Bhagwan Mahavir - Thirty Years of Family Life
By : Ganadhipati Tulsi
Cetaka's father was called Keka, his mother Yasomati and his wife Prtha.
The people of the Vajji Republic enjoyed religious freedom. Cetaka was the flower of the arhat religion as taught by Bhagavan Parsva. Some of leaders of the clans also followed his religion. A few were adherents of the Vedic religion also. Those religious diversities did not at all interfere with the political administration of the Republic.
Siddartha & Trisala : There was a settlement known as Kundapura near Vaisali. Its southern part was inhabited by Brahmans. It was therefore, called Brahmana Kundapura. The northern part was inhabited by the Ksatriyas and was, therefore, called Ksatriya Kundapura. The ruler of Ksatriya Kundapura was Siddhartha. The religious of Parsva had a very large following in Videha. Both Rsabhadatta and Siddhartha were followers of this religion.
Ancient Indian religion had two independent traditions the Sarmana and the Brahmana traditions. The Ugras, the Bhojas, the Rajanyas, the Ksatriyas, the Jnatas, the Kauravas and the Dravidas were the following of the Sramana religion. On account of a long coexistence the two traditions began to mingle together. Some of the ksatriyas adopted the Vedic customers and some of the Brahmanas adopted the Vedic customers and some of the Brahmanas adopted the Sramana customs.
The twenty-four Tirthankaras of the Jainas were all Ksatriyas. The Ksatriyas were mostly adherents of the Jaina religion. This, however, does not imply any caste basis of the religion.
Although religion was a personal affair, yet it influenced the society also. Religion was an important consideration in matters of marriage like physique, wealth and beauty. Normally girls were given in marriage to coreligionists only Maharaja Keka's daughter Trisala was married to Siddhartha. This fact strengthened the religious between Vaisali and Ksatriya Kundapura.
Awaiting The Dawn : There is a word Samona in the Prakrit language. Its Sanskrit from sramana has three meanings :
1. One who exerts himself or has diligence (Srama).
2. One who is calm and maintains equanimity (Sama).
3. One who treats every one equally (Sama).
The Sramana culture is grounded in these three main principles namely, exertion, equality. It has been engaged in the practice and dissemination of these principle from the beginning of civilization. Bhagavan Rsabha was the pibneer of this culture. Bhagavan Parsva was the twenty-third Tirthankara in the tradition. He was the prince of Varanasi and was born in 877 B.C. and initiated in 847 B.C.
It was mainly due to Bhagavan Parsva that ahimsa came to occupy the character of a collective spiritual discipline and underwent a qualities change. Before Bhagavan Parsva, ahimsa was regarded as a personal discipline only. Bhagavan Parsva's efforts transformed it into a social forces.
Ahimsa is the modern version of the old concept of Sramana. It include the three meanings of the term Sramana. One who does not earn his living by his own exertion cannot be a follower of ahimsa, nor can one who does not value peace in life. Similarly, one who does not practice equality cannot practice non-violence.
Bhagavan Parsva gave a momentum to the movement of ahimsa as a result of which the people of Sindhu, Sauvira, Anga, Kuru, Pancala, Kasi and Causal came under its influence.
The soothing message of ahimsa came as a great relief to the victims of widespread violence in the same way in which the first showers of the summer rain are welcome to those sweating in the heat of the summer sun. The movement which had once grown weak was now made powerful again by Bhagavan Parsva. His campaign to established ahimsa as a social ideal made him very popular. This made him rise above the limitation of the old Sramana tradition. He became a cosmopolitan figure. He attained nirvana in 777 B.C.
The rising sun floods the whole with light, but when its sets, everything is again plunged into darkness. This drama is enacted very day. Lord Parsva appeared on the state of history like the rising sun and enlivened the world with the light of ahimsa but soon after his nirvana the movement of ahimsa began to grow thin. His followers become inactive. Let us keep in mind the elementary truth that every particle of the world shines by the light of the sun and that as soon as the sun set, the particles grow dark. That has been the fate of the history of mankind also. The appearance of great man of the scene opens a new chapter in history, but soon after his death, historical progress slows down and ultimately comes to a stand-still. Those who illumine the world with their own light are very few indeed and the world seldom shine by its own light. Hardly two hundred years has gone by after the ni9rvana of Bhagavan parsva when the steady onward movement of ahimsa lost its force. The dark forces of inaction, disquiet and inequality engulfed the people so much so that they began to await eagerly a new dawn to appear.
