Five Gems Diwakar Chitrakatha 031

This document is a Jain Chitra Katha (picture story book) titled "Five Gems" (Vol. 31) published by Mahavir Seva Trust, Mumbai, authored by Shreechand Surana. It contains three stories meant to impart moral and spiritual lessons according to Jain principles.

Here's a comprehensive summary of the content:

Introduction (Page 2): The introduction highlights Bhagavan Mahavir's teachings on the anuvratas (minor vows), specifically the vow of truth. It explains that refusing to return entrusted property or making false excuses breaks this vow and constitutes a violation of trust, leading to agitation, sadness, animosity, and violence. The book's stories are presented as inspirations for seeking truth and understanding consequences.

Story 1: Five Gems (Pages 3-20)

• Merchant Balbhadra: A wealthy and respected merchant, Balbhadra, is known for his honesty and religious practices.
• Brahmin Narain: Opposite his house lives the state priest Shridhar, whose son Narain is uneducated and spends his youth in leisure.
• Narain's Inheritance: After his parents die, Narain, now alone and realizing his lack of education, discovers a box containing five priceless gems left by his father, likely a reward from the king.
• Entrusting the Gems: Narain plans a world tour. Fearing theft, he decides to leave the gems with the trustworthy merchant Balbhadra. Balbhadra initially hesitates, considering others' wealth as sinful, but eventually agrees to keep the box in a corner without touching it.
• Greed and Violation: During the Diwali cleaning, Balbhadra finds the box and, overcome by greed, takes two of the gems, selling them for a vast sum. He rationalizes his action, believing Narain's word against his.
• Narain's Return and Mistreatment: Five years later, Narain returns after spending all his money. He finds Balbhadra, who feigns ignorance and denies ever seeing the gems or Narain's father leaving anything. Balbhadra calls his servants, who throw Narain out as a madman and thief.
• Narain's Madness and Death: Devastated, Narain goes mad, wandering and shouting about the merchant's betrayal. He eventually commits suicide by falling from a roof, which Balbhadra views as the removal of a "thorn."
• The Serpent's Revenge: Subsequently, Balbhadra's four sons (Shrikant, Shashikant, Ravikant, and Laxmikant) are bitten and killed by a black cobra immediately upon stepping on the seventh step of their house with their brides. Each incident is met with grief and speculation about the merchant's past sins.
• The Solution by Shubhmati: Balbhadra's youngest son, Harikant, is to be married. The bride's father, believing in his daughter Shubhmati's virtue, convinces Balbhadra to proceed. Shubhmati, possessing knowledge from a sage, asks Balbhadra for the five gems. She places the box and a bowl of milk on the seventh step and appeals to the serpent god for forgiveness on behalf of her father-in-law, offering the remaining three gems.
• Resolution: A snake emerges, drinks the milk, takes one gem, and slithers away, sparing Harikant. Shubhmati explains that the Brahmin's son was reborn as the snake due to Balbhadra's violation of trust and that the snake took revenge by killing the four sons (one for each of the two gems taken initially, and then two more lives for the remaining two gems). By returning the last three gems, the debt is settled.
• Balbhadra's Remorse: Balbhadra realizes his grave sin of violating trust and the severe consequences he faced, expressing deep remorse.
• Lesson: The story illustrates the second anuvrat (not misappropriate something entrusted) and the severe consequences of violating trust, which can lead to vengeance spanning many lifetimes.

Story 2: The Consequence of Inflexibility (Pages 21-28)

• Context: This story is told by Shraman Keshi Kumar to King Pradeshi to illustrate the negative outcomes of being adamant on prejudices.
• The Earthquake and Traders: An earthquake devastates Rajnagar, destroying buildings. Survivors, including traders, must find a new livelihood.
• The Iron-Trader: An experienced trader advises finding wealth elsewhere. They discover an iron-ore mine. While others collect iron-ore, one trader (the "iron-trader") stubbornly sticks to his initial decision.
• Progression of Discoveries: As they travel, they find lead-ore, then copper-ore, then silver-ore, and finally gold and diamonds. Each time, the experienced trader advises abandoning the less valuable material for the more valuable one.
• The Iron-Trader's Stubbornness: The iron-trader adamantly refuses to change his collection, believing his initial decision is final and criticizing others for their wavering minds. He proudly declares his determination.
• Reaching the City: The other traders exchange their findings for increasingly valuable items, eventually collecting diamonds. The iron-trader, still carrying iron-ore, proceeds alone to a city.
• The Outcome: The other traders become wealthy, buying mansions and living comfortably. The iron-trader tries to sell his iron-ore but is offered only a basket of gram in exchange. He becomes a gram vendor, barely making ends meet.
• Recognition and Regret: One of the successful traders, seeing the iron-trader selling gram, recognizes him. The vendor, unable to recognize the wealthy merchant due to his poor attire, is eventually reminded of their shared journey. Realizing his folly, the vendor faints in regret, lamenting his "cursed luck" and "hollow inflexibility."
• Lesson: The story emphasizes that inflexibility, dogma, and conceit can blind individuals to truth and opportunities, leading to severe repentance. Wise individuals adapt and make profitable decisions.

Story 3: Vision of the Soul (Pages 29-33)

• Context: This story is also told by Shraman Keshi Kumar to King Pradeshi to explain the nature of the soul. King Pradeshi questioned how the soul could exist if he couldn't see it by cutting a body.
• The Wood-Cutters: Four wood-cutters go to a forest to collect wood. Due to heavy rain, they plan to travel further to find dry wood.
• The Cooking Duty: They prepare for their journey, and one of them, who is weak, is assigned the duty of cooking. He is given a pot with fire and a piece of "Arni wood" to produce fire if needed.
• The Sleeping Cook: The cook lies down to rest and falls asleep. Upon waking, he realizes the sun is setting and he needs to cook.
• Misunderstanding Fire Production: He remembers being told to produce fire from the Arni wood. He checks the pot and finds no fire. He then breaks the Arni wood into pieces, believing fire would emerge, but finds none. He gets angry at his friends for lying.
• The Return of Wood-Cutters: The other three wood-cutters return with their bundles of wood, hungry. The cook angrily tells them he couldn't cook because the Arni wood had no fire.
• The Demonstration: The elder wood-cutter takes two pieces of Arni wood and rubs them together, producing sparks. He shows the cook that this is how fire is produced from Arni wood.
• The Cook's Realization: The cook realizes his mistake: he was breaking the wood instead of grinding or rubbing it.
• Lesson: Shraman Keshi Kumar explains that, like the fire in the Arni wood, the soul resides within the body but cannot be seen by dissecting the body. The soul is realized through spiritual discipline, austerities, yoga, and meditation.

Additional Content:

• Jain Agams: Page 34 promotes illustrated Jain Agams with Hindi and English translations, highlighting their importance and listing published titles with prices.
• Vegetarianism and Eggs: Pages 35-36 contain an essay arguing that eggs are not vegetarian and are inherently non-vegetarian due to the potential for life and the cruelty involved in their production (e.g., in poultry farms, debeaking). It strongly discourages egg consumption from a Jain perspective of non-violence.
• Subscription Offer: Page 37 presents a subscription offer for Chitra Kathas from Mahavir Seva Trust and other addresses.

In essence, "Five Gems" is a collection of stories designed to educate readers about key Jain principles like truthfulness, non-violence, the consequences of actions (karma), the importance of open-mindedness, and the nature of the soul.