In ancient times a king named Jitashatru was ruling over the city of Vasantpur. He had a wise and capable minister named Jindäs. As per his name Jindäs was a devotee of Jainism and was helpful in running the administration in accordance with the Jain tenets. By his wife Tattvamälini he had a daughter who was named Subhadrä. She was bright, attractive and lovable. She hadthe opportunity to study Jainism in depth and was convinced about the truth of that religion.

By the time she became young, Subhadrä was well versed in all the aspects of Jainism and enthusiastically performed different religious practices. She was very particular about Sämayika which she regularly performed in true spirit. That not only enabled her to get the glimpse of the true self, but also gave her the peace and tranquillity of the mind. The charm and beauty, that she had been endowed with from the beginning, continued to increase with the passage of time. Many young people therefore longed to marry her. In order to avert any conflict of faith, her father had decided to get her married to the person who had faith in Jainism.

There was another city named Champäpuri where there was a well to do Buddhist family. They had a son named Buddhadäs. He was smart, handsome and intelligent. He had heard about Subhadrä and was aspiring to marry her. When he came to know that Subhadrä would marry only a Jain bridegroom, he decided to feign as a Jain. For this purpose, he learnt all the details of Jainism as well as its code of conduct and started professing Jainism. Since Vasantpur was not very far away from Champäpuri, he frequently went there with the professed intention of visiting the Jain temples of that place. In due course he came to be known as a devoted Jain.

While he was once praying in the temple of Vasantpur, Jindäs happened to come there. Seeing him, Buddhadäs decided to display his devotion for Jainism. He professed to be totally absorbed in the prayer. Jindäs noticed that and was highly impressed by the sense of his devotion. When the prayer was over, Jindäs asked him who he was and from where he was coming. Buddhadäs replied that he lived in Champäpuri and had been to Vasantpur by way of pilgrimage. As he mentioned about his family, Jindäs was taken a back; because he knew it to be a Buddhist family. Buddhadäs however told him with apparent humbleness that having learnt about Jainism, he had lost faith in Buddhism and had adopted Jainism.

Jindäs was impressed by that reply and knowing him to be a co-religionist, he invited him for dinner at his place. Buddhadäs accepted the same with an apparent sense of hesitation. During the dinner, he remained careful to let Jindäs know that he knew all the intricacies of Jainism. His courteous behaviour also pleased every one. Jindäs and Tattvamälini therefore considered him a suitable candidate for Subhadrä and asked him to be their guest whenever he came to Vasantpur. Buddhadäs was actually waiting for such an opportunity and gladly accepted the offer. Thereby he could come in close contact with Subhadrä. In due course Jindäs could notice that Subhadrä had developed affection for Buddhadäs. It was therefore decided to offer her hand in marriage to him and accordingly the wedding took place on an auspicious day with great fanfare.

Subhadrä came to Champäpuri with the fondest expectations. She was however disappointed when she came to know that her in laws were staunch Buddhists and despised Jainism. Her disappointment grew when she could figure out that her husband too was Buddhist at heart and had deceived her by professing Jainism. As a true Jain girl she however accepted what was destined for her and continued to practice her religion with the expectation that one day shewould be in a position to convince Buddhadäs and his family about the truth underlying the Jainism.

Her mother in law was particularly against her performing of Jain practices. She tried to disturbher in all possible ways while Subhadrä would be performing Sämayika. She also raised obstacles to Subhadrä‟s going to Jain temple and to the sermons of Jain monks. Buddhadäsloved Subhadrä and did not want to come in her way. But he was helpless against the insistenceof his mother who resorted to harassing and abusing Subhadrä every now and then. But that did not perturb the faith of Subhadrä and she continued to have her practices with a sense of equanimity. Once it so happened that while the mother in law had been out, a Jain monk happened to comefor alms. Subhadrä had the opportunity to see a Jain monk after a very long time. She was very pleased to see him and devotedly offered the food that would be acceptable to him. While offering the food, Subhadrä could notice that the monk was afflicted by some particle in his eye. Subhadrä thought that she could easily take out the particle with a piece of cloth. She therefore folded one end of her handkerchief so as to make it pointed, slightly moistened it and with that she carefully took out the particle without physically touching the monk.

