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measured in his speech. He did not lose his patience, and rigorously held his tongue against all ridicules and provocations. Some praised him, but others spoke ill of him, lashed a cane at him, pulled his hairs or gave scratches on his skin; but he remained perfectly unconcerned to all these praises and blames. In this manner, Mahāvīra spent his time, with perfect peace and forbearance, wholly liberated from passions, immersed in pious thoughts and concentrated on self.
While walking, he fixed his eyes in his front over the ground as long as a man, but never looked in the rear or on the sides. (In other words), he walked with proper precaution fixing his gaze on the way in front of him. He did not talk while walking.
At the time of his initiation, many perfumed objects were pasted on his body. Because of these, for more than four months, bees and other flying insects were attracted to his body eating at his flesh or sucking his blood; but Mahavira never lost patience with them. What to speak of killing them, he never desired even to remove them.
Mahavira wandered through the most inaccessible
regions named Vajra -bhumi and Subhra-bhumi in the country .named Ladha. In this country, he had to face most severe difficulties. The people were very much after him, and he had the greatest difficulty in getting even very coarse and commonplace food. Shelter was equally difficult to get, and even when he got one, it was unfit for habitation. On many occasions, people set dogs on him, and there was none to help him, still less to protect him. Even in such difficult situations, he never wished ill to his adversaries, nor did he ever think of taking revenge on them or inflicting any punishment on them. With perfect patience, he bore all the harsh words of the wicked people.
Sometimes it so happened that even after wandering for a long time, (i. e., despite persistent effort), he was prevented from coming near a village. As he approached a village, the barbarians chased him out, abused him and shouted, 'Go away from here'. On many occasions, they bit him with sticks, fists, spears, stones and bones and created deep wounds on his body. When he was in medita
