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ing and Uat he was able to scorch to death iwo Jaina mendicants by urowing tial power in their direction. He is also said to have died fasting without walcr with only a mango stone placed in his mouth for the purpose of salivating. Such a death was considered an extremely holy one and assured the highest licaven, if not mokşa, for the departing soul. The Acārārgu-sütra os the Jainas narrates al length the scvere asceticism of Malāvīra, the last Jaina Tīrthankara. It is said that during the twelve years of his wandering lisc prior to his Enlightenmeni, Mahāvīra had lived on only thrce kinds of rough food-rice, pounded jujube, and pulses: "Taking only these three, lic suscained himself for eight monuis. ... Somctines hic alc only every sixth day or cvery cigfith or cvery tenui or every twelfth. Frce of desires, hic remaincd engrossed in meditation."7 According to the later commentators, during uiesc iwelve years Mahāvīra look food on a total of 349 days only; at other times he fasted completely.8
the Buddhist lexts, 100, make similar claims on behalf of Siddhāruia Gautama wlio is said to have fasted for long periods of time during uic six years of his sucnuous scarch for Enlightenment. In the Majjhimanikāya, lic describes the severity of his fasting in the following words: "Becausc I ate so little, all my limbs became like the knotted joints or withered creepers; because I ate so little, my protruding backbone becanic like a string of balls; bccause I aic so little, my buttocks became like a bullock's hoof; because I aic so littlc, my gaunt ribs became like the crazy rasiers of a (unble-down slicd; becausc I atc so little, the pupils of my cycs appcarcd lying low and dcep in dicir sockets as sparklcs of water in a deep well appcar lying low and decp...."9 There is no doubt thiat Ure sanious Gāndhāran skeleton image of Hic meditating Buddha, now in die Lahore Museum, is a vivid depiction of this passage. As we know, the Buddha abandoned this practice in preference for his Middle Path. Condenuing such fasting as painful mortisication unworthy of a sccker of nirvana, he staricd taking food and is not known ever to have prescribed fasting for anyone else. But the Jainas found this so-called Middle Path of the Buddha as nothing but saintheartedness, a weakness of the spirit unwortly of a true follower of a Jina. They not only employed fasting as the best atonement for transgressions of mendicant rules, 10 but also recommended it as a supreme spiritual practice to Vieir incndicants as well as lay disciples.
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