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ऋषभ
अजित
सम्भव
अभिनन्दन
सुमति
पद्मप्रभ
one to the Brahman. The Brahman was filled with joy. He took this piece of cloth to a mender and enquired about its value. The mender said, “Brahman ! How did you get this divine cloth ? It is just a part of the whole. If you bring the other part also, I will mend it back to its original form and you could sell it for a hundred thousand gold coins."
The greedy Brahman ran back to Mahavir and followed him wherever he went. After about a year the remaining piece of the divine cloth fell from Mahavir's shoulder. Som Sharma picked it up, got it mended, and sold it to king Nandivardhan for a hundred thousand gold coins. (M-14)
सिंह
गज
वृषभ
लक्ष्मी
The Period of Practices : The Afflictions
Rejection of the Divine Help The day after his renunciation Mahavir left Jnatkhand garden. At sunset he arrived near a small village called Kurmargram (identified as Kaman Chhapra today). He stopped under a tree, and, standing rock still, started his meditation. After some time a cowherd arrived there with his oxen. He wanted to go into the village to do his job of milking cows. He approached the meditating Shraman and said, “Ascetic ! Please look after my oxen while I go into the village to milk cows. I will return soon." Without waiting for a reply the cowherd went away. The oxen, untethered and uncared for, strayed into the nearby jungle. On his return when the cowherd did not find his oxen, he asked, "Ascetic ! Where are my oxen ?" Mahavir remained silent. The cowherd grumbled and started looking around. He searched all around throughout the night in vain. The oxen, in the mean time, returned and lay down near Mahavir. When the exhausted cowherd returned in the morning and beheld this scene, he lost his temper. He took Mahavir to be a thief in disguise, whom he had caught just before the thief was to flee with the oxen that he must have hidden during the night. Without a second thought he started hitting Mahavir with the rope he carried for tying the oxen. The hard sisal rope left large inflamed welts on Mahavir's naked body. Even this excruciating pain did not distract Mahavir from his meditation. (M-15/1)
Just then an overpowering divine person appeared and said in his commanding voice, “Stop it, you ignorant idiot ! You are committing a grave crime. This person is no thief. He is the son of king Siddharth. He is Shraman Mahavir, a great yogi and a meditating ascetic.” The cowherd fell prostrate at the feet of Mahavir and repenting for his ignorance begged his pardon. The divine person who had interfered was none else but the king of gods, Indra. He bowed before the Mahashraman. Disturbed by the inflamed marks on the body of Mahavir he said, “Prabhu ! These ignorant people will continue to cause you pain due to their foolishness. Please allow me to be in your attendance to provide you Illustrated Tirthankar Charitra
(887)
सचित्र तीर्थकर चरित्र
पुष्पमाला
चन्द्र
विमल
अनन्त
धर्म
शान्ति
अर
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