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Chidhood And Education -
Vardhamān was a very handsome, healthy, intelligent, accomplished and an extraordinarily brilliant child who was rather serious by nature and very quick to learn. At the age of eight he was sent to the professors of arts and crafts (Kalācārya and silpā
cārya), who were very happy to have him as a pupil and taught him all that they knew with great enthusiasm and alacrity. Vardhamān quickly learnt all that they had to teach and became proficient in worldly as well as divine knowledge.
Mahāvīra Mahāvīra –
In his childhood itself Vardhamān was quite bold and fearless. Some events that brought his this quality to the fore and earned him the title of Mahāvīra that stuck to him for all times to come, were as follows: - 1. Once when Vardhamān was playing in the garden with
his friends, a fierce serpent wound itself on the trunk of the tree on which they had climbed. The children were frightened and started crying. However, Vardhamān quickly got down and fearlessly catching the serpent from
its tail left it at a safe distance. 2. Once a mad elephant loosened itself and started creating
havoc in the streets. People panicked and started running helter-skelter. Vardhamān confronted it bravely and
skilfully subdued it. Everyone praised him for his bravery. 3. Once a villainous magician adopted the form of a child
and started playing with the group that was playing pick a back”. As soon as Vardhaman rode his back, the magician started growing taller and taller. The other hildren panicked but not Vardhamān, he keeled him by pressing the magician hard on his vital points and forced him to bag his pardon for his villainy.
MAHĀVĪRA : THE MESSIAH OF MERCY : 15