The Sunrise : The spring came and began to make its presence felt everywhere. Clad in the happy and colorful garments of new-born leaves the forest trees began to stir with life. The fragrance-laden flowers filled the atmosphere with their sweet smell and the sparing breeze carried it to distant scorners. The sun rose on the morning of the thirteenth day of bright half of the lunar month of caitra in this atmosphere. Trisala gave birth to a son. It was a wonderful moment. The mother, father and Kinsmen of the Child as well as Nature herself began to beam to beam with joy. There was cheerfulness everywhere.
The birth of the child is not an accident. It is a definite link in the endless chain of destiny. It is true that new-born child comes all alone and barehanded in the world, but it is also equally true that its subtle body and mind contains infinite potentialities. It was this child who came to known by the epithet Mahavarta (i.e. a great hero) thirty years later. Nobody can aspire to become a Mehavirta overnight. It takes ages to build a personality of Courage and valour, and it had happened so in the case of Bhagavan Mahavira.
There is a old story. King prajapati of portanpur had two sons, Acala and Triprstha. One day a dance performance had been arranged in the court. The king, the princes and the courtiers watched the absorbing art of the dancers with great interest. Suddenly a visitor entered the court and disturbing the performance went straight to the king. The king suspended the performance, Stood up to receive the visitor and began to listen to him.
Prince Triprstha felt offended. He enquired of his adviser inquisitively who the visitor was and how how he was being given was the envoy of King Asvagriva, the Prativassudeva (monarch of half of the world), who was the overlord of king Prajapati. The prince was put to silence. When the envoy was about to return, the prince accosted him and said, "Mind you, don't disturb such functions in the future. This time I pardon you." The envoy pocketed the insult for the time being. But when the presented himself to his sovereignj to report on his mission, he complained against how he had been insulted by the prince. Asvagriva was enraged and dispatched another envoy to potanpur to order Prajapati to guard the rice fields. This put Prajapati in a dilemma. He told the prince that the envoy had avenged himself for the insult meted out to him by the prince and as a result of which he had been ordered to guard the rice field out of turn. The prince asked his father not to worry and promised to meet the situation himself. He requested his father to depute him the rice field.
Both the princes arrived at the rice field with a few soldiers. The officer0in-charge of the fields told them that a lion was at large stalking the valley and entered them to protect the farmers. Thinking it to be a long drawn out affair, prime Triprstha decided to locate the lion immediately. Helped by the local people he arrived at the lion's den. A beat by the soldiers forced the lion out. Prince Triprstha was a dare-devil and preferred to meet the lion bare handed. He jumped down from his chariot and threw away his weapons. The frantic lion rushed at Triprstha. The Prince caught the jaws of the lion with both his hands and tore the beast into like a worn out piece of cloth of the amazement of the onlookers. Then he called the officer of the forest and asked him to inform Asvagriva that the lion had been slain and that he was now returning home.
This very Triprstha, after having gone through several cycle of births and rebirths, was born as the son of Siddhartha. His valour now found new fields of operation. It was now oriented towards spiritual achievements. Now it was not a valour inspired by violent dispositions. And yet it was not an accidental change. The new orientation was the logical outcome of the sadhana performed by the soul of Triprstha in the course of numerous previous births. Let us not forget that every event has a chain of cause behind it.
The Dreams of The Mother : Queen Trisala had already given birth to her first son called Nandivardhana. The soul of Triprstha was born to her as the second son. She felt an unprecedented joy on the night of her conceiving the child. She saw a series of significant dreams in a half-walking state. She work Siddhartha up and told him that she felt something extraordinary. "I saw an elephant and a bull and several other things in my dream. I feel a very pleasant sensation. The whole atmosphere seems to be throbbing with light and Joy" she reported to her husband and added, "I expect some extra-ordinary event to happen."
