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........MAHĀVIRA'S WANDERING AS AN ASCETIC 121 miserable muni? Do you not hear what I say or are your ear-cavities useless?” When the Lord did not speak, he became extremely angry and threw spears of kāśa-grass into the cavities of the Master's ears. He drove the sprigs so that they joined together and formed one unbroken spear. Evilminded by disposition, the cowherd cut off the outside part of the pegs with the idea, “ May no one draw out these pegs,” and went away.
Though he had the spears of deceit, false belief, et cetera134 destroyed, having the spears in his ears, unshaken from pure meditation, he (the Lord) went to Apāpā in the middle country. There the Lord went to the merchant Siddhārtha's house and he gave food to the Blessed One with devotion. A friend of Siddhārtha, named Kharaka, a physician, had come there earlier. When he saw the Lord, he, having an acute intellect, said:
“ Indeed, the Blessed One's form is covered with all the favorable signs, but it is evident from its faded condition that it has some foreign substance.” Siddhārtha said hurriedly, “ If that is so, look carefully at the Blessed One's body to see where the foreign substance is.” The physician looked skilfully at the Master's whole body and saw the pegs in his ears and showed them to Siddhārtha. Siddhārtha said: “Who, unafraid of censure, not afraid of hell even, has done this cruel
deed? But enough of talk about the villain. Friend, exert - yourself in removing the Lord's foreign object, noble sir. I
have great pain because of the object in the Master's ears. I can not endure delay. My wealth can go in this matter. If the objects here are removed from the ears of the Lord of the Universe, I think we shall be saved from the ocean of births.”
The physician said: “This Lord, enduring destruction for the protection of all, is indifferent to injury for the sake of the destruction of karma, not from lack of power. How
134 626, Salya--māyā, mithyādarśana. The third śalya is nidāna. Sam. 3. 16 M
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