[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Jain Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina) › [Post-canonical works (philosophy, yoga, karma theory, narrative, poetry, history)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post) › [Narrative literature (kathās, kathākośas, caritas)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha) › [Surasuṃdarīcariya](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya) › [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt) › 14 # The Story of Surasundarī 14 English (machine translation) 14 - **Language:** English ### [14.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.1) And while Dhanadeva was narrating this account to the king, meanwhile Surasundarī, tormented by deep grief \[cried\]: ### [14.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.2) ‘Alas! This heart of mine, a mine of sorrows and forged from diamond, even having heard what should not be heard, does not burst into a hundred pieces! ### [14.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.3) What is the use of preserving these vital breaths, dwellings of sorrow, now that disaster has struck my beloved in the wreck of his ship? ### [14.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.4) Even at the very first sight, an intensity of love was shown by you, my lord! By whom, when I was besieged by Śatruñjaya, my father was freed. ### [14.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.5) Deprived of your excellent magic spells by the very same god who abducted me, how will you fare, my lord, in the ocean amidst the shipwreck? ### [14.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.6) Alas! How shall I ever look upon your face, spotless like the moon's rays, my lord, when such a thing has been ordained by fate for me of ill fortune? ### [14.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.7) True is this popular saying: ‘Women are fickle in love,’ since, having heard such news, I, wretched woman, still live on!’ ### [14.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.8) Thinking thus, having lost consciousness from the surge of grief, she fell in a faint upon the lap of the queen seated beside her. ### [14.9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.9) Queen Kamalāvatī too, tormented by grief over the presumed loss of her son, her eyes clouded with tears, began to lament in this manner: ### [14.10](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.10) ‘Alas, my little son! Born just then in the forest, you were carried away from me; even now, unseen by me, where have you gone without my knowledge? ### [14.11](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.11) Blessed is that woman by whom, O son, your face has been beheld! Alas! Alas! Unfortunate am I, by whom you were not even seen after being born! ### [14.12](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.12) Could what was prophesied back then by the sage-chief indeed be false: that having reached youth, he would surely meet \[us\] in Hatthiṇāpura?’ ### [14.13](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.13) King Amaraketu as well, the luster of his face drained as he rested his head upon his palm, his limbs trembling with sorrow for his son, began to shed tears. ### [14.14](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.14) Meanwhile, Dhanadeva, having become curious upon seeing Surasundarī faint, questioned the court lady Haṁsikā: ### [14.15](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.15) ‘Who is this extraordinary maiden whose eyes are closed in a swoon?’ And she recounted everything to him, beginning with her falling into the pleasure garden. ### [14.16](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.16) Remembering the words of Sumati, Dhanadeva then spoke thus: / "Why are you despondent, O King? Or why do you lament, O Queen? ### [14.17](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.17) Have you forgotten that which was foretold by the astrologer Sumati? / 'When, indeed, a maiden shall fall into the Kusumākara garden, ### [14.18](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.18) then quickly shall come about your reunion with your own son.' / Therefore, do not be anxious now; he shall meet \[you\], there is no doubt. ### [14.19](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.19) Since Sumati tells the truth, and his proof has been obtained many times, / do not fall into despair, even though a shipwreck has occurred." ### [14.20](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.20) And while Dhanadeva was thus consoling \[them\] with skillful words, / in the meantime the sound of a kettledrum suddenly burst forth. ### [14.21](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.21) Gods were seen descending from the sky outside the city; / the cry of "Victory! Victory!" was heard, mingled with the songs of celestial damsels. ### [14.22](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.22) While the people standing in the assembly were saying, "What is this? What is this?", / Samantabhadra arrived, his hands held together in joy. ### [14.23](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.23) And, making a bow, he said: "In the northeastern quarter of the city, / in the Kusumākara garden, on ground fit for ascetics, ### [14.24](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.24) surrounded