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I AM MAHAVIRA
Similarly, once, I was crossing a river on a boat. There was a heavy storm. The boat began moving up and down. However, I remained calm and quite. The other people on boat began talking about the origin of the storm. From their expressions, I learnt how much blind belief people did have in Yakşas and gods. It was fortunate that the storm cooled down after some time. Otherwise, my calm and pacified posture would have been charged as guilt.
On many occasions, while meditating and under silence, I was taken as a spy by the border police of the small republics. They caught me and tortured me. It was fortunate that every time, some people recognised me and I was saved.
One night, I was meditating in a corner of a Yakṣa temple. Many young men, women and families came there to celebrate religious night awakening. However, they were drinking and dancing in a highly erotic and voluptuous way. When my accomplice Gośāla objected so it, they beat him. I thought such
activities must be stopped.
In the suburb of Campā, I found women are treated as slaves. Any one can enjoy them. The adultery looked general. The code of marriage seems to have gone derailed. I thought this trend must be rectified for the betterment of the society and the coming
generation.
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