Tirthankar Mahavir

Author(s): Kumarpal Desai
Publisher: Jaybhikkhu Sahitya Trust

Page 78

Acharya Shri Kailassagarsun Gyanmandir
harm them. He had no attachment to his body. He did not harm even the smallest creatures in order to avert bodily pains.
After visiting other towns and villages during the summer season, Mahavira returned to the hermitage at the start of the rainy season. The head of the hermitage offered him a thatched hut for his stay. Mahavira remained engrossed in deep reflection and meditation inside the hut.
Hungry cows used to move around outside the hut in search of fodder. They tried to pull off the bundles of dry grass from the thatched roof of
Mahavira's hut. In the beginning other ascetics guarded Mahavira's hut with sticks in their hands to ward off the cows. But afterwards they thought : "What type of a guest is he? Can he not even look after his hur? He does not seem to care. How can he expect others to protect his hut ?" The ascetics were weary and disgusted by Mahavira's attitude. They criticised Mahavira amongst themselves and one day they complained to the head of the hermitage, "O Sir, the guest is so lazy that he does not even guard his hut. If his hut is pulled down by the cows, who will construct another hut for him?"
The head of the hermitage too disliked Mahavira's indifference to this matter. He approached Mahavira and said, "Even birds protect their nests. You are a man. You are a warrior by birth. You should protect your hut."
There was no one who understood Mahavira. Nobody thought: "When Mahavira does not cause any injury to a mosquito biting him and sucking his blood, how can he beat cows with a staff and prevent them from eating their natural food ?"
Mahavira, engrossed in deep reflection, did not
say anything to the head of the hermitage in reply. But he thought to himself: "What a pity! I, who have renounced the royal palaces, am caught in the net of attachment for a hut. I renounced everything for the sake of spiritual upliftment. Why should I be detained by
Tapas Kulpati advising traditating Mahavira