Ujjhitak (उज्झितक)

तेणं कालेणं तेणं समएणं वाणियगामे णामं णगरे होत्था — वण्णओ।
धूयपल्लासए उज्जाणे। सुहम्मे जक्खे। मित्ते राया। सिरी देवी। ॥२.१॥

At that time and in that era, there was a city named Vanijyagram — as described in full; its garden was called Dhutipallasha; its presiding deity was Sudharm yaksha; its king was Mitra; and his queen was Shri.

The opening formula of each Vipaak Sutra chapter establishes sacred geography: a real city, a recognized garden, a protective deity, and a ruling monarch. Vanijyagram — literally "merchants' village" — was a prosperous trading center in ancient India, and the choice of setting is significant: it is a city built on commerce, where the pursuit of wealth and pleasure defines the culture. The garden Dhutipallasha served as the refuge of wandering monks and ascetics; it is here that Mahavir would later arrive. King Mitra ("friend") rules alongside Queen Shri ("prosperity, grace"), names that carry auspicious meaning — yet this chapter will reveal that even an auspicious city and prosperous court cannot prevent the fruit of evil karma from ripening. The stage is set for a story that crosses lifetimes.

The simple version: This chapter takes place in a wealthy merchant city called Vanijyagram, ruled by a king and queen, in ancient India.

तेणं कालेणं तेणं समएणं वाणियगामे णगरे कामधज्जा णामं गणिया होत्था — अहिगयपण्णासत्थाणविसेसा सोलसकलासंपण्णा। ॥२.२॥

At that time and in that era, in the city of Vanijyagram, there was a courtesan named Kamdhvaja — accomplished in all fifty-three specialized arts and endowed with all sixteen qualities.

In ancient Indian society, a gaṇiyā (courtesan) of the highest class was not merely a woman of pleasure but a trained master of performing arts, social grace, and persuasion. The "fifty-three arts" and "sixteen qualities" referenced here are technical classifications from Jain scripture describing the complete training of a court courtesan — including music, dance, poetry, rhetoric, perfumery, dress, and the arts of enchantment. Kamdhvaja's name itself — "banner of desire" — signals her role in this narrative: she is the embodiment of worldly desire, the focal point around which Ujjhitak's ruin will revolve. The Vipaak Sutra does not condemn Kamdhvaja; rather, it shows how deep attachment to any object of desire, however beautiful, becomes the instrument of one's own destruction. The elaborate description of her accomplishments emphasizes just how compelling the trap of worldly attachment can be.

The simple version: Kamdhvaja was the most accomplished and sought-after courtesan in Vanijyagram — trained in every art, beautiful, and desired by all.

तेणं कालेणं तेणं समएणं वाणियगामे णगरे विजयमित्ते सेट्ठी होत्था — अड्ढे दित्ते वित्थिण्णविउलभवणसयणासण। तस्स भारिया सुभद्दा। तेसिं पुत्ते उज्झियए। ॥२.३॥

At that time and in that era, in the city of Vanijyagram, there was a merchant named Vijayamitra — wealthy, generous, and possessing a vast and prosperous household; his wife was Subhadra, and their son was Ujjhitak.

Vijayamitra ("victorious friend") is a prosperous merchant — the ideal household of a Jain layperson: wealthy, generous, well-established. His wife Subhadra ("very auspicious") reinforces the image of a blessed household. Yet their son Ujjhitak carries within him the karmic residue of a terrible past — the soul that was Gotrasak, the cattle butcher of Hastinapur, now reborn in this comfortable home. This juxtaposition is central to the Vipaak Sutra's teaching: good parents, good wealth, and good surroundings cannot neutralize old karma. The seeds planted in past lives will find their soil regardless of how fertile the present life appears to be. Ujjhitak's very name — meaning "one who was thrown away" — foreshadows his fate, for he will be cast away again in every sense.

The simple version: Ujjhitak was born into a rich merchant family in Vanijyagram — his father was generous and successful, his mother kind — but his past karma would undo all of that.

तेणं कालेणं तेणं समएणं समणे भगवं महावीरे — जाव — वाणियगामं संपत्ते। ॥२.४॥

At that time and in that era, the ascetic Lord Mahavir arrived in Vanijyagram.

The arrival of Mahavir is never incidental in these narratives — it is the pivot upon which revelation turns. Without his presence, the hidden karmic history of Ujjhitak would remain invisible. Mahavir's omniscience (the ability to know all past, present, and future) makes him the living witness who can connect the dots across lifetimes and explain why suffering arises. His arrival in a merchant city during a scene of punishment carries deep symbolic weight: where worldly activity reaches its most intense expression — commerce, pleasure, royal authority — there too arrives the one who has renounced all of it. The city that thrives on desire is suddenly illuminated by the presence of one who has transcended desire entirely.

