The Baital said, O king, in the Gaur country, Vardhman by name, there is a city, and one
called Gunshekhar was the Raja of that land. His minister was one Abhaichand, a
Jain, by whose teachings the king also came into the Jain faith.
The worship of Shiva and of Vishnu, gifts of cows, gifts of lands, gifts of rice
balls,gaming and spirit-drinking, all these he prohibited. In the city no man could
get leave to do them, and as for bones, into the Ganges no man was allowed to
throw them, and in these matters the minister, having taken orders from the
king, caused a proclamation to be made about the city, saying, "Whoever
these acts shall do, the Raja having confiscated, will punish him and banish
him from the city."
Now one day the Diwan(a minister) began to say to the Raja, " Whosoever takes
the life of another, his life also in the future birth is taken: this very sin causes
him to be born again and again upon earth and to die And thus he ever continues
to be born again and to die. Hence for one who has found entrance into this
world to cultivate religion is right and proper. Be pleased to behold! By love,
by wrath, by pain, by desire, and by fascination overpowered, the gods Brahma,
Vishnu, and Mahadeva (Shiva) in various ways upon the earth are ever becoming
incarnate. Far better than they is the Cow, who is free from passion, enmity,
drunkenness, anger, covetousness, and inordinate affection, who supports
mankind, and whose progeny in many ways give ease and solace to the creatures
of the world These deities and sages (munis) believe in the Cow
"For such reason to believe in the gods is not good. Upon this earth be pleased to
believe in the Cow. It is our duty to protect the life of everyone, beginning
from the elephant, through ants, beasts, and birds, up to man. In the world
righteousness equal to that there is none. Those who, eating the flesh of other
creatures, increase their own flesh, shall in the fulness of time assuredly
obtain the fruition of Narak (hell) hence for a man it is proper to attend to
the conversation of life. They who understand not the pain of other creatures,
and who continue to slay and to devour them, last but few days in the land, and
return to mundane existence, maimed, limping, one-eyed, blind, dwarfed,
hunchbacked, and imperfect in such wise. Just as they consume the bodies of
beasts and of birds, even so they end by spoiling their own bodies. From
drinking spirits also the great sin arises, hence the consuming of spirits and
flesh is not advisable."
The minister having in this manner explained to the king the sentiments of his
own mind, so brought him over to the Jain faith, that whatever he said, so the king did.
Thus in Brahmans, in Jogis, in Janganis, in Sevras, in Sannyasis,and in religious
mendicants, no man believed, and according to this creed the rule was carried
on.
Now one day,being in the power of Death, Raja Gunshekhar died. Then his son Dharmadhwaj sat
upon the throne, and began to rule. Presently he caused the minister Abhaichand
to be seized, had his head shaved all but seven locks of hair, ordered his face
to be blackened, and mounting him on an ass, with drums beaten, had him led all
about the city, and drove him from the kingdom. From that time he carried on
his rule free from all anxiety.
It so happened that in the season of spring, the king Dharmadhwaj, taking his queens
with him, went for a stroll in the garden, where there was a large tank with
lotuses blooming within it. The Raja admiring its beauty, took off his clothes
and went down to bathe.
After plucking a flower and coming to the bank, he was going to give it into the
hands of one of his queens, when it slipped from his fingers, fell upon her
foot, and broke it with the blow. Then the Raja being alarmed, at once came out
of the tank, and began to apply remedies to her.
Hereupon night came on, and the moon shone brightly: the falling of its rays on the body
of the second queen formed blisters And suddenly from a distance the sound of a
wooden pestle came out of a householder's dwelling, when the third queen
fainted away with a severe pain in the head.
Having spoken thus much the Baital said "O my king! of these three which is the most
delicate?" The Raja answered, "She indeed is the most delicate who
fainted in consequence of the headache." The Baital hearing this speech,
went and hung himself from the very same tree, and the Raja, having gone there
and taken him down and fastened him in the bundle and placed him on his
shoulder, carried him away.
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