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| Education of prince Mahavira
every way." Such ideas made him restless. Seeing him thus agitated, Indra (the Lord of Heaven ) came there in the disguise of an old Brahmana.
On his entrance in school, god Indra was received and greeted by the school-master. After enquiries about each other's health the disguised Indra put to the teacher some very abstract questions which were based on scriptures. The teacher was now still more perplexed. He thought, “Ah Fate! I was already bewildered enough by this boy Mahavira; what was the need of sending another test to me? O Lord ! Have they conspired to snatch away my bread.” Thus thinking, he cast a sorrowful glance upon Mahavira, who stood up at once and said' “Sir may I answer these questions ?" The teacher himself was waiting for this favour, for he wanted to maintain his dignity somehow. Although Indra knew it quite well that Mahavira could answer his questions, still with, outward indifference, he said, “ How can this youngster answer the questions which even such learned man as the teacher himself requires time to solve.” But the prince was feeling restless. He said, “Well sir, hear me, :) and he began to answer logically all the questions of the old man, one by one. He explained before all, the mystery of the questions which had puzzled his teacher so much. The teacher, the students and other people, who were present there at that time, were greatly amazed and began to applaud the prince very highly. While the teacher was pleased with the intelligence and learning of the boy on the one hand, he felt very much disgusted, on the other hand, to think his own inferiority in learning and intelligence.
The disguised Indra put ten more questions to the boy and the boy answered them all one by one. While explaining
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