Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra

by Helen M. Johnson | 1931 | 742,503 words

This page describes Sanatkumara’s installation as Cakravartin which is the twentieth part of chapter VII of the English translation of the Sanatkumara-cakravartin-caritra, contained within the “Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra”: a massive Jain narrative relgious text composed by Hemacandra in the 12th century. Sanatkumara-cakravartin in jainism is one of the 63 illustrious beings or worthy persons.

Part 20: Sanatkumāra’s installation as Cakravartin

The fourteen great jewels, the cakra, et cetera, of Sanatkumāra guarding the kingdom, came into existence. Following the path of the cakra he conquered then the six-part Bharatakṣetra and the treasures, Naisarpa, et cetera. After he had conquered Bharata in ten thousand years, he entered Hastināpura with the elephant that had become a jewel.[1] By means of clairvoyant knowledge Sahasrākṣa saw him, noble-souled, as he entered and regarded him like himself in person because of friendship. “Because he was the Indra of Saudharma in a former birth, he is my brother”; and from affection Śakra instructed Kubera: “This best of Śakras, the cakrin, moon to the ocean of the Kuru-line, the sou of King Aśvasena, noble, is like my brother. Sanatkumāra enters his own city today, after conquering the six parts of Bharata. Arrange his installation as cakrin.”

At once Hari gave a long necklace, a śaśimālā,[2] an umbrella, two chauris, a crown, a pair of earrings, two garments of devadūṣya, a lion-throne, slippers, and a shining foot-stool to Kubera for Sanatkumāra. Quickly Indra instructed others also—Tilottamā, Ūrvaśī, Menu. Rambhā,[3] Tumburu,[4] and Nārada—in regard to the installation. Then Kubera went with them to Nāgapura and told Sanatkumāra Śakra’s instructions. With Sanatkumāra’s consent Dhanada created a platform of jewels for a yojana which was like the slope of Mt. Rohaṇa. Above it Dhanada made at once a divine pavilion and in the center a dais of jewels and on it he set a lion-throne. At Dhanada’s command water was brought from the Ocean of Milk by the gods, and costly perfumes, garlands, et cetera, by all the kings.

After apprising Sanatkumāra, Kubera seated him on the lion-throne and gave him Śakra’s presents. Sanatkumāra’s entourage, the vassals, et cetera, stood, each in his proper place, like Vajrapāṇi’s Sāmānikas, et cetera. Then the gods consecrated him as Cakravartin with pure water, just like the consecration of Śrī Nābhi’s son as king. An auspicious song was begun by Tumburu and others; musical instruments, drams, et cetera, were beaten by the gods; dancers, Rambhā, Ūrvaśī, et cetera, danced; and various plays were produced by the Gandharvas. After the gods had consecrated Sanatkumāra in this way, they provided him with divine garments, ointments, ornaments, and wreaths. Kubera, delighted, had Sanatkumāra mount the elephant-jewel (decorated) with fragrant saffron and enter Hastināpura. After filling Hastināpura with wealth, like his own city, Kubera departed, dismissed by the Cakravartin.

His consecration, the water-channel to the creeper of his sovereignty, was made by crowned kings and other vassals also. Because of his coronation-festival the city Hastināpura was exempted from fines, customs-duties, entrance of soldiers, et cetera, for twelve years. The cakrin protected his subjects fittingly like a father, very magnificent like Śakra, and did not oppress them by taxes, et cetera. As there was no one his equal in power, so there was no one his equal in beauty in the three worlds.

At that time Śakra, seated on his lion-throne in Sudharmā, was having a play, named Saudāminī, presented. The god Saṅgama came there from Aiśāna-kalpa, extinguishing the splendor of all the gods by the brightness of his body, astonishing the gods present in the assembly by his beauty beyond criticism, surpassing the beauty of all. When he had gone, the gods asked Śakra, “What is the reason for his extraordinary splendor and beauty unparalled?” Śakra explained: “In a former birth he performed the penance ācāmāmlavardhamāna.[5] Because of that this beauty and brilliance resulted.” “Is there any one else in the three worlds like him?” asked again by the gods, the Indra of Saudharma said, “There is no beauty anywhere else among gods or men like that of King Sanatkumāra, the ornament of the Kuru-line.”

