Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra
by Helen M. Johnson | 1931 | 742,503 words
This page describes Kamatha’s fourth incarnation which is the ninth part of chapter II of the English translation of the Parshvanatha-caritra, contained within the “Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra”: a massive Jain narrative relgious text composed by Hemacandra in the 12th century. Parshvanatha in jainism is the twenty-third Tirthankara (Jina) and one of the 63 illustrious beings or worthy persons.
Part 9: Kamaṭha’s fourth incarnation
The soul of the kukkuṭa-serpent, having risen from hell, was born as a great serpent in a thicket of Mt. Hema. He wandered day and night in this forest for food, destroying many creatures, like a long arm of Kāla (Death).
One day in his roaming the serpent saw Ṛṣi Kiraṇavega standing in a bower, his mind fixed on meditation, motionless as a pillar. Because of his hostility from a former birth, the serpent, red-eyed from anger, at once surrounded the sādhu, like a sandal tree, with coils. The serpent, pouring poison into his fangs, bit the muni in many places with fangs terrible with poison. The muni thought: “Surely this serpent is conferring great benefits on me for the destruction of karma; he is not causing injuries in the least. Even if I lived for a long time, the destruction of karma must be made by me. Now it has been made by him. My purpose is accomplished in any case.”
Meditating in this way, he made confession, begged forgiveness from all the world, recalling the homage to the Five, engaged in pious meditation, and observed a fast.