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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kabatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyarmander
clearly in simple language, the farmer was convinced of the truth. He decided to give up farming and asked if he could become a disciple of Gautama. So it was that soon afterward Gautama brought his new disciple now a lain monk, to meet Mahavira.
The farmer was excited to meet Mahavira, the teacher of his own teacher. He supposed he must be a very great person. As he came near, Mahavira's eyes filled with tears of compassion, and when the new monk saw his face he reacted in a most unexpected way he turned and fled, discarding his monk's robes and abandoning his attempt at spiritual life.
Gautama was puzzled.
"O venerable teacher, when they see you most people are inspired and joyful. Why was this man so distressed?"
"Dear Gautama." replied Mahavira, "in a previous lite this man was the lion killed by me when I lived as a nobleman named Triprustha. Once already he tried to gain his revenge over me, when I was crossing the Ganges and he attempted to wreck my boat. But he failed and was chased away, full of fear. Now as a farmer he has encountered me again, and the memories of our past relationship were revived in him. That is the reason he ran away. This shows how strong are the impressions left upon our subconscious mind by our past actions. The only way we can overcome them is through the practice of nonattachment and by cultivating feelings of love."
On another occasion Mahavira explained the importance of taking responsibility for one's present actions. A wealthy potter, who employed many workers but did not treat them well, believed that his life was controlled by fate and that he had no power over his destiny: Mahavira challenged him.
"Suppose an intruder breaks your pots and assaults your wife. Would you consider him responsible for his actions, or just calmly blame fate?" he asked the potter.
"How could I be calm!" exclaimed the potter. "I would capture the intruder and kill him."
"Then you would hold the man responsible for his own actions." said Mahavira. "Yet when you yourself perform evil acts, you shrug your shoulders and disown responsibility, blaming everything on fate. You may deceive yourself, you may even deceive others, but you can never deceive the law of karma, whereby all your actions will certainly bring you reactions, either in this life or in some future lifetime."
The wealthy potter was convinced by Mahavira's words, and both he and his wife became his followers.
Mahavira was opposed to war and taught that all beings should seek peace. He once arrived outside the city of Kaushambi, where he had begged for alms many years earlier and found that the city was under attack from a neighboring kingdom. The ruler of Kaushambi was Queen Mrugavati, whose husband had recently died, and the invader was King Pradyota, who wanted to seize Kaushambi and force its queen to be his wife
However, with the arrival of Mahavira the gentle hero, the queen opened the gates of her city and came with her entourage to hear him teach. King Pradyota was also inspired by the occasion, and temporarily set aside his enmity to also come with his generals to hear the famous teacher. "Thus both sat peacefully in the presence of Mahavira and listened attentively to his teachings.
"The real fight is with yourself" taught Mahavira, "Do not fight external enemies, for victory over them will not bring you happiness. Instead fight your own tendencies of anger and greed. Learn to keep your mind pure and free from passions and that way you will find peace. "That victory is worth infinitely more than the conquering of thousands of so-called enemies of this world."
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