performing the Yajna and troubling the Muni Sangha.
After the Brahmin started reciting Ved Mantras, Bali was
attracted to this Brahmin and became pleased with his
recitals. So he told him to ask for a boon for himself for
a reward. It was the golden opportunity for the Brahmin.
He asked for a piece of land as much as could be covered
by his three steps (feet). Bali said "Brahmin! You may get
many things. What is the importance of this small piece of
land? The Brahmin told him that he did not need anything
more than that much land. So Bali agreed to it and asked
him to have it anywhere.
Then the Brahmin (Vishnukumar)
enlarged his body so much that his first step fell on the
Meru Parvat and next on the Manushottar Parvat, thus
covering the whole of the Earth with his two steps. Then
with his third step he covered the Dev Vimans etc. and
finally stepped on the back of Bali. Bali became afraid of
the Brahmin, asked for forgiveness from him and was made
to free the whole Muni Sangha from upsarga or calamity.
50
|
|
Vishnukumar then gave up his
disguise and went to the Sangha. They did Namostu to
each other. Bali also came there and did Namostu to
them. He asked for forgiveness from them. They were
great spiritual and soft hearted saints. So, on the
spot, they forgave him for his mistakes and blessed him.
Thus Vishnukumar Muni saved
the whole Muni Sangha from upsarga and presented an
ideal in Vatsalya Anga of Samyagdarshan. Every one's
vatsalya (feeling of love and well being of all) should
be like that of Vishnukumar Muni. It should be without
any selfish motive as is of a cow for her calf. The cow
does not expect anything from the calf. This Anga must
be observed by everyone in his life.
|
|
THE NARRATIVE OF V
AJRAKUMAR IN PRABHAVANA ANGA
In Hastinapur, there was once
a king named Bal. He had a family priest, named Garud.
Graud had a son named Somdatta who had acquired
all-round knowledge by reading religious as well as
general books. Then he went to Ahichhatrapur where his
maternal uncle lived. Somdatta told his uncle that he
wanted to meet Durmukha Raja, but because his uncle
Subhuti was proud, he did not take him to meet Durmukha
Raja. Therefore, Somdatta went alone to meet the king,
he bowed to the king and talked about religious topics.
The discussion was very impressive and on account of his
intelligence he was made one of the king's minister. His
uncle married his daughter named 'Yanjadatta' to him.
Once when Yanjadatta was
pregnant, she wanted to eat mangoes, so her husband
Somdatta went out in search of Mangoes. But it was a
rainy season i.e. no season of mangoes. Mango season
comes once in a year. How was it possible to find a
mango?
But when luck favours
nothing is impossible. Luckily it was Varshayog Acharya
Somitracharya was doing Chaturmas in the forest and was
meditating under a mango tree. Though it was not mango
season, but due to hard penance of Digambar Muni that
mango tree was having very tasty mangoes. When Somdatta
arrived there he was impressed with the power of the
Muni's penance and plucked the mangoes and sent them to
Yanjadatta through his servant. He himself stayed there
and listened to religious speech and about the soul from
the Muni. He listened and thought over it deeply. Then
he left
all
his worldly enjoyment and took
Jain Deeksha from the Guru. He studied Agams thoroughly
and became perfect. Then he went to Nabhigiri Parvat and
52
|
|
stood there
to perform Atapan Yog.
Yanjadatta
gave birth to a
son.
She heard that her husband had taken Munideeksha. She
with her child went to her parent's house. One day she
went to Nabhigiri Parvat with her brother. She saw her
husband Somdatta Muni there. He was in "Atapan Yog". He
was absorbed in his soul and was unaware of all the
outside things. She became angry and put her son on his
feet and shouted at him. Becoming stone-hearted she left
her son there and went back to her parent’s house.
No sooner
she left the place; a Vidhyadhar named Divakardeva of
Amaravati came there and saw the Muni Somdatta and the
child lying at his feet. Vidhyadhar had been banished by
his younger brother Purander; he became very happy
having Darshan of the Muni and seeing the child. Because
he was issueless, he took the child and gave to his wife
who was accompanying him. They carried the child with
them and named him Vajrakumar. Vajrakumar started his
studies at the house of his maternal uncle Vimal Vahan
in the city of Kanak. As he grew up, he became perfect
in all the arts such as music, dancing, playing etc.
