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Bhagawan Mahavir ]
[353 suffering from some physical pain. He instantly inspected the whole body of the Lord and noticed two wooden pegs run into his ears. He shuddered to see this horrible sight, ran up to a Setha ( Banker) named Siddharta and, with his help, drew out the pegs from the ear-holes of the Lord.
VICTORY OF THE LORD OVER
WORLDLY MISERIES
There is an end to every thing in this changable world. All the Asatavdaniya karmas as well as the four kinds of Ghana-Ghati karmas of Lord Mahavira, too, came to an end one day; since the time he accepted concecration, he cheerfully endured all kinds of unbearable troubles and misfortunes that befell him. But those troubles and misfortunes were troubles and misfortunes in the eyes of the world. only the Lord never regarded them as such. They were the various forms of happiness for him. The voice of sorrow is the cry of fulfilment.' He thought that they were the means to carry him from the destructible to indestructible, from mortality to immortality. He regarded them as the very touchstone of human life. He took them to be his helpers and protectors, and sometimes showed his gratitude for them. From his extraordinary patience, selfishness, and selfcontrol, he showed that where joys and comforts lead a man. to hell or throw him into the whirlpool of the cycle of births and deaths, sorrows and miseries help him in severing his connection with the world and at length in attaining Eternal Bliss. Misery is the key to the impenetrable door of selfrealisation. It is the father of knowledge and a companion of good sense. It is the philosopher's stone which makes life
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