Disclaimer: This translation does not guarantee complete accuracy, please confirm with the original page text.
## 124]
**Antakrid Dasha**
'Pragrihit' means 'taken, accepted'. The mental state of a person who undertakes a vow is not always the same. Sometimes there is an abundance of faith, sometimes faith weakens, and sometimes a vow is observed due to social pressure without any faith. Keeping all these things in mind, the sutrakar has characterized the tapas performed by the muni with the adjective 'pragrihit', which signifies 'taken with an excellent feeling'. Arjun Muni's faith did not weaken during times of crisis; he came into the world of sadhana as a strong sadhak and remained a strong sadhak till the end. He never let his mind waver.
If the Sanskrit form of 'payattenam' is 'prayatnena', then 'udhar' and 'vipula' both become adjectives of 'prayatna', then the meaning of these words would be 'taken with a great, vast effort'. Performing tapas is not an ordinary thing; it requires great effort. This great effort is called 'praadhan vishal prayatna'.
The word 'mahanubhag' signifies a powerful meaning. What doubt can there be about the impactful importance of the tapas by which Arjun Muni destroyed the karmas of countless births and attained the ultimate goal of nirvana?
To burn the karma-mal attached to the soul, the fire of tapas is absolutely necessary. When the karma-mal is burnt to ashes by the fire of tapas, the soul becomes pure and clear like a crystal. Therefore, after accepting restraint, Arjun Muni ignited the fire of tapas to purify his karma-mal-laden soul. As a result, after attaining kaivalya, he attained the state of nirvana.
In the Shrenik Charitra, it is written that the Mudgarpani Yaksha entered the body of Arjun Malakar for five months and thirteen days. During this time, he killed 1141 people. Of these, 978 were men and 163 were women. This clearly proves that he killed seven people every day. Here, there is a doubt that how could a person who committed such a great animal-slaughter and caused a great fall of the soul due to sinful karma attain liberation with only six months of sadhana?
The answer is that tapas has an inconceivable, illogical, and miraculous power. The Agam says, 'Bhavkodi sanchiyam kammam tavasa nijjarrijjai'. That is, the karmas accumulated and bound over millions of births can be destroyed by tapascharya. It is also said:
—
Annanni jam kammam khavei bhavasayasahasakodhihim.
Tam naani tihim gutto, khavei usasamettenam.
— Pravachansar
That is, the ignorant soul consumes the karmas that it accumulates over millions of births, while the wise soul, who keeps the mind, speech, and body secret, destroys them in a moment as short as a breath. When the fire of intense tapas is ignited, the groups of karmas are burnt to ashes like dry grass and straw.
In addition to this, it can also be said in this context that the killing done by Arjun Malakar was actually done by the Yaksha. Arjun was under the control of the Yaksha at that time. He was acting like a machine. Therefore, the intensity of the kashaya that makes killing humans appropriate was not possible in him.