SAMRADITYA SAGA Part 2 - TANGLES OF HATRED

Deceit snatched life

The well was not very deep, it was wide. There was water in the well. It seemed that the well was used regularly. But the walls of the well were not built properly. So, due to the force of the water inside, there were pits in the walls of the well. Grass had grown in some parts of the walls. The edge of the well was tied with bricks. This arrangement must have been made so that the water collector does not have the fear of falling into the well.
I fell into the well straight into the water. There was a loud sound. Soon after the sound, I heard an anxious voice saying “Namo Arihantanam.”  I thought, ‘This voice is familiar to me.’ I felt it was the voice of my wife Chandrakanta.
I was swimming in water. I knew how to swim. I replied in the direction of the voice. It was dark in the well. That’s why everything was not clearly visible.
“The worshipper of Jinshasan is fearless.” The sound came from the pits of the front wall.
“Oh! Swaminath, is it you?  Come in front. Swim towards the opposite end. I am in the pit on this side of the wall. I am your beloved Chandrakanta.”
I immediately swam and reached on the other end. She held my hand and with the other hand, I took support of the front part of the wall and I climbed into the pit. We could see each other vaguely in the dark.
As soon as I entered the pit, I sat down because there was no place to stand. Chandrakanta hugged me.  She wept bitterly.
I told her, “Chandra! Don’t cry. All happiness and sorrows are based on the deeds of one’s own past life. All pleasures and pain are subject to our own actions. But tell me, how did you fall into this well? I will tell you my story later.”
She stopped crying. She wiped my wet body with her dry clothes and started narrating her story.
“You all went to Rajatpur. In the afternoon, hundreds of armed Bhils came to our city. They looted the city. Those who dared to face him, were put to death. Their houses were burnt. I was sure that they would come to rob our mansion. They came; I gave them gold, silver and my jewelry box, etc. They took it all away. I thought, ‘Good they agreed with gold and silver. Wealth will come tomorrow, atleast my prestige got saved. But misfortune was only two steps away.
After a while, two Bhils came and said to me, ‘Come on the horseback. We will take you to our village.’
I started crying.
I told him, ‘If you want to take anything, then take away the entire mansion. But leave me. Don’t touch me. I am not going to come with you under any circumstances.’
Then a Bhil who looked like a Sardar said in a slightly loud voice, ‘Don’t you act stubborn. We will not leave you. We will take you by any means. We will neither rob you of your chastity nor touch you with wrong intentions. But we will definitely take you with us. When your husband will come and take you away, we will leave you. We will charge good amount from your husband in return for you.
‘But from where my husband get the money? You have looted our entire mansion. Now from where will my husband get money to rescue me?’ Look, we don’t know anything about this. If he wants his woman, he will bring money from anywhere. The Bhil moved towards me. I sensed his intention. ‘He will forcefully make me sit on a horse and tie me up with a rope.’ So, I myself went to the horse and sat on the horse. He sat on the horse in front of me and rode the horse.
He said to his companions who met him on the way, ‘Get out of the city soon after taking the looted goods. Everyone follow me.’
We came out of town. In a hurry, the Bhils started following. Each Bhil had a bundle of looted items on their heads, spears in their hands and arrows on their shoulders.
Some were riding on horses while some were running. At night, we stopped to rest near the well. It was an open field. The Bhil Sardar gave me a mattress and said, ‘Lay down at some distance from me. Rest for sometime, no one will bother you. I took the mattress and lied down at some distance. But how could I sleep! An ocean of thoughts was overflowing within me. My entire body was trembling due to the fear of some mishap. Lava of pain and anguish was erupting inside. How could the Bhils be trusted? I was awake.
Sardar said to his companions, ‘Put guards around us. We will leave from here after night. Take some rest for a while so that the fatigue goes away.’