Siddhartha sensed the situation and remarked, " Darling, you have seen very auspicious dreams. You are a fortunate lady and will bring fortune to our family." Thus encouraged, the queen's joy knew no bounds. In a state of exhilaration she retired to her bed-chamber. She remembered the saying that one who has seen an auspicious dream should not again go to sleep after one has been awakened from the dream. She remained awake for the rest of the night.
The rays of the sun had pierced the far ends of the earth. Everyone had applied himself to the days business. The king sat in the audience hall with the queen. He called upon the chief courtier to summon the sooth-sayers to his audience.
The sooth-sayers presented themselves before the king. They were honourably received. The king began to consult them on the queen's dreams. They examined the contents of he dream and said, "The queen has seen very significant dreams. She will give birth to a son who be a Cakravarti (universal emperor)."
The queen's face flushed with the forecast about her son becoming a Cakravarti. The King's face beamed with joy. Expectations are more thrilling then actual happenings.
The picture of the Vaisali Republic changed into the picture of an Empire in the imagination of the king. The picture of Vast Empire was grand, but Siddhartha was stunned to imagine that the values and ideals which the ganademocracy had cherished and practiced will come to an end with the establishment of the expected Empire. These ideals were the ideals of the dignity and freedom of man. Siddhartha had been striving for the strengthening of these ideals in the life of the gana and had never been enamored of the idea of an Empire. The future seemed to cause him anxiety. It was horrible to imagine his own son destroying those ideals. He become sad and perplexed.
The leader of the sooth-sayers gave his further reading : "Our prophesy needs an amendment after a careful study of the queen's dream." The king impatiently interfered and asked, "Is will certainly be a Cakravarti ?" The soothsayer replied, He will certainly be a Cakravarti, But he will preserve the ideals and values of the ganatantra of Vaisali. He will be a Dharma-cakravarti, the Emperor of the Kingdom of Religion, and will develop the ideals of ahimsa, freedom, relativism, co-existence and non-possessiveness. He will be a great exponent of these."
Siddhartha's perplexity was over. He sighed a sign of relief and thanked the sooth-sayers. The queen was no less happy than the king. The worldly joy changed into a pious mood. Joy born of a sense of a worldly gains is not pure joy. It is alloyed with passion. Spiritual joy is perfectly pure. It can never be followed by sorrow. The king amply rewarded the sooth-sayers and applied himself to routine duties.
The Resolution In The Womb : There are thing in the world which we cannot easily believe in. We are accustomed to believe in those thing only which we have seen with our own eyes. It is common knowledge that the mind of a child grows with the growth of his sense-organs and the brain. Knowledge is not innate in the mind of a child. The reader will be surprised if he were told that the son of Trisala commanded extra-sensory perception while he was still in the womb is not even capable of having sensory knowledge, not to a speak of supersensory knowledge. Miraculous events create all kinds of doubts.
The child which Trisala had conceived had been born in his previous lives as an ascetic called Nandan. He had performed long tapas (penances). He would remain absorbed in meditation for a whole month without eating anything. At the end of the month he would take meals for a single day only and then again begin another month-long meditation. These tapes and mediation lasted for years and years together in a series. Service and mediation were blended together in the saint's life. Subtle powers had come to acquire perfect control over grass ones. By removing the effects of Karma enveloping his consciousness he had permanently developed the capacity for pratyaksa or direct perception, avadhi jnana which may be called as alairvoyance.
Which it was still in the womb, the child, out of compassion for its mother, decide not to move and stir in the womb. Why should it cause pain to its mother or to anybody ales, it thought. Its soul had been soaked in compassion. Moved by these it stopped stirring in the mother's womb like a jogi lost in meditation. When Trisala didn't feel the fetus stirring in the womb, she disclosed her condition to her attendants. The king also came to know what was happing to the queen. He too became gloomy. The entire household shared the anxiety and sadness of the royal couple.
The unborn child perceived what was happening in the external world. He saw sadness and anxiety pervading the whole atmosphere of the palace. He soon came to know the cause of the sudden change and reflected, "This world is really mysterious. That which is done for the good of mankind is regarded as a source if evil. I had stopped stirring out of the compassion for my mother. This has caused distress to everyone. The world is accustomed to gross things only beyond which it is incapable of imagining anything." It decided to stir again. When Trisala felt the stir in the womb, her face beamed with joy and the gloom changed into exaltation. The news reached the king also. Once again the Palace become gay and assumed a festive appearance.
