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Lord Mah v ra started preparations for the initiation, taking permission from his brother Nandivardhan and paternal uncle, Sup r va. Nand vardhana ordered his family members to keep ready 1000 gold and bronze urns for the Lord's departure ceremony. According to the
cr mga S tra, learning of the Lord's departure ceremony, four kinds of gods and goddesses reached the vicinity of Katriyakuņda in their respective vim nas filled with gold and riches. There they created a throne with their celestial powers. Everybody seated Mah v ra on the throne facing east. They oiled his body with scented oil and bathed him in pure water. They dried his body with a scented ochre-coloured towel and applied go r a sandal on him. Then they made him wear light and valuable clothes and ornaments. Decorating him like a kalpav k a tree, they seated him on the Candraprabh palanquin. Men, gods, Indras lifted the palanquin. There were horses on both sides in front of the Lord's palanquin and elephants behind it. King Nand vardhana, astride an elephant, was moving behind Mah v ra along with his four-fold army. This way, surrounded by a vast human crowd, passing through the central part of K atriyakunda, the Lord came to the j t-khaņda garden and alighted from the palanquin under the A oka tree. Removing his ornaments and clothes, he also removed five fistfuls of hair.
Initiation
The Lord took initiation with a fast without water on the tenth day of the dark fortnight of M ga ira under Uttar f lgun constellation. Bowing down to the Siddhas in front of the huge gathering of gods and men he resolved - "savvam me akara ijjam pavam kammam" - from now on all bad deeds are for me undoable. The Lord accepted the right conduct - "karemi s m iyam savvam s vajjam jogam paccakkh mi"- from today I give up all s vadya karmas from three kara as and three yogas." When the Lord took this oath, all the people gathered became still, as if panting. Mah v ra was moving on the thorny path, leaving everything. The moment he accepted the spiritual conduct, he attained telepathic knowledge (manah paryavaj na). Thus, Mah v ra began to know the inner feelings of all living beings.
Lord's Resolution and Wandering
After everybody left, the Lord took the following resolution - "From today till the next 12 years, until the time that I gain omniscience, I shall
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