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I AM MAHĀVĪRA
16
ray mother died a fortnight later. I felt very sad on their death. This
led my mind to be more intense towards the spiritual path. Some
days later, I, again, sought permission for initiation to the spiritual
path from my elder brother. He advised me to stay home for two
more years (because of the death of my parents). I agreed to his advice.
One day, I was trying to initiate this matter while
discussing things with my elder brother. Meanwhile, I was told that
some royal priests had come to see me. I went to them. I offered
proper regards to them and asked them the purpose of their visit to
me. My brother also came behind me.
The royal priests told me, "The peasants are, now, not getting the bulls for agriculture at any cost. They have silver coins only. However, the people having gold coins buy them at exorbitant costs. They offer them for sacrificial Yajñas. The Yajñas have obscured the intelligence of the people. Moreover, even the horses have become rare to be used as carriers. The humanity is
under heavy pains and strains due to the system of slavery. Nobody
cares for the poor people and manually working people. We are very much pained by this state of affairs. We request you, "Please make efforts to improve this situation. You enforce the path of nonviolence and have a safeguard for humanity."
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