Maha Nirgrantha

MAHA-NIRGRANTHA

(AN OLD JAINA STORY)

King Shrenika, the ruler of Magadha, one day went for recreation to a garden called Mandikukshi. Studded with various trees, plants and creepers, bedecked with diverse sweet-smelling flowers and resounding with the warble of many kinds of birds, the garden shone like Nandanavana, the garden of Paradise.

While strolling about in the garden, King Shrenika came upon a shramana (Jaina ascetic), seated in a yogic posture at the foot of a tree, his body enfolded in a blaze of light and his mind plunged in deep meditation. King Shrenika was charmed by the bright complexion, the beaming, graceful face and the attractive beauty of the shramana, who appeared to him to be a living image of forgiveness, desirelessness and detachment.

Shrenika went to the sannyasin, thrice walked round and, bowed to him, and, taking his seat neither very near him nor very far, asked him with folded hands: “Arya, you are now in the prime of youth, why do you lead this austere life of a shramana, instead of enjoying the pleasures of life? I am feeling rather curious to know the reason of it; be kind enough to tell me.” The sannyasin replied: “O king, I was helpless, I had neither master nor protector nor friend, and that was why I had to take recourse to this path.” On hearing the shramana’s words, Shrenika said with a flicker of a smile on his lips, “O high-souled one, can it be true that there is no protector and master of such a man as you who are endowed with an exquisite beauty, grace and courage? O self-controlled sage, I will be myself your protector and patron. Please live in my kingdom and enjoy yourself to your heart’s content with your near and dear ones. I will protect you in all ways.”

The sage answered, “King, how can you, who are yourself helpless, be my protector?” When Shrenika heard these words of the shramana, which he had never heard before, he was struck with amazement and said, “Sage, I have many elephants, horses, armies, attendants, wives, and a considerable number of subjects; and I am their lord and master. They are always at my beck and call. How then am I helpless? What is the significance of your words? Why do you delude me with words that are false?”

The sage answered: “King, you do not know who is a helpless person. I am going to tell you how a man becomes helpless and otherwise; listen with quiet attention. King, in the famous city of Kaushambi my father was a very rich merchant. I had my mother, my brothers and sisters, both elder and younger, and my wife. Once in my youth I was attacked with a very acute rheumatic pain, which caused high fever attended with burning sensation all over the body. There was an excruciating pain, fiercely burning like Indra’s thunder-bolt, in my waist, heart and head,–a pain which was beyond all power of endurance. My father called in many medical men, surgeons and physicians and also healers by incantation, and announced his resolve to give all his wealth and property to the one who could cure me. But none of them could relieve me of even one jot or title of my enormous pain. King, this was my state of utter helplessness. In order to remove my suffering, my mother, brothers and sisters nursed me as best as they could and promised votive offerings to various gods and goddesses; my devoted and faithful wife flooded her breast with bitter tears of grief day and night; she gave up all comfort and luxury and engaged herself exclusively in my nursing. But all went in vain. O king, such was my helplessness! When I was thus suffering from that intolerable pain, I thought within myself, ‘How many times, it may be, have I not suffered from such an acute pain in my numberless past lives; but I have not yet thought of any means of stopping it, and so, again and again, I have to undergo it! If my pain leaves me during this night, then at the very break of day tomorrow I shall renounce the world, take the shramana initiation and exert myself to the utmost of my capacity, so that I may not have to suffer from such a racking pain again in future.’ O king, with this thought in my mind, as soon as I went to bed, I fell asleep, and when the day dawned, all my pain had disappeared.

“Next day in the morning I left my home with the permission of my parents and relatives, and by an initiation into the discipline of the shramanas, acquired detachment, self-control and freedom from all kinds of violence. Now I have become master of myself and master of all creatures.

“King, it is the soul that is my Vaitarani river; it is the soul that is my thorny shalmali tree in hell; it is the soul that is my kamadhenu, the fulfiller of all desires; and it is the soul that is my Nandanavana, the garden of Paradise.

“It is the soul that is the creator of happiness and suffering, and also their destroyer. It is the soul that becomes its own friend or foe, according as it is engaged in doing good or evil.”

Then King Shrenika said with folded hands, “O great ascetic, conqueror of the senses, you have explained to me with great clarity the nature of the normal helplessness of man. You have realised the object of your human birth. You have justified your possession of such uncommon beauty and grace. O Mahanirgrantha, you alone are master of yourself and protected and befriended by all; for, you are following with firmness the dharma taught by the Tirthankaras. O great Rishi, you have become your own master, protector and spiritual guide and also of others.”

With these words of reverent eulogy, the King of Magadha walked round the Mahanirgrantha in token of homage and bowed to him; and, returning to his palace, devoted himself with a purified heart to the pursuit of religion.