The simple version: Lord Mahavir — the enlightened teacher — arrived in Vanijyagram while Ujjhitak's story was unfolding.

तेणं कालेणं तेणं समएणं समणस्स भगवओ महावीरस्स जेट्ठे अंतेवासी इंदभूती गोयमे — जाव — पज्जुवासमाणे विहरइ। ॥२.५॥

At that time and in that era, the senior disciple of the ascetic Lord Mahavir — Indrabhutti Gautam — was attending upon him in service.

Gautam Swami — addressed here by his full name Indrabhutti Gautam — was Mahavir's chief disciple and the interlocutor in nearly all the canonical dialogues. His role in the Vipaak Sutra is consistent: he observes a scene in the world, returns to Mahavir, and asks the question that unlocks the narrative. Gautam represents the sincere seeker — one who sees suffering and does not simply move on, but pauses, wonders, and asks "why?" This posture of genuine inquiry is itself a spiritual virtue. The Vipaak Sutra teaches that the visible world is never the complete story; beneath every scene of suffering or joy lies a vast karmic history. Gautam's questioning is what allows that history to surface.

The simple version: Gautam Swami, Mahavir's closest disciple, was there serving him — and was about to witness something that would prompt him to ask a very important question.

तेणं कालेणं तेणं समएणं इंदभूती गोयमे — जाव — पिंडवायपडियाए पविट्ठे समाणे — अद्दासि णं उज्झियए पुरिसे — से णं तत्थ हत्थिक्खंधे आरुढे, तम्बलिंगहत्थे, अच्छाए सिरिए, सिंदुवरपल्लवमाला, उवाहिं बद्धे, गाढं बद्धे, उवरोहेण बद्धे, कक्खडेणं सूत्तेणं बद्धे — से णं तत्थ कण्णे चिण्णे, णासे चिण्णे, एगे सिंदुरेणं लित्ते, रुहिरेणं लित्ते, दोण्हं वग्गुरियाणं पडिवण्णे, रत्तमालिया, संवेगविसण्णे वियपाणे इच्छइ। ॥२.६॥

At that time and in that era, as Indrabhutti Gautam entered the city for alms collection, he saw a man named Ujjhitak — mounted on an elephant back, holding a copper fruit in his hands, bound behind his back with tight rope, bound in heavy restraint, bound in the manner of a condemned man with coarse cord — his ears cut, his nose cut, his body smeared with vermilion and blood, wearing two criminal's garments, garlanded with red flowers, sorrow-stricken and trembling yet still clinging to the desire for life.

This sutra presents one of the most vivid scenes of public punishment in all of Jain scripture. Ujjhitak is being paraded through the city on an elephant — a form of humiliation reserved for the gravest offenders — with every mark of condemnation upon him: nose and ears cut, body smeared with vermilion and blood, bound with coarse rope in the "back-to-back" style, wearing the uniform of the condemned, and carrying a copper fruit as the symbol of his status. Soldiers cut flesh from his living body and feed it to crows. Hundreds of whips rain upon him. And at every crossroads, drums announce: "This Ujjhitak was not condemned by king or prince — it is the fruit of his own karma." The detail that he is "trembling yet still desiring life" is psychologically piercing — even in this condition of maximum suffering, the soul's attachment to existence persists. This is the nature of the soul in bondage: desire does not release even when its fruits have become torture.

The simple version: Gautam saw Ujjhitak being paraded through the city in terrible condition — ears and nose cut off, body smeared in blood, bound and beaten — yet still desperately wanting to survive.

तए णं इंदभूती गोयमे — जाव — भगवं महावीरं पज्जुवासमाणे एवं वयासी — "एस णं भंते! उज्झियए पुरिसे किं कम्मे कडे — जाव — एयारूवं फलविवागं पच्चणुभवमाणे विहरइ?" भगवं गोयमं एवं वयासी — "गोयमा! पुव्वभवे णं एस जीवे..." ॥२.७॥

Then Indrabhutti Gautam, after collecting alms and returning to attend upon Lord Mahavir, asked him: "Lord! What deed did this man Ujjhitak perform in his past life that he now experiences such a fruit of karma?" And the Blessed One replied to Gautam: "Gautam! In a previous life, this soul..."

Gautam's question is the hinge of every Vipaak Sutra chapter: "What did he do?" It assumes the foundational Jain position that suffering is never arbitrary or accidental — it is always the precise fruit of a specific past action. This is not fatalism; it is the law of moral causation operating with mathematical exactness. Mahavir, whose omniscience spans all time, is uniquely positioned to answer. By saying "in a previous life, this soul..." he introduces a multi-generational narrative that will span two human lives, a term in hell, a return to earth, and ultimately the path toward liberation. The question Gautam asks is one every compassionate person should ask when they witness suffering: not merely "how can we stop this?" but "what is the root of this?" Root-causes require root-cures.

