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Ambika - The Protector of Faith

 

 

By Urmish Mehta

 

A sacrifice of perfume filled the quiet hours of the early morning. Ambika with her two sons, Siddha and Buddha, sat in calm felicity. Her mind was a sea of sincerity, passionate in flow, without a single turbid wave. She was a princess of spotless ecstasies and delight. Ambika's husband, Somabhatt was a Brahmin priest. His nature was quite a contrast to his wife's. He was content to breathe, to feel, to sense, to act. He worked for the body's wants. He did not crave more.

On the day when Somabhatt had gone on a journey a wondering Jain monk, a direct disciple of Bhagwan Neminath, arrived in town. He was begging to break his one-month-long fast. He arrived at Ambika's house and stood outside. He clapped his hands to beg but his mind was not engaged in the begging. His seeking mind had ceased in the Truth that knows. Timeless silence prevailed in his eyes, the one Consciousness that acts as an infinite substrate of the entire universe was alone seen and experienced. His existence was luminosity, force and cosmic harmony.

Ambika saw the Jain monk standing like a fixed pedestal of prayer at her door. He looked calm and motionless, like a marble monument, his body supported a figure of eternal peace. He calmly accepted the alms Ambika offered. She felt as if some holy influence fell on her. A tide of mightier surging bore her life and the divine Presence moved her soul. Her face shone with the grace and beauty of spiritual light. Her doubts, like the murmuring of a celestial fire, broke out seeking an answer and said in a humble voice: "It seems like we move out of the unknown to the unknown. Our brief existence here is always surrounded by the grey shadow of unanswered questions. The dark clueless mysteries remain unsolved behind the starting line of our unknown fate. Life on earth is a brute accident, a net of birth and death in which by chance we live and die. Life's farther end is hidden from our sight. This ignorant and miserable life is a mere chance happening."

A soft response sprang from the Sage's heart to quell Ambika's doubt. "If a living Image that sits in your heart is known then all is known. Go within to find the origin and the master-clue. It is a boundary-less wideness and a fathomless point. It is the Truth and a substrate of all these cryptic shows in the world. Our strivings should always move towards that which is Real. Know it and you will be freed from the miseries of your earthly life."

"How do I know that living Image within?"

"First, the questioner must admit the existence of the questioner, that is: herself. Examine: who is the questioner? It is the feeling of 'I' in you. Pursue the 'I' till you find that living Image within."

"But it is elusive. When I try to seek 'I', I don't find anything -no answer comes."

"Don't look for an answer that can be formed by words. Try to see who it is that does not find anything."

Ambika listened to her thought's inner sound and followed the rhythmic meanings of the sage's words. Upon return, Soma's ego was hurt on hearing from Ambika that she gave alms to the Jain monk. Being born in Brahmin heritage, how can one give alms to a non-Brahmin monk? The dragon-bird of anger raged in Soma: "Get out of my house at once and never return." Ambika had no choice but to leave her husband's house with Siddha in her right arm and Buddha clinging to her feet, and began walking through the endless night. She advanced her foot to plunge into the dread and hueless vacancy. At first they moved in a blind stretch of woods with anxious paces. The long green leaves pressed the three forlorn souls dimly through a realm of lonely whispers.

Ambika did not measure her loss with helpless thoughts. She leaned out over her two crying children in the great stillness without stir or voice, as if her mind had died with their hunger and pain. Still the human heart in her beat on. Her only aim, joy and origin were her two children, Siddha and Buddha. Her treasure was saved from the collapse of the entire space. She kept the grief in her personal depths. Even in this moment of her soul's despair, in its grim rendezvous with death and fear, no cry broke from her lips. Her heart was greater than human fate. Courage kept her mute. Yet, only her outward self suffered and strove, her spirit opened to the Spirit in all. A slow, faint, shadowlike remembrance moved in her heart. She felt like the sage was talking to her: "It is not by mere thinking but by a change of consciousness that you will open to the Truth. If you pass from the external thought activities to a direct, intimate, thought-less inner consciousness then you will open to the Light. It is by the self-giving and surrender."

Yes, surrender is a master act. It can link man's strength to a transcendent force. Then a miracle is made the common rule. This mighty deed of surrender and prayer can change the course of karma. Suddenly there came the change on her, her soul was held up towards its luminous source. The veil between her and her Soul was torn. The thinker was dissolved forever, only the source was seen. Then Ambika realised a calm power seated in her heart. She knew this was the power that moves the universe, being itself immobile, and looks on life as only a witness. It remains untouched and tranquil amid errors and tears of life. The soul, who had hidden so far, soared out of the luminous nest of her heart. Her grief passed away, her mind became still and her heart beat quietly with a sovereign force. Silence and swiftness prevailed. All her acts sprang from godhead's calm. Earth wove its sweetness, greenness and delight round her sweet and innocent children. Its agreeable brilliance of vivid hues delighted her heart. All of a sudden, a dried mango tree by the roadside came to bear mangoes and a dry lake nearby was filled at once with water to quench the thirst and hunger of two young toddlers. A wide and tranquil air remembered peace again. Calm ecstasy filled meditation's solitary heart.

Upon hearing this miraculous news, Soma's sight turned within. He realised his mistake. The mere memory of Ambika filled his heart with devotion to Bhagwan Neminath. The presence was born in his heart, a guiding light awoke within. Stillness fell upon his mind. He understood that in the moments when an inner lamp of repentance is lit and the mental thoughts are left outside, his spirit speaks to the Spirit only to eliminate its gulf.

How can one eliminate the gulf between soul and Soul, without facing the engines of karma's massed machinery? Soma knew that he had to free himself from the bondages of his past. He bore the stroke of that almighty, the Aayushya karma, which kills to give a new life. Soma died and was immediately reborn as a lion in the forest. Soma's new birth as a lion was to serve his family, to fulfill his duties that he never fulfilled as a father and a husband before. Memories that were dissolved from the mind in karma's natal sleep flickered in the gloom as if they wished to live again. The lion's saffron mane was jeweled with the mystic glow that gleamed in the darkness. He served as a vehicle for Ambika now the protector of Jin Sovereignty (Sasan-devi) and the Mother Goddess.
Many years later, in 1335, a sacred image was made by Acharya Jin-Prabha Suri, besides which a lamp continued to stay alight. A mediating ray never stopped to touch the earth bridging the gulf between the minds of devotees of Neminath and Bhagwan Neminath. Its brightness linked their transience to the Eternal. The sacred image of Ambika made Neminath's devotees aware of their spirit's true celestial source. Ambika forever reminds us that the Jain guardian spirit helps us in our efforts to seek the self (Samyak Darshan), our true prosperity. She helps us secure true devotion to Bhagwan Tirthankara, our only protection.

 

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Article Source : Jain Spirit ( Issue 16 ) Published From United Kingdom

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