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CHAPTER VI.
Marici's heresy (1-52)
Now, a disciple of the Master, Marici, a son of Bharata, who knew the eleven aŭgas like his own name, endowed with the qualities of an ascetic, delicate by nature, wandered with the Master like a young elephant with the lord of the herd. The dust on the roads being heated by the multitude of sun's rays terrible at midday in the hot season, as if by goldsmiths; the roads being deserted because of the hot winds, closely resembling the fames of an invisible fire; his own body resembling damp fuel that is being heated because of its constant streams of perspiration rising from head to foot, and with an unendurable odor caused by his soiled body and clothes wet with perspiration, like the odor from a dry skin sprinkled with water; his feet burned, imitating an ichneumon's standing on hot ground, 868 overcome by thirst; he thought to himself:
“I am the grandson of the Teacher of the World, Rşabha Svāmin, Mt. Meru with sun and moon of complete knowledge and complete faith. I am the son of the Lord of Bharata, the depository of discernment, the Akhandala of the whole six-part country (i.e., Bharatakşetra). In the presence of the fourfold congregation and of the Master, I became a mendicant, accompanied by pronouncement of the five great vows. This being so, it is not fitting for me to go home from my post, like a warrior from the battle-field, dripping with shame. Now I am not able to bear, even for an hour, the load of qualities belonging
868 7. This is the equivalent of the Western, like a cat dancing on hot bricks.'
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