Parables of Wisdom
Agaddatta
अगडदत्त · અગડદત્ત
A banished prince, a brave archer, and the night he learned what love can hide
- 5 min full story
- For grown-ups
- Shvetambar telling
A spoiled prince is banished, learns the warrior's arts, and wins fame and a beloved wife. On the road home he survives battles and tricks, but the hardest truth waits for him in a dark temple.
What it teaches Detachment Self-knowledge Transformation
The opening of the story
In the kingdom of Shankhapur ruled King Sundar and Queen Sulasa, and their son was Agaddatta. As a boy he was clever and strong, but he grew up proud and careless. He troubled the citizens and ignored every complaint. At last the people's anger reached the king, and King Sundar, with a heavy heart, banished his own son from the kingdom.
Agaddatta walked alone all the way to Varanasi. There he found a teacher named Pavanachand, a master of archery and the arts of war. The prince told him honestly who he was and why he had been sent away. Pavanachand saw that the young man was ashamed and willing to change, and he took him in as a student.
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To carry into the day
What we cling to most tightly may not be what we think it is; only the soul's freedom is fully our own.
To talk about together
Agaddatta changed twice in his life, once after banishment and once in the forest. What made each change possible?
Retold for JainStory from the traditional narrative and checked against published Jain sources. Details vary between tellings.