Walk With Me

Author(s): Chandanaji Acharya, Vastupal Parikh
Publisher: Veerayatan

Page 30

Walk With Me
Abandon such notions. Stop depending on others for your freedom, the power to liberate your soul rests within yourself!"
The sermon was not quite finished yet, but I was impressed enough by Mahavir's insights to accept him as my guru. "Your destiny is in your hands... No imaginary external power can help you... Every living being wants to live and be happy... Do not hurt or kill other living beings... Devote yourself to liberate your trapped soul ..." I was impressed by the Sraman way of thinking. Is this why their monks give up everything and go in the forests for sadhana? I decided to give up the sinful sacrifices and become a Sraman monk.
All my disciples were also great scholars. I talked to them about my decision. They too were anxious to leave the karmakand (rituals) and accept the Arhat path. All we now needed was Mahavir's guidance. We approached Mahavir and asked him to ordain all of us as Sraman* monks. Mahavir readily ordained us and hundreds of our disciples. He immediately gave us, the three brothers, the responsibility to look after our respective groups (Gana) of disciples and appointed us as 'Ganadhars' (group leaders) in the Sraman order. Other pundits who followed us with their disciples were also honored with the title 'Ganadhar'.
The crowd on the samosaran grounds included many ordinary men and women. They too wanted to follow the Sraman path. However, some were not yet ready to become monks. Mahavir explained that laypersons can also follow the Sraman paths. He said, "It is possible to
The Sanskrit word 'Srama' means to work for achieving a goal. Therefore, Arhats later became known also as Sramans.
28
Jain Education Interational