The simple version: Gautam returned to Mahavir and asked: "Why is Ujjhitak suffering like this?" — and Mahavir began to explain the karma behind it.

हत्थिणापुरे णगरे। बहुमज्झदेसभाए गोमंडवे होत्था — महं, विउले, समिद्धे — जत्थ णं असंखेज्जे गोवसहे, गाओ, वच्छे, महिसे — जाव — उज्जु-पन्था विहरंति। भीमे णामं कूडगाहे होत्था — अधम्मिए, पावकम्मे, जीवपीडणरए। ॥२.८॥

In the city of Hastinapur, at the very center of the city, there was a large, spacious, and prosperous communal cattle pen where countless bulls, cows, calves, and buffaloes lived peacefully and freely; and there was a cattle warden named Bhim — irreligious, addicted to evil deeds, and delighting in the torment of living beings.

The past life of Ujjhitak begins not with Ujjhitak himself, but with his father Bhim in the lifetime before — establishing a multi-generational karmic chain that is unique to this chapter. Bhim is a kūḍagāhe — a keeper of communal livestock — a position of public trust and responsibility for the care of innocent animals. The cattle pen at the center of Hastinapur is described as a place of freedom and peace: the animals live without fear. Yet Bhim, placed in this position of guardianship, uses it to cause harm. The description "delighting in the torment of living beings" is the Jain scripture's most severe characterization — it speaks not merely of harmful actions but of a personality that actively enjoys causing pain. This is the karmic root that will branch into generations of suffering.

The simple version: In a past life, the soul that became Ujjhitak was first the father of a man called Bhim — a cruel cattle keeper in Hastinapur who enjoyed hurting animals.

तस्स भारिया उप्पला। सा णं तस्स भारियाए अंतियाए पढमाए दोहलाए दोहलियाए। ॥२.९॥

Bhim's wife was Utpala; she became pregnant with his child and in the third month of her pregnancy developed a powerful pregnancy craving.

The dohala (pregnancy craving) is a significant concept in Jain cosmology and narrative literature. It is understood not merely as a physical craving of the mother but as the desire of the unborn soul entering the womb — the child's karmic tendencies expressing themselves even before birth through the mother's cravings. A noble soul creates noble cravings; a cruel soul creates cruel ones. The unborn Gotrasak — whose soul carries the violent tendencies of the cattle-butchering Bhim (his father) — will express its nature through a monstrous dohala. The name Utpala ("lotus") for such a mother carries painful irony: a lotus flower floats above dark water, yet here the craving that surfaces is anything but pure. The stage is set for one of the most disturbing pregnancy narrative sequences in the scriptures.

The simple version: Bhim's wife Utpala became pregnant, and as she entered her third month, she developed an intense craving — a pregnancy desire — that would reveal the nature of the soul growing inside her.

सा णं उप्पला — गाय-गोण-वच्छग-महिस-थण-कंठ-अक्खि-णासा-जिव्हा-ओट्ठ-पासग-चम्म-अंगोपंग-मंस-वज्जिया — विविहाए आमिससालणाए, सुरा-मधु-मेरग-जाई-सीधु-पसण्णे — इच्छामि ण णं दोहलं पूरिउं। अहो णं सुहिया माया जे दोहलं पूरेंति। ताए अपूरिए दोहले — किसाए, रुक्खा, णिम्मंसे, पंडुवयणे, गोंतमुहे णिसण्णे। ॥२.१०॥

Utpala craved the flesh from the udders, necks, eyes, noses, tongues, lips, ribs, hides, and various limbs of cows, bulls, calves, and buffaloes — cut and prepared in various ways with meat gravies, and accompanied by wine, honey, palm wine, date liquor, strong fermented drink, and grape wine — saying: "I want to fulfill my pregnancy craving in this way; blessed are those mothers whose cravings are fulfilled!" And because her craving went unfulfilled, she withered away — lean, dry, fleshless, pale-faced, and sitting with her chin buried in her hands in despairing meditation.

This sutra catalogs the dohala with deliberate, exhaustive detail — not to glorify it, but to make its horror legible. The craving is for the cut flesh of specific body parts from multiple living animals, paired with every kind of intoxicant. The description of Utpala withering when the craving is unmet powerfully illustrates the nature of desire: unsatisfied, it consumes the desirer. The scripture here communicates a profound teaching about the relationship between the mother's consciousness and the unborn child: what is craving through the mother is the developing soul within, whose tendencies toward violence and sensory indulgence are already fully formed from its previous lives. When she says "blessed are those mothers whose cravings are fulfilled," there is painful dramatic irony: the fulfillment of this craving will directly produce a soul so soaked in violence that its very birth-cry will terrorize animals across an entire city.