At this
time Garudh Veg and Anantveg's daughter Pavan Veg were
trying to acquire Pranjapati Vidya on Hemant Parvat. She
was alert, careful about the Vidya and was busy in
trying to acquire it for many days. But a small thorn
blew in her eye which pained her so much that she was
disturbed in her concentration. So she worried about it.
But by good luck suddenly, Vajra Kumar came and saw her
in that position. He was kind, skillful and intelligent,
he removed the thorn from her eye carefully and Pavan
Veg could concentrate again and acquired the Vidya.
After getting the Vidya she
53
|
|
expressed her desire to
marry with Vajrakumar because she got Vidya with his
help. So she married Vajrakumar and lived with him
happily.
One day Vajrakumar requested
Divakardeva Vidyadhar to tell him about his real
parents. So with all the information about his parents
Vajrakumar went to have darshan of his father who was
in the Southern cave of Mathura. Divakardeva and other
relatives also went there. Divakardeva did Namostu to
the Muni Somdatta i.e. to Vajrakumar's father and told
him about Vajrakumar. Vajrakumar, then, went back to
his house and he too, became a Muni.
At that time, king
Putigandha was ruling in Mathura with his queen Urvila.
Urvila was Samyagdrasti and taken a keen interest in
doing Prabhavna of the Jain religion. In the
Ashtanhika Parvas, which appear thrice in a year, she
was performing the chariot festival.
In the same city, there
lived Sagardatta and his wife Samudradatta who had a
daughter Daridra by name. One day, after the death of
her father, Daridra was sitting on some garbage and
was eating dirty and defiled food. Somdatta and
Vajradatta Munis were entering the city for their
meals and they saw her in that position. The younger
Muni asked the elder Muni about that poor fellow as to
how hard was her life and how she would spend her
future life. The elder Muni told him that she would be
the queen of the city's king. There was a
Budha-Bhikshuk moving in search of his food who heard
the Muni's words. Budha sadhu knew that a Muni never
tells a lie. So, he took her with him as his own
daughter.
When she grew up, she used
to swing in front of
54 |
|
Bhikshuk's hut. One day
the king saw her and fell in love with her. Then the
king told his minister that he wanted to marry her.
So the minister asked Buddha Bhikshuk for his
consent for the marriage of the girl-with the king.
The Bhikshuk told, if the king accepted Buddhism, he
would then agree to the marriage. Though the king
was a Jain, but his love for the girl made him mad.
The king agreed to the condition and married her. He
made that girl the chief queen (Patrani). He loved
her much more than his first queen Urvila who was a
Samyagdrasti, and who did not feel unhappy.
In the Ashtanhika Parva of
Falgun Mas, Urvila organised the chariot festival of
lord Mahavira. Chief queen told the king that she
too wanted to perform the chariot festival and her
chariot should move ahead of Urvila's chariot. The
king agreed to it. As the king was Mithyadrasti, he
did not know which was the true religion - Jainism
or Buddhism. Urvila knew the truth, so Urvila
resolved that if her chariot would go ahead, then
only she would take meals.
Thus she took a vow and
went to Somdatta Acharya and Vajrakumar Muni.. At
that time Divakardeva and other Vidyadhars had come
to Vajarkumar Muni to have darshan. Vajrakumar Muni
came to know everything from Urvila and told
Vidyadhars to help Urvila in her chariot festival.
They were Vidyadhars as such they could do anything.
They could fly in the sky, and could change their
bodies as they wished. So they made a beautiful and
attractive chariot made of Gold, Silver and Ruby
etc.
Urvila's chariot was not
only ahead of the other chariot but it uplifted in
the sky and revolved three times around the city of
Mathura while Buddha Dasi's
55
|
|
chariot was broken at the
beginning. Because of this, Buddhadasi and other
people came to know the importance of Jain religion
and understood that Jain religion was the real one,
and all of them adopted it. Urvila had been
successful in her chariot festival while the chief
queen failed.
In this way Urvila and
Vajrakumar became famous in the Prabhavana Anga of
Samyagdarshan.
|
The End
Back to fundamentals
|
