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Life of Lord Mahâvîra and his Teaching
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The other qualities that he possessed were forbearance and tolerance, magnanimity and forgiveness. On the occasion of giving up the life of a householder he embraced the permanent vow of samayika, i.e. equanimity towards all living beings. During his wanderings from place to place he was met by many unsocial elements whom he put up with silently; he would not resist even when they interfered with him actively. As a naked monk, because he had given up the clothes too as he did not like to have the least parigraha (possessions), he became a target of attack from many ignorant people. In the Radha country (a part of Bengal), people pelted him with stones, beat him with sticks and set dogs after him, but he would not swerve from his path. As a stranger, he was sometimes caught by the city-guards on being taken for a spy or a secret agent of their enemies. Quite novel and peculiar were the ways of his sadhana and naturally people looked on him with suspicion. Sometimes decoits and thieves, when caught redhanded, tried to implicate Mahavira in their crime for their own safety. And Mahavira lost in contemplation would not answer any question addressed to him by the king's men, and would by rounded up. His silence brought him many hardships. At Kumaragrama a cowherd beat him on the suspicion of his having stolen his bullocks. On a similar occasion, at Chammani another cowherd struck wooden nails into Mahavira's ears as he did not answer a querry about his missing bullocks.
After a prolonged exertion in the form of deep meditations and severe austerities for over twelve years he attained perfect knowledge (kevala-jñana) on the tenth day of the bright fortnight of the month of Vaisakha, outside Jrmbhikagrama on the northern bank of river Rjuvalika, in north Bihara. Now the question arose as to whom he should first explain his doctrine. It was not possible for the common men to understand it. At that time some eleven great Brahmin scholars from Magadha, Videha, Kosala, Vatsa etc., the then states of north India had gathered with their hundreds of pupils at Pava Madyama to attend the ritual of a great sacrifice (mahayajña), Mahavira found it to be the most suitable occasion for explaining his tenets. He walked over to that place and delivered his sermon to them. Those eleven scholars of the Vaidika schools had various doubts and they put a number of questions to Mahavira and he resolved their doubts, and explained to them,
| SR No. | 023278 |
| Book Title | Lord Mahavira Vol 03 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | S C Rampuria |
| Publisher | Jain Vishva Bharati Institute |
| Publication Year | 2001 |
| Total Pages | 232 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 20 MB |