Monks and Acharyas
Monk Metarya
मेतार्य मुनि · મેતાર્ય મુનિ
The monk who kept silent to save a bird
- 4 min full story
- 3 min children's telling
- Best shared with a grown-up
- Shvetambar telling
A goldsmith's golden beads vanish while a monk stands at his door, and the monk will not say a word. His silence protects a life, at a great cost to his own.
What it teaches Ahimsa Forbearance Equality of Souls
The opening of the children's telling
Metarya was born into a family that people of his time looked down on, and he grew up in a merchant's house in Rajgruhi. Later he lived in comfort with King Shrenik's family. But his heart wanted something deeper, so he became a monk with Bhagwan Mahavir. There, no one asked about anyone's birth. Every soul was equal.
Metarya cared most of all about ahimsa, never hurting any living being. One hot summer day, after a fast of a whole month, he walked barefoot to a goldsmith's house for a little food.
Read the whole story See plans
To carry into the day
True ahimsa is willing to bear pain rather than cause it.
To talk about together
Metarya could have saved himself with one word. Why did he choose to stay silent?
Retold for JainStory from the traditional narrative and checked against published Jain sources. Details vary between tellings.