KULADHARA’S DAUGHTER

Long ago, in the city of Champapuri, there lived a very rich merchant named Kuladhara, and his wife Kulananda. The merchant had seven daughters who were born by noble birth, and he called them Kamalashri, Kamalavati, Kamala, Lakshmi, Sarasvati, Jayamati, and Priyakarini. All the daughters were married to rich merchants, and were very happy. Kuladhara and his wife Kulananda gave birth to their eighth daughter, but they were not happy somehow. The parents were so unhappy at her birth that they did not even perform her naming ceremony. The eighth girl was less fortunate. Her father did not even care to find her a husband. If someone brought that to his attention, he would only say she would be settled, as soon as, he found the right groom for her. He was not worried about her happiness at all.

One day, while Kuladhara was at his work, a strange young man came up to him. The man was dressed poorly and his hair was a mess and he was covered with lice. The merchant asked him, "Where was he from? What was he doing here?" The young man replied, "I am from Koshalapura. My father’s name is Nandi and my mother’s name is Soma. My name is Nandana. I do not have any money, so I went to Chandadesha to find work, but I could not find any work there. I approached one merchant and he gave me a letter to deliver to Vasantadeva who lives in your city."

Kuladhara was not listening to him. All Kuladhara was thinking about was if he could give his daughter to this man. Kuladhara told a young man "I am going to send someone with you, and as soon as you deliver the letter, I want you to come back and talk to me." Meanwhile, Kuladhara arranged his servants to prepare for a bath, some clothes and some food for this young man. When Nandana returned, he took a bath, changed his clothes and finished eating. After that, Kuladhara proposed for him to marry his daughter. Nandana said, "He was to return to Chandadesha immediately." The merchant said, "Young man, it will not take long to arrange for the wedding, and I will give you some money for both of you to live until you get there."

A few hours later, they were married and a time came for his daughter to say goodbye to her parents. The couple then headed to Chandadesha. On the way, that night they decided to spend at the temple near Avantidesha. After his wife went to sleep, Nandana thought, "I would not reach Chandadesha in time because my wife can not walk as fast as I can. It would take too much money for us both to live. So, what would happen later on. I would have to beg." He did not like the idea of begging so he decided to leave his wife behind and he left.

At sunrise, when the daughter of Kuladhara woke up she realized that her husband was gone, and he took all the money with him. She started thinking, "What will happen to me without my husband." At first, she considered to go back to her parents house. But then she thought that she was not treated well there either so, what was the use of going back? She did not like the idea of begging either. So, she decided to search for work and support herself.

After she got herself together, she went to the marketplace for work. The first person she saw was a merchant, named Manibhadra. She stood there and looked at him. She developed a good feeling about this man. She asked him for work. At first, Manibhadra thought sorry for the way she looked. But then he was afraid to employ a stranger. The merchant decided to find out who she was. So he asked her, "Who she was? She told him, "She was the daughter of Kuladhara from Champa. She was on the way to Chandadesha with her husband, but they were separated on the way. So, now she was looking for work to support herself."

Manibhadra felt comfortable with her now, and invited her to stay in his house, and appointed her in charge of his household affairs. He sent several men to search for her husband, but they could not find him. He also checked on her parents, and found out she was telling the truth.

As the time passed, everyone in the family liked her, and showed her a lot of affection. After a short time, Manibhadra built a giant Jina temple with large gates and colorful flags. Kuladhara’s daughter went to the temple every day to worship Jina, and there she met the nuns of the order. She became involved with the nuns, and learned the Jain doctrine and knowledge of nava tattva (fundamentals). Then, she accepted the vows of a shravika, and felt much better about her life.

One day, Kuladhara’s daughter noticed Manibhadra seemed depressed. She asked him. "What has happened?" The merchant said, "The king has trusted him to upkeep the garden, and supply him with flowers everyday. I don’t know, but suddenly the garden has turned dry. I do not know how am I going to provide the flowers for the king. I am afraid the king will become upset, and I do not know what he may do?" She made a resolution that until the garden was restored with flowers, she would not eat any food, or drink any liquids. She returned to the Jina temple.

After she bowed to Jina, she went into deep kayotsarga. A few days went by, finally, the goddess appeared on the third night and said, "My daughter, your vow is fulfilled and in the morning the garden will be restored."

The next morning, the miracle happened. The garden was more beautiful than ever. It had all the fresh flowers anyone could hope for. The merchant, now, accepted her as a daughter in his mind. He rushed to her in the temple to congratulate her for the beautiful garden. The whole town rushed to the temple after they heard the surprising news, as to what had taken place. Everybody praised her.

After realizing that the garden is revived, she broke her fasting after offering food to the nuns. One night, while laying in the bed, Kuladhara’s daughter thought, "By good fortune she was born into the order of the Jina. I must make the best of this. This changed her life. Sometimes she would fast two days, or three days, and sometimes she would go as long as four days. Sometimes this would last as long as a month. One day, her life came to an end and she was reborn in heaven.


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