The child in the womb reflected upon the mental state and ambitions of its parents. Out of affection for them, it resolved not to become an ascetic after he had been born during the lifetime of his parents.
The Wonderful Child : After all, Trisala was delivered of the child. The birth was celebrated with universal excitement and joy. The mother was the happiest woman on that day. The dreams she had dreams she had dreamt and the prophesies made by the sooth-sayers etc. began to float in her still more cheerful.
Trisala had taken every care and practiced discipline for the safety and good of the child conceived. She took very meagre meals during her pregnancy. She avoided all kinds of rich and harmful food. She lived on a balanced diet. She tried to keep herself as cheerful as she could by avoiding sadness, anxiety, anger, hatred, jealousy, envy etc. She kept the entire atmosphere cheerful and sweet. She walked slowly, spoke in soft tones and never laughed aloud. She would not sit under the upon sky and would not make any kind of hurry. The best development of the child takes place in the womb of mother. The mother is to a very large extent responsible for the development. The mother who knows her responsibility will certainly give birth to a child which is beautiful, enlightened and valorous. An ignorant mother, on the other hand, gives birth to a child who is ugly, unintelligent and timid. Trisala fulfilled her responsibility successfully. There, she gave birth to a child fully beautiful and possessed of the best qualities.
The child was born with divine characteristics. He commanded a wonderful form. His breath was sweet and fragrant, It made the whole atmosphere saturated with a sweet smell. It was a wonderful thing. It was an indication of the fact that the child would be the dharma-cakravarti. The child didnot emit any sweat or the dirt from its body. Sweat cleans the body of all kinds of dirty substances. But the child was inherently pure in every respect. There was nothing unhealthy in its body. The purity of the soul destroys all the ailments of the body. The flesh and blood of the child's body maintained a white color which is a sacred mystery and need not be explained in terms of the Laws of Physiology according to which the blood of a human being contains white as well as red corpuscles. Diseases develop and the body may die even if one these corpuscles is out o99f the required proportion. This child's body might have maintained a balance between the two kinds of corpuscles and still the color of its flesh and blood might have remained white like milk.
Thousands of people came to have a look at the extraordinary child and become exhilarated by the sweet odour its body emitted.
The child was born at a wonderful moment. The breeze was mild and pure. It blew soft. It was spring. The woods were articulate and the trees had become laden with new leaves. It was the thirteenth day of a bright half of the lunar month of Caitra. It was the time of midnight. The portents were auspicious. The planets stood high. Nature greeted the birth of the child with all her cheerfulness and grandeur. (See horoscope in the appendix)
The darkness of the night disappeared and rays of the sun brightened every partical of the earth. Nature began to appear neat and clean. At this sacred hour, Siddhartha was informed by a slave girl that the queen had been delivered of a son . The king's heart began to throb with joy which knew no bounds. He rewarded the slave girl with invaluable presents and accorded to her the status of a free citizen forever. This emancipation of the slave girl was a symbol of the charity the new-born prince was to practice in the future.
The king called the Chief Minister and ordered him to celebrate the happy birth of the Prince in the most befitting manner. The king's mind was filled with great expectations and new aspirations. The capital was profusely decorated and prisoners were ordered to be released from the prison as is done on such occasions. The happy occasion was to be celebrated with all pomp and show and gaiety. The king expressed the wish that all commodities should be sold in the market at cheaper prices and that the poor should be fed free. The shopkeepers were to be compensated for the loss they would suffer. The Minister was miserly, but looking to the occasion he agreed with than king. The King's wish was announced day was spent by the people in joyous festivities. The celebrations lasted for seven days to the great comfort of the poor.
Vardhamana : Name and from are the basic constituents of the universe. The king's son had been born with a beautiful form. He had yet to be named. The king invited all his relatives to a grand feast. The question of giving a name to the child came up for consideration. It was customary for the parents to choose a name for their child. The king observed : " since Ever Trisala had conceived the child, our family has grown richer in every respect. Prosperity has been followed by increasing love among the members of family. Keeping in mind all this, like to name the child as Vardhuamana (literally meaning ever-prospering)." The queen agreed with the king and the child acquired the name Vardhamana.