The simple version: Utpala's pregnancy craving was for the flesh of cows and buffaloes cut from specific body parts, prepared with wine — and when this craving went unmet, she wasted away from grief.

तए णं भीमे — जाव — उप्पलाए भारियाए कहेई। सा य णं उप्पला भीमस्स एयमट्ठं पकासेइ। तए णं भीमे — जाव — तिण्हि जामस्स पच्छिमे जामे — एगे — सपरिवारे — हत्थिणापुरं मज्झंमज्झेणं गच्छइ। सो णं तत्थ गाय-महिस-वच्छगाणं कण्णे, कंठे, थणे, मंसाणि अवलोपिऊण उप्पलाए घरे एइ। ॥२.११॥

Then Bhim comforted Utpala with sweet words; Utpala revealed her craving to him; and Bhim — at the last watch of the night, alone, fully armed — went through the heart of Hastinapur to the cattle pen, where he cut the ears, necks, udders, and flesh from cows, buffaloes, and calves, and brought them home to Utpala.

Bhim's act here is calculated, premeditated violence under cover of darkness. He does not struggle with the decision; he comforts his wife and then acts. The dead of night detail ("last watch") emphasizes secrecy and the consciousness of wrongdoing — one does not hide righteous actions in the middle of the night. What is most chilling is the ordinariness of Bhim's response: he does what he does every day, but now it is for his wife, who is carrying his child. There is no friction in his moral world — the cattle are his to mutilate. The scripture shows how desensitization to violence against one category of beings (those under our power) naturally progresses to mutilation without hesitation or guilt. The animals who "lived freely without fear" in sutra 2.8 are now victims of a midnight assault in their own home.

The simple version: Bhim snuck out in the middle of the night, cut flesh from cows and buffaloes in the communal pen, and brought it home to satisfy his wife's craving.

तए णं उप्पला तं मंसं विविहाए सालणाए साहेऊण — सुरा-मधु-मेरग-जाई-सीधु-पसण्णेणं — संपुण्णदोहला, समण्णियदोहला, विणीयदोहला, वोच्छिण्णदोहला, संपण्णदोहला होत्था। ॥२.१२॥

Then Utpala had the flesh cooked with various gravies and sauces, and ate it along with wine, honey, palm wine, date liquor, strong fermented drink, and grape wine — her pregnancy craving completely fulfilled, fully satisfied, wholly appeased, entirely concluded, and perfectly consummated.

The five-fold formula used here for the fulfillment of the craving — five different synonyms meaning "completely satisfied" — mirrors the five-fold formula used at the end of chapters to describe the karmic deeds. This is not accidental. The scripture is making a precise point: the thoroughness with which the craving was satisfied will be matched with equal thoroughness in the suffering that follows. Karma operates with exact proportion. What was done completely will be repaid completely. The five words for "satisfied" function as a kind of dark celebration — a feast of violence that the reader knows, from the chapter's outset, has already produced the scene of Ujjhitak being paraded through the streets in blood and shame. The craving is fulfilled; the karma is sealed.

The simple version: Utpala ate her fill — the craving was completely satisfied — but the violence that satisfied it had set a terrible karmic process in motion.

तए णं उप्पलाए — जाव — दारए जाए। से णं तत्थ उप्पण्णो समाणो महं-महं-चिच्चि-सद्दं करेइ। तए णं हत्थिणापुरे असंखेज्जे गाओ, वच्छे, महिसे — तं सद्दं सुणित्ता — भीतत्था — चउद्दिसं विद्दवंति। तए णं माया-पिया णामं करेंति — गोत्तसगे। ॥२.१३॥

Then Utpala gave birth to a child; and at the moment of his birth, the child uttered an immense and terrible "chicchi" cry — and upon hearing this cry, countless cows, calves, and buffaloes throughout all of Hastinapur were seized with terror and fled in all four directions; and his parents named him Gotrasak.

The birth of Gotrasak is narrated as a cosmic event: a single cry that terrifies every animal in a major city. This is the soul announcing its arrival with the very energy it carries — violence, terror, dominance over animals. The name Gotrasak encodes this perfectly: "one who scatters the lineage/herd." In Jain thought, the soul's tendencies at birth manifest through signs — the birth-cry, the birth-marks, the immediate response of the environment. Here the environment itself recoils. The animals that Bhim (the father) mutilated in secret now flee en masse at the sound of the son's first breath. There is something deeply just about this: the karma of terrorizing animals announces itself with a cry that terrorizes animals. What was done in the dark of night is now proclaimed at the hour of sunrise.

The simple version: When Bhim's son was born, his cry was so terrifying that every cow and buffalo in the entire city panicked and ran — so his parents named him Gotrasak, "the one who scatters the herd."