by a troop of monks, knowing the whole extent of the meaning of all treatises, / like a lion in checking the elephants of opposing disputants, ### [14.25](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.25) devoted to various austerities, intent on pure conduct and self-restraint, / solely intent on doing good to others, is the sūri named Supratiṣṭha. ### [14.26](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.26) He has arrived this very day; and for him, whose destructive karmas are burnt to ashes, / there has now arisen unhindered omniscience. ### [14.27](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.27) To celebrate the feast of omniscience, the gods have gathered here, O King!" / Hearing that, the king set forth with joy to pay homage. ### [14.28](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.28) "O Queen, you too be ready, accompanied by Surasundarī; / having bowed to the Blessed One, ask about the news of your son." ### [14.29](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.29) Bathed and anointed, accompanied by a great troop of soldiers, / mounted on an excellent lordly elephant, the king reached the Kusumākara garden. ### [14.30](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.30) Accompanied by all his retinue, he made three circumambulations around the best of monks, / bowed to his two feet, and sat down in a suitable place. ### [14.31](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.31) Then, the feast of omniscience having been performed, amid the assembly of gods, men, and asuras, / the sūri began to speak in a deep voice: ### [14.32](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.32) "Among the hellish, animal, human, and divine destinies, by beings tormented with suffering, / human birth in this saṃsāra is attained only with great difficulty. ### [14.33](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.33) Even having attained that rare state, many living beings, deluded by false belief and the rest, / greedy for the bait of sensory objects, do not perform what is beneficial for the other world. ### [14.34](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.34) Bereft of hearing the words of the Jina, they do not at all know what should and should not be done; / they discern not what is edible and inedible, or what is drinkable and undrinkable. ### [14.35](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.35) Devoid of boundaries, lustful, they do not consider the distinction between proper and improper women. / When prevented by righteous and benevolent people, they say thus: ### [14.36](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.36) 'Fools, you have been deceived by rogues! There is no soul whatsoever / that goes to the other world, an experiencer of pleasure and pain, or formless. ### [14.37](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.37) In its absence, to whom here could sin caused by violence and so forth belong? / Therefore, \[existence\] is merely an aggregation of the five elements, nothing else in the world.' ### [14.38](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.38) With dispositions of such kind, cruel-hearted, they commit the slaughter of living beings; / they speak falsehood, take what is not given, and go to another's wife. ### [14.39](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.39) Devoted to abundant possessions, their minds deluded by passion and hatred, / eating meat and food at night, they are addicted to drinking honey and liquor. ### [14.40](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.40) Tormented by anger, pride, deceit, and greed, having afflicted dispositions, / unchaste and holding wrong views, they accumulate defiled karma. ### [14.41](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.41) Falling under its sway, at the end of their lives they tumble into dreadful hells / that are perpetually shrouded in thick darkness and filled with intense cold and heat. ### [14.42](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.42) And born there, wailing, they are cleaved hundreds of times / by the paramādhārmika gods with sharp saws and blazing axes. ### [14.43](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.43) Having been raised up into the midst of the dense branches of the silk-cotton tree, bristling with heavy and sharp thorns, / they are repeatedly dragged down with ropes. ### [14.44](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.44) In cauldrons boiling with a bubbling sound, they are cooked by them with merciless minds; / while crying out, 'Thirsty!', they are made to drink boiling copper. ### [14.45](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.45) Flesh cut from their own bodies, made to resemble fire, / is thrust into the mouths of the hungry, helpless hell-beings. ### [14.46](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.46) Making them cross the river Vaitaraṇī, filled with pus, fat, and blood, / they are plunged \[into it\] while howling and crying out, 'Alas! Alas! Mother!' ### [14.47](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.47) Seeking shade, having arrived in the sword-leaved forest, / while lamenting, they are sliced by the sharp leaves taking the form of swords, javelins, and spears. ### [14.48](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.48) Tormented there, crying out, 'Protect us, we have come for