Non Violence A Way Of Life

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

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bullocks. Are those your ears of little earthen bowls? Do you have oil poured into your ears? Those ears have done you no good, it seems. Let me fill them up." The cowherd said, and brought two straight long thorns.
The stupid cowherd pushed the nail-like thorns into the ears of the great yogi. Lest someone should pull out the thorns, he cut off their outer ends. Even then Mahavir did not stir, and nor did he give any other sign.
Then Mahavir went to the town, Madhyama. He went for alms to a Bania named Siddhartha. An expert physician named Kharaka had come to Siddhartha's place. He found the small wooden sticks pushed into Mahavir's ears and with great effort he pulled them out.
Everyone now began to slander the cowherd, who had proved to be such a cruel termentor, Bhagwan said, "This is no fault of the cowherd. I am suffering the consequence of what I have done. In my eighteenth Bhava (birth) I was a king named Triprushtha Vasudeva and it was I who had ordered moltan lead to be poured into the ears of the servant who made the beds. This is the fruit of that sin. Everyone must bear the fruit of his Karma, even he may be a mundane soul or a monk." It was a cowherd who caused the first torment to
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Bhagwan in Karmargrama and again it was a cowherd who caused the last torment. During the period of his austerity, he suffered a number of torments but in suffering them he always maintained his equanimity. He never had feelings of anger or aversion towards anyone, even if the man was hostile or had turned tormentor for no reason. His heart was brimming over with love for all : gods, devils, humans and beasts, even when they caused terrible torments to him. Exercising complete restraint on himself, on his mind, speech and body, Bhagwan suffered all this with complete equanimity and constantly pursued the path of self-realization. In torrential rain, in bitter cold, or in a raging storm, the unflickering lamp of his austerity constantly shone bright. Bhagwan had preached ahimsa (non-violence), but mankind was found to be slipping back into himsa (violence). The power mongers can never abandon their love for war. The victor in such wars plundered people's gold and silver and sold young men and women in the bazaar. The city of Kaushambi had recently won such a victory. Bhagwan daily went on his round, begging for alms in that city. He went from house to house but returned not accepting food from any house. In this way six months passed by. For as long a period as six months he did not accept even a grain of food. The people of Kaushambi thought that Mahavir was like a fish dying of thirst in an ocean full of water.
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