Page Text
________________
468
"Decorate the best of elephants and make them ready for me. Mobilise the four-fold army for a full procession. Prepare the chariots for the queens, Subhadra and others. Ciean the city of Campā both from inside and outside. Erect platforms at various places for the use of the members of the public. I shall go to pay my homage and obeisance to Bhagavān Mahāvira".
All preparations were ready as per the king's order. The king sat on the best of elephants, Subhadra and other queens took their seats on the chariots. Followed by the magnificient fourfold army, the king set out to see Bhaga - ván Mahavira and pay his homage and obeisance(81). Passing through the heart of Campa, the royal party reached the vicinity of the Pürnabhadra caitya. As the superhuman marks announcing the presence of a Tirthankara came with in his sight from a distance, he gave up the elephant, and discarded the five emblems of kingship. From there, walking, he came within the august presence of Bhagavān Mahāvira, and bowed before him in due manner. Then he took his seat, worshipping the Bhagavan with his mind, words and body(82).
Bhagavān Mahavira gave out his sermon to the assembly, and he spoke in Ardh-Māgadhi language. In the course of the sermon, he said,
"There is the sphere, and there is the non-sphere. Likewise, there are soul and non-soul, bondage and liberation, virtue and vice, influx of kar ma, their check, their experience, their exhaustion, etc. There are slaughter, falsehood, usurpation, sex indulgence accumulation, anger, pride, attachment and greed. There are abstention from slaughter, from falsehodd, from usurpation, from sex indulgence, from superfluous accumulation, till from the thorn of wrong faith. There is asti - hood in all the astis and nāsti -hood in all the năstis. Good deeds yield good results as bad deeds yield bad results. All souls touch virture and vice, pass through life and death and allow virtue and vice to fructify. There are two types of religion, religion of the homeless (anagāra) monks, and religion of the householder. The former religion demands that a person gets tonsured, and goes out
| SR No. | 022804 |
| Book Title | Agama And Tripitaka Comparative Study |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Nagaraj Muni |
| Publisher | Today and Tomorrows Printers and Publishers |
| Publication Year | 1986 |
| Total Pages | 804 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 19 MB |