तए णं भीमे कालमासे कालं किच्चा — जाव — गोत्तसगे — कूडगाहा जाए। से णं तत्थ — जहा पिया — अधम्मिए, पावकम्मे, जीवपीडणरए। ॥२.१४॥

Then Bhim died in due time; and after the period of mourning, Gotrasak was appointed as the new cattle warden by King Sunanda — and he became exactly like his father: irreligious, addicted to evil deeds, and delighting in the torment of living beings.

The phrase "exactly like his father" carries immense karmic weight. Gotrasak did not independently choose evil — he was, in a sense, born into it, shaped by the consciousness he received in the womb from a mother who feasted on violence and a father who perpetuated it. The same position (cattle warden), the same behavior (irreligion, evil deeds, delight in torment), and — as the next sutra reveals — the same midnight rituals of mutilation. This is the Vipaak Sutra's most explicit teaching on karmic inheritance across generations: not that children are destined by their parents' karma, but that the same soul may choose to re-enact its patterns lifetime after lifetime. The soul of Gotrasak, having not learned from its previous existence as Bhim, continues precisely where it left off. Karma creates ruts; only genuine spiritual effort breaks them.

The simple version: When Bhim died, his son Gotrasak took over his job — and became exactly as cruel and violent as his father had been.

से णं गोत्तसगे — जाव — तिण्हि जामस्स पच्छिमे जामे — एगे — सपरिवारे — हत्थिणापुरं मज्झंमज्झेणं गच्छइ — मंसे अवलोपिऊण — मज्जं पिऊण। एवं पंचवाससयाइं कालं गमेत्ता, कालमासे कालं किच्चा — सरगप्पभाए पुढवीए उक्कोसेणं तिसागरोवमठिई नेरइए उवविजेइ। ॥२.१५॥

Gotrasak — likewise, at the last watch of the night, alone, fully armed — went through the heart of Hastinapur, cut flesh from the animals, and drank wine; and after passing 500 years in this manner, he died in due time and was reborn in the second hell (the layer of sharp-grained earth) with a maximum term of three ocean-measure eons.

Five hundred years of nightly violence, each night like the one before — this is the image of karma being accumulated with relentless consistency. The five-fold repetition of "exactly like his father" that precedes this sutra was not just a narrative shorthand: it captures five hundred years in a phrase. Gotrasak's karma ripens in the second hell — one level below the first, reflecting one additional generation and one additional accumulation of violence. The "sharp gravel hell" is described in Jain cosmology as a place where the very ground is agony — fitting for one whose pleasure was in the cutting of flesh. Three sagaropam is an astronomically long term: one sagaropam is an almost incomprehensible unit of time. The soul has purchased enormous suffering through enormous, persistent cruelty.

The simple version: Gotrasak lived exactly like his father — cutting animals at night and drinking — for 500 years. Then he died and went to the second level of hell for an almost unimaginable length of time.

विजयमित्तस्स भारिया सुभद्दा — जाइंदुया होत्था। से णं जीवे गोत्तसगस्स तओ सरगप्पभाओ णिक्खमिऊण विजयमित्तस्स भारियाए सुभद्दाए कुच्छिंसि उवविजेइ। ॥२.१६॥

Vijayamitra's wife Subhadra was one whose children always died at birth; and the soul of Gotrasak, emerging from the second hell of Sharkara Prabha, was reborn in the womb of Subhadra, Vijayamitra's wife.

The detail that Subhadra is a jātiṃduyā — a woman whose children die at birth — is not incidental. It reflects the karmic weight the incoming soul carries. Even a soul emerging from hell does not immediately arrive in comfort or stability; the conditions of rebirth continue to reflect its history. Subhadra, despite being the wife of a prosperous merchant and despite her auspicious name, cannot sustain newborn life — until now. The soul of Gotrasak arrives into exactly this fragile, grief-soaked context. In Jain narrative cosmology, the nature of the mother and the soul's entry condition are mutually reflecting mirrors. Subhadra's pattern of losing her children may indicate her own karma, or may indicate that the incoming souls themselves were not ready to survive. With Gotrasak's arrival, however, the child will survive — but what a life awaits.

The simple version: The soul of Gotrasak left the second level of hell and was reborn as the baby of a merchant's wife named Subhadra, whose previous babies had always died.

तए णं सुभद्दा — जाव — दारए जाए। तए णं सुभद्दा तं दारगं उक्करुडियाए पक्खिवित्ता — पुणो गेण्हित्ता — जाव — पोसेइ। तए णं माया-पिया णामं करेंति — उज्झियए। ॥२.१७॥

Then Subhadra gave birth to a child; and Subhadra, in her initial fearful reaction, threw the newborn into a refuse heap — but then retrieved it, picked it up, and raised it with care; and on the twelfth day, his parents named him Ujjhitak.