refuge!', / reminded of their previous births, they are struck even more severely by them. ### [14.49](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.49) What more? For even the twinkling of an eye there is no happiness, but only unending torment / for the hell-beings who are boiled day and night in hell. ### [14.50](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.50) Having thus experienced dreadful sufferings for an immense time, / when somehow or other emerging, they are born into animal wombs. ### [14.51](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.51) There also, through hunger, thirst, heat, cold, slaughter, binding, and the pain of diseases, / through loading of burdens, piercing of nostrils, subduing, goads, and driving-sticks, etc., ### [14.52](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.52) they repeatedly experience manifold forms of suffering / such as mutual devouring and beating, again and again in diverse wombs. ### [14.53](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.53) If, from there, souls somehow obtain the hard-to-attain human state, / there too arises diverse bodily and mental suffering. ### [14.54](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.54) Afflicted by the heavy stroke of the mallet of poverty, in their desire to obtain a morsel of bad food, / they carry out the commands even of the base. ### [14.55](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.55) Taking no account of night or day, miserable, they travel to very distant and rugged regions, / enter treacherous chasms, and cross the ocean. ### [14.56](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.56) In their longing to gain wealth, seized by the planetary demon of greed, they count not suffering, / and enter terrible battles bristling with gleaming spears. ### [14.57](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.57) The suffering that arises from separation from beloved persons, and from the attainment of what is disliked, / and likewise through various misfortunes—who, indeed, is able to describe it? ### [14.58](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.58) Afflicted by various diseases and pains, they find no tranquility; / then they are seized by old age, and thereafter they die in utter disgust. ### [14.59](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.59) Even if some obtain godhood, suffering arises even there / for those whose minds are burned with envy, sorrow, fear, grief, and greed. ### [14.60](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.60) Seeing the greater splendor of others, ordered about like servants by a master, / even gods become deeply afflicted at the time of their fall \[from heaven\]. ### [14.61](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.61) As they wander in this worldly existence, filled with eighty-four hundred thousand wombs, / there is not a single place into which they have not entered an infinite number of times. ### [14.62](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.62) Everywhere they are stricken with pain who are devoid of the Dharma of the Lord of Jinas; / therefore, O beloved of the gods, practice the Dharma taught by the Jina! ### [14.63](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.63) It is declared to be of two kinds: the Dharma of the ascetic and the Dharma of the householder; / and the abode of the multitude of virtues, right faith, is to be known as the \[foundation\] of both kinds." ### [14.64](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.64) Faith in the meaning of the principles, whose nature is a state of auspiciousness, is \[right belief\]; / but the principles are to be known as beginning with the soul. ### [14.65](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.65) Soul, non-soul, merit, demerit, inflow, restraint, dissociation, / bond, and liberation: these are the nine principles. ### [14.66](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.66) Subtle, gross, two-sensed, three-sensed, four-sensed, / sentient, and non-sentient, both developed and undeveloped—indeed, \[souls are of\] fourteen \[types\]. ### [14.67](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.67) The medium of motion, the medium of rest, and space, each of three kinds, and likewise time, / aggregates, parts, space-points, and primary atoms—non-soul is of fourteen kinds. ### [14.68](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.68) Pleasure-bearing, high family, thirty-seven \[sub-types of\] physique\[-making karma\], / and three life\[-karmas\]: thus the auspicious karma-types are forty-two. ### [14.69](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.69) Ten of knowledge-\[obscuring\] and obstructive, nine of perception-\[obscuring\], twenty-six types of deluding, / thirty-four of physique, and one each of the \[remaining\] three are inauspicious \[karma-types\]. ### [14.70](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.70) Senses, passions, non-vows, activities—five, four, five, and twenty-five— / and activities are three; the inflow is said to be forty-two. ### [14.71](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.71) Carefulnesses, guards, Dharma, reflections, endurance of hardships, and conduct: / there are fifty-seven varieties, beginning with the five and the three varieties, in restraint. ### [14.72](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.72) Austerity