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Non-Violence : A Way of Life of Vardhaman. In those days Kshatriyas fought terrible battles and killed countless enemies. Mahavira said, "What is the use of external battles ? Fight your own selves. Conquer your own selves. Then only you can get true happiness."
अप्पाणमेव जुज्झाहि, किं ते जुज्झेण बज्झओ ।
अप्पाणमेव अप्पाणं जड़त्ता सुहमेहए । (He said, "He, who wins himself, wins a greater victory than he who wins thousands of warriors in a battle difficult to conquer.")
Thinking thus, Mahavira harboured a desire to renounce the world, but this pained his parents. When Mahavira was 28, his parents died and he prepared himself for initiation. But his elder brother Nandivardhana felt that the loss of their parents was just a recent blow and so he would not be able to bear his brother's separation so soon. Vardhaman respected the desire of his elder brother Nandivardhan and continued to live in the fold of the samsara two years longer. But to him the city or the forest made no difference. Even in his royal palace, he lived the life of an ascetic. Sitting in a lonely place in the vast royal palace, he passed most of his time in meditation. Thus a year passed. From the second year, he started giving alms. Every morning he gave alms for three hours. He gave away in alms - gold, silver, riches and grains. He fed the hungry. Under the Ashoka tree, he himself tore five handfuls of hair. He took great vows which would bind him, too. “From today through thoughts, words or my physical self, I will not do an evil deed, I will not have an evil deed done and I will not help anyone doing an evil deed. I will perfectly purify the soul."
At that moment, everyone was torn between feelings of joy and of sorrow. All were deeply moved in their hearts.
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