Part 6: Kanakavatī’s birth as Vīramati

The scion of the Yadus bowed to Śrīda and announced: “I am curious to know why you came here.” Śrīda replied joyfully, to Śauri wearing the wedding-ribbon:^[1] “Prince, hear the reason for my coming. In the country Bharata of this same Jambūdvīpa there is a city, named Saṅgara, in the vicinity of Aṣṭāpada. The king was Mammaṇa and his wife was Vīramatī. One day he went outside the city with his wife to hunt. He, cruel-hearted like a Rakṣas, saw an ascetic, who was very dirty, who had come with a caravan. Thinking, ‘This is a bad omen, hindering my hunting entertainment,’ he had the sādhu carried away from the caravan, like an elephant from the herd. The king and his wife went back to the palace and he spent twelve ghaṭikās^[2] talking to the sage. Then the husband and wife in whom compassion was born, asked the muni, ‘Whence have you come and where are you going? Tell.’

The muni related: ‘I started from Rohītakapura with a caravan to worship the images of the Arhats on Aṣṭāpada. I was separated from the caravan by you, honored sir and lady. I did not go to Aṣṭāpada. There are many obstacles to pious actions.” Because of light karma the husband and wife talked with the muni and quickly forgot their anger like a bad dream. Knowing that they were tender-hearted, the muni with the idea of service to others told them about the Arhats’ religion which is pre-eminent in compassion to living creatures. The husband and wife, whose ears had not been penetrated by the words of religion from birth, little by little became acquainted with religion from that time. They presented him with food, drink, et cetera with devotion and kept him near like an honored guest. But they sent away other people because of their passionate nature^[3] and they themselves attended to the refreshment of the sage. When he had given the herb of the knowledge of religion to them suffering from the disease of karma, with their consent after a long time the muni went to Aṣṭāpada.

They adopted layman’s vows from contact with the muni for a long time and guarded them zealously, like poor people guarding money. One day Vīramatī was conducted by a messenger-deity to Aṣṭāpada in order to make her religion firm. What is not possible for those devoted to dharma? Seeing the images of the Arhats being worshipped there by gods and asuras, she attained joy like one emancipated in this birth. After she had paid homage to the twenty-four statues of the Arhats on Mt. Aṣṭāpada she went again to her own city, like a Khecarī.

She ate twenty dry meals^[4] for each Jina, concentrating her thought very firmly on religion from sight of the sacred place. Devoted, she had golden tilakas overlaid with jewels made for the twenty-four Arhats. One day she went to the top of Aṣṭāpada with her retinue and worshipped the twenty-four Arhats together with bathing. On the foreheads of the Arhats’ statues she set golden tilakas like flowers of the śrīvalli.^[5] By giving suitable gifts to the flying-ascetics and others who had come to the holy place, she created penance. Then like one who has done her duty, like one dancing in her mind, Vīramatī, intelligent, returned to her own town.

Then husband and wife, with separate bodies but one mind, as it were, passed some time, zealous in pious works. When their time was completed, discerning, they died in concentrated meditation and became a god and goddess, husband and wife, in heaven.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Cf. I, p. 145 and n. 188.

[2]:

Twenty-four minutes.

[3]:

I.e., they had rajoguṇa.

[4]:

ācāmla. See I, n. 324.

[5]:

Acacia (or Mimosa) concinna.