The naming of Ujjhitak carries the sorrow of his entire life in a single word: "one who was thrown away." The act of the mother throwing the newborn onto a refuse heap is deeply unsettling, and the scripture does not explain it explicitly. It may reflect Subhadra's previous grief — conditioned by too many infant deaths, she unconsciously abandons before she can be abandoned again — or it may reflect a ritual or superstitious practice of symbolic "rejection" to confuse bad omens. Whatever the reason, the act becomes the child's name and his defining wound. He is recovered, raised, and loved — "growing like a champak tree in a mountain cave" (a protected beauty in an unlikely place) — yet the name "thrown away" follows him. He will be thrown away again by poverty, by the king, by the world.

The simple version: Subhadra gave birth, briefly threw the baby away in panic, then picked him back up and raised him — naming him Ujjhitak, meaning "the one who was thrown away."

तए णं विजयमित्ते — जाव — गणिय-धरिय-मेज्ज-परिचेज्जं भंडं आरोविऊण — जाणवत्तेणं लवणसमुद्दं पत्ते। से णं तत्थ अणाहे, अपडिसरणे — जाव — जाणवत्तं पलिभग्गे। ॥२.१८॥

Then Vijayamitra, loading four types of merchandise — goods to be counted, goods to be weighed, goods to be measured, and goods to be estimated — onto a ship, set sail for the salt sea; and there, unprotected and without shelter, he perished, and the ship was wrecked.

The death of Vijayamitra is sudden and total — a sea voyage that goes wrong, leaving no body to recover, no wealth to inherit, no protector for the family. In the merchant culture of ancient India, overseas trade was the path to great wealth and also to sudden ruin. The four categories of merchandise are listed in full — emphasizing how complete Vijayamitra's investment was — making the total loss even more devastating. This event is the pivot that turns Ujjhitak's protected childhood into exposed vulnerability. Within the same city, in the same year, a child named "the thrown-away one" will lose both his protectors and be thrown away again — this time by society itself.

The simple version: Vijayamitra loaded a ship with all his goods, sailed to sea, and was shipwrecked — losing everything, including his life, leaving his wife and son behind.

तए णं सुभद्दा — जाव — कालियाए — सुत्ता कालमासे कालं किच्चा। ॥२.१९॥

Then Subhadra, overcome with grief over the sea voyage, the loss of their wealth, the ship's wreck, and her husband's death, fell unconscious like a champak tree cut by an axe — and having grieved and mourned, she died in due time.

Subhadra dies of grief. The Vipaak Sutra does not sensationalize or dramatize this — it simply states it with a single, stark image: a champak tree cut by an axe. The champak (champaka) is one of the most fragrant and beautiful flowering trees in India — its association with Ujjhitak's childhood (he was described as growing "like a champak in a mountain cave") makes his mother's death all the more poignant. She who sheltered him now falls in the same image. The loss of both parents in rapid succession — one to the sea, one to grief — leaves Ujjhitak entirely alone in the world. The structures that protected him are gone. And into that void, the oldest tendencies of his soul — the violent, sensory, acquisitive tendencies of Gotrasak and Bhim — will now rush in unchecked.

The simple version: After hearing about her husband's death at sea, Subhadra collapsed with grief and eventually died herself — leaving Ujjhitak an orphan.

तए णं उज्झियए — णगरपालेहिं घराओ णिक्खावियए — जाव — अण्णस्स दिण्णए। से णं उज्झियए — णगर-सिंघाडग-तिग-चउक्क-चच्चर-चउम्मुह — जूयगिण्हा-वेसगिण्हा-सुरागिण्हाए — एगम्तवसिणे, एगम्तचारिणे, एगम्तसेविणे — चोरकम्मे, जूएणं, वेसाए, परदारगमणे — ओगाहित्ता — कामधज्जाए गणियाए — जाव — परिवसइ। ॥२.२०॥

Then the city police evicted Ujjhitak from the family house and gave it to someone else; and Ujjhitak — wandering the crossroads, three-way junctions, four-way intersections, market squares, and public spaces of the city — entered gambling dens, brothels, and wine houses; becoming entirely self-willed, entirely unrestrained, entirely given over to his own impulses — he plunged into theft, gambling, prostitution, and adultery; and ended up living with the courtesan Kamdhvaja.

This sutra describes the complete unraveling of Ujjhitak's protected existence. Without parents, without a home, without structure, the soul reverts entirely to its old patterns. The triple formula — "entirely self-willed, entirely unrestrained, entirely given over to impulses" — is a precise karmic description: the soul that is not governed by discipline, teaching, or community becomes entirely the creature of its own desire. The four vices listed — theft, gambling, prostitution, adultery — are the classical quartet of degradation in Jain ethics, each feeding the others. And the endpoint is Kamdhvaja: introduced in sutra 2.2 as the city's supreme object of desire, she is now revealed as Ujjhitak's final destination. His entire karmic trajectory — from cattle pen to hell to orphan to gambling house — has been leading to this attachment.

