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AMONGST THE PRIMITIVES
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creature ? A man advanced further. He knocked the Lord down The Lord regained his sitting meditative posture At heart they were rather humane The tranquility of the Lord pacified them They drew near and bent down in respect at his feet to expiate 1 ! " "Forgive us, sire How unscrupulous have we been in our behaviour!"
'Did the Lord converse with the tribals ?'
'He would not talk avidly His interests shrank from all objects and centred round the quest of truth Finding a stranger amongst themselves, people would cluster around him They would question his identity
'I am a monk' 'Where do you hail from?' 'I have come from Vaishalı' 'Pray, what happens to be the purpose of your visit?' 'To be with myself in absolute loneliness'
'The Lord would lapse into silence after replying to a couple of questions The spectators would watch him with great interest Then another inquisitive group would arrive They would ironically comment "What a combination of the nude and the ill-clad "2
'What was the reaction of the Lord on the rudeness of the primitives?'
'The Lord was the epitome of wisdom He knew that a poor tends to be indecorous and unruly Hence the primitives ceased to shock him by their conduct. He was a repository of non-violence His feelings were enlivened with good-will and fellow-feeling He eyed man in his peculiar perspective This vision was not subject to the other man's behaviour Hence his heart was as much bubbling with love for the primitives as for other creatures
'Long sojourn and uncomfortable journeys must have pained him at times'
'It was never so. His countenance was ever refulgent'
1 'Ayaro' 9/3/12, 'Acharangachurni' pp 320 2 'Acharangachurni' pp 320
