SAMRADITYA SAGA Part 2 - TANGLES OF HATRED

Jealousy killed oneself

They experienced divine pleasures for sixteen sagaropam in the heaven named ‘Mahashukra’. Life ended. I was born in Bharat Kshetra of Jambudweep.
In the city of Rathveerpur, there lived a virtuous householder named Nandivardhan. His wife’s name was Sursundari. I descended in the womb of Sursundari. My parents’ happiness became limitless since I was their first child. I was born at the right time. My father celebrated my birth with great joy. I was named Anantdev.
Adhanya faced sorrow and anguish in the hell named ‘Valukaprabha’ for seven Sagaropam. After dying, he became a lion in the valleys of Vindhya Mountains. From there, he was born again in the same Valukaprabha. The cycle of pain for seven Sagaropam continued again. Then he wandered in incarnations of animals and birds for innumerable years.
When I was born in Rathveerpur, he was also born there. He took birth as the son of Somshresthi and Nandimati. He was named Dhandev.
A bond of friendship grew between us. My friendship was sincere-hearted whereas Dhandev’s friendship was full of deceit.
Whatever happened in so many lives happened in this life also. I used to consider Dhandev as my friend but he considered me as his enemy. My past deeds kept giving me such friends. Along with this, I also got companionship of true Gurus. The companionship of true Gurus proved to be successful for me and thus I kept getting the opportunity to make efforts for self-welfare.
Dhandev and I had gone for a walk outside the city early in the morning. We had come far away from the city. There, we saw a huge group of monks coming towards our city. We stood there. When they came near us, we touched their feet.
Acharya Shri Devsen had come with his group of disciples. Both of us  went with him to the garden outside the city. They were going to stay there. I prayed to Acharyaji humbly, “Please allow Sadhu Bhagwant to accept alms at my house in the city.”
Acharyaji said, “At the appropriate time, the monks will come to the village for alms.”
Both of us returned to the city.
My heart was filled with joy at the sight of the saints while there was an expression of boredom on Dhandev’s face. He did not like monks at all.
I told him, “Dhandev, we will go to the garden every day to worship Acharyaji and listen to his teachings.”
He said, “If you want to go, then you go. I will not come. I don’t like these religious talks at all.”
I knew that he neither liked God nor had any respect for the Gurus and that his distance from religion was miles away. And that’s why, I asked him to come with me to Gurudev every day. ‘He will come, he will listen to the sermons and if religion starts pleasing him, then his soul will be blessed.’ But my wish couldn’t be fulfilled.
I used to go to the garden everyday. I used to spend two-three hours there. I was not at all worried about earning money since my father had property worth crores. But if the son sitting on the threshold of youth does not progress in the direction of earning money, then parents do not like it.
One day my father told me, “Son, now you should also concentrate on your business. It does not look good amongst people that a wise son like you does not make any efforts for earning. It is not suit our family and especially you.”
I remained silent, didn’t give any reply.
He continued, ‘’You do Dharm, observe vows, we like it. But in household life, Dharm Purusharth alone cannot be focused on. Arth Purusharth and Kaam Purusharth should also be given priority.’’
I had understood about the twelve vows of Grihasth Dharm through Gurudev and accepted them. That’s why, my entire day would be spent in spiritual activities. But here, father’s point was also logical. It is not proper for a young son to live on the basis of his father’s income. He should live on his own earnings.
I told Dhandev, “Friend, you don’t like religion but do you like money, don’t you?”
He nodded his head in approval.
Then we will go to a good remote area to earn money. We will earn a lot of money by working hard.
Dhandev said, “Friend, why do you need to go to a faraway country? Why earn money by going there? There is a lot of wealth in your house. How much more money do you need?”
“All that wealth has been earned by my father. I have to earn wealth with my intelligence and strength. A son with self-respect and courage should acquire wealth himself. Thus, I want to do business by going to such an area where a lot of wealth can be earned.”
“Then it would be appropriate for us to go to Ratnadweep and do business there. By doing business over there, there will be lot of profit in a short span of time.”
“Okay, we will go to Ratnadweep. We should make preparations.”
Both of us made preparations to go to Ratnadweep.
I told my father, “I am thinking of going to Ratnadweep to make money. I will come back only after earning a good amount of wealth.”
My father Nandivardhan got emotional.
He said to me, “Son, why do you need to go to Ratnadweep? You  can do business here. Our business is very big. After some years, you only have to handle it. I refused and told him about my decision to go to Ratnadweep.”
Seeing my firmness, father said, “If you seriously wish to go to Ratnadweep, then take our experienced and smart accountants with you. They will help you in business.”
I said, “I don’t need anyone. I will earn on my own. Dhandev is coming with me. We will go and come back together.”
Both of us began our journey with the necessary gems and food items.
***
We reached Ratnadweep safely.
Dhandev said to me, “Let us do separate business here instead of doing business together. What you earn is yours, what I earn is mine. So that there is no kind of argument between us in future.”
I had no hesitation in agreeing to him. I knew and believed that, ‘Money is acquired by man according to his luck. The direction of effort should be appropriate, even if the business is limited.’
I also continued my religious activities here. My business started and settled gradually. In two years, I accumulated a lot of wealth. I thought, ‘Now I should return home. I have already earned enough money for the rest of my life. My parents will also be waiting.’
I sent the news to Dhandev that ‘we should return to our city.’
Dhandev had also earned a lot of money. We met. We bought gems from the money that we had earned so that we could preserve them safely during the journey.
