Part 4 - Previous Birth of Camarendra (as Pūraṇa)

Q. 57. Bhante! As to the great divine fortune of Camara, the Indra of the Asuras, their king,... till how did he obtain it, how did he acquire it, how did it come at his disposal?

A. 57. Gautama! In that period, at that time, in the lower range of the Vindhya hills, in Bhāratavarṣa, in this very isle of Jambu-dvīpa, there was a village named Bebhela. Description. Therein lived a householder named Pūraṇa who was rich and powerful. (Description to be the same as that of Tāmalī), difference being, that he made a four-pot begging bowl,... till (prepared) avast quantity of food, drink, dainties and delicacies,... till he himself picked up the four-pot wooden vessel, got tonsured and was initiated into the order named, Dāmāmā,... till he himself picked up the four-pot wooden vessel, descended from the exposure ground, and then, for the purpose of begging food, visited all households, high, middle and low, in that village named Bebhela and distributed food collected in the first pot to other travellers on the highway, food collected in the second pot to crows and dogs, food collected in the third pot to fish and tortoise, and took himself food collected in the fourth pot. (Thus he lived on, distributing food collected on the break-fast day, in the aforesaid manner)...till next day (after fast), at day-break, (he distributed his collection) without keeping any portion, and the collection in the fourth pot he ate himself.

The said heretical monk Pūraṇa, because of (that penance which was) noble, vast, permitted, duly performed as per heretical creed, (became lean and dry)... till moved through the heart of the village named Bebhela, and having thus moved out, deposited all his objects, like sandals, cups, wooden pot in a lonely place, and having thus discarded them in the southeastern direction of the village named Bebhela, he cleaned a spot which was half the standard size (of a person), tied his soul to the final fast, gave up all food and drink and fixed himself in pādapopagamana end.

(Speaking about himself, Śramaṇa Bhagavān Mahāvīra said:) In that period, at that time, I was not yet perfected, etc., having been in the holy order for eleven years, and I used to practise fasts missing six meals at a time, thus fixing my soul in restraint and penance. Wandering from place to place and moving from village to village, I came near a slab of stone under an excellent aśoka tree in a forest strip named Aśoka of the city of Suṃsumārapura. Having arrived there, beneath that excellent aśoka tree, on the stone slab, I courted fasts missing six meals at a time, and then having contracted both my legs, with hands hanging downward, with my vision fixed on a single object, with eyes without a wink, with the upper half of the body slightly bent, and having controlled all my sense organs I courted mahāpratimā for a night and went into meditation.

Notes (based on commentary of Abhayadeva Sūri):

(There is no commentary available for this section).