Court of Magadh
The Lifted Foot
The Lifted Foot is a Jain story from the Court of Magadh collection about compassion, steadfastness, doubt, renunciation and the teacher's care. A queen longs for monsoon clouds in the dry season, and a god who was once a friend brings them. Her son, Prince Meghakumar, hears Bhagwan Mahavir, argues his weeping parents round and takes diksha, then spends his first night by the door of the monks' hall, stepped on and stepped over, and decides to go home. In the morning Bhagwan Mahavir tells him of two lives he has forgotten. A long read of the first chapter of the Jnatadharmakatha.
| Teaches | Compassion, Steadfastness, Doubt, Renunciation, The teacher's care |
|---|---|
| Collection | Court of Magadh |
| Tellings | The full story (20 min) |
| Who it suits | For grown-ups |
| Tradition | Shvetambar telling |
| Thought to keep | He had once held up a foot for a hare; he only had to be reminded. |
Read the opening of The Lifted Foot
The opening of the story
In the city of Champa a young monk named Jambu once bowed to his teacher Sudharma Swami and asked him about the sixth book of Bhagwan Mahavir's teaching. Its first chapter, Sudharma Swami said, is called the Lifted Foot, and it is the story of a prince of Rajgruhi. This is that story, as the Jnatadharmakatha tells it.
Rajgruhi lay in a valley ringed by five hills, Vaibhar and Vipul, Udaya, Suvarna and Ratna, and its king was Shrenik of Magadh. The king's eldest son was Abhaykumar, the child of Queen Nanda, a young man so clear in judgement that Shrenik decided nothing of weight, in the family or the state, without him. Shrenik had another queen, Dharini. One night, in the second watch, Dharini dreamt that a great white elephant, white as a heap of silver, came down playfully out of the sky and entered her mouth.
Read the whole story of The Lifted Foot See plans
What The Lifted Foot teaches
Values Compassion Steadfastness Doubt Renunciation The teacher's care
To carry into the day
He had once held up a foot for a hare; he only had to be reminded.
To talk about together
Megh wanted to leave after one night, and stayed for twelve years. What helps a person stay when a commitment is new and its first hardships feel larger than its purpose?
Sources
Retold for JainStory from the traditional story and checked against 2 published sources:
- Jain eLibrary (30 pages)
- Wisdom Library