Mahavira His Life And Teachings

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

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were grazing their cows all around him. All on a sudden, they were called off into the village by an urgent message and they cried out to the body of Mahavira "O Stranger, keep an eye on our cows till we return.
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Mahavira heard them not; and the rustics mistook his silence for consent and went away.
On their return after some time, they did not find the cows there, for they had strayed to the very edge of the common.
So they were deeply enraged and set about beating and torturing the senseless body of the Greatest spiritual teacher of all time; but the Lord neither moved nor spoke; for he was so deeply absorbed in his meditation that physical pain touched him not.
Soon, as the Lord returned to consciousness, there were passing that way a few acquaintances of his; and they immediately rebuked the cowherds informing them of the identity of their great victim. The Lord, out of the ocean of mercy which filled his heart, pardoned the rustic cowherds and again moved out on his travels.
Historians and biographers relate similar incidents in the lives of other great heroes and teachers of mankind.