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[Eighth Section]
[169 One Ayambil was performed, followed by a fast, then two Ayambils were performed, followed by a fast, then three Ayambils were performed, followed by a fast, then four Ayambils were performed, followed by a fast, then five Ayambils were performed, followed by a fast, then six Ayambils were performed, followed by a fast.
In this way, the Ayambils were increased one by one. Fasting was done in between, and in this way, fasting was done after performing one hundred Ayambils.
Thus, Arya Mahasenakrishna performed this 'Vardhaman-Ayambil' penance for fourteen years, three months and twenty days, according to the scriptures and in accordance with the prescribed rituals. After completing the penance, Arya Mahasenakrishna went to her Guru, Arya Chandanabala, and after paying her respects and receiving her blessings, she began to wander, her soul filled with the emotions of many fasts, etc.
Due to this great penance, Arya Mahasenakrishna, though physically weak, began to appear extremely radiant. Once, Arya Mahasenakrishna had a thought about Dharma, as vast as the sky. After asking Arya Chandana, she began to wander, free from the desire for life and death, and ready for Sanlekhana.
Arya Mahasenakrishna studied the eleven Angas from Samayik with Arya Chandana, followed the path of restraint for seventeen years, filled her soul with the emotions of a one-month Sanlekhana, completed sixty days of fasting, and finally achieved the purpose for which she had taken restraint. After completing the full penance, she attained liberation as a Siddha Buddha with her last breath.
Gatha-meaning: It should be known that the initiation period of Kali Devi, the first among the wives of King Shrenik, was eight years, and thereafter, it increased by one year each time, so that the initiation period of the tenth, Mahasenakrishna, was seventeen years.
Discussion: 'Ayambil Vaddaman' - Ayambil-Vardhaman is a penance in which the Ayambils are gradually increased. This penance takes fourteen years, three months and twenty days to perform.
Examining the previous penances, it is clear that the author of the scriptures has included all the days, including the days of penance and the days of breaking the fast, in the number of days mentioned for the penances. If the same method is followed, how can the duration be fourteen years, three months and twenty days? The solution is that there is no day of breaking the fast in this case. There are two reasons for this - firstly, the author of the scriptures has been instructing about breaking the fast in the past, but here, the author has not given any instructions, and secondly, if all the days of breaking the fast are also included, then the number of days of this penance would not be fourteen years, three months and twenty days, but fourteen years and ten days. Therefore, it is correct to understand that Arya Mahasenakrishna performed penance for fourteen years, three months and twenty days, without breaking the fast in between. The establishment mechanism of Ayambil-Vardhaman penance is as follows: