Depayan Muni is a Jain muni (monk) who appears in the Jain narration connected with Lord Neminath (22nd Tirthankar), Shri Krishna, and the destruction of the city of Dwarka. His story is mainly used to teach the danger of anger (krodh) and the importance of kshamā (forgiveness, forbearance).

In very simple form:

1. Background

• Dwarka was a great city made holy by the birth and presence of Lord Neminath.
• Krishna and Balbhadra (Balaram) ruled there and were relatives and devotees of Neminath Bhagwan.
• In a samavasaran, Balbhadra asked Neminath, “How long will Dwarka and its wealth last?”
• Bhagwan Neminath replied that after 12 years, Dwarka would be burnt to ashes, and that harm done by the Yaduvanshis (princes of that clan) to a monk named Depayan Muni would become the cause.

1. Attempt to avoid the prophecy

• Hearing this, Balbhadra became worried.
• He had all the wine and intoxicating drinks thrown away in the forest near Girnar so that drunkenness would not cause trouble.
• Depayan Muni also left Dwarka to avoid any conflict, and went elsewhere for his sadhana (spiritual practice).

1. The misunderstanding of time

• As the end of the 12-year period drew near, Depayan Muni mistakenly thought that the full 12 years had already passed.
• Believing the danger time was over, he returned and sat in deep meditation near Mount Girnar.

1. The attack on Depayan Muni

• At that time, the Yaduvanshi princes were returning from pleasure outings on Girnar.
• They were tired and thirsty, and drank water collected in a pond, not knowing that it had become mixed with the discarded wine.
• Becoming intoxicated, they started wandering about and saw Depayan Muni absorbed in meditation.
• Some of them, in anger and confusion, began to say, “This is the same Depayan because of whom Dwarka will be destroyed,” and they started throwing stones at him and torturing him.

1. The fall into anger

• At first, Depayan Muni remained calm and tolerant, bearing the pain like a true sadhu.
• But when the torture increased beyond limit, he lost his inner balance, became extremely angry, and his mind filled with dvesha (hatred/ill-will).
• Balbhadra rushed to him and asked forgiveness, but Depayan Muni’s anger would not cool down.
• In that intense state of krodh and dvesha, he died with a bad inner feeling (ashubh bhāva).

1. Next birth and destruction of Dwarka

• Because of his tapas (austerity) and also those powerful passions, he was reborn as a Vyanantar Deva (a type of celestial being).
• With wrong, anger-filled knowledge of his past life, he set fire to Dwarka and the city was destroyed, exactly as foretold by Neminath Bhagwan.

1. Main Jain teachings from Depayan Muni’s story

• Even a spiritually advanced person, if overcome by anger at the last moment, can fall and cause great harm.
• The real enemy is not outside people but our own kashayas (anger, pride, deceit, greed).
• To preserve the fruits of tapas, knowledge, and sadhana, one must protect the mind from anger and keep strong kshamā and equanimity till the final breath.
• This story is used in Jain teachings (especially when explaining kshamā and the ten dharmas) as a warning example: anger burns both oneself and others, just like fire hidden in wood destroys the wood itself.

You can read a simple Jain narration of this incident and the destruction of Dwarka here: