Sruta Sarita

SR No.: 001940
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jitendra B Shah
Publisher: Shardaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre
Publication Year: 2001
Total Pages: 310
Language: English, Prakrit, Hindi
Classification: Book_Devnagari & Articles
File Size: 18 MB

Page 30

TIRTHANKARA MAHĀVĪRA
21
viz. meditation, etc. He was interested in purifying his self by destroying all passions. Of all passions it is desire or greed that is very difficult to uproot and he engaged himself in uprooting it, unmindful of anything else; hence he never paid any attention to food, etc. Thus his not having or taking food for months together is not important in itself. According to his own spiritual mandate he roamed about for begging. And if he did not get food within a short period of time, he stopped his begging tour and engaged himself in deep meditation. He was really interested in his meditation. So, he did not allow any interference in that; he did not allow even sleep to interfere it. He kept himself awake day and night and if by chance the attack of sleep was there he would walk to and fro.
He would not stay at one place except in monsoon. And his resting places were open places under the tree, the cremation ground, deserted buildings etc.
His principle for life was not to hury any one, not even the beings which are not seen by our eyes. So he performed his activities in such a manner that no being is hurt as far as possible. This is the reason why he did not take anything which was prepared for him. And there is no item which can be prepared without hurting any living being, so he preferred fast to breakfast. For him to take food meant to be a party to kill living beings for food. This is the reason he took no food for so many days and he observed fast for days and months.
In order to test his equanimity which was his foremost vow he travelled far and wide and visited even the places like Radha and Vajjabhūmi which were regarded in those days as the Anārya regions. And there he had to suffer hardships. Even the dogs were set free on him. Nobody allowed him to enter the village for his begging. All this he endured without hatred or anger and with compassion towards those people.
As he was naked he was exposed to scorching heat, biting cold and heavy rains. This was not all. He had to suffer the bites of mosquitoes etc.
Those were the unpleasant harassment but sometimes he had to suffer the so-called pleasant harassment. When in deep meditation he was invited by some ladies for amourous sports and on receiving no reply they would harass him with unpleasant rebuke and some times they would beat also.
This was his real fight with the Mära. And he came out victorious. If we take into account this picture of his ascetic life there is no possibility of his having a pupil in the person of Gośāla whom Bhagavati mentions as his pupil.
Later authors have added many incidents of his ascetic life in his life story when it passed through the second and the third stages of development. It will