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Do the souls not get great fruit of even a slight worship performed to Lord Jinesvara ? To explain : a pumpkin gourd creeper, though small in size, present big fruits to its nourisher.

Even a little service to Lord Mahavir brings better results. In this regard the Gujarat King Kumarapala born of Caulukya dynasty and the Staunch devotee of Lord Mahavira is celebrated as an example.

There lived a Ksatriya called Jaitra who was surrounded by his servant - plunderers in the slum area situated in Malava region.

Though kind by nature used to being in conact with thieve, he looted many caravans & enjoyed
additions.

Once a merchant named Jesala along with hunderds of other merchants with him was proceeding with a desire to trade to some city carrying ten thousands beasts loaded with goods on their backs. wicked robbers came to know of it.

Jaitra - Kshatriya got all the traders robbed by his robbers. Then their leader Jesala being extremely angry returned to his city.

The group leader - Jesala reached the city, requested the king and taking king's army with him, returned to the robber's colony and killed all the arrogant robbers.

The extremely cruel merchant chief even the kid of Jaitra Ksatriya and returned to his city with all his wealth recovered.

There the King decried Jesala as one who committed the act of infanticide. So out of detachment, he became a monk and began to practise austerity.

Then Jaitra Ksatriya, desirous of living, emerged out of the adversity any how and came to the city named Urangabala in Andhra.

In Urang abala city Jaitra Kshatriya having no food-provision, and hence having been distressed and facing poverty got himself employed as a servant to the Merchant named Odhara.

On hearing constantly the discourse from Acarya Sri Yasobhadra that Jaitra Ksatriya became religious minded.

I shall never kill innocent creatures. I shall never tell a lie- such and the like vows Jaitra Kshatriya took before Acarya Sri Yasovijaya.

Once, on the eve of an annual celebration master Odhara, putting on neat and well washed clothes, accompained by Jaitra Ksatriya, went to the Jain temple to venerate Lord Mahavira.

On seeing all the people there in nice clothes and ornaments performing adoration, Jaitra Ksatriya began to think this way.

Oh ! these are fortunate in this birth due to their precious good actions and indeed, their next

birth will be a fortunate one.

Magha also says (in his Sisupalavadham i.e. Narada's statement to Lord Visnu) : "O

Lord your
vision in the present birth destroys sins of the embodied souls; it is the root-cause of

forthcoming blessed life and the present birth is, even the result of good actions in

the previous life. So your vision exhibits the fitness of the souls."

So I will also adore Lord Jinesvara very soon, because the adoration to Lord Jinesvara

only, is the root cause of all riches.

Thinking Thus he, after having purchased flowers by nine coins earned in gambling,

worshipped Lord Jinesvara.

He became purified through faith raised to adore Lord Jinesvara and got absorbed in Lora's

adoration. He observed a fast also on the instruction from his holymaster on that very day.

After death Jaitra, reborn as Kumarpala, became the King of Gujarat province. He was a staunch

devotee of Arhat, the master Odhara became Udayana, Jesala became Jaysimha, the leader

of Sangha, and Yashobhadra was reborn as Hemacandracarya.

For the first time king Kumarpal proclaimed unprecedented non-violence in eighteen regions

like Konkana Maharastra, Kila, Jalandhara, Padalaksa, Mewar, Diu, Kasitata, Karnataka, Gujarat,

Lata, Saurastra, Kaccha, Sindh, Ucca, Bhabberi, Marwar and Malava, during even the adverse

period of Kali era.

In ancient times King Srenika, whom Lord Mahavira preached religious sermons and who had

the wise minister named Abhaya, could not enforce Non-killing, while King Kumarapala receiving

religious preaching from Rev. Hemacandracarya, did it effortlessly. May Rev. Hemacandracarya

be victorious.

O King Kumarapala ! be blessed. Devendra - the king of the heaven bows and prays

with bliss to Rev. Hemacandracarya the preceptor of the king of Srinagara (Ahmedabad).

"Through enforcement of Non-killing, you have bestowed fearlessness upon the deespotted

moon, the masculine baffalo of the god - Yama, acqua creatures of Varunadeva and a fish, a boar

as well as a tortoise of Lord Vishnu - well done ! bravo !

Thus implementing the sovereign ruling of the religion for his whole life King Kumarapala

(as a result of that deed) will be born as the foremost Ganadhara of Lord Padmanabha Jinesvara.

Thus, a peak of prosperity results from even a little (simple) adoration of Lord Jinesvara.

Therefore, among all religious rituals Lord Jinesvara's adoration should be inevitably performed.

Men achieve happiness and wealth merely out of desire to bow at the feet of lord Jinesvara.

