Compendium of Jainism

Author(s): T K Tukol, A N Upadhye
Publisher: Prasaranga Karnatak University Dharwar

Page 53

THE TIRTKANKARAS AND LORD MAHAVIRA
41
admiration by the citizens. Similarly when he was playing in a garden with his friends, the latter were frightened by the approach of a terrifying cobra. While others tried to run away, the prince stood calm and when the cobra came near him, he caught hold of it and danced on its hood much to the amazement of his friends. Such a story is told about Śrī Krşna also. It is said that it was on account of his brave acts like these that he was called Mahāvīra or Great Hero.
Mahāvira thus grew up with all accomplishments and courage into a handsome youth. When he was about twenty-eight years old, his parents naturally thought of his marriage. On this point, there is a difference of view between the Digambara and the Svetāmbara traditions. The former maintains that Mahāvīra declined to marry as he was always spiritually inclined and regarded marriage as a hindrance to spiritual progress. The Svetāmbara version of his life-history is that he was married to Princess Yasoda of Kalinga and had a daugther who was later married to Jamāli; the latter was his disciple for sometime but parted company later.
According to both the traditions, Mahāvīra took the vow of monk when he was thirty years old by which time his parents had died. He distributed his wealth in charity. He moved to forest where he cast off his clothes and pulled out his hair with his own hands. He spent most of his time in penance in caves and forests, on hills and mountainpeaks. He often suffered at the hands of cow-herds and other ignorant people, all kinds of privations and ill-treatment. It is said that when he was once engrossed in penance, a farmer asked him to look after his cattle and went away to his village for food. On his return, he found his cattle missing. He held the saint responsible for the disappearance of his cattle. He beat him but when he found him unmoved and smiling, he realised his folly and begged for pardon. He would observe fasts for days together as he used to get engrossed in deep meditations. He had acquired full