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THE TIRTHA (MORAL ORDER) AND THE TIRTHANKAR
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yielded ominiscience to him It is going to be his maiden oration 1 The masses proceed to listen to him
The news was none-too-palatable to Indrabhuti He was smarted to think that the shramanas had left no stone unturned in debilitating the tradition of rites The pioneer shramana Parshwa has considerably weakened the institution, he thought His followers make us spend many a sleepless nights even now. Is not the advent of this charismatic spiritual leader a death-knell to us? I must nip it in the bud He is the first spark which we must put out before it's too late Belated exertions go unrewarded I will tarry no longer My task should be to confute the thesis of the shramana leader and convert him to Vedic faith The twin benefits shall be 1 The institution of rites shall have in its fold a potent
leader 2 There will be a mass-conversion from shramanic faith
to Vedic faith
Indrabhuti gave himself heart and soul to the cause He cherished a dream to triumph He summoned his train of followers to escort him in the meantime a few people were seen returning Indrabhuti asked them, 'Wherefrom brethren ?'
'From Mahavira's preaching 'Did you see Mahavira ? How did you find him?'
'Matchless in excellence He is a marvel of a man, the entire being suffused with an aura of austerities'
'Who were allowed in the congregation ?' 'The entry was unrestricted' 'It must have been a large gathering'
'Thousands thronged there The place was packed to the brim However, none of the visitors comes disappointed'
This took away the wind off the sails of Indrabhuti He was vacillating Mahavira was certainly not an ordinary man The observations of those who saw him confirmed that he
1
Digambaras believe that the Lord delivered his first oration after 65 days of enlightenment on the first day of the dark fortnight of Sravana month
