Mahavira His Life And Teachings

Author(s): Saraswati Raghavachari
Publisher: Jain Sastu Sahitya

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CHAPTER XVII
Twelve years of Penance.
Let come what will, I mean to bear it out, And either live with glorious victory Or die with fame, renowned for chivalry: He is not worthy of the honey-comb, That shuns the hive because the bees have stings. -SHAKESPEARE.
"I shall not think about or care for my body. I shall concentrate all the powers of my Mind, Soul and Spirit on the attainment of that perfection which alone can entitle me to be a true teacher of humanity and the pointer of the right path to Salvation. Come one, Come all, O Sorrows, Pains and Miseries of this world!
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May the Lord so guide me that I shall not break!" With this resolution Mahavira started his twelve years of penance and prayer.
For twelve years he travelled from place to place leading the hard and precarious life of a house-less Jain Muni. He did not set foot on the earth during the rainy season because Jain Munis are forbidden travelling during that period of four months. It is known as CHATURMAS.