Life of Bhagwan Mahavir
The Life of Chandanbala
The Life of Chandanbala is a Jain story from the Life of Bhagwan Mahavir collection about patience, devotion, forgiveness, humility and renunciation. Princess Vasumati of Champa loses her father, her mother and her city in a single night, and is sold in the street of the very city that conquered it. A merchant's kindness gives her a new name, a jealous woman's fear takes everything else, and across Kaushambi a silent vow waits five months for her. The full life of Chandanbala, from captive to the first and greatest of Bhagwan Mahavir's nuns, told the way Acharya Hemachandra tells it.
| Teaches | Patience, Devotion, Forgiveness, Humility, Renunciation |
|---|---|
| Collection | Life of Bhagwan Mahavir |
| Tellings | The full story (17 min) |
| Who it suits | For grown-ups |
| Tradition | Shvetambar telling |
| Thought to keep | She had nothing left to give but a handful of urad and a humble heart, and both were enough. |
Read the opening of The Life of Chandanbala
The opening of the story
Every Jain nun who walks barefoot from village to village today, with her bowl, her white cloth and her soft woollen broom, belongs to a line that begins with one woman. Long before she led thousands, she stood in a doorway with iron chains on her feet and a winnowing basket in her hands, and wept. This is her story, from the palace where she was born to the night when, bowing to her own disciple, she came to know everything.
She was born in Champa, an old and wealthy city on the bank of the Ganga, where King Dadhivahan ruled and Queen Dharini was his wife. They named their daughter Vasumati. She grew up as princesses grow up, among gardens and lamps and teachers, and the people who knew her later remembered above all how gently she spoke, and how little she asked for herself.
Read the whole story of The Life of Chandanbala See plans
What The Life of Chandanbala teaches
Values Patience Devotion Forgiveness Humility Renunciation
To carry into the day
She had nothing left to give but a handful of urad and a humble heart, and both were enough.
To talk about together
Chandanbala bowed to her own disciple the moment she saw she had been wrong. Why is it so hard to apologise to someone we are meant to lead, and what does it give back?
Sources
Retold for JainStory from the traditional story and checked against 1 published source:
- Wisdom Library (5 pages)