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22 MAHĀVĪRA : HIS LIFE AND TEACHINGS More than four months many living beings gathered on his body, crawled about it, and caused pain. Then he meditated, walking with his eye fixed on a square space before him of the length of a man. Many people who were shocked at the sight struck him and cried. He shunned the company of the female sex and of all householders. Asked, he gave no reply He did not even answer those who saluted him He was beaten with sticks and struck by sinful people. He wandered about disregarding all slights, not being attracted by any worldly amusement.
For more than a couple of years he went without using cold water. He realized singleness, guarded his body, obtained intuition and became calm. He carefully avoided doing injury to the meanest form of life. He did not use what was expressly prepared for him. He used to eat only clean food. He did not use another man's robe, nor did he eat out of another man's vessel. He observed moderation in eating and drinking. He neither rubbed his eyes nor scratched his body.
He sometimes took shelter in workshops, sometimes in manufactories, sometimes in garden houses, sometimes in a cemetery, iti deserted houses, or at the foot of a tree. In such places he sought for shelter for thirteen years.
