Monks and Acharyas
Skandak Acharya and His Disciples
स्कंदक आचार्य और उनके शिष्य · સ્કંદક આચાર્ય અને તેમના શિષ્યો
Five hundred monks who kept their peace, and one moment of anger
- 5 min full story
- For grown-ups
- Shvetambar telling
A prince who became a monk goes with five hundred disciples to the city of an old enemy. What follows is one of the most solemn stories in Jain tradition, about the power of a calm mind and the cost of a single moment of rage.
What it teaches Equanimity Forgiveness The danger of anger
The opening of the story
In the time of Bhagwan Munisuvrat Swami, King Jitashatru ruled the city of Shravasti with his queen Dharini. Their son was Prince Skandak, and their daughter was Purandaryasha. Purandaryasha was married to King Dandak, who ruled the city of Kumbhakarkata.
Once King Dandak sent a messenger to Shravasti on business. The messenger was a Brahmin named Palak, proud of his learning and scornful of the Jain path. In King Jitashatru's court he began to mock the teachings of the Arihants. Prince Skandak answered him calmly, with clear reasoning and truth, and Palak was left without a reply. The ministers laughed. Palak left Shravasti humiliated, and in his heart a hatred for Skandak took root and quietly grew.
Read the whole story See plans
To carry into the day
A lifetime of calm can be undone in one moment of anger, so guard your peace most carefully when it is hardest to keep.
To talk about together
The disciples forgave even Palak, while their teacher could not at the very end. What does this story teach us about how hard, and how important, forgiveness is?
Retold for JainStory from the traditional narrative and checked against published Jain sources. Details vary between tellings.