Parshvanatha and Kamatha (The Eternal Feud)

The rivalry between the souls of Lord Parshvanatha (the 23rd Tirthankara) and his brother Kamatha spans ten lifetimes. In their first life as brothers (Marubhuti and Kamatha), Kamatha committed adultery with Marubhuti's wife. When the king exiled Kamatha, Marubhuti, full of love, went to the forest to bring his brother back. Instead, Kamatha threw a massive stone at his head, killing him.

Because Marubhuti died with love and forgiveness, he was reborn in higher states (as an elephant, a god, a prince). Because Kamatha harbored immense hatred and anger, he was reborn in lower states (as a snake, a hunter, a demon).

In every single lifetime, they crossed paths. In every lifetime, Kamatha's soul cruelly killed or tortured Parshvanatha's soul. As an elephant, Parshvanatha was bitten by Kamatha (as a snake). As an ascetic, he was burned alive by Kamatha.

In their final life, Prince Parshvanatha saved a snake that was burning in Kamatha's ascetic fire. Later, when Parshvanatha was in deep meditation, the demonic god Meghmali (Kamatha's reincarnation) attacked him with a terrifying thunderstorm, flooding the area to drown the Tirthankara.

Parshvanatha remained perfectly still, radiating infinite love towards his ancient enemy. The snake he had saved (now reborn as Dharnendra, the snake king) spread his massive hood over Parshvanatha like an umbrella to protect him from the rain.

Seeing Parshvanatha's unshakeable peace and absolute lack of hatred after ten lifetimes of torture, Kamatha's demonic pride finally broke. He fell at the Lord's feet, shedding tears of repentance, and the cycle of hatred was forever broken.