________________
various ways signs of true greatness. His extremely compassionate heart combined with a highly spiritual bent of mind made him live the life of a householder with but reluctance and indifference. In the midst of luxury he lived the detached life of a Yogi. At last, at the age of thirty he gave up all worldly possessions and left home to lead the life of a wanderer in search of truth. For twelve years he practised severe austerities in order to purge his soul of all impurities and to make himself a perfect man. At the end of that period, thanks to this long process of self-purification, he became an Arhat or Jina. And, for the remaining thirty years of his life, like the foregoing twenty-three Ticthan. karas, last of them being Parshvanath ( 877777 B.C. ), he journeyed on foot the length and breadth of the country and with untiring energy incessantly showed to the suffering humanity the Path of liberation both by example and precept. At the age of 72 in the last watch of the night of the 14th day of
- 37 -
Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
