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an exposed place without any cloth, and he never desired to protect himself. In such a place, he would sit to mediate. Being unclad, he was not only exposed to heat and cold, but he also suffered innumerable hardships due to bite from insects and mosquitoes, and due to touches hard as well as soft.
For his halting, Mahāvira sometimes used lonely cottages, sometimes he chose inns, alms-houses, shades put up for weekly (bi-weekly) market hāt), black-smith's workshops, and even gardeners' homes, and sometimes he lived in towns, cremation grounds, discarded homes, even under the shed of the trees or mere thatched roofs. Sometimes he was bitten by snakes and other poisonous creatures, and sometimes he was pecked by hawks and similar giant birds. He was often put into trouble by wicked people, ( Taking him to be a thief), many village watchmen caned him with their sticks or hurt him with their javelines. Many lusty women who were attracted by his grace tried to cast their snares round him. He had to bear many hardships inflicted by men and beasts, and many harsh and terrific yells which were intended to frighten him. Security men were very much annoyed to see him alone in lonely places; they beat him, chastised him with rebukes and asked him to quit. But inspite of all these tortures and hardships, he remained unmoved in his meditation, and when he was asked to quit, silently he moved elsewhere.
Mahā vira was very much restricted in his diet. Though enjoying a good health, he took a measured quantity of food. He begged from door to door without caring for warm or cold reception; but he never humbled himself before the donor. He felt no greed for dainties and delicacies, and he did not at any time look for them. Whatever he got from begging, no matter whether it was coarse food, cold food, food cooked on a previous day, udad, dry rice, manthu, barley, or any other, he ate with peace and contentment. Once, for a stretch of eight months, he lived on such coarse things. If on any day he was offered nothing, he did not feel miserable. Sometimes, he did not drink water for a fortnight, for a month or even for six months. He moved out (from his halting place) even during a fast. He was never a daily eater, and he took his meal, irrespective of its quality, at a gap of three, four or five days. Thus the con