has twelve kinds beginning with fasting; through it dissociation is proclaimed; / or austerity is of many kinds, divided into series of gold and the like. ### [14.73](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.73) Bond is fourfold through the divisions of nature, duration, intensity, and space-points; / but liberation is proclaimed to be eternal, the departure of the eightfold karma. ### [14.74](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.74) With faith in these, the Arhat is the deity, the virtuous sādhus are the gurus; / such right conviction is to be known as right belief. ### [14.75](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.75) The abandonment of censurable activity through activities of mind, speech, and body— / this is the Dharma of ascetics, difficult to practice for those of feeble strength. ### [14.76](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.76) Compassion is to be extended by him toward the six classes of living beings beginning with earth; / truthful speech, purified of all blemish, is to be spoken. ### [14.77](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.77) Even a mere blade of grass that is ungiven must not be taken with an impure mind; / and the vow of celibacy endowed with the nine protections must always be maintained. ### [14.78](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.78) Except for religious requisites, not even slight possession should be kept; / nor indeed should the four kinds of food ever be consumed at night. ### [14.79](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.79) The five carefulnesses and the three guards must constantly be observed; / likewise, the twenty-two hardships that arise must be thoroughly conquered. ### [14.80](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.80) Respectful service to the sūri and other elders must be performed according to one's power; / and afflictions caused by humans, animals, or gods must be endured. ### [14.81](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.81) Attachment and aversion toward sense-objects such as sounds must never be entertained; / food purified of the forty-two defects must be consumed only when there is a reason. ### [14.82](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.82) For pain, for respectful service, for the sake of movement, and for the sake of self-control, / likewise for the maintenance of life, and sixth, for the contemplation of Dharma. ### [14.83](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.83) Scriptural study is to be performed; all improper talk must be avoided; / one must always exert oneself in internal and external austerity. ### [14.84](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.84) Abandoning sorrowful and wrathful meditation, one should meditate on righteous and pure meditation; / and the host of noble reflections beginning with impermanence must be contemplated. ### [14.85](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.85) Modesty must be practiced; sinful self-will should not be indulged; / and the ten-fold monastic Dharma must be observed at all times. ### [14.86](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.86) Forbearance, humility, uprightness, freedom from greed, austerity and self-restraint are to be understood, / truth, purity, non-possession, and celibacy: \[this is\] the Dharma of an ascetic. ### [14.87](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.87) One should dwell among monks; association with the unvirtuous is not to be made; / carelessness, though of five kinds, must be diligently avoided. ### [14.88](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.88) Intoxicants, sense-objects, passions, sleep, and improper talk is declared the fifth: / this fivefold carelessness casts a soul into saṃsāra. ### [14.89](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.89) What more? The burden of the eighteen thousand components of moral virtue, / causing distress to a mind of weak resolve, must be carried as long as life lasts. ### [14.90](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.90) Practiced, O lord of men, the Dharma of an ascetic leads swiftly to liberation; / but after a long time, the layperson's Dharma also leads to all that. ### [14.91](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.91) There are five minor vows, and three merit-vows, / and four vows of training: the layperson's Dharma is of twelve kinds. ### [14.92](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.92) When the two-fold Dharma had thus been explained in detail, / recognizing the occasion, the king questioned the sūri thus: ### [14.93](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.93) "By whom was the son of Kamalāvatī, as soon as he was born, / carried off in the forest, or remembering what previously committed enmity? ### [14.94](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.94) Where has he grown up, O venerable one? When will he meet with us? / Explain this in detail, having shown us your grace!" ### [14.95](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.95) Knowing that when told, it would benefit a multitude of people, / the omniscient one said: "We shall tell it; listen, O king! ### [14.96](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.96) In the continent of Dhātakīkhaṇḍa, in the eastern half, in the realm