At that very time her mother in law arrived. Seeing both of them standing close to each other, her rage knew no bounds. She shouted at the monk calling him lustful and beggar and drove himaway. Then she turned to Subhadrä and started abusing her with the accusation of adultery.Then she began to wail, loudly uttering that her family was polluted by such a characterless girl.When Buddhadäs came home, she told him with all possible exaggeration how she had noticedSubhadrä in the company of the monk. Subhadrä tried to explain what had happened but Buddhadäs refused to listen to her. He was much enraged to hear what his mother had said andthought that Subhadrä could not have been a faithful wife. Thereupon he decided to send her back to her father‟s place and in the meantime asked her to stay confined in her room.

For Subhadrä it was the time of an ordeal. She was perfectly chaste but could not see any way tovindicate her chastity. She had however unflinching faith in her religion and in the efficacy of Sämayika. She therefore decided to observe the fast and stay tuned to Sämayika all the time. Shäsandevi, the goddess who looks to the well being of Jain order, was pleased by her sense of devotion and appeared in her dream. She told Subhadra not to worry because she was by herside and was instituting a miraculous device that could enable the latter to vindicate her chastity.So saying, the Shäsandevi disappeared.

In the morning it was noticed that all the gates of Champäpuri were firmly locked. The gatekeepers tried to open them but could not do so in spite of all possible efforts. Many people came around to witness what had gone wrong with the gates. There were lot of people within the city intending to go out and many more outside who wanted to come in. All of them were feelinghelpless and could not make out what to do. The entire traffic of Champapuri with the outside world came to a stand still.

When the king came to know of that, he was much perturbed. He could imagine that it could haveresulted from the wrath of some heavenly being. He therefore prayed his family goddess to cometo the help. The goddess was pleased by his sincere prayer and said that the gates have been locked as a result of ill treatment to a pious girl of his city and they could be opened only if a truly chaste girl draws water from the well in a strainer tied to the cotton yarn and sprinkles that waterat the gates. Thereupon the king announced that whoever could draw the water in a strainer as required, would be recognized as the chaste girl of the city and would be given appropriate awardin token of her purity.

For that purpose the queen and other royal girls came out first of all, because they considered themselves very chaste. Here however was not the test of mere physical chastity but of mental one too. Very cautiously, they laid the strainer in the well but failed to draw the water. Other girlsof the city then tried their luck. In many cases, the cotton yarn gave way while laying down thestrainer and even those, whose strainers could reach the water, were not successful in drawing the water. As none of them succeeded, Subhadrä asked the permission of her mother in law to lether try. The mother in law however curtly turned her down saying that her character was nowknown and she had no intention to lay the prestige of her family at stake.

Since no one could draw the water in the strainer as required, the king was much perturbed. He therefore issued orders for every woman of the city to come out and try. Thus Subhadrä also gota chance. She came to the well. Tying the strainer with the cotton yarn, she confidently let it downin the well and immersed it in the water. Then, she offered her silent prayer to the Shäsandeviand reciting the Navkärmantra she started to draw out the strainer. To the surprise of every onethe water had stayed in the strainer. Subhadra could realize that Shäsandevi was invisibly holdingthe water. She took that water in her hand and sprayed it at the gates. Every one was astonishedto notice that the doors of the gates instantly opened.

The city breathed a sigh of relief when the gates were thus opened. Every one praised Subhadräfor her performance. It was decided by the king to honor her as the perfectly chaste girl of thecity. Subhadrä was accordingly given a rousing reception in the royal court and the people of Champäpuri thronged to witness the occasion. People of all sorts felt much elated andcongratulated Subhadrä as the most chaste girl of the city. Buddhadäs and his mother alsorealized that they had unjustly accused Subhadrä of the adultery and they asked for herforgivance. They also realized the efficacy of Jainism. The main difference between Jainism andBuddhism lies in respect of existence or inexistance of the soul. The way Subhadrä hadexercised her spirituality, they got convinced of the existence of the soul and therefore adoptedthe Jain faith. Subhadrä felt happy that she had at last gained what she was looking for and spentmany years thereafter in the midst of happiness.

Later on, Subhadrä thought it was the time for her to devote the rest of the life entirely to thespiritual pursuit. She already had the in-depth study of Jainisn and had been faithfully practicingthe same as laid down for the house holders. What was now required was to practice the sameexhaustively. For that purpose, she renounced the family life and became a nun. In that capacity,she scrupulously observed the code of conduct for the renounced. Thus combining the trinity ofknowledge(Jnän), faith(Darshan) and conduct(Chäritra) in her life, she gained omniscience orKewaljnän and ultimately attained the liberation.