$JES 904 Compendium of Jainism (Jain Academic Bowl Manual 3rd Edition)

Author(s): JAINA Education Committee
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee

Page 349

F04 Stories during Bhagawan Mahävir's Life
04 - Nails in the Ears: Last Calamity for Bhagwan Mahävir
04 - Nails in the Ears: Last Calamity for Bhagwan Mahävir
Twelve years of meditation and penance passed with great success for Lord Mahävir. His life was exemplary. He put forth unsurpassable examples of truth, non-violence, forgiveness, compassion, fearlessness, yoga and true knowledge. In the thirteenth year he faced another calamity. Near the village of Shammani, he stood in a meditation posture. Just like at the beginning of his asceticism, he met a cowherd who left his oxen in the care of Lord Mahävir. The cowherd went into the village and returned a little later. The oxen had drifted away while grazing. Not finding his oxen, he asked, "Ascetic, where are my oxen?" Mahävir was in deep meditation and unaware of all this. The cowherd asked again, and once again he did not get a response. He was irritated and shouted, "You hypocrite! Are you deaf? Don't you hear anything?" Mahävir still did not respond. The cowherd became very angry, "You pretender, it seems that both your ears are useless. Wait a minute! I will fix your ears." He picked long nail-like thorns from a nearby shrub and pierced the ears of Mahävir deeply by hammering the thorns in. Even such excruciating agony did not move Mahävir from his meditation or evoke any feeling of anger or aversion in him. Completing his meditation, he went to the village for alms. He arrived at the door of a trader named Siddhartha. A doctor was sitting with him. Both of them gave food to Mahävir-swami with due respect. The doctor told Siddhartha, "Friend, the face of this monk has a divine glow, but there is a shade of tiredness too. Some inner pain is visible in his eyes. I feel this great sage suffers from some inner agony." Siddhartha replied, "Friend, if such a great sage suffers from some kind of pain, we should immediately go with him and treat him." After taking alms, Mahävir-swämi returned. The doctor and Siddhartha followed him to the place where Mahävir-swämi rested. During examination the doctor found the thorns stuck in his ears. Seeing this, they arranged for the necessary instruments and medicines. They used some medicated oil and tongs and pulled out the thorns. This caused such unbearable agony to Mahävir that an anguished cry was forced out of him. The doctor dressed the wound with some coagulant. Mahävir continued to stand there calm and quiet in deep meditation. The reason Mahävir-swämi had to bear this calamity was because of what he did as Triprushtha Väsudev (birth no. 18). At that time, he liked to sleep while listening to music. He told his servant to stop the music once he fell asleep. However, his servant was enjoying the music and forgot to stop it. When he woke up and still heard the music playing and was furious. To teach his servant a lesson, he had hot lead poured into his servant's ears so he would not be able to hear anything anymore. This servant was reborn as the cowherd who then proceeded to put the thorns in Mahävir-swämi's ears.
Moral:
Whenever we do any karma, we have to bear the consequences. In each incident of difficulty, we see the conquest of Mahävir's soul and mind over his physical pain and suffering. His meditation and penance purified his soul. It helped him to separate himself from perishable and mortal worldly things and concentrate on the liberation of his immortal soul. Highlights:
• In Birth #18 as Triprushtha Väsudev, Mahävir-swämi poured hot lead in his servant's ears • He had to bear the consequence of that karma in his last life and it was his last calamity before
attaining keval-jnän
Compendium of Jainism - 2015
Page 349 of 398