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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
102
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
When Dhanavaha returned to his house with the blacksmith, he was surprised to see such a beautiful scene. The people of Kaushambi had assembled there. They experienced mixed feelings of joy and sorrow - joy because the great yogi had accepted food offered by Chandana after a sixmonth-long fast and sorrow because they knew that the princess had been sold as a slave-girl in the market as a consequence of war. Because of the terrible disaster of wars, a princess had to suffer the plight of a slave-girl and experience endless humiliation and miseries. They prayed, "May the evil of war be removed from the world. The mighty declare wars but the poor and the weak have to bear the disastrous consequences of wars. Young men die on the battlefield. Crops and cattle are destroyed. Children become orphans." The people realised the dreadfulness of war and repented for taking part in war. A great yogi, Mahavira, silently slipped away from the crowd leaving the people repenting and regretting.
Another Ordeal
It was the thirteenth year of Mahavira's asceticism. On his journey, he reached the village Chammani via Jambhiyagrama and Medhiyagrama. Chammani village was near Madhyama-Pava city and on the way to the city of Champa. Mahavira stood in meditation under a tree on the outskirts of the village Chammani. It was dusk. At that time an incident happened that was similar to the one that he had suffered on the first day of his renunciation The first ordeal had been inflicted on Mahavira by a shepherd and the last ordeal too was inflicted on him by a shepherd.
A shepherd with his bullocks was passing by the place where Mahavira was meditating. He asked Mahavira to look after them and went to the village. However Mahavira was in deep meditation and hence he was completely oblivious to the shepherd's request. The bullocks while grazing wandered far away. The shepherd returned very late. He could not see the bullocks anywhere in the vicinity. So he asked Mahavira, "O noble One, where are my bullocks?" But as Mahavira was in meditation, he could not respond to his question. Getting no answer, the shepherd repeated the question. But the great yogi did not reply. On receiving no response to his repeated questions, his anger grew more intense. He angrily shouted, "O you, why don't you hear me? Don't you have ears?"
Mahavira's silence made the distressed shepherd very furious. He said, "O man, you speak nothing. Nor do you show me my bullocks. I think you
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