Page 81 - Desire to Disaster

a horribly painful death each time. You are now reborn as an
elephant. Why do you wish to perpetuate this painful cycle
of birth and rebirth! Wake up, Rupsen. Turn back from this
calamitous series of events. Turn back! Stop this madness at
once! Stop your mad fixation with external appearances.
Elephant’s Regrets

Sādhvī Sunanda’s powerful words and her constant referring
to him as Rupsen set the elephant thinking. Who was this
gorgeous maiden? She seemed familiar. As he pondered
over the identity of the mysterious stranger who addressed
him with such confidence and fearlessness, he attained
jāti-smaraña-jñāna {clairvoyance}! In a flash, he remembered
everything that happened to him, from the birth of Rupsen
to his current birth.
He was so overcome with remorse that he started trembling!
His heart melted and tears swelled up in his eyes. He could
see with his mind’s eye all that had transpired in his life
after he met and fell in love with Sunanda. He could recall
all the calamitous events that he had to endure and a wave
of remorse swept through him. He regretted the fact that he
had wasted so many precious births chasing something as
insubstantial as a beautiful face, and had to endure so much
suffering as a result.
As Rupsen, he had squandered the opportunity to turn away from
a life of sinfulness and begin his quest for salvation through
dharma. Instead of choosing the higher path, he had gone in
the opposite direction and suffered several painful rebirths.

As he reflected upon it, he now realised the rareness of
human birth. On top of that, he realised how difficult it
was to get to hear the golden discourses of the Arihantas,
which only very, very few people are able to access. The
elephant was delighted that he had been lucky enough to
Desire to Disaster 81