Book Title: Shraman Mahavira
Author(s): Dineshchandra Sharma
Publisher: Mitra Parishad Calcutta

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Page 285
________________ MAHAVIRA IN BUDDHISTIC LITERATURE 267 267 'Sirel Gautam, the monk, is a big figure How shall I cope up with him in disputation ?' Village chief! Visit Gautam, the monk, and ask him Whether the Lord upholds the ideal of promoting, conserving and cherishing the human families If Gautam the monk, responds in the positive, you question him why the Lord moves about with such a large group of monks when the people are facing a blighting famine Why does he thus attempt to exterminate families or at least blast them with added hardship? Such a double-edged question will bamboozle Gautam, the monk!' Asibandhak expressed his consent and went to where Lord Buddha camped He greeted the latter and sat aside unobtrusively A little later he said, 'Sire! Does not the Lord commend the promotion of families, protecting and showing them compassion?' 'Yes, Village chiefl he does! 'Why then, sire, the Lord moves along with a horde of monks while the people here are damned already with a devastating famine? Why does he choose to ruin them completely?' Lord Mahavira enunciated the universe to be finite and the transcendental world to be infinite Buddhistic literature testifies to it 'Two Lokayatika Brahmins came to the Lord and asked after greeting him, 'Sire! Is Purankashyapa, an omniscient, a seer of all creation and a sage? He claims that he incessantly observes all knowledge and experiences all wisdom during all moments of life, be he standing, walking, sleeping or waking He avers that he witnesses the infinite universe with his infinite knowledge Sire! Nigantha Natputra asserts accordungly He asserts that he observes all occurrences of the infinite universe by means of his infinite wisdom Which of the two counter-assertions is true, Lord Gautam?'

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