Disciple Helps Guru get Enlightnement

One evening some youths had set out for some fun and frolic outside the village of Ujjain. They came across a upashray (a place where the Jain monks stay) of an elderly monk by the name Chandarundracharya who was known for his anger and short-tempered nature. The youths decided to have some fun with the monk. There was one youth in their group who was to get married soon, his friends pointed to him and said jokingly – 

“O monk, save this boy. He is been compelled to marry by his family and he has the least desire to get married. You are very kind and merciful. Please initiate him into Diksha (monkhood), we will be very grateful to you.”

The monk initially ignored them and did not pay much heed to their request. This provoked the youths further and they again requested the monk to redeem the youth from the worldly ties. True to his name and nature, monk Chandarudrachaya now lost his temper and called the to-be married youth and said –

“So you want to become a monk? OK, I will grant you your wish and initiate you into monkhood. You will soon learn what is to be initiated!” The youth still in a mischievous mood, said – “Yes, yes! please initiate me and grant me monkhood”

This flared up the monk further, he caught hold of the youth and seizing his head, started plucking his hair as part of the initiation. The other youths were shocked to see what was happening. They got scared and ran away but that youth did not budge. When his initiation was complete, he said to his now guru Sri Chandarudracharya –

“Gurudev, soon my family will arrive here, it would be better we leave this place before they come.”

Monk Chandarudracharya was aged and could not undertake the journey, so the youth carried his guru on the shoulders and started the journey away from the village.

It had started to get dark and the path was also uneven with thorns and pebbles along the way. Whenever the disciple’s feet stumbled, the guru was getting jerks. He got angry and scolded his disciple on why he was not walking properly or was he doing it deliberately to trouble him. The young monk’s feet were bruised and bleeding.

Soon his feet faltered due to a deep pit. The old monk got a jerk and lost his balance. This made the old monk furious and he gave a blow on young monk’s head with his stick. The young monk’s head was already bleeding due to the plucking of the hair during initiation. The disciple was in pain and pitiable situation but he started thinking, that it was his fault. It was because of him his guru was going through so much of hardship and suffering. He started deeply repenting which cleansed and purified his soul. He got enlightenment (keval-gnan) or pure absolute knowledge. He could now see the path clearly even in pitch darkness. He started walking properly without causing any jerks. The guru asked him –

“How come you are walking properly now? How are you able to see the path in this pitch darkness? Has my stick done the trick? To which the young monk replied, “Gurudev, it is because your blessings and the power of knowledge”

The old monk realized that his disciple had got enlightenment. He immediately got down from the shoulders and fell in the feet of his disciple asking him for forgiveness. The guru started deeply repenting on his behavior and for torturing an enlightened soul. The guru’s soul also got purified in this process of deep remorse. He too got enlightenment!