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Bhagawan Mahavir ]
[ 361
from worldly meseries.
Then the gods appeared before the Lord, bowed to him and offered long songs of prayers in honour of his virtues. Lord Mahavira delivered his first sermon to the gods. After that he resumed his tour and came to A papa city. There the gods gathered to construct a Samavasarana (ia religious assembly ) for him. Some of the main features of that Religious Assembly were as follo'ns:--
1. People of all castes and creeds could assemble in it in order to listen to the nectrous words of the Lord.
2. The divine light of the spiritual knowledge of the Lord was not limited to human realm but it reached even the animal world and inspired it with a sense of equality. The antagonists beasts like lion and goat forgot their mutual enemity and with love for each others proceeded towards the Assembly rapt in joy and cheerfulness. This was nothing but the fruit of the highest mercy of the Lord for all the living beings of the world.
3. The hearts of all who assembled in the Religious Assembly were equally filled with the feelings of mercy, forbearance, peace, and equality and all were feeling quite happy.
4. The spiritual lustre of the Lord was spreading in all directions. All the worldly lights appeared dim and pale before this lustre of the Lord. And that was why there was complete peace in the Assembly although it was filled to suffocation with people of all shades of opinion.
5. The language which Lord Mahavira made use of for his lecture was the then current dialect Ardha-Magadhi which penetrated to the depth of the hearts of his audience,
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