Sadhvi Vishrut Vibha
Spiritual Wealth
Once upon a time, there lived a well-known king, Dashaarnabhadra, who ruled over a very prosperous kingdom, Dashaarnapura. One day, a messenger came to his court to inform him about the arrival of Lord Mahavira in his city. He was delighted to receive this message. Then and there, he bowed his head as a token of respect to Lord Mahavira and rewarded the messenger.
King Dashaarnabhadra was very proud of his status and prestige. He wanted to show his wealth and power to Lord Mahavira. He wanted to become the first person to visit him in order to show his fascinating and glamorous lifestyle as well as his pride, wealth and power. He was looking forward to Lord Mahavira ‘samavasaran’.
The next morning, he dressed up in his best clothes and adorned his body with previous jewels and ornaments. His five hundred queens also accompanied him along with his four-fold army. Thousands of citizens too followed him. Dancers dancing to the drumbeats, singers performing in their melodious voices, trumpets announcing the king’s arrival, with pomp and show, the procession moved forward. They finally arrived at Lord Mahavira’s ‘samavasaran’.
When Indra, the king of gods, came to know about this incident, he though that Dashaarnabhadra should be awakened and made to realize the momentariness of this material world. So Indra went to Lord Mahavira’s ‘samavasaran’ with all his ostentation and glory to outshine Dashaarnabhadra.
After seeing Indra’s prosperity Dashaarnabhadra thought, “How petty I am I was proud of my prosperity, my wealth, my status, my power and my kingdom. Indra must have performed good deeds in his previous birth; as a result of which he has achieved enormous prosperity in heaven”. His conscious mind became aware of the fact and thought that, he should also perform some good deeds for his spiritual upliftment. This became detached from the material world and decided to leave it. With the blessings of Lord Mahavira he became a monk.
Indra praised Dashaarnabhadra and said, “You have proved that your spiritual wealth is more precious than my material one”.
