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Each Penance is of ascending importance. The practice of self - conquest is the path towards purification.
Bhagvān Mahāvir's life : (Tapa)
It was the Observation of Tapa that elevated Bhagavān Mahāvir's life to the supreme state of an Omniscient Teacher. It was by mortification and austerity that he could become the unequalled master of Ahimsā. Lord Mahāvir ate and drank water only 349 times in the course of his 12.5 years and 15 days of ascetic life for the attainment of Omniscience, the stage of perfection and purity. It will be astonishing to know that all these years he did not sit on the ground, was in deep and prolonged meditation, during which unthinkable sufferings and tortures he bore with equanimity. The total time he dozed off during these years was a total of 48 minutes.
You can purge the terrific hold of Karma by 12 kinds of Penances and make your soul perfect.
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