I started thinking in my mind, ‘I have to get away from the clutches of these Bhils by trying some or the other trick. What is the guarantee of these demons? Right now, they are talking sweetly. Who knows if they’re playing a trick? Who knows if they’re setting a trap? What if he takes me home and molests me? What if they degrade my reputation? What will I be able to do then? There  will be no way except dying. And if I die like this, then what will happen to you? I was thinking about you all the way. When you will not find me at home after coming from Rajatpur, how merciful will your condition be?”
Keeping her head in my lap, she started sobbing.
I asked, “Then what did you do?”
I caressed her head and made her feel better.
“It was going to be morning soon. All the Bhils had woken up and noises had started emerging. Some were dealing with physical activities, some were preparing their horses and getting ready for the journey. I looked around. There was no special attention towards me, so I stood up silently. I wrapped the mattress around my body so that I do not look like a woman. I came near this well.
I started thinking, ‘If I go anywhere in all four directions, these Bhils will find me out. And I don’t know if my purity will remain intact or no. So it’s better that I jump into this well. If death has to approach, it will.’
Chanting Navkar Mantra, I jumped into the well and fell in the water. There was a loud sound. However, that voice got suppressed amidst the hustle and bustle outside.
I swam for an hour or so. After it was bright, I saw this pit and climbed into it. I’ve been here since then.”
“Did those Bhils not come towards this well to find you?”
“They had come. But they did not even look in the well. They probably couldn’t even imagine that I would jump into the well. Even if they looked into the well, they would not be able to see anything because of darkness.”
I said, “So you might have been hungry since so many days. You might not have eaten anything.  Well, I have a bag of snacks.”
I was holding the bag in my hand. 
She said, “Swami, we have given up on eating after sunset. Will have breakfast in the morning. Now tell me how did you come here in this well.”
I told her the entire thing.
She said, “Adhanya has committed an extremely wrong act. Blinded by the greed of gems, he cheated you and pushed you into the well. How wicked and worthless he turned out to be! It is your fortunate karmas that saved you. There was water in the well so you survived. What if there were stones?”
“But if Adhanya had not pushed me into the well, then would I have gotten you? If we would go to the village of Bhils, it would be pointless.  And if the Bhils came to know that I had a bag of gems, would they leave me? Forget meeting you, they would even rob me. I would have to get disappointed from both sides.”
Dear, I owe it to Adhanya that he made me meet you. Well, he did take away the gems, but I will earn them later.  Meeting you is everything for me. I have no regrets of losing the gems. There is no anger towards Adhanya at all. Anyways, he is of deceitful nature since birth. I know his qualities and flaws. Still, I never got angry with him.
Chandrakanta said, “This is your quality. Your soul is close to salvatiob. Otherwise, one certainly gets angry towards the offender. An urge to punish him surely arises. Well, I already know this. So we have to think of how do we get out of this well?
“Devi, the fortunate karmas which made us meet suddenly, which we had not even thought about, just believe in that karma. It will free us from here as well. Our efforts will not be effective in this context.”
As we conversed, the sun rays started pouring down the wall of the well.
I said to Chandrakanta, “Devi, the sun has risen. Now, you have breakfast!”
I opened the bag and took out the snacks. I had taken eatables that could last for five days.
Chandrakanta said to me, “How can j eat if you don’t? I will eat only after you eat.”
I said, “I’m not hungry yet. I’ll eat when I’m hungry. I had eaten a lot yesterday.”
But Chandra insisted alot. We both had food together and drank water from the well.
I said, “This breakfast will last for five days. By then someone or the other will surely come to take us out of the well.”
I gradually extended the pit by digging out the soil. There was nothing else to do. We started spending time talking about the past and the future. If we were tired, we would sleep with our eyes closed.
Five days passed. All eatables were over. No one came to take us out of the well. Neither were  footsteps of any passenger heard on the road nearby.
On the sixth day, we fasted. The seventh day was also spent in fasting.
I told Chandra, “I can no longer bear the pain of hunger. I can hear the footsteps of my death. Well, I am not afraid of death. But this human life will go in vain without practising monkhood. That’s the only thing I deeply regret and feel sorrowful about.
