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15.Puniya - Purchasing Sadhana
BAREN
Us a sangh, this was our first visit to Rajgrahi where Bhagwan
had decided to stay for four months during the rainy season. Rajgrahi was not far from Kundagram where Mahavir was born. The royal family and the people of Rajgrahi were the followers of Tirthankar Parshvanath's Sraman tradition. In fact, Emperor Shrenik had invited Bhagwan Mahavir to Rajgrahi. Arrangements for Bhagwan's samosaran at the Gunshil Gardens were ready when we arrived.
The occasion of Emperor Shrenik's first visit to Mahavir's samosaran was an example of the unique ways Bhagwan Mahavir employs to explain his ideas. Emperor's curiosity, rather than devotion, had brought Shrenik to the samosaran grounds. Since this was his first visit, he came with full royal regalia. His party included his ministers, soldiers, ornately decorated elephants, numerous show horses, and musicians. It was a full display of his wealth and power. The owner of the world's riches had come to impress the one who had given up all his material treasures for spiritual wealth.
Beaming with the ego of his power, Shrenik entered the samosaran tent and sat in the front row facing Mahavir just as the sermon was about to start. Mahavir welcomed the emperor with his usual courteous smile, and began. The topic of the day's sermon was sadhana. In essence,
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