Lord Mahavira

Author(s): Boolchand
Publisher: Jain Cultural Research Society

Page 41

( 34 )
of
was
vow of silence for twelve years, but that is possibly an exaggeration. He avo ded men as well as women, often gave no answers to questions put to him and omitted to return greetings. Diversions all kind he positively avoided. The ascetic life of Mahavira strongly contrasted with the probationary period in Buddha's life. The Buddha created an agreeable impression wherever he went; he welcomed by teachers like Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta and their pupils, and even when he followed a graduated course of austerities and consequently reduced himself to a mere skeleton, skin and bone, he did not arouse the hostility of the onlooker. Mahavira's Troubles were partly due to his unkempt appearance and partly to his sombre silence and look of grim determination. Not without justification do the Jain accounts say that unusually large for a Tirthankara was Mahavira's share of the defilement of Karma which he had to suppress before obtaining enlightement.
Penances.
Mahavira performed a very prolonged course of of severe penance for twelve years for the destruction of the karma. This course of penances comprehended “uninterrupted meditation, unbroken chastity, and the most scrupulous observance of the rules concerning eating and drinking.' The account of his sadhana given in the Acharanga is literally soul-stirring.
He meditated day and night, undisturbed and unperturbed. Avoiding women and giving up the company of householders, he realised singleness. He lodged in workshops, assembling places, manufactories, sheds of straw, towns, garden-houses, in cemetries and burial grounds, or at the foot of a tree, wherever shelter was available. He did not care for sleep for the sake of pleasure and slept only for short hours. In winter when cold winds blew, he did not seek sheltered places or kindle wood or seek to cover himself with clothes. In the cold season he meditated in the shade, in summer Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat