Sadhvi Kalp Lata
Sadhvi Vijayshreeji was going to spend her Chaturmas in Sawai Madhopur. There was a village named Paranu which was sixty miles-away from Sawai Madhopur. There are many Digambar Jains in this village. It has a temple in which a divine idol has been established. Sadhvi Vijayshreeji along with her colleagues reached Paranu. They were in search of a place to stay, but people refused them. Already they were tired due to a long day journey and they were fed up when they could not find a place. Seeing the nuns roaming here and there, a goldsmith’s heart filled with compassion. He urged them, “My shop is not cemented, it is open from both sides and even the floor is not proper. If you like you may stay in my shop.” Listening to his words, the nuns took the weight off their shoulders, and took little rest.
Afterwards they were discussing whether they should go to another village in this hot noon. Suddenly, the sky was covered with clouds. Heavy rain made the weather pleasant. As the nuns had already covered a long distance they did not want to go further, but seeing the pleasant weather they left Paranu at 3 o’clock for their next destination. There was a village named Sivida which is about six or seven km., away from Paranu. They gathered this information from the villagers, when the nuns were about to leave the people stopped them: and said that they might face difficulty in their way. The nuns thought that they had already tolerated many hardships in that village. They did not get proper shelter, so they decided to face more difficulties. They did not pay heed to their advice and continued with their journey. They had hardly crossed two km., when the sky was covered with dark clouds and it started raining soon.
There was neither any tree nor any house for shelter up to 6 km. Standing steadily they tried to save their books from rain. As soon as the rain stopped, they moved forward. Their feet were covered with mud and clothes were drenched. The road was not visible till far away and the way was full of ups and downs. Wherever they kept their feet they felt as if they would fall. They alerted each other and walked towards the next village, reciting the Mantra ‘Om Bhikshu’. They were afraid of their bones getting fractured in that topsy-turvy way. They were also anxious about reaching their destination. Suddenly a powerful storm came and it seemed that it would sweep them away. In this grave situation the nuns sat closer and began chanting the Mantra of ‘Om Bhikshu’. While chanting the Mantra, Sadhvi Vijayshreeji said, “Swamiji! What will happen if we do not reach the destination in time? We are losing courage due to this unfavourable path. Now help us in this critical moment. The nuns uttered the Mantra repeatedly and felt that the storm was slowing down and they continued their journey onward. The weather became absolutely fair after crossing 2kms. And so they walked fast enthusiastically. All of a sudden, they saw a man -and asked him about how far was Sivar from there. The man replied that it would be about two or three miles away. From there they enquired about any hut or house in between their way. The man said boldly, “There is neither any house nor any hut, but they might come across thieves and robbers.”
Hearing this, the nuns were nervous and frightened. They recalled Bhikshu Swami and thought what more dangers would be ahead. They had a kasida (guard) with them, but he too was lost amidst the heavy rain and thunder. Reciting the Mantra ‘Om Bhikshu’ the nuns moved forward courageously. After sometime, they saw a few robust young men with big sticks in their hands coming towards them. The nuns were already nervous and seeing them they became more frightened. The youngest nun asked softly, “what to do now”? Meanwhile the head nun asked boldly, “How far is Sivida from here?” The men replied, “The village is just nearby.” They went away silently. It was the effect of Mantra that saved the nun’s lives and helped them in reaching their destination safely.