The simple version: After his parents died, Ujjhitak lost the house too — and with nothing left, he fell into a life of gambling, stealing, and visiting brothels, ending up deeply attached to Kamdhvaja the courtesan.

तए णं मित्तस्स रण्णो भारिया सिरी देवी — जोणिसूलेणं आयंका। तए णं मित्ते राया — उज्झियगं कामधज्जागेहाओ णिक्खावियए — कामधज्जं अंतेउरे ठविऊण — जाव — परिवसइ। ॥२.२१॥

Then King Mitra's queen Shri was afflicted with a vaginal disease; and King Mitra had Ujjhitak evicted from Kamdhvaja's house, installed Kamdhvaja in the royal inner quarters, and lived with her himself.

The king's acquisition of Kamdhvaja — using royal authority to simply remove Ujjhitak from the picture — is a blunt exercise of power. Queen Shri's yonishula (vaginal disease) renders her unavailable to the king, who then turns to the city's most accomplished courtesan. Kamdhvaja, introduced as the supreme object of desire, is now elevated to the royal household — out of reach from Ujjhitak by the highest possible social barrier. This is the exact instrument of Ujjhitak's destruction: the very courtesan who fascinated him is now the king's consort. What follows — his obsessive return, his secret entry, the king's discovery — is now inevitable. The scripture reveals that the strongest chains are not iron: they are desire. Ujjhitak has already been evicted twice (from his family home, from Kamdhvaja's house); what he chooses next will be his final ruin.

The simple version: The king's wife fell ill, so the king took Kamdhvaja the courtesan into the palace — and threw Ujjhitak out, making it forbidden for him to see her.

तए णं उज्झियए — मुच्छिए, गिद्धे, गठिए, अज्झोववण्णे — णो च णं सुहाए, णो च णं पियाए, णो च णं मणाए — चिंतेमाणे चिंतेमाणे — अंतरं, छिद्दं, विवरं पेहमाणे — जेणेव कामधज्जाए गेहे तेणेव उवागच्छइ — जाव — परिवसइ। ॥२.२२॥

Then Ujjhitak — infatuated, clinging, bound, and entirely absorbed in her — could find happiness nowhere, pleasure nowhere, peace of mind nowhere; thinking of nothing but her, watching for an opening, a gap, an entry point — he made his way to Kamdhvaja's house and lived with her secretly.

This sutra presents one of the most psychologically precise descriptions of obsessive attachment in all of ancient scripture. The four-word formula — infatuated, clinging, bound, absorbed — is a complete anatomy of desire's progression. "Mūrcchā" (infatuation) is the Jain technical term for the delusion-driven unconsciousness caused by attachment; Ujjhitak literally cannot think. No happiness, no pleasure, no peace — desire, once it reaches this intensity, destroys the very thing it seeks to protect: enjoyment. He is not enjoying his craving; he is being consumed by it. And then: "watching for an opening, a gap, an entry point." This patient, calculating surveillance — waiting for a moment when the king's guard drops — is presented not as cunning but as the final phase of slavery to desire. He risks his life for this. He knows the king owns her now. He goes anyway.

The simple version: Ujjhitak was so obsessed with Kamdhvaja that he couldn't enjoy anything, couldn't think of anything else — and eventually found a way to secretly enter her house, even though she belonged to the king now.

तए णं मित्ते राया — जाव — उज्झियगं पासइ। तए णं मित्ते राया उज्झियगं दिट्ठु पडिकूलियए, कुविए, कोवगारियए। तए णं मित्ते राया उज्झियगं दंडेहिं, लट्ठीहिं, पट्टिसेहिं, पासाणेहिं आहणावेइ — जाव — उवकोडगबंधणेणं बंधावेइ — जाव — वहेज्जासि। भगवं — "एवं खलु गोयमा! उज्झियए पुरिसे पुव्वकडाणं कम्माणं फलविवागं पच्चणुभवमाणे विहरइ।" ॥२.२३॥

Then King Mitra arrived and saw Ujjhitak; and upon seeing him, the king turned crimson with rage, became furious and inflamed with anger; he had Ujjhitak beaten with sticks, rods, tridents, and stones, his body broken and his joints crushed, then bound in the avokota (arms-behind-back) bondage, and commanded: "Execute him!" — And the Blessed One said: "Thus indeed, Gautam! This man Ujjhitak experiences the fruit of the karma he committed in his past lives."

The moment of discovery is explosive: three verbs of escalating rage (turned against, furious, inflamed) followed by four instruments of punishment (sticks, rods, tridents, stones). The avokota bondage — arms tightly bound behind the back — is the specific restraint described in sutra 2.6; the scene at the chapter's opening is now explained. The king's command is absolute: execute. And then — with perfect structural economy — Mahavir closes the past-life narrative with the exact formula: "This man Ujjhitak experiences the fruit of the karma he committed in past lives." The connection is total. What Bhim did to defenseless animals in the dark — cutting, torturing, mutilating — is now done to Ujjhitak in full daylight, in public, announced at every crossroads. The karma has come full circle.

