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The fatal upasraga
the same way, Lord Mahavira, who wanted to conquer his great enemy i. e, the Karman and to become the paramount Lord of the realra of salvation, sought the help of his soldiers, i. e. those who gave him the Upasargas, in the land of the heathens. How noble was the thought, how great the conception of Brotherhood, how large the magnanimity of the heart, how sincere a disire to suffer hardships, and how fear. less and heart-rending, the means employed for maturing Karmas. Until and unless all these things are centred at one place, Tirthankara-hood cannot be attained. The bondage of the Karmas has got to be shattered, the emotions of anger, pride decitfulness and greed etc. are to be smashed and temperance is to be embraced before the freedom of the sou) can be attained.
The people of the heathen-land (the country of the Latas ), where Lord Mahavira, now reached, were very turbulant, cruel and uncivilised. As soon as they saw the Lord, they began to beat him with sticks and called him bad nanes, in fun. Some of them threw dust over him, while others left their dogs on him. The dogs, however, were not so cruel as their masters, for they did not bite him when they came to know that he was extremely simple and gentle. But their masters persisted in their wickedness and folly. Where-ever the Lord went in search of a place fit for residence, he was knocked out and beaten by them very severely. This bodily punishment was made still more severe when Lord Mahavira, owing to his keeping a vow of silence, did not answer to their questions. But when those wicked persons saw that he did not cry out, or weep, or show the slightest tinge of sorrow, even after receiving no severe
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