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284
SHRAMAN MAHAVIR
He feared he was being pursued To remove the thorn was an urgent necessity Unencumbering the hands for it would expose him to hear the preaching of the Lord He stayed to decide for a moment The danger from the pursuers posed a graver threat He freed his fingers from the ears to remove the thorn The Lord was, , theri, describing the gods who stare with an unwinking gaze and hover four-finger-width above the ground He could not help imbibing these words Having removed his thorn he replugged his ears Trying to disabuse himself of the already heard words he rushed onwards That which we try to erase from our memory gets grounded into it ineradıcably Rohineya could not forget those unforgettable words The words haunted him
Rohineya became a nightmare to the citizens The prominent among them went in a delegation to king Shrenik of Magadha, while he was in council Fear, gravity and anger were writ large over their faces The king enquired of their welfare Said they, 'we had a happy time in your reign till Rohineya appeared on the scerie, whose menace has ruined our peace'
The king was flushed with anger He summoned the police station officer and rebuked him The latter had no explanation to offer but that the robber was inexorable and of his own kind All efforts to stalk him had been futile Unless the premier Abhayakumar came to his succour no redemption was possible
Abhayakumar was entrusted with the task He planned a secret move All the four gates of the city were kept wide open during the night The guards hid themselves in the turrets Before the midnight, Rohineya entered the southern gate No sooner rad he entered than the guards held him fast without giving him a moment's respite to assume a disguise Nor could be escape their clutches
Next morning the chief guard produced the robber before the king The king was greatly upset Said he menacingly, 'Rohineyal You posed a threat to us and the quiet of the town
