Non Violence A Way Of Life

Author(s): Kumarpal Desai
Publisher: Jaibhikkhu Sahitya Trust

Page 11

now in meditation and since he got no answer from Mahavir, the cowherd searched for his bullocks on the river bank, among the hills, in the deep foliage and in every nook and corner. He did not find his bullocks anywhere. Dejected and weary he came back where Mahavir was and there he saw his bullocks sitting beside Mahavir.
He flared up in anger. He took the bullock's rope and started lashing Mahavir with it. But at that moment god Indra appeared and challenged him. He said to the cowherd, "How foolish you are! He, whom you think to be a thief, is the son Vardhaman of King Siddhartha. Casting off the life of a prince, he has set out to purify his soul. Do you think he would steal your bullocks? And you are hurting the Lord."
The cowherd, the offender, fell prostrate at the feet of Mahavir. Mahavir's eyes brimmed over with abundant compassion. The great god Indra said, "Such foolish worldly persons will waylay you on the difficult path of austerity. So, let me live in your presence and remove the obstacles. During the period of your penance for the next twelve and a half years I will be by your side to look after you."
Having heard what the great god Indra said, Mahavir said, "Never has this happened and never will it happen in the life of one who seeks to realize the soul. Self-realization or self-liberation is not to be [19]
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attained with the help of others. This is the ideal of one who seeks to realize the soul. 'एगो चरे खग्गविसाणकप्पो' (He proceeds alone and by his own efforts attains liberation.) The liberation of every soul depends upon his own strength, valour and exploits."
Mahavir proceeded all alone. Sometimes among the ruins of a building, sometimes on burial ground, sometimes in a thick forest and sometimes in a deep ravine, he set in meditation. And so he came to a vast hermitage of Duijjanta ascetics in the Moraka camp. This hermitage stood on the bank of a fine stream among green pastures. The head of the hermitage was an intimate friend of Bhagwan Mahavir's father, Siddhartha. Mahavir accepted his warm welcome and stayed there. The head of the hermitage gave him a thatched cottage to live in. Mahavir, the great monk, stayed there for the rainy season. Monsoon did not set in quite in time. So no fresh grass appeared on the pastures. Hungry cows came to graze and began to pull the hay off the thatched hut. The ascetics, drove the cows away with sticks. But Mahavir was engrossed in unbroken meditation. Attracted by the sweet-smelling substances applied to his body at the time of initiation, insects such as worms, butterflies, gnats and mosquitoes started swarming around stinging him. But Mahavir was quite detached. Other ascetics saw that while with sticks in hands, they protected their own cottages all the day long, Mahavir
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