For example even a frog desirous of bowing at the feet of Lord Mahavira became an

affluent god in the heaven.

In the city named Rajagrha there lived a wealthy jeweler merchant called Nandi who

received the initiation (of at house holder) and Jaina used to practice it daily in the

following manner.

He observing daily religious rites like samayika, pratikramana, pausadha etc. and

being keen for salvation used to spena his time.

Once in summer he observed three fasts with pausadha. By the end of the three fasts

he felt at night thirsty and began to think.

The wealth of those who get wells, ponds etc. filled with water is praise worthy as

it serves all the beings.

After that Nandi Manikar sheth after a accomplishing pausadha in the morning,

ended fasting and got a beautiful - well shaped well constructed.

Spending much money he got constructed the free-food-supply-centers, hermitages,

temples and gardens all around the step-well.

Due to his being attached to that well, his respect for religion got decreased and in his

old age he was afflicted by and suffered from sixteen types of diseases difficult to be cured.

Sixteen diseaserlike coughing Ashthama, fever, burning with pain in stomach, fistula,

anaamin, digestion, dim sight, backache, lack of appetite, itching, dropsy, headache,

ear pain and leprosy are enumerated as serious diseases in the scriptures.

As his mind was deeply attached to that well, the jeweller Nandi was reborn as a frog

in that well. Which is that intelligence who is not ignored by his Karma ?

Once on seeing that well the frog remembered his previous birth. I disrespected the duty

in my past life and therefore I got this result.

Then being detached, that frog began fasting sastha and on the day of breaking fast he

used to drink water with mud which was purified by people's bathing.

Once that frog hearing the here say that Lord Mahavira has arrived in the park (of the city).

the frog set off to bow down to him.

Then the king Srenika also being eager to bow to Lord Mahavira and set out from his capital

with his army of four fold divisions.

And the frog hopping on the way was crushed by the hoofs of the horses of the king srenika

and died. Then he was born as a duty in heaven called Saudhrmakalpa.

There were four thousand Samanika gods under that frog. In fearing on this, one should

know all of his prosperity etc.

Even in the heaven when he came to knows that "Lord Mahavira has come", he with his divine

lustre covering all other lustres, came to bow him.

When Devendras, kings and others were seated on their respective seats, Lord Mahavira

with his speech reaching 8 miles began preaching.

That Dardura (frog) god sitting beside Lord Mahavira showing his leprosy - affected body

to others was anointing Lord Mahavira's body with divine sandal paste.

On the contary King Srenika and others had an impression, "Oh ! this evil-minded one

affected with white leprast is anointing with fluids oozing out from this body" (affected by leprusy)".

Then king Srehika thought, "As soon as this sinister insulting Lord Mahavira goes out from

this place. I will kill him."

On the other hand (while king Srenika was planning to kill Dardura god) Lord Mahavira

uttered following words addressing the king, Abhaya, Saukarika and Ksuta respectively.

(1) You die soon. (2) You live. (3) You live long or die. (4) You may not live or die.

Hearing this the king got very angry.

When the preaching was over, the Dardura god disappeared like the streak of lightening, king
Srenika asked Lord Mahavira, "Please tell me, who was that one affected by leprosy ?"

The wicked man who has humiliated you; his head must be cut off even in the presence of public.

Lord Mahavira spoke : "Oh King, he has not committed any offence, on the contrary he

has anointed my body with sandal wood paste.

Lord Mahavira explained to the king Srenika and others the secret of the sentences

uttered through preaching.

In this world, some like death some prefer life, some love both equally but some like

Dardur a Deva (frog) prefer neither of the two (death or life).

After deviating from Saudharma heaven this Dardura Deva will proceed to Videha territory

and will attain salvation: on hearing such words, all people being wondered went their homes.

Hearing that such is the benefit of meditating only on Lord Mahavira, (you all) try for that so that
you may get blise.

Devadhidev Tirthankar Parshvanath

In the Jambu continent on the sides of the mountain Meru, there is a mountain called 

Samabhutala (level-surfaced). In its 7200 miles territory there are clusters of planets.

Beyond it there are crores of Yojanas, and going beyond them, there are dwellings of gods like

Saudharma and Isana.

Beyond this there is the tenth heaven which is known as Pranata. In this heaven the age 

limit is upto twenty Sagaropama.

After having enjoyed the twenty year's Sagaropama life in the heaven Lord Parsvanatha's soul 

deviated from the heavenly life.

There is a large continent named Jambudvipa having the area of one lakh yojanas (yojana = smiles).

Its circumference has been typically described in scriptures which I am going to say now.

