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I am the Soul
Such a great labdhi-dhari, with an intention of further enhancing the presence of his soul, with the permission of his Gurudev, went away to the mountains to get engrossed in a deep penance in the solitude of a cave. He had no awareness of the surroundings. Forgetting everything he became engrossed in the Self. The state of the Muni, swinging on the swing of the Self, would go for a moment dabbling into the apramatta thought or would slip back into the pramatta bhava at the next moment. Thus the lamp of the pursuit of the Soul was aglow in his heart. In the deserted jungle, forlorn region, amidst the roaring of wild animals, the serene Muni was in the meditation of the Self.
एकाकी विचरतो वळी स्मशानमां, वळी पर्वतमा वाघ सिंह संयोग जो; अडोल आसन, ने मनमां नहीं क्षोभता,
24 funt HUT YRITET UT .. Byd.. Such a devoted Muni was engrossed in his Self. And about the same time, two colleague Sadhvis of this Muni, came to meet the Acharyashree. They came in and paid obeisance at the feet of the Acharyashree, and enquired about his health and welfare. They were also blessed by the darshana of the other Munis present. But they did not find Muni Sthulabhadra anywhere around. When they went to the Gurudev, and politely asked him, he ordered, “Go! Muni Sthulabhadra is meditating in a cave on the mountain near here. Go and see him!” Both the Sadhvis, started on the trail towards the mountain, carrying in their joyfilled hearts, their long cherished desire.
There, the Muni had just come out of his trance. The resulting train of thoughts which had stabilised in his Soul, began to explore the external material world and the Muni with his extra sensory powers managed to see that two of his colleagues from yesteryears were coming up to see him. The feeling of affection lying in some corner in him began to throb and the Muni made a mistake. He had looked down from the pinnacle that he had
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