Six Years in Lanka and the Tale of Muni Maya

Holding Sita's hand, Rama rides with her on an elephant like Airavata to Ravana's palace, in whose centre stands a temple of Shantinatha with thousands of golden pillars, jewelled walls and wondrous jewelled images. Rama and Sita stand for a while in kayotsarga (the standing meditation posture), and Rama sings a hymn praising Shantinatha, who as Tirthankara, Kamadeva and Chakravarti conquered outer foes with the discus and inner foes with the discus of knowledge. He circles the shrine three times, Sita praising softly behind him, while Bhamandala, Sugriva, Hanuman and Viradhita recite auspicious hymns.

Vibhishana comforts his grandfather Sumali, Sumali's younger brother Malyavan and his own father Ratnashrava: every being reaps the fruit of its own karma; life is like a flash of lightning, family like bubbles on water, pleasures like the colours of sunset and the world's affairs like a dream. Grief only dulls the mind and cannot bring back the dead, so they should follow the Jina's path as far as their strength allows.

Vibhishana sends his chief queen Vidagdha to invite Rama to his palace and leads him there in a grand procession with drums, dancers, bards and Vidyadharas on lion and tiger chariots. In Vibhishana's palace stands a temple of Padmaprabha with an image carved from a padmaraga ruby. The Vidyadhara queens bathe Rama, Lakshmana and Sita facing east from jars of gold, emerald, diamond, crystal and sapphire, after which all worship Padmaprabha in fine new garments.

Vibhishana has tanks filled with milk, curd, ghee and sherbet and mountains of sweets prepared, with rare delicacies brought from the Nandana forest, and every man of Rama's army, whether earth-dweller or Vidyadhara, is fed, anointed with sandal, garlanded and dressed in silk. Rama finds the food delicious above all because Sita is beside him, for with a loved one even a dreadful forest feels like heaven and without one heaven feels like hell. All Lanka praises Vibhishana as the ornament of the Rakshasa line.

When the Vidyadharas prepare to consecrate Rama and Lakshmana, the brothers object that their parents crowned Bharata in Ayodhya and Bharata is their lord. The Vidyadharas reply that as masters of three continents the auspicious bath is only fitting and that Bharata, devoted to them in thought, word and deed, will not mind; so they are consecrated with great splendour, and Vibhishana rules Lanka at their command.

Lakshmana sends Viradhita with letters to fetch his brides, and their joyful parents send them with great pomp: Rupavati, daughter of Vajrakarna of Dashangapura; Kalyanamala, daughter of Balikhilya of Kubarasthana; Vanamala, daughter of Prithvidhara of Prithvipura; Jitapadma, daughter of Jitashatru of Kshemanjali; and the daughters of Simhodara of Ujjain. Rama and Lakshmana also marry daughters of Chandravardhana and other kings, and, devoted to Sita, Rama passes six years in Lanka as happily as Indra, forgetting every sorrow.

Meanwhile the munis Indrajit, Meghanada and Kumbhakarna burn the forest of karma in the fire of meditation, attain Kevala Jnana and, at the end of their lives, reach the state of the Siddhas with many munis on the bank of the Narmada, which becomes a holy siddhakshetra. The place in the Vindhya forest where Indrajit and Meghanada stayed as Kevalis is called Megharava, Jambumali rises to the Ahamindra heaven from Mount Tunimat, King Maya wanders by the charana riddhi (power to travel through the sky) to Kailasa and the eternal temples, and Maricha becomes a mighty god.

Gautama praises Sita's unbending chastity, which even Ravana could not shake, and describes four kinds of brahmachari (celibate): the Arhat Kevalis; those celibate from birth, like Parshvanatha, Mahavira, Brahmi and Sundari; householders of the seventh pratima (stage of lay renunciation) who give up all women; and faithful spouses who see other women as daughters, sisters or mothers. Even gods bow to such people and protect them in danger.

Asked by Shrenika about Muni Maya, Gautama tells how the proud Abhimana, abandoned by her Brahmin husband in a famine, was taken by King Karuruha of Podanapura, and how the clever Brahmin Hemanka won the king's favour by guessing that the foot that had struck the king's head deserved ornaments, not punishment. Shamed by Hemanka's success, the widow Mitrayasha sent her son Shrivardhita to Vyaghrapura to learn arms and letters; he eloped with Princess Shila, defeated her brother Simhachandra single-handed and later conquered Podanapura to become its king.

Later Simhachandra, driven from his throne, fled through a tunnel with his queen, carrying a bundle of leaves on his head. When a snake bit her in the forest near Podanapura, he laid her at the feet of Muni Maya, standing in meditation, whose sarvaushadhi riddhi (healing power) drew out the poison. The layman Vinayadatta reconciled him with Shrivardhita, and Maya revealed their past lives: a leper woman who took lay vows became Shila, King Amala who fled her stench but later took vows became Shrivardhita, a starving stranger burned on a false charge of arson became Mitrayasha, and a carrier and his wife who loaded beasts became Simhachandra and his queen, now bearing loads themselves.

Gautama observes how fortunes turn: a Brahmin's son rose from poverty to a throne while a king's son came to him as a beggar. Many took up the Jain dharma on hearing Muni Maya, who died in samadhi (peaceful death in meditation) and became a great god in the Ishana heaven. Whoever reads or hears his story, it is said, need fear neither enemies, snakes nor lions, and is freed from disease.