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138
Mahāvira's Words by Walther Schubring
someone), a sūdra, a cat or a dog standing there in front of him, 12. then the Lord refrained from disadvantaging them in their bare necessities of life, [or] he avoided
attracting their hatred; (rather,] he came near slowly [and] looked for his food by obser15 ving protection (of beings). 13. (Sedimented] juice, over-cooked (remains],"38 cold dump
lings, old beans, groats boiled long ago or food from bad grains [he received during such waiting). He remained brave, whether he got an offering or not.-14. Further, the great hero practised meditation remaining on his seat, without the least bit of movement; he thought about the top, the bottom and the middle in the world, observing, unstirred, the pious attitude. 139 15. Without passion, with vanished yearning, undisturbed by sounds and forms he practised meditation;140 even when, still just a beginner, he strove for
wards, (141)
20 he did not even once commit inattentiveness. 16 After he, all alone, through the purity
of the heart, had begun the practice of making the effort, the Lord was content, not knowing deceit and peaceful his whole life long.
158 Probably süiya and sukka are substantives. The translation is approximately literal because the commentaries are not satisfactory. "pehamine or māne cannot, in fact, be accommodated in the verse, but is indispensable. 140 Semicolon and jhāi. 141 For the word here Verclas 1978, p. 87 proposes: chaumattho parakamamāne (WB).
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