Jainism For Beginners Level 02

Author(s): Sayampurnashreeji
Publisher: Sayampurnashreeji

Page 86

GANDHARS ACHN
78
Offering food to 1500 HERMITS
CO
n another occasion, GautamSwami went to a temple on Mount Ashtapad to pay homage to the twenty-four Tirthankars. The mountain was very difficult to climb. At the foothill of the mountain fifteen hundred hermits were trying to climb the mountain but they were not successful. They saw Gautam-Swami complete this difficult journey and were very impressed. They decided to be his disciples. Gautam-Swami preached to them about true religion and the ways of penance and accepted them as his disciples. All fifteen hundred hermits became Jain monks. GautamSwami realized that they were hungry and offered them kheer (rice pudding) from a small Patra (bowl).
correct
ARABON
They began to wonder how GautamSwami would feed all of them. GautamSwami requested all the hermits to sit down. Since he possessed a special power called Akshin-mahanasi Labdhi (nondiminishing power), he served everyone Kheer from his small bowl. While serving Kheer he kept his thumb in it to invoke the power. To everyone's surprise, they all were well-served from this small Patra.
Gautam Swamis KEVALJNAN
A
s time passed, all the discipies of Gautam-Swami attained Keval-jnan, the ultimate knowledge. However Gautam-Swami was still unable to attain it. He was worried that he may not attain Keval-jnan in this life. One day Gautam-Swami asked Lord Mahavir, "Ten other scholars joined me on the day that I accepted Diksha and all eleven of us became your disciples. Nine of them have attained Keval-jnan. All my disciples have attained Keval-jnan. Why am I so unlucky that I am not able to attain Kevaljnan?" Lord Mahavir replied, "Gautam, it is because you have too much affection for me. In order to attain Keval-jnan you must overcome all types of attachment, including attachment to your beloved Guru. Until you give up your attachment towards me, it will not be possible for you to attain Keval-jnan."
On the day that Lord Mahavir was going to attain Nirvana (liberation), he sent Gautam-Swami to a nearby village to preach to a man named Devsharma. On his way back, Gautam-Swami learned that Lord Mahavir had attained Nirvana. Gautam-Swami lapsed into a state of shock and sorrow, "Lord Mahavir knew that this was his last day on Earth. Why did he send me away?" Gautam-Swami could not stop his tears. He also thought. "I could not attain Keval-jnan while Lord Mahavir