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SHRAMAN MAHAVIR
I am your disciple Accept me as your disciple, sır! This time I accepted him We began to live together We thus lived together for six years before we parted our ways
Whatever Gautam had heard of the Lord, he broke to some people The report travelled on to reach Gaushalak himself He was annoyed at it
Once the Lord's disciple Ananda was going to Shravasti for begging meals Gaushalak saw him going He summoned him and said, 'Ananda! Please listen carefully to a fable!
Ananda came near him to listen to him Said Gaushalak
'It's an ancient tale Certain traders were going to a remote place with their wares There was forest in the way They had taken their meals before entering the forest Soon their stock of water was exhausted There was neither a village nor a pond nearby They explored all around in search of water as they were dying of thirst They came across four burrows They excavated the first to find cold and crystal clear water The traders drank to their fill and collected water in their pitchers Some of them advised to dig the other three burrows also Since the first yielded erystal-clear water the other one could yield gold His conjecture was found to be correct The second burrow disclosed gold Now they grew a varicious They felt tempted to dig the third burrow and found a stock of gems in it Now their temptation was truly irresistible They conferred amongst themselves that if the first yielded water, the second gold, and the third gems there was every likelihood of the fourth revealing still more precious articles One of them was a seasoned and sincere trader He said, "We have had fair rewards We should not crave for more. Leave the fourth burrow intact lest we should find other than the desired treasures there"
'None cared for his advice The moment they began to dig the fourth burrow a violent hiss shook the air A large python emerged and rose above the mouth of the burrow Its eyes could pour venom It gazed at the sun and then, un
