I am Mahavira

Author(s): N L Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 20

I AM MAHAVIRA
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My studies were completed when I got young. I now needed mental thinking. This requires experiences of life also. I, therefore, thought, "I should travel through my village republic."
One day, I went towards Gobara-gaon. I saw heaps of bones all around the village and asked a villager about it. He told me, "Sometimes ago, there was a sacrificial oblation (Yajña) here. Many animals were sacrificed in it."
I had read earlier that the Yajnas are performed to please
gods. They award bounties of nature air, water and light. Now, there is plenty of crops and wealth. This indicates that the gods were pleased. Why this animal sacrifices, then?
I asked the villager again about it. He told me that the animals are upgraded through the Yajñas. I felt sad by this statement. I told him, "The animals have also vitalities and livingness like us". However, how the villager could agree to this point?
I went to the village once again. I saw a large crowd on the main road. The people told me, "Two Pundits (scholars) are debating with each other. One scholar hit the head of the other scholar. He said, "The body and soul are separate. There is no harm to the soul on hitting the head."
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MY JOURNEYS