________________
[ 32 ] With love prepared for him a royal feast Of costliest viands : rice and curds and fruit, Honey and milk and saffron-flavoured sweet; But Mahavir, whose oath was absolute, While, thanking the whole Town, refused to eat. Depression gripped the townsfolk and the town Seemed darkened with a sense of darkening doom. Sobs clove the air; the king walked up and down In his tall tower; the queen was bent with gloom. Koshambi Town lay prostrate at the feet . Of mendicant Mahavir lost in prayer. The townsfolk murmured :
FIRST
Will he never eat ?
SECOND No ! he is under oath....
THIRD
To live on air ?
FOURTH Nobody knows how an ascetic sheathes His mind and blood and body against odds !
FIFTH Perhaps, he needs no food because he breathes Not human breath like ours, but breath of gods !
SIXTH Naught were impossible for such a being Who, even seen by us, escapes our seeing !
SEVENTH A curse is on our Town !
EIGHT
We feel, somehow, Like helpless hope-deserted orphans now.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