of Bharata, / there is an ancient city named Avarakaṅkā. ### [14.97](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.97) In it, a merchant named Ambaḍa had a wife named Acchuttā; / to her, in due course, three sons of distinguished form were born, ### [14.98](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.98) named Maṇḍana, Malhaṇa, and Candana; and they had three wives, / named Lakṣmī, Sarasvatī, and Sampadā, endowed with supreme beauty. ### [14.99](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.99) By nature gentle in their passions, endowed with supreme mutual affection, / fond of giving, and contented, those merchants lived happily. ### [14.100](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.100) Then once upon a time, Lakṣmī was seen by a rake named Ninna; / he was overcome by her beauty and charm. ### [14.101](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.101) He wooed her repeatedly, but she did not desire him even in thought. / Then on another day, Lakṣmī went to a lake for water. ### [14.102](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.102) Mounted on a horse, Ninna also came behind her; / seized by force in the desolate spot, she was placed upon the horse's back. ### [14.103](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.103) Lamenting, she was carried into the forest by the horse running swiftly; / in a battle with the Bhīlas, Ninna was killed in the forest. ### [14.104](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.104) Her ornaments taken, Lakṣmī was left there in the forest by the Bhīlas; / wandering there, having lost her bearings, she was eaten by a hungry lion. ### [14.105](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.105) Then Sarasvatī, the wife of Malhaṇa, being propositioned / by the merchant Mohila, related everything as it happened to her husband. ### [14.106](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.106) When Malhaṇa had gone and reported that event to the king, / Mohila was stripped of his wealth and banished by the king. ### [14.107](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.107) Having lived through many hundreds of thousands of pūrvas of their allotted lifespan, / all three died, and having bound a human lifespan, from there, ### [14.108](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.108) here in Jambūdvīpa, there is a city named Mekhalāvatī, / sprawling in the Āryan country in the noble realm of Airāvata. ### [14.109](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.109) There Bhīmaratha was king, and Kusumāvalī was his queen; / first Maṇḍana was conceived as her son. ### [14.110](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.110) And born at an auspicious time, large-eyed, resembling a divine youth, / he was given the name Kanakaratha at an appropriate time. ### [14.111](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.111) Gradually attaining youth, he took the hands of noble royal maidens / of pure lineage, headed by Rājaśrī. ### [14.112](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.112) Established in the rank of crown prince, he enjoyed excellent human pleasures / situated in the inner apartments, like a god in heaven. ### [14.113](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.113) In that city there were two wealthy caravan leaders, brothers of the same womb, / well known as Sāgaradatta and Samudradatta. ### [14.114](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.114) Then that Ninnayavaṇṭha was killed there in the forest by Bhīlas. / After wandering through several difficult births among animal wombs, ### [14.115](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.115) transmigrating, he was born as a son to the merchant-caravan leader Sāgaradatta / and his wife Dhanyā, named Subandhu. ### [14.116](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.116) The soul of Malhaṇa too, having died at the end of his lifespan, / was born to Sudarśanā, wife of Samudradatta, ### [14.117](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.117) as a son named Dhanapati, endowed with great beauty and skilled in the arts. / And there is a city named Vijayā right there in Airāvata. ### [14.118](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.118) In that city was an affluent caravan leader named Dhanabhūti; / his wife was named Sundarī, and his son was named Sudharman. ### [14.119](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.119) Then the merchant Candana also died and was born as the uterine younger brother / of that Sudharman, named Dhanavāhana. ### [14.120](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.120) Right there in Airāvata, in the city of Supratiṣṭhapura, lived Haridatta, / a wealthy man; and his wife was Vinayavatī, endowed with modesty. ### [14.121](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.121) Their son was Vasudatta. Now, that Lakṣmī at that time in the forest, / having been killed by a lion and wandered in animal wombs, ### [14.122](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.122) was born as the daughter of Vinayavatī, named Sulocanā, / younger sister to Vasudatta, exceedingly beautiful like the wife of a god. ### [14.123](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.123) Candana’s wife too, having died, / was thereupon born as Sulocanā's younger