Two gods, Vijaya and Vaijayanta, who did not believe this description of his beauty, descended to earth. In the form of Brāhmans they stood at the door of the king’s palace near the door-keeper for the purpose of inspecting Sanatkumāra’s beauty. Sanatkumāra was just then beginning his bath; all his finery had been taken off and he was anointing his body. The two Brāhmans at the door were announced by the door-keeper and the Cakravartin, acting properly, had them enter then. When they saw Sanatkumāra, their minds were filled with astonishment; they shook their heads and reflected:

“The surface of his forehead surpasses the moon of the eighth night; the eyes extending to the tips of his ears overcome the beauty of the blue lotus; the lips excel the color of the ripe bimba; the ears are superior to mother-of-pearl; and the neck is victorious over Pāñcajanya; the arms cause censure of the shape of the trunk of the king of elephants; the chest is the thief of the beauty of a slab of Svarṇaśaila; his waist resembles the loin of a young lion. What else? The beauty of his body is not within the range of speech. Oh! there is some unchecked flood of the river of loveliness because of which we are not conscious of the ointment, like starlight because of moonlight. He looks just as Indra described, not otherwise. Verily, high-minded persons never speak falsely.”

Questioned by Sanatkumāra, “Why have you come here, best of Brāhmans?” they replied: “O tiger among men, your beauty is sung in the world of the moving and unmoving, causing unparalleled astonishment. After hearing about it at a distance, we, filled with overflowing curiosity, came to see for ourselves, O king. Your beauty is seen to be just as wonderful as we had heard it described among the people.”

Sanatkumāra, his lips covered with a smile, said, “How can so much beauty be in a body covered with ointment? Stay here and wait a moment, best of Brāhmans, until we finish the bath, book again at my form prepared with various embellishments, adorned with many ornaments, like gold with jewels.

Then the king, after he had bathed and put on fine garments and ornaments, presided over the assembly with great pride, like the sun over the sky. Then the two Brāhmans were allowed to appear before the king and observed his beauty. Depressed, they thought: “Where have his beauty, his splendor, his grace gone in a moment? Verily, everything of mortals is momentary.”

The king said, “Why were you delighted before when you looked at me and now suddenly gloomy-faced from sadness?” Then they said in a nectar-sweet voice: “O fortunate one, we are gods, dwelling in the heaven Saudharma. In the assembly of the gods Śakra described your beauty. We did not believe him and came here in the form of mortals to see it. We saw your beauty at first just as described by Śakra; just now, O king, it has changed. Now this body has become completely overspread by diseases, thieves of the whole wealth of beauty, like a mirror by a breath.”

After they had made this truthful answer and had quickly departed, the king saw himself lusterless like a tree consumed by frost. He thought, “Alas! this body is always the home of disease. Foolish people of little wit are infatuated with it in vain, indeed. This body is torn by manifold diseases originated within, like a tree by cruel collections of tree-worms. Even if it is pleasing to some extent outwardly, nevertheless it is like the fruit of the banyan filled with insects inside.[6] Disease instantly spoils the body’s wealth of beauty like tendrils of duckweed the water of the best pool. The body relaxes, but not desire; beauty goes, but evil thought does not go; old age appears, not knowledge. Shame on the true constitution of people! Beauty, grace, splendor, body, and property—everything in saṃsāra is as unsteady as a drop of water on the tip of kuśa grass. Penance only, the essence of voluntary destruction of karma, is the great fruit of creatures’ bodies which perish today or tomorrow.”

The king, in whom the feeling of disgust with existence had been produced by these reflections, wishing to adopt mendicancy himself, established his son in the kingdom. He went to the garden and took penance, which is most important in the giving, up of everything censurable, from Vinayandhara with reverence. As he, observing the great vows, practicing the uttaraguṇas, wandered from village to village, his mind intent on tranquillity, his whole kingdom followed him from the bond of deep affection, like a herd of elephants the leader of the herd. When they had attended him who was free from passions, indifferent, free from affection, free from possessions, for six months, they returned gradually.

One day, after he had fasted for two days, he entered a compound to break his fast and received and ate millet and boiled rice with goat’s butter-milk.[7] From breaking his fast again in the same way after a two-day fast, his diseases increased as if from an unsatisfied pregnancy-whim. Virtuous-minded, he endured seven diseases—itch, consumption, fever, asthma, want of appetite,[8] stomach-ache, and pain in the eyes—for seven hundred years. Magic powers[9] were acquired by him enduring all the trials hard to endure, indifferent to any expedient for relief. The seven magic powers, namely: phlegm, vipruṣ, dried perspiration, impurity, excrement, touch, and also ‘everything,’ are called remedies.[10]

Just at that time Śakra, astonished in his heart, described him to the gods: “After resigning the glory of a Cakravartin like a blazing bunch of straw, look! Sanatkumāra endures penance hard to endure. For even though all the magic powers have been acquired by the greatness of his penance, indifferent to the body, he does not cure his diseases.” Two gods, Vijaya and Vaijayanta,[11] who did not believe that speech, went into his presence in the form of physicians. They said: “Illustrious sir, do you suffer from diseases? We are physicians. We cure everything by our own remedies. If you, whose body is consumed by disease, consent, we shall remove at once your aggravated diseases.”

