________________
312
THE WAY OF LIFE
pair. He was always engaged in painful contemplations, (Arthadhyan). Meanwhile, a great man happened to come there. The beggar saluted him with folded hands. The great man saw the beggar and said to him,
"I think you are suffering from many diseases”. The beggar replied, "Yes. I am greatly agitated by diseases". The Mahatma said, “Do you want your diseases to be cured?”
The beggar said, "Of course, I want to be cured of my diseases. Kindly show me some way”.
The Mahatma said, “Will you listen to my advice? Will you act according to my suggestion ?"
The beggar said, "Surely. I will act according to your advice".
The Mahatma said, “You must eat food only once a day. You must eat only one vegetable and eat only one vigai, (oily food). The vigai is of six kinds. They are : "Milk, curds, ghee, oil, jaggery and sugar, and fried substances”. You must eat only one of these a day. I know that you are a beggar and a beggar has to eat whatever he gets but you must pay attention to this point. While receiving Bhiksha, you may receive a cake made out of wheat flour and after that you should not receive any food prepared out of rice, millet or any other food-grain. If you happen to get a vegetable like green-gram or cereals, you should not take any other vegetable. Of the six kinds of vigai (oily food) if you get any one, you should not receive any other vigai afterwards. The next day you must eat the fresh Bhiksha you get. You should not eat stale food. Will you act according to these instructions ? If you do so, your diseases will disappear and your health will be all right. You must carry out this vow throughout your life”.
The beggar wanted to recover his health because he had been greatly agitated by his diseases. He took the vow from the Mahatma declaring that he would follow this advice. After that, the Mahatma went away. The beggar went into the town to beg for food.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