sister, Anaṅgavatī. ### [14.124](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.124) Meanwhile, Malhaṇa’s wife Sarasvatī, having died, / was born as the youngest of them both, named Vasumatī. ### [14.125](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.125) In this way, through the power of destiny, the three of them were born in one place / as sisters, full of mutual affection. ### [14.126](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.126) Having attained youth, they were married by their parents / to suitable bridegrooms of equal caste and endowed with beauty. ### [14.127](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.127) Moreover, the eldest, Sulocanā, was married to the soul of Ninnavaṇṭha, / the merchant named Subandhu, the son of Sāgaradatta. ### [14.128](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.128) The second, Anaṅgavatī, was married in the city of Vijayā / to Dhanabhūti's son named Dhanavāhana, her former beloved. ### [14.129](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.129) The third, named Vasumatī, was married to the soul of Malhaṇa, her former beloved, / Dhanapati, the son of Samudradatta. ### [14.130](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.130) Except for the eldest, Sulocanā, through the power of destiny, / they were joined with their beloveds of previous births, filled with affection. ### [14.131](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.131) Because of familiarity from the previous birth, Sulocanā was dear to Subandhu; / yet he was not so to her. In this way the days passed. ### [14.132](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.132) Now, one day Kanakaratha, in order to ride his horse, / set out along the royal highway accompanied by a troop of soldiers. ### [14.133](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.133) Then the city-women, climbing up onto the roofs of their respective mansions, / set out in this manner to gaze at the prince as he departed. ### [14.134](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.134) One \[woman\], seeing the prince full of charm and equal in form to the God of Love, / thought: 'Blessed is she whose beloved is he!' ### [14.135](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.135) Another, her mind fixed on looking at the prince, her activities abandoned, / having motionless eyes, assumed the demeanor of a celestial maiden. ### [14.136](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.136) Yet another, holding in her hand a necklace of sparkling pearls, appeared / like a yoginī absorbed in meditation, holding a rosary of crystal. ### [14.137](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.137) One woman, having rushed forth in the excitement of curiosity, then withdrawing in apprehension of her elders, / shone as if mounted on a swing at the prince's departure. ### [14.138](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.138) One with playfully fluttering eyes, heaving sighs as she gazed at the prince, / seemed to her clever female companions as if struck in her limbs by the arrows of Love. ### [14.139](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.139) One kisses her child, another clings to the neck of her female friend; / another sings, and one calls out loudly. ### [14.140](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.140) Wherever the prince glanced, playfully turning his neck, / right there the festival of beauty swelled among the women of the city. ### [14.141](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.141) And thus being watched with passionate eyes by the city-women, / he gradually arrived at the vicinity of Sāgaradatta's house. ### [14.142](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.142) He was seen by Sulocanā, who was standing at a window; and by him too / was seen this woman, radiant with wide eyes glossed with collyrium. ### [14.143](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.143) From the familiarity of a previous birth, through gazing at each other, / an exceedingly intense passion arose in both of them in just an instant. ### [14.144](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.144) Then, hastening, his body mounted on the horse, the prince rode on / in body, but not in mind—his heart stolen by Sulocanā's beauty. ### [14.145](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.145) He asked his childhood friend Sumati: 'O friend, whose is this / young woman standing at the window, with a mirror in her busy hand?' ### [14.146](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.146) 'O prince, this is named Sulocanā, the wife of the merchant Subandhu, / son of Sāgaradatta.' When this was spoken in turn by Sumati, ### [14.147](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.147) having exercised his horse, Kanakaratha returned to his own palace; / his limbs agitated by the arrows of Love, he pondered a means to obtain her: ### [14.148](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.148) 'What use to me is splendour, what use is a harem or kingship, / if I do not attain the role of a bee upon the lotus of her face? ### [14.149](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.149) Even if such a deed is opposed by the world for those born of good family, / nevertheless, separated from her, I am not able even to sustain life. ### [14.150](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.150) Having