2500 years back Magadha was a growing kingdom. Kushagrapur in the present state of Bihar was its capital. Before the times of Lord Mahavir, king Prasenjit was ruling over there. He was a devotee of Lord Parshwanath's order. He had many sons. He wanted to know which one of them was most suitable to be the heir to his kingdom.
For this purpose he administered some tests. Once he invited all of them for a dinner. As they started eating, the king released royal hounds at them. All of them except prince Shrenik ran away. Staying unafraid, Shrenik picked up the food from the plates left by his brothers and started giving that food to the hounds. That way he could keep the hounds at arm's length, while he ate his food. The king was pleased with his dexterity. He however felt that if he showed his favor for Shrenik, other princes would be jealous. He therefore outwardly remarked that it was not befitting a prince to eat by the side of the dogs.
On another occasion, the king presented to his sons sealed baskets of sweets and earthen pots of water and asked them to eat and drink without opening the baskets or pots. All others were non-plussed by these instructions and left without eating. Shrenik, however, broke the sweets into small pieces by knocking the baskets and started eating as the particles came out of the joints of the baskets. He also noticed that the water pots were new and water was oozing out of the pores. He therefore put a silver bowl below a pot. By the time, he finished eating, enough water had accumulated in the bowl out of the pores. He therefore used it for his purpose. The king was watching all this. He was pleased with the intellect and smartness of Shrenik. Once again however, he outwardly criticized Shrenik for eating particles of sweets like a beggar.
In Kushagrapur, fire used to break out frequently. In order to prevent the reoccurrence of such incidents, the king proclaimed that if fire breaks out any where henceforth, the owner of the house would be held responsible for the negligence and would be turned out of the city. Once it so happened that a wild fire broke out in king's palace on account of the negligence of some cook. The king announced that the princes could take out and keep anything that they liked from the palace.
Other princes took out jewelry and other valuables, while Shrenik picked up only the royal bugle. When he was asked to explain his choice, he said that he selected the bugle, because it was the symbol of royal victory and proclamations from the bugle are binding to every one. The king was again pleased with his selection and decided that Shrenik would be his heir to the throne. In order to save him from the envy of his brothers, he however did not announce his decision.
True to his proclamation, the king decided to leave the city, because he was supposed to be responsible for the fire in his palace. He then set up his camp a couple of miles away. People concerned with administration had to go there. Later on, other people too started settling in that place. It came to be known as Rajgruhi because of the king's residence there. Gradually that place grew to be the capital city of Magadha. It turned out to be one of the most well known and thriving cities of that time.
As the princes grew up, the king sent them away as governors in different parts of his kingdom. Since he wanted to groom Shrenik as his successor, he did not allot any governorship to him and intentionally asked him to stay in Rajgruhi. Shrenik however could not make out his father's design. He felt insulted and thought that he was out of favor with the king. Getting frustrated, one day he left Rajgruhi without informing any one about his departure.
He proceeded eastward and after traveling for a few days he reached the city of Benatat in Bengal. There was a trader named Bhadra whose business had for some time been shrinking without any conceivable reason. Shrenik came to his business place and sat for a while for taking rest. It was a day of some festival. Almost every one was out for shopping. Many of them flocked to Bhadra's store. Rush was so great that it was almost impossible for him to cope with the unimaginably good demand. Shrenik thereupon volunteered to help him.
On account of the smartness of Shrenik in doing the job, Bhadra could do lot of business that day. By the time he got ready for the lunch, he was done with most of the customers. He was overjoyed with the business that he could make. It was far beyond his expectation. He realized that he could not have made that much business, but for the help rendered by that unknown youth. He was highly appreciative of Shrenik and thought that the briskness of his business that day could be due to the presence of that auspicious young man. He therefore decided to invite Shrenik to come to his home for lunch.
Shrenik was hungry. He therefore gladly accepted the invitation. At lunch, Bhadra, who was much impressed by the personality of Shrenik, inquired about his name and whereabouts. Shrenik did not want to declare that he was the son of king of Magadha. He therefore did not disclose his identity; but he did indicate that he was looking for some responsible work. Bhadra was very pleased with Shrenik's politeness and good manners. He had no sons and he was getting old. As such, he was badly in need of a smart and reliable person to help him in his business. In Shrenik, he saw his hope for reviving his business and reputation. He therefore invited him to join his business and to stay with him. Shrenik accepted his offer and undertook the task of expanding the business. He had a special knack to please the customers. Very soon he took over all the aspects of business. After his taking over, the business grew by leaps and bounds and in no time Bhadra became a well known entity of Benatat.
Bhadra had only a daughter whose name was Nanda. She was very beautiful and graceful. She was impressed with Shrenik from the day she saw him. In due course she developed love for him. Bhadra too was anxiously looking for a match for her. He was very happy with Shrenik whose qualities, personality and good manners left no doubt in his mind that the young man must have been from a very noble family.He therefore considered Shrenik to be a suitable match for his beloved daughter. He consulted his wife who had also formed the similar opinion for Shrenik. When Nanda therefore expressed her love for Shrenik, her parents were more than willing to satisfy her desire.
