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Buddha invoked the pāramitās, these helped him to change them into flowers or some other excellent objects, and did not allow them either to touch the person of the Buddha or cause him any pain. At no time did Mahavira enter into any dialogue with his foe, but in the case of the Buddha, there were challenges and counter-challenges, and even sharp exchanges of words. In the end, however, both the adversaries were defeated, - Sangama in the hands of Mahavira and Māra in the hands of the Buddha. The event took place in the eleventh year of Mahavira's life as a monk(9). (This was one year before he attained omniscience). The praise by the Indra of Mahavira's firmness in meditation was the immediate provocation for the episode that unfolded itself. Sangama has been considered to be a god with a false belief in the case of the Buddha the Mara episode took place in the last year before his Enlightenment. Having taken the khira served by Sujatá, the Buddha took the vow that he would not leave his seat till he was enlightened. Then he successfully passed through the ordeal and attained the Buddha hood. Thereafter, he changed his seat and spent spent under Ajapala banyan, and during the third week, he was in samadhi under the shade of the mucalinda tree. spent under ajapala vargada, and during the third week, he was in Samadhi under the shade of the mucalinda tree During that week, trouble was caused to him by the appearance of unexpected clouds. There were chilly winds giving severe bites on the flesh. At that time, there arrived a cobra named Mucalinda who made seven coils round the Buddha's body and spread its hood over the Buddha's head. In this manner, the snake protected the Buddha from heat and cold, mosquitoes, wind, sun, insects and reptiles, etc(10)..
These (last-mentioned) hardships of the Buddha are comparable to those undergone by Arhat Pārsva in the hands of Kamatha. In his career as a monk, Pārsva stood in meditation near a well under the shade of.a banyan tree. His enemy from his previous birth, a god of the name Meghamali, started a terrific shower with thunder and hail. The rivers and canals became overflooded, and it seemed that the deluge is not far. Rārsva was drowned upto his neck. It was at this time that god Dharanendra and his consort Padmavati saved his life by making him stand on a lotus shooting out from their novels, and a cobra which they created provided him with an umbrella with its hood.
