12. Neminatha Deva

That God which ever lives and loves One God, one law, one element, And one far-off divine event, To which the whole creation moves.                           -- Tennyson Ugrasena is the name of an ancient king. He was a very mighty man. He had a beautiful daughter. This daughter was betrothed to Neminatha, a rich prince and cousin of Lord Krishna. The date of the marriage was fixed and Neminatha set out with a large following for the court of Ugrasena. On the way, he heard a loud cry such as he had never heard before. He ordered all his retinue to stop and find out whence the cry came. He was informed that the cry was from the birds and beasts that had been brought and kept captive on both sides of the road. Some of them were tied together and some had been put in cages. He learnt that this was done as a pageant or grand show in honour of his wedding procession and that the animals and birds were also to be given to him as wedding presents.     'What! thought Neminatha Deva to himself, are so many poor beasts and birds to be thus tortured for the sake of my wedding? 'What have they done to lose their right to enjoy their God-given freedom? Is it not as much their right to be free as it is ours? No, no, I shall never have anything to do with such a wedding or with presents.'     As he had been brought up in the midst of pleasures because he was a prince, he had no means of knowing whether any suffering existed at all in the world. Now the sight of suffering suddenly turned all the sweetness of his life to bitterness. He determined not to marry. He forgot all about the beautiful bride he was going to wed in such pomp.     He became a monk and spent his days in meditation He soon realized the kinship of man with all the living creatures of the world and carried this Gospel of Love to distant lands and strange peoples.     When he went about teaching, not only men, women and children but also animals, wild and domestic, surrounded him to hear his message of Love. He ever talked to them of the love of God which fills the whole world and lies hidden in the heart of every living creature of His. ****  **** Additional Information of Interest Click here to find out more about this story of Neminatha which figures in both Hindu and Jain traditions. Click here to know more the great Jain edicts on kindness, non-violence (ahimsa), vegetarianism and kindness to animals.