learned through sending a messenger the feeling in her heart, / if she too desires it, I shall place her in my own harem.' ### [14.151](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.151) Having reflected thus, a clever female ascetic was summoned by him: / 'Do it in such a way, revered lady, that she becomes my lover!' ### [14.152](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.152) She went into solitude and spoke to her with such cleverness / that, having revealed her true feelings, \[Sulocanā\] quickly confessed what was in her heart: ### [14.153](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.153) 'You appear distressed, daughter! Why? With what do you have concern? / I will bring it, even if exceedingly difficult to attain, by the power of my spells.' ### [14.154](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.154) She said: 'Revered lady, my heart longs for an unattainable person, / like a penniless, wretched man longing for the meal of an emperor. ### [14.155](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.155) Just as some shameless female dog desires union with a lion, / just so, revered lady, do I desire union with the prince.' ### [14.156](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.156) She said: 'Even this, my daughter, I will bring about by the power of spells! / How small a matter is this, wherever my spell shines forth? ### [14.157](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.157) Do not despair, daughter! I will apply a spell in such a way / that this very day your union with the prince will occur.' ### [14.158](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.158) 'Revered lady, it must be done in such a way that no humiliation comes to me in the world.' / Having spoken thus, she gave her own pearl necklace. ### [14.159](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.159) Thereupon the female ascetic, having gone, reported everything to the prince. / He too, with a delighted mind, had her brought by his own men. ### [14.160](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.160) Sulocanā was placed in his harem by him, his mind infatuated with passion, / disregarding popular reproach and transgressing his own propriety. ### [14.161](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.161) And the citizens, having perceived the feud, reported it to the king; / he too instructed \[the prince\] in many ways with sweet words. ### [14.162](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.162) Yet he did not wish to release her. Then, realizing his stubbornness, / the king spoke to the citizens: 'We are powerless against the prince.' ### [14.163](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.163) He does not let go by conciliation, and punishment cannot be applied to the prince; / therefore, forgive this one offense of our prince.” ### [14.164](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.164) Hearing these words of the king, the citizens, with crestfallen faces, / downcast and joyless, all returned just as they had come. ### [14.165](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.165) Even Kanakaratha, his mind constantly attached to the pleasure of love with her, / gradually became indifferent to enjoying the rest of the inner apartments. ### [14.166](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.166) He did not think of state policy, did not go outside, did not give audience; / together with Sulocanā, he remained in diverse amusements. ### [14.167](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.167) In this way, much time passed for that king's son, / whose mind was intent upon the pleasant touch of her fresh youth. ### [14.168](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.168) Now, at another time, queen Rāyasirī, who was previously his beloved, / feeling humiliated and seized by anger, ### [14.169](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.169) threw a madness-inducing powder, provided by an attendant mendicant woman, / onto the heads of the two while they slept in seclusion. ### [14.170](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.170) Under its influence, both immediately became insane; / they sang, laughed, and babbled nonsensically in many ways. ### [14.171](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.171) Then Bhīmaratha summoned many sorcerers; / thinking, “This is a disturbance by evil spirits,” they too performed rituals. ### [14.172](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.172) Moreover, having made a bodily protection, some, firmly grasping them during incantations, / struck them with heavy blows of their palms and with lashes of the whip. ### [14.173](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.173) Some, having drawn \[diagrams\] on the floor and placing \[the two\] attentively within, / recited mantras and repeatedly struck them with enchanted white mustard seeds. ### [14.174](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.174) Others, mixing rare calf dung with bdellium and the like / and throwing it into a brazier, administered fumigation. ### [14.175](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.175) Physicians, suspecting a disorder of wind, undertook various treatments, / but no benefit arose for them. ### [14.176](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.176) Time passed for them, appearing