There was a city named Varanasi looking like Indra's city in the celebrated Bharata 

(the country of Bharatas) abounding in full riches.

In that city, the danda (flag-rod) was only on the top of the palace ! and no danda (punishment) 

for people. There were thieves who stole the mind of the learned but there were no thieves 

who stole wealth of others.

How can the city Varanasi be described where the Sun-disc shines as a pot on the top of the palace 

and the beautiful Ganga the river of heaven shines in place of the fluttering flag.

In Varanasi the word like injustice was found only in dictionaries, but was no where among the 

people . There were donors in abundance, but beggars were very few.

There ruled an emperor-like king Asvasena who was being followed by hosts of kings and who was 

deeply engrossed in protecting his people.

King Asvasena's crown-queen named Vama was attractive like Rati (the wife of cupid), and charming 

like Indrani (the wife of Indra) endowed with exuberant beauty, surpassing the heavenly damsel 

Tilottama, the most beautiful among all the ladies with curved brows pleasing with a mass of virtues 

and had a noble heart.

From her womb Lord Sri Parsvanatha was born. In that night Vamadevi saw fourteen dreams.

In the first dream, Vamadevi saw the elephant, in the 2nd auspicious ox, in the 3rd the 

lion with the mane, Mahalaksmi in the 4th, flower garland in the 5th, the moon in the 6th, Sun in 

the 7th and the flag in the 8th dream.

Vamadevi saw an auspicious pitcher in the ninth dream, in the tenth a lake full of lotuses, in the 

eleventh ocean of milk, in the twelth dream a temple, in the thirteenth a heap of jems, and fire 

without smoke in the fourteenth the dream. On seeing these fourteen dreams Vamadevi got up

from dream- state.

On having seen the dreams Vamadevi was pleased. She began to recall the dreams repeatedly 

and started uttering the names of clan-goddesses of Jinesvara. Then she rose from there 

(the bed) and slowly approached the king Asvasen.

Then the queen Vamadevi aroused king Asvasena with sweet-speech from his sleep. The king 

also twisted his limbs out of inertia and arose from sleep.

King Asvasena asked, "Oh Queen, why have you come here now ?" Vamadevi answered, 

"Your Majesty ! I saw fourteen dreams like that of the elephant and other while I was asleep 

in my palace - chamber. Please tell me the indication of it.

King Asvasena said, "Oh innocent queen, you have seen much auspicious dreams. So your 

(new born) son will become a monarch or a tranquil ascetic."

"You are right," said Vamadevi to her righteous husband king ASvasena, accepted his words 

and returned to her chamber.

Next morning were called the experts of the dream - indication who gave the same reply. 

The good have unanimuity in thinking.

Vamadevi did not take extremely astringent, hot, pungent and cold food for protection of her

baby to be born.

Gradually the nine months passed and when all the planets were in high positions, on the tenth 

day of the bright Pausa month of the Hemanta season Vamadevi gave birth to the illustrious 

son Lord Parsvanatha, whose lips were ruddy like the Bimba fruit, face like the moon, complexion 

like a blue lotus, who was soft like the inner stuff of a Banana, who was pleasingly fit to be

respected by gods, demons and people and endowed with all good bodily marks.

Then immediately sixty four Devendras gathered together with devotion to offer holy bathing

to the Lord on his birth.

Sixty four Devendras bowed to Lord Parsvanatha, praised hymns and carrying him in their 

hands came over to the mountain Meru.

Then (sixty four) Indras like Saudharma seated Lord Parsvanatha on the top of mount Meru 

and celebrated his birth day.

Devendras after having celibrated the birthday of Lord Parsvanatha and considering themselves

blessed returned.

Then the gods showered thirty two crores of silver and golden coins and thirty two crores gems 

in the palace of King Asvasena.

Then Lord Parsvanatha being nourished by five foster mothers began to grow like the moon of 

the second day of the bright fortnight.

Lord Parsvanatha gradually attained youth and the father got him married with the princess

Prabhavati.

One day out side the city, an ascetic named Kamatha arrived, who was a fool and hypocrite 

performing ignorantly austerity of the Five Fires bearing pains.

At that time Lord Parsvanatha, sitting in a balcony, asked his servants,"O Servants, Where are 

the citizens going today ?"

The servants replied, O best prince, an ascetic named Kamatha has come today and these 

people are going there to pay him obeisance.

Lord Parsvanatha too riding on his elephant which was like a rival to the celestial elephant 

Airavata with an excuse of sporting, came over immediately to that ascetic.

To the ascetic practising austerities ignorantly, Lord Parsvanatha told, "You indeed are 

practising austerity without knowing and that too, without compassion."