The simple version: The king found Ujjhitak with Kamdhvaja, flew into a rage, had him beaten and bound, and ordered his execution — and Mahavir explained: "This is the fruit of the karma he created in his past lives."

"से णं गोयमा! उज्झियए पुरिसे — पंचवीसाए वाससयस्स — अज्ज तइयाए पोरिसीए — सूलिए वहिस्सइ। रयणप्पभाए पुढवीए — जाव — जाइ-जरामरण-जोयस्स — अयं खलु गोयमा! उज्झियगस्स इह भवे दुहविवागसरूवं।
...वेयड्डपव्वयस्स आसण्णे ओगाहियाए जाए। से णं तत्थ जुवाणे समाणे — अण्णे वाणर-वाणरीए घायइ — जाव — कालमासे कालं किच्चा — इंदपुरे णगरे गणिय-घरे — णपुंसगे — जाव — पियसेणे इति णामं कट्ठे।" ॥२.२४॥

"Gautam! This man Ujjhitak — at twenty-five years of age — will today, in the third watch of the day, be executed by impalement on a stake; he will then be reborn in the first hell; and this, Gautam, is the nature of his suffering-fruit in this life. Then — after his term in hell and wandering through births as in the first chapter — he will be born near Mount Vaitadhya in a monkey family; while still young he will kill other monkeys; then he will die and be reborn in the city of Indrapur in a courtesan's household as a eunuch; and on the twelfth day his parents will name him Piyasena."

The future trajectory is laid out with the precision of a complete chart: death by impalement today, at exactly this hour; the first hell; animal wandering; rebirth as a monkey (retaining violent tendencies — killing others in the herd); then rebirth in a courtesan's household as a eunuch named Piyasena. The trajectory of karma does not simply punish — it reenacts the original pattern in new forms. Ujjhitak, who sought pleasure through a courtesan, is reborn in a courtesan's household; who caused violence to animals, is reborn as an animal; who was "thrown away," is reborn as an outcast (eunuch, in ancient social terms). The name Piyasena — "army of love" — is bitterly ironic: born into an existence centered on providing pleasure, this soul will again use the arts of manipulation and enchantment, again accumulate the same karma, and again face the consequences. The pattern must be broken at its root.

The simple version: Mahavir revealed that Ujjhitak would be impaled today, then go to hell, be reborn as a monkey that kills others, then be born again as a eunuch named Piyasena who would become a courtesan.

"से णं पियसेणे — जाव — विजयमित्तस्स — जाव — एगंतविसण्णे, एगंतदुक्खिए, एगंतकिलंते, एगंतपरितावियए — एगंतसोगागारे अप्पाणं संपवेसेत्ता — एक्काइयं वाससयं जीविउं — कालमासे कालं किच्चा — रयणप्पभाए — जाव — पक्खी वहिस्सइ। तओ वाणियगामे सेट्ठि-घरे जाइस्सइ — जाव — बोहिं पत्तो — अणगारे जाए — जाव — सोहम्मे कप्पे — जाव — महाविदेहे — जाव — सिज्झिहिइ।" ॥२.२५॥

"And Piyasena — living the same life as in the chapter of Ujjhitak — will cause grief, suffering, exhaustion, and anguish to many; placing himself in a house of sorrow; and having lived for 121 years, will die in due time and be reborn in the first hell; then will take birth as a bird and be killed; then will be reborn in a merchant's family in Vanijyagram; and having matured, will attain pure spiritual awakening, take monastic initiation, be born in the Saudharma heaven, and then — in the continent of Mahavideh — will attain liberation."

The chapter ends with the full arc of liberation — but how far away it is, and how much the soul must still travel. Piyasena must live out 121 years of the same karmic pattern (manipulation, enchantment, causing suffering), return to the first hell, be killed as a bird, be reborn as a merchant's son in the very same city where the story began (Vanijyagram), and only then encounter the conditions for spiritual awakening. The bodhi (awakening) is described as pure and complete; it triggers genuine renunciation and monastic life. The Saudharma heaven follows, and then Mahavideh — the final preparatory stage. Liberation is real, available, and certain — but it arrives only when the soul genuinely turns from the pattern of desire that has bound it across countless lives. The chapter is thus a complete teaching on karma: not as punishment but as the precise unfolding of what the soul has chosen, leading eventually — inevitably — to the moment of true turning.

The simple version: After many more lifetimes, the soul that was Ujjhitak will finally encounter a wise teacher, wake up, become a monk, go to heaven, and eventually reach complete liberation — free forever.