like madfolk, their minds lost. / Then once, at night, when the guards had fallen asleep, ### [14.177](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.177) breaking their chains, they secretly escaped from the city; / both wandered about, tormented by the great suffering of cold, heat, and wind. ### [14.178](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.178) Thus, best of kings, having been happy in saṃsāra, one becomes miserable; / even a king roams for alms, and sleeps on the bare earth without shelter. ### [14.179](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.179) Having been adorned with excellent food, ointments, and ornaments, / they wandered for alms from house to house, tormented by suffering. ### [14.180](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.180) Bedusted with dirt, their antics mocked by crowds of boys, / dressed in tattered rags of old cloth, they wandered most miserably. ### [14.181](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.181) A spectacle for a crowd of boys, intensely lamented by wise men: / behold, best of kings, what that couple became through the fault of karma! ### [14.182](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.182) And so, such was their case. Meanwhile, in the city named Vijaya, / Ghanavāhana, passionate for Anaṅgavatī, enjoyed pleasures. ### [14.183](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.183) Awakened by his elder brother, the sūri Suharma, / he, together with Anaṅgavatī, renounced the world in the presence of the sūri. ### [14.184](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.184) Meanwhile, Dhanapati, joined in love with Vasumatī, / enjoyed human pleasures of five kinds. ### [14.185](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.185) Just as the merchant Mohila had been exiled from his country by the king, / having performed such penance, which had happiness as its fruit, \[he died\]. ### [14.186](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.186) He was reborn on Mount Vaitāḍhya, in Vaijayantapura on the northern slope, / as the son of Cittaṅgada and Pṛthvī, named Sumaṅgala. ### [14.187](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.187) Having mastered many kinds of magical sciences, roaming the vault of the sky, / he once playfully arrived in the city of Meghalāvatī. ### [14.188](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.188) Ascending the palace roof, he saw Vasumatī bathing; / due to familiarity from a previous birth, he became enamored of her beauty. ### [14.189](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.189) Taking the form of Dhanapati, he enjoyed the innocent Vasumatī; / intent on lovemaking with her, he remained there in the guise of Dhanapati. ### [14.190](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.190) The merchant Dhanapati, however, due to the fault of karma acquired in a past birth, / was abducted by him and abandoned right here in Vinītā in Bharata. ### [14.191](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.191) There, at the feet of the omniscient Dandavīrya, born of the lineage of the Jina Ṛṣabha, / he became disgusted with worldly life and renounced the world. ### [14.192](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.192) Practicing fierce penance for thirty hundred-thousand pūrvas, / he was reborn in the Īśāna heaven as a deva named Candrārjuna. ### [14.193](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.193) By that enraged deva, Sumaṅgala, who was intent on another's wife, had his excellent magic lore severed, / and was cast beyond Mount Mānuṣottara. ### [14.194](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.194) Then Vasumatī was awakened by the deva, and having felt intense spiritual urgency, / she became an āryikā at the feet of the sūri Suharma and the pavattinī. ### [14.195](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.195) In this way, Anaṅgavatī, joined there with the āryikā Vasumatī, / performed fierce penance at the feet of Candrayaśā, the head of the nuns. ### [14.196](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.196) Then once, when they had gone out to the privy-ground, / that insane couple was seen by them, surrounded by many children, ### [14.197](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.197) singing loudly in many ways, dancing, their bodies soiled with dust. / Seeing them, Anaṅgavatī, filled with sorrow, said: ### [14.198](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.198) “Noble lady Vasumatī! This woman resembles my sister Sulocanā, / wearing rags of old cloth, standing beside a man possessed by a spirit!” ### [14.199](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.199) Vasumatī, gazing attentively for a long time, said with sorrow: / “Surely, this is that Kanakaratha, and this is Sulocanā!” ### [14.200](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14.200) Then both went up and addressed the couple sweetly, / \[who only\] sang out, laughed, danced, and spoke much nonsense. _First 200 of 251 passages. [Read on](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14)_ ## Linked texts (1) - [Surasuṃdarīcariya](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya.14.1) — Dhaneśvara, Māhārāṣṭrī Prakrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14](https://indike.org/pramana/in.jaina.post.katha.surasundaricariya~en-mt.14) · Pramāṇa