Then Sanatkumāra said: “Sir doctors, people’s diseases are twofold, bodily and spiritual. Auger, conceit, deceit, and greed are people’s spiritual diseases which produce endless pain, following into a thousand births. If you are able to cure these, then cure them, by all means; but if you cure bodily diseases, just look at this!”

Then he raised his finger which was torn and had an oozing scab and at once made it golden with a drop of his own phlegm, like copper with mercury. When they saw the finger shining like a golden rod, they fell at his feet and said:

“We, the same gods who came formerly to inspect your beauty, have come now also. Indra described you, ‘The blessed Sanatkumāra, even though he has the magic arts perfected, performs penance, enduring the pain of disease.’ That has been tested before our eyes by us who have come here.” With these words the gods bowed and departed.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The elephant-jewel among the 14.

[2]:

Śaśimālā, which I do not find quoted, is probably the vernacular candrahāra, ‘a sort of necklace composed of circular pieces of gold, silver, etc.’ (Bate). MC says it is a ‘woman’s necklace made of bits of gold, etc.’ The parallel passage in the Prakrit story has vanamālā, ‘a wreath of wild flowers.’

[3]:

Apsarases. Cf. I, p. 141.

[4]:

Tumburu and Nārada: the generals of Śakra’s and Īśāna s Gandharva-armies. PE and PH. Cf. Kirfel, p. 305.

[5]:

Ācāmāmla (or ācāmla) is dry food, such as rice, pulse, or flour-cake without ghī or dressing. See I, u. 324. Ācāmāmlavardhamāna is a series of fasts broken by such meals. The whole penance lasts 14 years, 3 months, and 20 days. See B., p. 106.

[6]:

“Certain hymenopterous insects......... which frequent the wild fig, enter the minute orifice of the receptacle, apparently to deposit their eggs; conveying thus the pollen more completely to the stigmas, they insure the fertilization and consequent ripening of the fruit.” See FIG, Encyclopedia Britannica, and Brandis, p. 600.

[7]:

According to Dutt. p. 282, takra is butter-milk with ¼ part of water; but he also uses it as the name of butter-milk in general.

[8]:

“śvāsāruci—aruci. Tawney (Kathākośa, p. 36) says that his Sanskrit in his parallel passage is annaruci, which would be ‘appetite, hunger.’ Lemnann interprets this as ‘morbid appetite,’ as does Meyer the bhattacchanda of the Māhārāṣṭrī version. But the PH takes this bhattacchanda to be bhaktācchanda.

[9]:

See I, pp. 75 ff. and n. 111.

[10]:

Kapha, vipruṣ, jalla, mala, viṣṭā, āmṛśa, and sarva. These 7 present some difficulties, as some of them are ordinarily synonymous. Vipruṣ is defined by Hem. himself in Yog. 1. 8. com. as uccāra, which is synonymous with viṣṭa. Rājendra, PE, and PH support this; also Viśes. 781. However, Leumann in his Āvaśyaka-Erzählungen takes it to be ‘drops of water which fall from one’s mouth when speaking.’ He quotes from his com., ‘prasravaṇādi bindavaḥ.’ Also in our text below, 397, kaphavipruṣ apparently = kaphabindu. Jalla, Pravac., p. 430b, (com. to ga. 1492), is defined as ‘mala arising from the ear, mouth, nose, eye, tongue, and from the body.’ Mala is defined in the same way in Yog. 1. 8 com. and Triṣaṣṭi. 1.1.845. It is hard, therefore, to see just what distinction to make between jalla and mala. From the Rājendra, PH, and PE, I think perhaps that jalla is limited to ‘dried perspiration,’ when a distinction must be made. In the other enumerations of the labdhis which I know, either jalla or mala is given, but not both; neither are vipruṣ and viṣṭa named together. In the Pk. version, vippa and jala occur. Sarvauṣadhi means that the nails, hair, teeth, and every part of the body are medicines.

[11]:

The same gods who were sceptical about his beauty.

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