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the notice of Mahavira who turns a deaf ear to my request What do you advise me to do now?'
He was torn between anger and courtesy
1.
The chief-monk sought Mahavira's company at the opportune moment and submitted meekly. 'Monk! Creatures possessing a mere rudimentary intelligence like birds care to protect their nest You happen to be from a warrior race and still fail to protect, your cottage Should I hope that no such complaint would reach me from any of the hermits in future?'
Mahavira's brief rejoinder was, 'Rest assured, no more shall you receive such complaints' The chief monk returned to his En enr cottage satisfied
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Thought Mahavira, 'I am engaged in the quest of truth To divert my attention towards the safety of the cottage would be improper But the hermits won't relish the idea of the strawwalls serving as a fodder to the kine Should I then continue to Live here?'
SHRAMAN MAHAVIR
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The anticipation of embarrassment spurred his feet onwards. The first fortnight of the rains was spent in the cottage, the rest of the season in the Shulapaniyaksa temple at Asthikgram dimarts
The incident of the hermitage added new dimensions to Mahavira's campaign for emancipation The vows that he
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took following this incident signify it The five vows taken by him on the eve of his departure from the hermitage were (51 Pwill forsake to live at a place I am unwelcome My time shall mostly pass in meditation shall in large measure observe silence
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(4) My palm shall serve me as my eating bowl 15) shall not greet the householders 1
-oThus were opened up the vistas of the inner world The
anny of common courtesies ceased to hamper his accomplishment of freedom The gnawing fear about the vulnerability of body, things and mental associations ceased to perturb him
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15fAwashyakchurni, I pt p 271,272
