Page 23 - Jain Jyotirdhar Chitra Darshan

[23] PARMARHAT (THE GREAT SHRAVAK- FOLLOWER OF
JAINISM)
King Kumarpal (Kind to all creatures)

(1) Kumarpal in his previous birth as Jaytak- a brave who
troubled the subjects was exiled from the kingdom by the king
on being told by his father. (2) In the forest, he scolded a Jain
Monk. But after hearing the sermons of the Monk, he vowed to
leave the 7 deadly sins. (3) With flowers bought of 5 pence
(Kodi), he worshipped the God. (4) In the birth as Kumarpal, he
accepts 12 different rules of conduct of Shravak (Jain follower)
from Guru Hemchandracharya. (5) In kingdom of Kumarpal
even the water given to the horses was filtered using a cotton
cloth. (6) King Kumarpal would clean the saddle with his
dupatta (a scarf) so that he does not kill any living organisms
when he sits. (7) During his Samayik (vow to live as a Jain
Monk for 48 minutes), he saw a big black ant on his lap; with
the fear that it may die he would not pick it & throw it but would
scoop a bit of his flesh and gently lay the ant!!! (8) In his 18
provinces, he proclaimed non-violence. (9) When a Deity asked
for a sacrifice of an animal, Kumarpal refused, which angered
the Deity and made him a leper. But with the grace of Guru
Hemchandracharya, the disease was cured. (10) Once he
ordered his brother-in-law, who killed lice, to build a Jain temple
as a price for his sins. (11) Palm leaves were used to write
Agams. Once there was shortage of leaves. Therefore King
Kumarpal worshipped Palm trees and they turned into Tad trees
miraculously. (12) Ajaypal poisons Kumarpal and threatened
the treasurer and took away the keys so that Kumarpal could
not even get a precious stone that can cure poisoned
Kumarpal. (13) After Kumarpal’s death, Ajaypal became the
king and destroyed many Jain temples. Due to this sin he went
to hell along with traitor Monk Balchandra.