When the offer of marriage was put before Shrenik, he said that they knew nothing about himself and asked how advisable would it be to give their only daughter to a stranger ? Bhadra replied that his high qualities and good manners had convinced him that Shrenik must have been from a very noble family. He had therefore no hesitation in offering his daughter to him. Shrenik too was enamored of Nanda's beauty and grace. As a result of Bhadra's persuasion, he therefore agreed to accept the offer. Shortly afterwards, Shrenik and Nanda got married with fanfare befitting the status of a wealthy businessman.
After a while Nanda got pregnant. During that time it so happened that the king Prasenjit got very ill and did not expect to survive. He sent his messengers all around to find Shrenik. One of them came to Benatat and found out Shrenik. The messenger informed him about the precarious condition of his father and said that the king was on the deathbed and was anxiously waiting for his return to Rajgruhi. Shrenik faced a dilemma. On one side his father was on the deathbed and on the other side his beloved wife was pregnant.
Shrenik ultimately decided that he should at least see his father before he died. He did not know at that time that his father had selected him to be the heir to his kingdom. He therefore told his in-laws that his father being on the deathbed, he had to go urgently. To Nanda he gave a coded identity which stated that he was the herdsman of Rajgruhi. Then he left together with the messenger.
As he reached Rajgruhi, he was given a warm welcome that he had never anticipated. Soon after that he was crowned and was proclaimed the king of Magadha. In history he is known as king Bimbisar. Prasenjit died shortly after the coronation leaving the entire burden of the kingdom on the new king. Shrenik remained so preoccupied in his new assignment that he almost forgot all about Nanda.
While she was pregnant, Nanda got an irresistible urge to ride an elephant and to endow safety and security for every being. Thereupon her father arranged for a procession wherein Nanda rode an elephant and gave generous donations to all the people who needed the same.
In due course she gave birth to a very handsome, bright son. True to her urge during pregnancy he was named Abhaykumar, meaning bestower of safety and security. From the childhood the boy showed signs of exceptional intelligence and ability. At the age of eight he could master all the arts. At school there was no match for him. He could beat even grown up men in intelligence.
Once while he was playing with his friends, some boy who was jealous of his brightness picked up quarrel with him and called him fatherless. Abhaykumar was annoyed to hear it. Coming home he asked his mother about his father. Nanda was hesitating to tell him about his father who had forsaken her so long and whose identity was not even known to her. In desperation, she showed to him the token that Shrenik had left with her. Abhaykumar looked at it and immediately made out that his father was the king of Rajgruhi. He joyfully broke the news to his mother and grand parents..
That time, Abhaykumar was still a young boy. He however decided to take his mother to Rajgruhi. While reaching the outskirts of the city, he asked his mother to rest in a garden till he could arrange for a fitting reception for her.
That time Shrenik was looking for a capable man to be his prime minister. He deliberately threw his ring in a dry well and announced that whoever could get the ring without getting into the well, would be appointed as his prime minister. Many people had gathered near the well, but no one could think of any trick to get the ring while standing on the platform of the well. While Abhaykumar was passing by, he inquired about the reason for their flocking together.
When he knew about the king's announcement, he said that he could get the ring on king's terms, if he could be provided with what he needed for the purpose. King was amused when he was informed that a young boy had come forward to undertake the job. Still he agreed to let him try and instructed his men to provide whatever the boy needed.
Thereupon Abhaykumar called for fresh cowdung and threw it at the ring. Then he dropped a bundle of burning grass over the dung so as to turn it into hard dry cake in which the ring had tightly set in. He then arranged for diverting a water canal to the well. As the well got full of water, the dungcake with the ring came floating on the surface of water. Abhaykumar picked it up and got the ring out of the cake.
The king was very pleased when he heard that the young boy from some unknown place had fulfilled his terms. He wanted to see him.
As Abhaykumar was brought in his presence, the king spontaneously felt as if a current of affection was flowing from his heart. He joyfully embraced the boy and asked his name and place of his residence. Abhaykumar gave his name and said that he was coming from Benatat. Shrenik immediately remembered Nanda and asked Abhaykumar whether he knew the businessman Bhadra and his daughter Nanda. Abhaykumar replied that he was the grandson of Bhadra. As Shrenik learnt that Abhaykumar was his own son, his joy knew no bounds. He warmly embraced him once again and inquired about his mother. Shrenik was overjoyed to learn that his wife whom he had forsaken so long, was waiting just a little away. He arranged for her a reception befitting the queen and mother of the would be prime minister. Thus there was happy reunion of the parents. Abhaykumar, as he came to be known thereafter, was then duly proclaimed as the prime minister of Magadha.
Abhaykumar served in that capacity very long. His intelligence knew no bounds. Number of administrative and political problems arose during the realm of Shrenik. Abhaykumar solved all of them to the entire satisfaction of every one concerned.
Even today, the Jain traders write in their accounting books that they may be endowed with the intelligence of Abhaykumar.
कोई टिप्पणी नहीं:
एक टिप्पणी भेजें