Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra

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

This page describes Prasenajit in Kushagrapura which is the first part of chapter VI of the English translation of the Mahavira-caritra, contained within the “Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra”: a massive Jain narrative relgious text composed by Hemacandra in the 12th century. Mahavira in jainism is the twenty-fourth Tirthankara (Jina) and one of the 63 illustrious beings or worthy persons.

Part 1: Prasenajit in Kuśāgrapura

Now, in this same Bharata in the town Kuśāgrapura there was a king, Prasenajit, who had a very sharp wit. His boundless ocean of glory, by which every quarter is adorned, swallowed entirely his enemies’ rivers of fame. His army was merely for the glory of the kingdom, since he destroyed his tiger-enemies just by the fire of his splendor. Even the wind is obstructed by the mountain, even the thunderbolt by the ocean; but his command was obstructed by no one on earth. Giving riches to supplicants with outstretched hands, he never closed his own hand, as if in rivalry with them. When darkness was produced by the dust of battle, the Śrīs of victory deserted their own lords and, going to meet their lover, embraced him fully. The religion of the Jina was fixed in the pure mind of him, the crest-jewel of good conduct, like perfume in a heavy mass of hair. He, the bee to the lotus of Śrī Pārśva Jina’s teaching, observed the lesser vows, pious with right belief. He, the crest-jewel of kings, like Indra in heaven, had extensive women’s apartments because of the princesses he had married. Ruling the earth, equal to Pākaśāsana, he had many sons who were like other forms of himself.

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