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222
SHRAMAN MAHAVIR
'His heart is not converted How would he give up his force of habit by coercion?'
'Does the Lord believe, then, that he has killed buffaloes in the dark prison-house also ?'
'That is what I mean, precisely' 'How is it possible ?' 'Is there no clay in the cell ?' 'There is, sire 'Cannot clay be moulded as a buffalo ?' 'It can be sire'
'That is what I mean when I say that Kalsankarik has been killing buffaloes throughout the day!'
The king realized the truth that coercion cannot purge one of violence It is possible by change of heart only The king discovered in the black-hole hordes of 'killed' clay buffaloes and Kalsankarik still busy with his imagined butchering The king released him
After a few years Kalsankarik died Such is this life that none can live beyond a certain span of years None is immortal The killer also is killed one day The people learnt that Kalsankarık was dead His kins cremated him
Sulas was his son The family desired him to take to his ancestral trade but he frankly refused to do so
The family was in a dilemma They tried to prevail upon him once more but he plainly declined to ply the trade 'I love other's life as much as my own How can I deprive others of their lives for preserving my own ?"
The kins assurea to share the sin equally with him They prompted him to proceed with one buffalo Sulas lifted the sword of his father The relatives were elated Sulas eyed the buffalo with pity and hit his own thigh He fainted and fell Blood rushed from his wound After a while he regained his consciousness Piteously he appealed, 'Dear Kins! this injury is too much for me Please share my affliction that I may be relieved of the excruciating pain'
