DAMANAK

In the city of Rajpur, there lived a man named Kulaputra. Jaindas, a Jain Shravak, was his close friend. In the company of his friend, Kulaputra came in touch with the Jain Munis and undertook the vow not to eat fish.
Once a terrible famine broke out in the city, and people started living on fish. Even the staunchest vegetarians changed their diet, and there was hardly a household where fish was not a staple food. Now, Kulaputra’s vow was on a severe trial. His wife said to him one day, “Don’t you see, there is no food even for the children, and they are starving ? And yet you are so very indifferent. Why don’t you buy me some fish ? I can’t do without it.”
Kulaputra responded, “You see, my dear, I have no desire to deprive other living beings of their life just to save my own. Grains are our food. I can’t extend my hands to fish. I have affection for my children, but I have a similar affection for everyone else. I can’t overlook this. Above all, I will not break my vow.”
Kulaputra’s brother-in-law forced him to accompany him to the riverbank in order to catch fish. Very reluctantly he went with him and very indifferently he threw his net in the water. But what a wonder ! He had the largest catch. When Kulaputra saw that the fish were very uneasy and restless outside the water, he at once released them in the stream. He tried thrice, but on each occasion the outcome was the same, and he released the fish into the stream on all the three occasions.
Burdened with dissimilar thoughts moving up and down in his mind, he went on fast unto death and was liberated of the mortal frame. He was born in the family of a merchant named Manihar in the city of Rajgruhi and was given the name Dhamanak.
Manihar was a man of great wealth and fortune. But by the time Dhamanak was eight years old, there broke out an epidemic in which all members of the merchant’s family except Dhamanak died. He had now no guardian to look after him, and the vast property took no time to disappear. At last, the orphan took shelter with another merchant, Sagarpoat by name.
One day, some Munis came to Sagarpoat’s house to seek food. The eldest of them, when he saw the boy, casually observed to his fellow Munis that when the boy’s auspicious Karmas would come up, he would be the head of this very household.
Naturally, the observation could not be relished by the merchant, particularly because he had a son to inherit his fortune. So at once he thought out a plan to kill him. He sent for the butcher and gave him the assignment. The butcher took the boy to a deep forest. But as he looked at his face, he took pity on him and could not withhold his disgust of the merchant who had given him a cruel assignment. He pierced Dhamanak’s finger, took a few drops of blood, and released him. He asked him to flee at once and never again to show his face in that region.
When all alone in the forest and deeply afflicted by terror, Dhamanak met a cowherd, who heard his account and took him home. Here started a new chapter in his life. He was now assisting the cowherd, and this work he did not dislike.
Some years passed in this way, and Dhamanak was now a young man. One day, it so happened that the merchant Sagarpoat came to that very place on business. He saw the young man and liked him very much. He learnt on inquiry that this was an orphan whom the cowherd had picked up from the forest years back.
The merchant now had no doubt that this was the boy whom he had himself condemned years ago. His old apprehensions revived, and once more he was determined to wipe him out of existence. So he requested the cowherd to lend him the service of the boy to carry an urgent message to his son.
Dhamanak reached the outskirts of the city of Rajgruhi with the merchant’s letter in his hand. He took shelter in a temple to rest and did not know when he fell fast asleep. The envelope lay beside him.
Just then, the merchant’s daughter Bisa came to the temple. When her eyes fell on an envelope addressed to her own brother, she could not check the temptation to pick it up. When she read it, she found that her brother had been commissioned by her father to administer dreadful venom to the bearer thereof as soon as he reached him.
Bisa looked at the young man, reread the letter, and again looked at him. She did not understand why her father had given such a cruel order. Now, poison is called ‘Bis’ in the north Indian dialects, and the girl, by a gentle stroke of the pen, changed ‘Bis’ into Bisa, which was her own name. Then she put the letter from where she had picked it up and silently departed.
The letter was duly delivered to the merchant’s son, and the merchant’s wishes were duly honored to the very letter of the note. When the merchant returned home, he found to his greatest disgust that the young man he had condemned had turned into the next of his kin. He felt helpless and bitter.
A minor stroke of a pen thus changed into a major stroke of fortune. But the merchant’s thinking did not change. He was still bent on killing the young man, even though that would be a great misfortune for his own daughter.
So he instructed some of his faithful men to be on the lookout for a suitable opportunity to kill him. When auspicious Karma is up, no one can do as much as to bend your hair, let alone kill you. The men were unsuccessful in their assignment.
One day, the whole family, including Dhamanak, had gone to a friend’s house to participate in an occasion. Dhamanak returned somewhat early. But since the entrance door was locked, he lay outside on a cot. Somehow he felt restless, got up and went away for a little walk. Meanwhile his brother-in-law returned. But since the entrance was still locked, he lay on the same cot and was soon asleep.
Now, the merchant’s men, who were after Dhamanak, saw him lying on the cot outside. They went to get their weapons. By the time they returned with sharp weapons, the person on the cot had changed, and thus the most unfortunate victim of the merchant’s order was none other than his own dear son. Thus one does not know how a ditch dug for another may turn out to be a big well for the digger himself.
Having lost his only son, the merchant had now no other alternative but to change his attitude toward his Dhamanak. He discussed the matter with his wife, and the two unanimously came to the conclusion that they can’t change the prediction made by the Muni and accordingly Dhamanak should be entrusted with full responsibility of running the household.
Mysterious is the turn of Karmas. Dhamanak, who was born in a rich family and had lost his all, was again in command of a huge fortune.
For many years, Dhamanak enjoyed the prosperity and happiness of the earthly life. Then he adopted the vows of a Shravak and followed them rigorously, enriching thereby his life on earth, and, at death, finding a place among the celestial beings.