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36 Kshamapana or transmigration, it gets us the three gems and it prevents our downfall."
Merciful Eyes Such excellent forgiveness is best illustrated by Mahavir'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 Bhagavan Mahavir's greatness, a god named Sangam became conscious of divine egotism. He made up his mind to put Mahavir on trial. At that time, Mahavir 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 in 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 out of a mole-hill, I will make a molehill of the mountain." Sangam came to Mahavir 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 crying terribly and evil spirits were running about impatiently for food. But these terrible noises had no effect on Mahavir. He was
Kshamapana 37 meditating open-eyed.
A storm arose and poured a basketful of dust into his eyes. But Mahavir and his eyes had no relation each to the other, because the soul and the body are different. Ants acutely stinging like piercing needles and gnats with poisonous stings came. Then came large red ants capable of carving a human body into the shape of a sieve, The pain was so terrible that even an elephant would dash on the ground and die. But this ascetic would not move at all. Not a word of pain would come out of his mouth. Thus, on the one hand, the wicked one would not flinch from his wickedness and, on the other hand, the saint would not flinch from his saintliness. Meanwhile, his wife Yashoda and daughter Priyadarshana came. The unattached king Bhartruhari's heart which would never melt, was melted by his daughter's wailings. But nothing could affect Mahavir. Lust defeats him whom nothing else defeats in samsara.Age, strength or time do not count there. Beautiful women dancing and singing in the spring came to his ascetic but not a single hair on his body was affected at all.
These tricks of Sangam failed. These moves in the game were defeated. Now he only wished that excited by mental torture and physical pain
