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Timduka garden. He had three kinds of knowledge – mati, ruti and avadhi. At that point, two groups of rama a monks were in r vast and there was some difference in the clothes and thoughts of the two. Hence, it was natural for people to have suspicions as to why there is differnce between the two sects of the same religion. If one propounds C tury ma why does the other pamcavrat s? One's practice is nudity, while the other's is with clothes. Why such difference in practice when the aim is common? Ke and Gautama felt they should come together and have mutual discussions to remove doubts in the minds of rama as and
r vakas. Keeping in mind the age and loftiness of Ke kum ra, Gautama took his disciples to Timduka forest. Ke kum ra duly welcomed and honoured Gautama. Thousands of people, apart from disciples of the respective monks, had gathered to see and hear this extraordinary discussion of two respected monks. Ke kum ra said to Gautama –“Oh fortunate one! We are fortunate that you have come here with your monks. I would like to clarify some of my doubts from you. My first doubt is that Lord P r van tha spoke of C tury ma dharma, whereas Mah v ra speaks of pamcamah vratas. What is the reason behind this?” Gautama said -"Religious concepts are presented in accordance with the nature of knowledge prevalent in people at that time. At the time of the first T rthamkara, peole were simple and unawakened and in the time of the last Trthamkara Mah v ra, people are skewed and unawakened / unconscious. It was difficult for people to understand in those days and today it is difficult for people to observe the vows. Hence, to clarify vows of both times, the pamcamah vratas are established. In the time of the middle T rthamkara people were straightforward and intelligent. Understanding the instructions easily, they used to observe them too as easily; hence the middle 22 T rthamkara taught the C tury ma dharma."
Ke kum ra was satisfied with Gautama's response. He posed a second question _“Varddham na Mah v ra speaks of acelaka (nude) conduct while Lord P r van tha spoke of a single upper cloth, why is that?” Gautama replied that mode of dressing is important for people to know. Mode of dress is extraneous; it can change. In fact, in the practise to attain mok a, knowledge, perception and conduct are eternal, which never change. The exterior form, while being necessary, is secondary in importance; the primary and most important is the internal concept, which is the same for both Lord P r van tha and Mah v ra.
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