He said, in turn, to Parsvanatha," You are Prince and you are expert in sporting with horses 

but not in our austeric tendencies.

Immediately then by the order of Lord Parsvanatha, his servant cut wood into two with the axe 

and brought out from the piece of wood a unburnt snake alive.

Then the people hated the hypocrite ascetic and praised Lord Parsvanatha repeatedly.

Several years later Lord Parsvanatha pondered over the proper time, distributed alms 

(for one year) and took initiation.

Once upon a time Lord Parsvanatha himself was above physical conscence with his eyes closed 

in meditation, at that time the ascetic Kamatha, who had died in the wicked meditation and was 

born as a god name Meghamali, created hurdles (in Lord Parsvanatha's meditation), but 

Lord Parsvanatha did not deviate even a little.

Lord Parsvanatha, on having attained the absolute knowledge and having lived for a hundred 

years attained the absolution.

In times of Lord Mahaveera, there was a burglar named Lohkhur. He lived in a remote cave of Vaibhargiri near Rajgruhi. He was very smart in his activity and never left any trace of his burglary. His wife’s name was Rohini and they had a son named Rohineya. As Rohineya grew up, he picked up the art of burglary from his father and eventually became an expert burglar. In smartness, he even surpassed his father. It was almost impossible to recognize him, when he was in disguise. If some one pursued him, he could outrun anyone. He could even jump over walls when necessary. He committed burglary mostly from houses of noblemen and rich people and hid the treasure of his burglaries in the most unexpected and inaccessible places. To the poor, he extended help from the wealth that he had so accumulated. Many of them therefore felt grateful and were pleased with him. Therefore, they were not willing to help the Government officials in tracking him down. Lohkhur was now very old and could see that his life was soon to end. When he was on his deathbed, he called Rohineya by his side and said that he was very happy with the expertise that he had shown in committing burglary, which had been their ancestral profession. In order to stay successful, he however advised his son never to listen to the sermon of Lord Mahaveera, because his teachings were not conducive to their profession. Rohineya promised his father to abide by his advice. So, Lohkhur could breathe his last breath with the sense of satisfaction. After he died, Rohineya expanded his burglary to a large scale. So much, that it became almost impossible for the well to do families to experience safety of their property, if they needed to go out. They were constantly afraid that Rohineya would reach their home during their absence and take away jewelry and other valuables from the house. Such people once came to king Shrenik and requested him to take some effective action to protect them from Rohineya’s burglaries, since police officers had failed to do anything about the matter. The king therefore asked Abhayakumar to undertake suitable action for getting hold of Rohineya. Once, while Rohineya was secretly on his way to Rajgruhi, he had to pass by the side of Lord’s assembly. He remembered his father’s advice. He therefore put his hands on his ears in order to prevent the voice of the Lord from reaching him. Unfortunately however, a sharp thorn pricked deep into his foot that very instance. He had therefore to take his hands off from the ears in order to take out the thorn. During this time, words of the Lord reached his ears. He heard the following words: ‘Human life is the best of all lives. It is possible to attain liberation only during human life. Every human being can attain salvation irrespective of caste, creed, or color. By virtuous deeds, one would gain life in heaven where there are all sorts of material pleasures and happiness. The heavenly beings move above the ground and their feet do not touch it. Their bodies are shadowless; their eyes remain steady and their garlands do not wither. That life however does not lead to ultimate liberation which provides eternal bliss. Therefore, heavenly beings too crave for obtaining human life.’ By that time Rohineya removed the thorn from his foot and covering his ears with his hands again, he proceeded towards the city. Since being entrusted with the task of trapping Rohineya, Abhayakumar had secretly posted trained soldiers in disguise at the gates and all important corners of the city. He himself also remained watchful. Next time Rohineya came to the city, a watchman saw him. Rohineya was in the guise of a farmer. The watchman sent a message to Abhayakumar that some unidentified person had entered the city. Abhayakumar became very alert. As Rohineya passed by, Abhayakumar glanced at him from a secret place. He did not fail to recognize the burglar even in disguise and instructed his men to surround him. Smart as Rohineya was, he quickly recognized the danger. He ran towards the city wall. Unfortunately for him, there were soldiers near the wall to capture him. He was thus easily apprehended and was put in jail. The next day, he was appeared in court. As Rohineya was in disguise, it was hard to identify him as the burglar. Abhayakumar was of course sure, but how could the accused be punished without proof of his identity? When the king asked him about his identity, Rohineya replied that he was a farmer named Durgachandra and belonged to Shaligram village; he had come to Rajgruhi for seeing the capital and was returning home when watchmen tried to apprehend him. Rohineya had made arrangements for that assumed identity with the residents of that village. When the inquiries were therefore made in that