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Jain Society of Greater Detroit PRATISHTHA MAHOTSAV ASHADH 4-12 V.S. 2054
26
CHANDARUDRACHARYA (before the era of Mahavirswami)
One evening some youths set out to get the blessings of Chandarudracharya. There, one of them pointed to his friend, a newlywed, who was bowing to the guru for his blessings and said, "Gurudev, grant him diksha." The guru promptly did so, and as part of the ritual, ceremoniously plucked out the new sadhu's hair. Upon seeing this his friends ran off. But the new disciple said, "Gurudev, you have liberated me from the material world and I am indebted to you. But we cannot remain here. Since you are elderly and you will not be able to undertake such a long journey at night, I will carry you upon my shoulders." Thus they set out with the guru on the disciple's shoulders. The guru, finding it uncomfortable on the bumpy road and being an ill-tempered man, went on hitting his disciple on the forehead with his stick. Blood started flowing from his forehead. Nevertheless, with his complete faith in his guru, the disciple thought, "Can't I do even this much for my guru? I wish that I could steer the road better so that I would stop hitting the bumps and give a comfortable ride to my guru.” With this pure belief, he attained omniscience but continued walking along his way, but without lurching. When the guru came to know of the fact of his disciple's omniscience however, he climbed down from his disciple's shoulders and asked for his forgiveness. In his moment of repentance he also attained omniscience.
Stories Of The Sadhu
79
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