Sadhvi Vishrut Vibha
Once Lord Mahavir was in Rajgriha. Shrenik, the emperor, went to a garden named Gunashilak to pay his homage to Lord Mahavir. Chelana, the other queens, his son Abhaykumar and some of his reputed citizens accompanied him. The cruelest butcher of the city, Kalsaukarik also reached there. All of a sudden an old leper, with pus exuding from his body joined the assembly. He went straight up to Lord Mahavir and rubbed the pus on Lord Mahavir's body.
The old leper rubbing his body against Lord Mahavir and Shrenik, Abhaykumar and the butcher watching this.
At that very moment, Lord Mahavir sneezed and the old leper asked Lord Mahavir to die soon. When Shrenik sneezed, the old leper blessed him with a long life. When Abhaykumar sneezed, the old man commented that he may live or die but when Kalsaukarik, the butcher, sneezed, the old man proclaimed that he should neither live nor die.
This rude behavior of the old leper created great chaos in the assembly and Shrenik ordered his security men to imprison him. But as soon as the soldiers rose to catch him, he disappeared. Watching all these happenings, a question arose in Shrenik's mind and he requested Lord Mahavir to explain, who this strange old leper was. He also wanted to know what his comments meant. Thus, Lord Mahavir replied, "This strange old leper was not an ordinary man. In reality, he was an angel. The pus flowing out from his body had an aroma of sandalwood. Whatever he spoke was not wrong, it had a deep meaning which was revealing truth."
When Shrenik requested Lord Mahavir to unveil the secret, Lord Mahavir said, "The old man asked me to die soon and by saying so he meant that when I leave my body I shall attain salvation." Shrenik asked the meaning of the words used by the angel in his context too. To this Lord Mahavir replied, "If you die, you will take birth in hell where you will have to suffer a lot. So it is better for you to remain in this life for long." Now, Abhaykumar was very eager to know the meaning of the words said for him. Lord Mahavir explained, "In your next life, you will be born in heaven, so it makes no difference whether you live here or go there." Next, Lord Mahavir satisfied Kalsaukarik's query. He said, "Kalsaukarik! you have been too cruel to be forgiven. You have engrossed yourself in violent activities throughout your life. Neither will you get peace in this life nor you will get peace after this life as you will go to hell. Both your lives are miserable. Therefore, you neither deserve life nor death."
Thus, we can conclude by saying that we should never harm anybody because in the end we will have to repent for those wrong deeds. Some way or the other, we have to pay for our good and evil deeds. It has, truly, been said that 'As you sow, so shall you reap'.
