The sprite said, “O king! in the country of Gaur there is a city called
Baradmãn, and the king of that place was named Gunshekhar. His minister
was a follower of the Jain persuasion, Abhaichand by name. Through his
persuasion, the king, too, entered the pale of the Jain religion. He
prohibited the worship of Shiva, as also that of Vishnu, and offerings
of cattle, grants of land, oblations * to deceased ancestors, gambling
and intoxicating liquors--all these he interdicted: no one was allowed
to practise them in the city, and no one could carry away bones to
the Ganges. And the minister, too, with the king’s sanction for these
matters, had it proclaimed in the city, that whoever performs these
acts, the king will confiscate all his property, and inflict punishment
on him, and expel him from the city.”
* These oblations consist of balls (pind) of meat, or rice
mixed up with milk, curds, flowers, &c., and offered to the
manes at the several Shraddhas (or funeral ceremonies and
worship of the manes) by the nearest surviving relations.
“Thereafter the minister said one day to the king, ‘Attend, O king! to
an exposition of the sacred law Whosoever takes the life of any one,
this same takes his life also in another state of existence. It is on
account of this sin that living and dying are inseparable from man on
his entering this world. He is born again and again, and again he dies.
Hence, it behoves man, on his being born into the world, to treasure up
virtuous deeds. Observe (how) Brahmã, Yishnü, Mahãdeva, in one form or
another, become incarnate in the world under the influence of love,
anger, covetousness, or infatuation! A cow, forsooth, is superior to
them, for she is free from passion, hatred, pride, anger, covetousness,
infatuation; moreover, she sustains the subjects. And the sons which are
born to her also impart the utmost ease to the living things of the
earth, and cherish them. It is for this reason that all the deities and
holy sages hold the cow sacred. Therefore, to worship the gods, is not
well: worship the cow in this world. And it is a duty to protect the
life of every animal, from the elephant to the ant; including beasts,
birds, &c., up to man; there is no duty equal to that in the world.
Those who add to their flesh by eating the flesh of other creatures,
ultimately suffer the torments of hell. Hence it is incumbent on man to
preserve life. Those who regard not the sufferings of others, but go on
destroying the life of other creatures, and eating them--their lives are
shortened on the earth, and they are born cripples, or lame, or blind of
one eye, or blind of both eyes, or dwarfs, or hunch-backed, or with some
such bodily defect. According to the limbs of beasts and birds which
they devour, they eventually lose similar members of their own. Further,
the drinking of intoxicating liquors is a great sin. Hence the
consumption of flesh and intoxicating drinks is not right.’”
“Thus unfolding to the king the wisdom stored up in his mind, the
minister made him so sound a convert to the Jain faith, that whatever
he advised the king did; and he paid no respect to any Brahman, ascetic,
itinerant devotee, or religious mendicant; * and governed his kingdom
according to this religion. One day, coming under the power of death, he
died. Thereupon his son, Dharm-dhwaj by name, ascended the throne, and
began to reign. One day, having had the minister, Abhaichand, seized,
and seven plaits made of the hair on his head, and his face blackened,
and (the minister) himself seated on a donkey, and a drum beaten and
hands clapped (in derision) after him, he then banished him from the
kingdom, and carried on his government free from all anxiety.”
* The sewra, sanyasi, and darwesh, are all religious
mendicants; the first is of the Jain religion, the second a
Brahman, and the third a Muhammadan.
“One day, in the spring-time, the king, accompanied by his queens, went
to take a stroll in a garden. There was a large tank in that garden, and
the lotus was in full bloom therein. On beholding the beauty of the
tank, the king stripped off his clothes, and went down to bathe. Having
plucked a flower, and come to the side, he was handing it to one of the
queens, when it slipped from his hand and fell on the queen’s foot; and
by the blow it inflicted the queen’s foot was broken. On this the king
became alarmed, and forthwith coming out from the tank, began applying
remedies; and in the meantime night came on, and the moon shone forth.
No sooner did the moon’s beams fall, than blisters arose on the body of
the second queen. Farther, just then the sound of a wooden pestle
from some householder’s suddenly reached the third queen, and she was
instantly attacked with so severe a headache, that she fainted away.”
After narrating so much, the sprite said, “O king! which of these three
was the most delicate?” The king replied, “The one who got the pain in
the head and fainted away, she was the most delicate.” On hearing these
words, the sprite again went and suspended himself on that tree; and the
king went there and took him down, and, making a bundle of him, placed
him on his shoulder, and walked off with him.