Shraman Mahavira

Author(s): Dineshchandra Sharma
Publisher: Mitra Parishad Calcutta

Page 77

59
THE PROTECTIVE SHIELD OF MEDITATION
THE CONQUEST OF PALATE
The Lord was very cautious about his food He would take just the right quantity for survival People eat sparingly when indisposed The Lord was fit and still he ate very little The
three limbs of his conquest of hunger were less frequency of - meals, limited quantity and a limited gamut of food articles
'Did he experiment in conquering the taste ?'
'The Lord experimented to effect equanimity in all the walks He did so regarding his meals His experiments to conquer the palate are in accordance with these austerities'
‘Did he shun all delicious food ?'
'No, he did not The very next day after his initiation the Lord left Kamargram and reached Kollag A Brahmin named Bahul lived there The Lord visited his place He offered the Lord rice boiled in milk with butter and cane sugar '1
The Lord was travelling in the north of Vachala ? A householder Nagasena lived there He served the Lord with a dish of rice boiled in milk 3
'Did he never take flat tasteless food ?'
'He did He visited Brahmin village coming from Suwarnakhal' It had two parts Nanda and Upnanda were two brothers One part of the village was owned by Nanda and the other by Upnanda The Lord came to Nanda's portion where he was offered stale rice
'At Vaniyagram a householder Ananda had a female cook called Bahula She was going out to throw away stale rice Seeing the Lord there she apologetically said, "The food is still not cooked, my Lord Here I carry rice kept overnight Pray, accept it if you will" The Lord held out his hand She offered him the stale rice'
1 'Awashyakchurni I pt pp 270. 2 Second year of pursuit. 3 'Awashyakchurni' 1 pt pp 279 4 Third year of pursuit