village, the people corroborated what Rohineya had stated in the court. Abhayakumar had to devise a plan for getting a confession of Rohineya regarding the burglaries. He came to know that Rohineya was fond of drinks. He therefore arranged for serving excessive wine to the accused to the extent of making him unconscious. In that state, Rohineya was neatly cleaned, dressed in extravagantly perfumed royal garments and was adorned with valuable jewelry. He was then placed on a luxurious velvet bed on a sandalwood cot on the top floor of a palatial building. As Rohineya regained his senses, he saw himself in heavenly surroundings. There was breath taking view all around; walls, ceiling and floor were crystalline; beautiful maidens were waving scented air with diamond studded fans; slow sweet music was flowing from the background; fairylike damsels were dancing in tune with that music and apparently divine musicians were getting ready for a musical concert. Rohineya could not make out where he was. He asked one of the girls where he was and why all of them were serving him so well. The girl replied that he was their Lord in the heaven that he had attained all the divine comforts, which now belonged to him. He could live like Indra, the king of heaven and enjoy with the heavenly damsels the way he wanted. ‘Could this be true for a burglar like him?’ he asked himself. But he then remembered that he was helpful to the poor and needy and he was sure that God must have been just. ‘Or could this be the plan of Abhayakumar?’ he thought again. It was real hard for him to decide what was truth. He therefore thought it was best to wait and see. After a while, a luxuriously clad person entered with a golden staff and book in his hand. ‘Is your new Lord awake?’ he asked one of the damsels. The girl replied that their new lord had just woken up and they had been getting ready to celebrate his arrival in the heaven by presenting the divine concert. ‘Let me make sure that all preparations pertaining to his arrival have been completed before you start your concert; and let me also get from him some information that the heavenly realm needs to know.’ As he was saying this, he came to Rohineya. Opening his book, he asked Rohineya to narrate his deeds from his previous life, before prior to enjoying the amenities of heaven. Meanwhile, Rohineya was watching all around. He remembered what he had heard from Lord Mahaveera about heavenly beings, at when the thorn had pricked his foot. He observed the movements of the so called heavenly beings in front of him. He noticed that their feet were touching the ground, their bodies had shadows, and their eyes were blinking like human beings. He immediately made out that the heaven was a fake and it was only a trick of Abhayakumar to gain evidence of his burglaries. He therefore replied that in the previous life he had given donations for all worthy causes, he had constructed temples, and he had been for pilgrimage to holy places and had rendered service to the deserving entities. That person took note of his statement and asked him to narrate any wrong deeds that he might have indulged in. Rohineya said that he had scrupulously avoided misdeeds and therefore he was born in heaven. Abhayakumar’s plan back fired and Rohineya was set free as being the innocent farmer that he pretended to be. Rohineya was released, however, he constantly thought about what had happened. He realized that what he had accidentally heard from Lord Mahaveera, had saved his life. Then how could his father be right in the advice that he had given? That Lord must have been a real grateful entity. ‘If those accidentally heard words were so helpful, imaging how helpful his entire teachings could be?’ he asked himself. Did he waste his years avoiding sermons of the Lord? After pondering at length, he decided to go to the Lord and to serve at his feet. He went to the assembly and humbly requested the Lord to accept him as his pupil. He also offered to become a monk, if the Lord considered him fit for renouncement. As the Lord thought him worthy to become his pupil, he sought his permission to make confession to the king before he renounced. He then disclosed his real identity to the king who was present in the assembly and offered to accept any punishment. He also requested Abhayakumar to order some of his officials to take back all the valuables that he had stored. That way the stolen materials were recovered and handed over to their respective owners. Since Rohineya had voluntarily confessed and had willingly returned everything that he had taken during burglaries, the king decided to pardon him and permitted him to be the Lord’s monk. Rohineya highly repented for what he had done in his life. He started observing severe austerities in order to erase the Karmas acquired by his misdeeds. When his body was unable to bear more, he adopted Anashan (Avoiding food and staying in meditation) with the permission of the Lord and attained entry into heaven at the end of his life. Key Message: Theme here focuses on honesty and principle of non-stealing. One should not steal from others even if one takes the stolen items and donates them to poor people. Wrong doing is still wrong doing regardless of how much good you are doing in other areas. One must repent for it in order to destroy the bad karma that accumulate as a result of it. Second thing we learn from this story is that we can only attain liberation from human form. Even heavenly beings can’t attain liberation without taking a birth as a human being first. So we should all realize how fortunate we all are to have this human birth and make the most of it and wash away as much bad karma as we possibly can.