________________
19
meritorious deeds of this heroic liberator of India. It is clear from it that Chandragupta was an active and a keen member of the Jain church. His spiritual preceptor was the Jain sage Bhadrabahu, who predicted a twelve years' famine in Northern India. When this great famine occured and Bhadrabahu with his large community of the Jain sages retired to South India, Chandragupta abdicated in favour of his son Bindusara and accompanied the Jain Preceptor. He took the ordination of a Jain ascetic from Bhadrabahu and lived with him, practising austerities at Shravanabelagola in Mysore, where his name is still held in remembrance The hill which contains the footprints of his preceptor is called Chandragiri after his name and on it stands a magnificent temple called Chandrabasti, with its carved and decorated walls, portraying scenes from the life of the great Emperor. In fact the place became sanctified with Chandragupta's holy Tapasya, which reminds one of the momentous precept of Mahavira that "Man should fight with his own self and win the true war." Chandragupta having become a Kummasura, turned to be a Dhammasura(a hero in religion) in afterlife. He was a true hero and attained to heaven from that hill in the Jain manner of Salle
`
