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INTRODUCTION TO JAINISM
conquered everyone who could be conquered: namely all his brothers. All but one of them surrendered immediately and their kingdoms now belonged to him alone. The exception was Bāhubali. A war between the armies of Bāhubali and Bharata seemed unavoidable. After long deliberation both gentlemen decided that it was very bad to sacrifice so many human lives and cause so much human misery in order to settle a purely personal conflict. Finally they decided in a duel. Bharata was full of self-confidence. But Bāhubali was much bigger and stronger than he was. The first challenge was to look each other in the eyes until one of them would wink. But because Bāhubali was much bigger than his powerful brother he had to glance down only, whereas Bharata had to stare upward. Bāhubali won easily. The second challenge was to knock each other over by splashing water at each other. Once again, of course, the big and strong Bāhubali won. The final challenge was a wrestling match between the two men with their muscular arms. But Bharata was already frustrated and extremely angry because it was the first time he had had to face defeat; he saw his power and his enormous empire falling to pieces, all because of his younger brother. After some wrestling Bāhubali held Bharata above his head and he could have smashed him down and killed him. He would have inherited the whole world. But then he thought again. How could he humiliate his elder brother like this!? He put Bharata on the ground and gave him his whole empire. Bāhubali himself went to an isolated region on Mount Podanapur. There he gave up all that was of the world and went into meditation. He stood naked, day and night, in heat and cold, without drinking and without food or sleep, in perfect concentration, remaining motionless on one spot for one whole year. Lianas grew around his body up to his ears; and those lianas are characteristic of all statues of Bāhubali (photo 5). Every weakness or illusion a man can have he overcame. His body was no longer subject to gravity and was floating above the ground. Every realm of true knowledge irradiated his mind. Even the celestial gods asked him to bless them and
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