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Lord Mahāvīra and His Times..
his meditations, free from resentment.1 Always calm and cool-headed, he patiently bore the pains caused by grass, cold, fire, flies and gnats.2
Mahāvīra travelled in the pathless country of Rādha, in Vajrabhūmi and Svabhrabhūmi, where he used most comfortless beds and seats. The rude natives of the place attacked him and unleashed their dogs to bite him, but he never used his sticks to keep them off. Being perfectly enlightened he endured the abusive language of the rustics. Sometimes when he did not reach the village, the inhabitants met him on the outskirts and attacked him, saying 'Get away from here. He was struck with a stick, fist, or lance; he was hit with a fruit, a clod, and a potsherd. When once he sat without moving his body, they cut his flesh, tore his hair or covered him with dust. They disturbed him in his religious meditation. Abandoning the care of his body, he endured all pains free from desire,3
Mahāvīra was able to abstain from the indulgence of the flesh, though he was never attacked by any illness. Whether wounded or not, he never had any desire for any medical treatment. Purgatives and emetics, anointing of the body and bathing, shampooing and cleaning of the teeth did not behove him, after he learned that the body is something unclean. In the cold season, he meditated in the shade, and in summer, he exposed himself to the heat. He lived on rough food : rice, pounded jujube, and beans. Using these three kinds of food, he sustained himself eight months. Somctimes he ate only the sixth meal, or the eighth, the tenth and the twelfth. Sometimes he ate stale food. He committed no sin himself, nor did he induce others to do so, nor did he consent to the sins of others. He meditatcd persevering in some posture, without any motion whatsoever; he meditated in mental concentration on the things above, below, beside, free from desires. He meditated free from sin and desire, not
1. Achā, I, 8,2-2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 2. Ibid., 1, 8, 3, 1. 3, Ibid., 1,8, 3-2, 3, 4, 7,8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