Chandrakanta’s eyes turned moist. In the meanwhile, my right eye started twitching. A wave of happiness spread across my face.
I said, “Devi, my right eye is twitching too much.”
She said, “Even my left eye is quivering.”
I said, “This is a sign of good fortune. Certainly, we’ll be saved from this well by today or tomorrow. Some guardian angel will surely come.”
Chandrakanta seemed to agree to me. We spent one day and one night chanting the Navkar Mantra.
The twilight of the morning was spreading on the earth. Some sound was audible near the well. Conversations of men and sounds of utensils to fill water could be heard. Within a few moments, five to seven men appeared at the edge of the wall. They looked into the well. We raised our hands out of our pit and shouted, ‘Get us out quickly.’ The  men were astonished seeing us.
They replied, “We’ll be back soon!”
They went. In no time, they brought their master. He lowered a raft tied with a rope into the well. I grabbed the raft and sat on it. The rope was pulled from above and I reached the edge of the well. The raft was again lowered and Chandrakanta boarded it. She was also taken out.
The man who took us out, seemed to be a big businessman. He recognized me. My sight was worth watching.
He asked me, “Oh Chandrasar! How did you fall into the well? And this woman?”
“This is my wife, Chandrakanta,” I said. The one who brought us out of the well was a businessman named Nandivardhan of our own city. He was going to Ratnapur. More than two hundred men and women accompanied him. There were several horses and luggage.
Nandivardhan took both of us to his halt and provided new clothes. Moreover, he made us sit with him to have food.
I told him, “Nandivardhan! You have given us a new life. We can’t forget your obligation for life.”
He said, “What’s the obligation in that? And what thanks? Both of you are eminent citizens of my city. Even if there were strangers or people from other countries, it is our moral duty to help them in misery. But how did you fall into the well?”
I narrated him the entire incident. He was quite surprised and sad as well. Hearing about Chandrakanta’s courage, he appreciated Chandrakanta.
He expressed grief for the betrayal committed by Adhanya.
He said, “You both come with us to Ratnapur!”
We joined him!
We were going the same route from where Adhanya and I had come. That’s why, Adhanya’s thoughts started emerging in my mind.
He might have definitely returned to Ratnapur with the bag of gems. He wouldn’t even imagine that I am alive. I have got Chandrakanta. What will be his condition when he sees me in Ratnapur? I would still consider him to have obliged me. ‘You pushed me into the well, so I found Chandrakanta. I believe it to be your obligation.’
Thrashing in the storm of such thoughts, I kept walking. Just then, I saw my bag of gems lying on the left side of the road. I went and picked up the bag. On looking here and there, I saw Adhanya's body lying at a distance. Some dangerous wild animal had made him a victim.
I immediately called Chandrakanta and showed her Adhanya’s dead body and the bag of gems. Chandrakanta shrieked out. Nandivardhan and other people also reached there. Everyone came to know.
Nandivardhan said, “Chandrasar, whether good or bad, one gets his payback in this life itself, isn’t it?”
We reached Ratnapur.
My heart had grown dispassionate by Adhanya’s pitiful death.
I said to Chandrakanta, “This physical world is a source of cruel results. The greed of these gems made Adhanya lose his senses. He might have run during night. The lion or some other wild animal must have made him its prey. He must have reincarnated in a bad state.
Devi, I wish to leave the worldly abode and become a monk. Now, it is not possible for me to stay at home.
Chandrakanta said, “Swami, your desire is supreme. Monkhood was already established in your heart and we got new life! I will also renounce with you. For whom should I stay in the house without you?”
“Devi, your decision is ideal. Donate these gems to the poor, spend them in good deeds. Then, let’s accept monkhood from Gurudev Shri Vijayvardhan.”
We made good use of all our wealth. We found out where Gurudev had halted and reached there. Both of us accepted monkhood and followed it righteously.
• Our life span came to an end.
• We became gods and goddesses in the heaven named ‘Mahashukra’.
• Adhanya died and was born in hell named ‘Valukaprabha’.