Jain Journal 1975 10

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 56

82
Nandivardhan: Do not forget that you too have lived for thirty years in that world which you now call selfish.
JAIN JOURNAL
tranquillity there is in nature! The trees washed with early showers waft on hill tops, after imbibing the cool fragrant breeze the birds wake up the hermits to the sound of their music. People who are full of jealousy and envy and live in a world of selfishness are strangers to music that flows from rustling trees and chirping birds.
Vardhaman : Yes, even when I lived in that sordid world, my mind always roamed in these forests. Now I am indifferent to this world and to the worlds hereafter. I need no longer any shelter or abode in this world.
Nandivardhan: So long as you live in this world, you can not be free of your insatiable desires.
Vardhaman : You will pardon me, for I speak from my own experience. By the sledge-hammer of death, the span of life is cut short every day. As a culprit is in constant fright of conviction, so is this world in constant fear of death and old age. To end that fear, I have uprooted in me all longings, yearnings and desires. Man is constantly changing. Today I am not, what I was yesterday. In the end, I want to tell you that I neither welcome death nor life. Keeping my faith in non-violence, I am just abiding my time.
Vardhaman :
Nandivardhan: So you have made up your mind not to return home with me.
Please excuse me, my brother. It will not be possible for me to accompany you at present. But I promise you I will surely come to Kundagram sometime-not to rule but to beg alms. There are no barriers for me-I can visit any place any time.
Nandivardhan: Alright, I return alone. I have yet to see how far you can keep away the rest of your life from the lure and temptations of this world.
[Nandivardhan leaves, having his last glimpses of Mahavir Vardhaman. Soon after his exit, Vina and Mridanga