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Kshamapana forgiveness is the essence of the three worlds, it takes us across the samsara or transmigration, it gets us the three gems and it prevents our downfall."
Such extraordinary forgiveness is best illustrated by Mahavira's life. He experienced a number of calamities (upasargas) in life. But God bore them all with patience. When Indra, the greatest of gods, praised Bhagwan Mahavira's greatness, a god named Sangam became conscious of divine egotism. He made up his mind to put Mahavira on trial. At that time, Mahavira was engrossed in meditation in Paulash temple outside the village Pedhal in the region named Dridhabhumi. His meditation was extraordinary. He was practising penance with his eyes fixed on a dry substance, without any movement of his eyelids. The god Sangam stepped forth. The earth and the sky thundered. He thought to himself, “Indra made a mountain from a mole-hill, I will make a mole-hill from the mountain." Sangam came to Mahavira and tried his tricks, one after another. He wanted to prove that man is helpless in front of God's wonderful exploits.
Now it was a dark and dangerous night. Ghosts were screaming and evil spirits were running about impatiently for food. But these terrible noises had no effect on Mahavira. He was meditating open-eyed.
A storm arose and poured a basketful of dust into his eyes. But Mahavira and his eyes had no relation to each other, because the soul and the body are different. Ants were acutely stinging like piercing needles and gnats came with poisonous stings. Then came large red ants capable of carving a human body into the shape of a sieve. The pain was so terrible that
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