Dhandev was present there when I bought the gems. I had gathered more gems than him. Because of his nature, he started getting jealous.
We started our journey towards Rathveerpur.
In the evening, we would halt in guesthouses of the villages on the way. After resting at night and having breakfast in the morning, we would continue our journey. This had become our daily routine. Sometimes if we were very tired and got a good place to stay, then we would even halt for two days.
Dhandev knew how to cook. So, he would prepare the food and I would manage other things. This way, we were heading towards our destination.
We reached a village called Swastimati. It was very nice.
I said to Dhandev, “Cook your favourite meal today. We’ll stay here for a few days.”
Ever since we had left Ratnadweep, the ghost of greed had lingered on Dhandev’s mind. He was in the mindset of grabbing my gems. He would try different types of tricks but he was not getting success. Sometimes I used to laugh at him while sometimes I used to feel pitiful.
Sometimes, he hid my gems but he failed since I found the gems. Sometimes he buried my gems in the ground but I dug them out. His ideas weren’t succeeding.
Ultimately, he thought, ‘If I kill Anangdev, I can get his gems. But how can I put him in the pit of death? I shall do something in such a way that the blame does not arise on me. His gems are also quite valuable, at least of one crore. I will go to my city with those gems. Weeping, I will go to Anangdev’s house and tell his parents that we had gone to drink water on the bank of a river. I went ahead after drinking water while he was still there. Suddenly, a lion pounced on him, picked him up in the blink of an eye and disappeared into the forest. I saw this scene from a distance. My body drained with sweat, I was trembling. Neither could I move from there nor could I even think of running. Finally, after three hours, I gained some courage and went ahead from there.
Then I will trade with these gems. I will build a huge mansion and enjoy various kinds of luxuries and pleasures. I will be counted among the best traders of the city.’
Here in my mind, other wishes were taking forms. I will spend this wealth for the upliftment of the poor and orphans. I will offer alms to saints. I will establish grand temples. What more do I have to do with this wealth? My father also has a lot of wealth.
Moreover, I have a limit on possessions. Therefore, I do not even have to keep more than a certain number of wealth. I will also give some gems to Dhandev. He'll be glad. He came abroad for my sake, I must make him happy.
And in the end, I have to accept monkhood by renouncing all wealth. The success of human life is solely by practising monkhood. Sadhu Dharm is the path of salvation. Without it, liberation is not possible.
Dhandev went to Swastimati Village. There, he made laddus. He mixed poison in one of them. ‘I will feed this laddu to Anangdev. That’s it. Then, he will go on the journey to afterlife. I will go towards Rathveerpur after grabbing all the gems.’
He didn’t keep the poisoned laddus aside. He made a tiny mark on it. If kept aside, he might be questioned, ‘Why is this laddu kept separately?’ Thus, he didn’t keep them aside.
On the way, in the excitement of various thoughts, Dhandev forgot the sign of the poisoned laddu. He came to me with two plates in his hand. One had laddus and the other had two types of dishes. He looked worried.
I asked him, “Dhandev, why are you looking so restless?”
He said, “I am quite tired today.”
I told him, “If you eat this laddu, all your tiredness will go away. You seem to have made delicious laddus.”
Saying this, I fed him the sweet. I forced the same poisoned laddu into his mouth.
He did refuse by saying, “I am not hungry, my stomach is aching, I don’t want to eat, I am not feeling well, etc.”
But I fed him with great hospitality. Where did I know that the laddus I fed him, contained poison? I had made him eat the sweet with great love.
The poison started affecting his body. He got restless and started rolling on the ground. I got scared.
“Hey, what happened all of a sudden?”
I placed my hand on his head and asked, “Dhandev, what has happened to you?”
But his tongue was hanging out, the poison was very strong. Confused, I sat beside him and he died there itself.
I could not understand how did he die suddenly. He didn’t have any disease, he  was just fine, and suddenly within a couple of seconds, he became a victim of death?
There were other travellers also in that guesthouse. I informed them about the incident. All of us gathered and carried out the funeral of his dead body.
***
With pain, sorrow and distress filled in my heart, I moved on. I had taken Dhandev’s gems with me. ‘After going to the village, I will give his gems to his father and tell him everything.’ Thinking this, I kept walking. Within a few days, I reached Rathveerpur.
Instead of going to my house first, I went straight to Dhandev’s house. I told everything to his father, Somshresthi. Talking about the sudden death of Dhandev, my eyes turned moist. I handed over Dhandev’s gems to Somshresthi. I also gave him five gems from my end.
I reached my house.
My parents cheered up seeing me arrive suddenly. I gave all the gems of my earnings to my father. My mind had gotten detached anyway. It felt that it was difficult for me to stay at home now. The sudden death of Dhandev shook my entire existence. Death can come anywhere and anytime, without any prior notice. Poor Dhandev. He could neither attain monkhood nor take the vows of a householder. And just like that, he went on his long journey to afterlife. His human life was in vain.
‘I don’t want to waste my life, I want to make life worth it! I shall to go to Gurudev and accept monkhood soon.’
I took the permission of my parents, did a lot of donations and good deeds. And I looked out for my supreme benefactor, Acharya Devsen. My father requested him. He came to Rathveerpur.
I prayed at his feet, “Gurudev, this life is full of misfortunes, life span is fickle, death is merciless. In such a situation, I have become detached. Bless me by granting me monkhood.”
• I attained monkhood.
• I practised monkhood well.
• After death, I was born in heaven named Pranat.
• Dhandev was reincarnated in the hell named Pankprabha.