History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c16.s1.1

c16.s1.1

After the death of Gosāla, Mahāvīra is said to have prophesied his future births.¹ He forecast that the false prophet would ascend to the *Accua-kappa* heaven, and would there enjoy divinity for twelve *sāgarovamāim* periods. Then he would be reborn on earth as Mahāpaüma, the son of King Sammuti and his queen Bhaddā, in the city of Sayaduvāra in the land of the Paṇḍas, which is situated at the foot of the Vindhyas in Bhāratavarṣa. On his accession the two *devas* Puṇṇabhadda and Māṇibhadda would serve as his generals (*seṇā-kammam kāhinti*), and he would ride through the city on a white elephant; hence he would obtain the titles Devaseṇa and Vimalavāhaṇa. He would become a violent persecutor of Jainas until, one day insulting the ascetic Sumaṅgala while the latter was engaged in meditation, he would be reduced by the magic power of the saint's asceticism to a heap of ashes.