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Mah v ra and requested him to stay there. Mah v ra stayed there for one night and when he was ready to leave the next day the chief requested him to stay there in the monsoon period. After wandering about nearby the Lord returned for the monsoon stay to that hermitage and started living in a small hut there. Mah v ra had feelings of compassion and friendship for every living being. Because of a famine, cows started coming close to the huts in the hermitage and grazing there on the grass. Other ascetics used to chase them away but Mah v ra would keep standing in meditation with a feeling of detachment. He had neither any love for the chief of the hermitage nor the hermitage itself, nor hatred for the cows. Dispassionate towards all, he remained meditative day and night.
Some ascetics complained to the chief of the hermitage about this attitude of Mah v ra's. Advising him sweetly the chief said – It is a happy and contented thing for you to remain meditative continuously, but you could perhaps see to it that there is no destruction caused by the animals to this hermitage?" Mah v ra understood the point. He thought, is the objective of leaving royal palaces and staying in a hut to be more concerned about a non-conscious hut in place of conscious animals? Thinking thus, after spending the monsoon period there he left that place quietly. He made certain resolves in his mind, namely, “I shall not stay in a loveless place, shall always remain meditative, shall not speak with anyone, shall stay silent, shall accept food only in my hands, and shall not show courtesies to householders." There is no reference to these resolves in basic scriptures, but in the T rthamkara tradition, they remain silent during mendicancy.
The calamity caused by a Yak a; falling asleep and dream
After leaving the hermitage, Mah v ra left for Asthigr ma. It was evening by the time he reached there. In search of a lonely spot, he sought permission to stay at Yak a l pa i's shrine outside the city. In the evening, the priest Indra arm came there to offer prayers. After prayers, he asked all the travelers to leave the place. He told Mah v ra, too, but he was silent and in meditation. Indra arm said – “King, a Yak a stays here who is rude. He does not let anyone stay here at night." However, Mah v ra remained unmoved. He therefore thought it appropriate, to stay there to face the ordeal and assist in Yak a'
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