Vardhamana began to grow with time and along with him the prosperity of the family also began to increase. A growing child acquired new characteristics. In the case of the prince, tendencies he had acquired in the previous births began to grew to grow thin. The child never wept nor laughed. He always remained in a contented mood and a strange aura shone on his face. He was quite active like a growing child but never restive. Some times his serious face perplexed the nurses. The rise in the level of his consciousness had far surpassed the growth of his body. Those who looked at him in a cursory way felt him to be a problems. Even as a small child, he appeared to be unattached to everything. He did not seem to have any physical attraction towards food and play. His spiritual growth made all the things of the world appear to be devoid of any kind of attraction for him. This state of his being hinted towards his great future.
Fearlessness And Exertion of Spiritual Vigour : Success in life depends on two factors -wisdom and energy. Knowledge unattended by power is and power uncontrolled by wisdom is dangerous. A harmonious combination of the two makes a man fearless and strong Vardhamana possessed both in equal proportion. He was never touched by any kind of fear.
Once his playmates persuaded him to play the Amalaki game with them. They played in the garden of the house. All the children ran towards the tree. Vardfhamana outran everyone else and climbed up the tree. When he was coming down, he saw a huge snake coiling around the trunk of the tree. The snake hissed at the sight of Virdhamana. Struck with fear the rest of the children ran away. Vardhamana, however, remained unruffled. He caught hold of the snake and disentangling it from the tree threw it away. He climbed down the his playmates applauded him. He climbed down the tree and his playmates applauded him. He had won the game.
Vardhamana was hardly eight years old, but his fearlessness and strength came to be recognized even at that tender age. Being born in a family of the Ksatriya he began to exhibit the character of a Ksatriya. He was also born with the accumulated strength of sadhana he had performed in the course of his previous lives. The spiritual and physical growth impressed everyone.
Knowledge is the part of the spiritual energy of man. One who is devoid of this cannot acquire knowledge and one who is devoid of knowledge cannot rightly exhibit spiritual energy. A proper synthesis of both leads to success. Vardhamana had both spiritual energy and knowledge in him. His relatives knew that the child was physically strong, but they did not know that he had also knowledge also. He was sent to school as usual at the age of eight. (There are some who say that he never went to school).
Vardhamana was a very respectful child. He was very much devoted and his parents. As his extrasensory knowledge had already become well-devoted, he was conversant with what was being taught at school. Yet he joined school simply because he had been commanded to do so. The teacher welcomed him and joined his companions. It is said that Indra, the king of gods, disguised himself as a Brahmana and came to the school to the test Vardhamana. He came to Vardhamana and asked him several questions about letter and their combinations. The child's answers were grammatically so much of a higher standard that the Brahmana Indra suggested to the teacher that the child was master of subject taught in that kind of a school, and hence needed no more schooling.
The teacher felt himself to be too small before Vardhamana. He asked the latter to remove his confusion in master of teaching. The child did so easily and promptly. Vardhamana was removed from the school and the king was told that he had done his schooling. Vardhamana's relatives now began to acknowledge the depth of his knowledge too. It is really more difficult to fathom person's internal depth then the external one.
Detachment and Marriage : Times moves on. It is never at a stand-still. Vardhamana grew up and stood at the threshold of youth. He commanded a very healthy, beautiful and strong personality.
It was time to think of the marriage of the young prince. The king and the queen considered the matter. Jitasatru, the King of Kalinga, sent an envoy to Siddhartha with the proposal of the marriage of his daughter with Vardhamana. They were slightly surprised at the proposal. They knew that their son was too much devoted to the self. He mostly live in the world of his own consciousness. The desire to see the line of accept the proposal of Jitasutru. The envoy returned carrying the message of the acceptance of the proposal for the marriage.
When his father informed Vardhaman of the acceptance of the proposal of the latter's marriage, the prince found himself in a strange situation. He had been absorbed in the spiritual reality, trying to feel his oneness with it. His life in the family did not at all disturb his spiritual preoccupations. Marriage implies duality. One has to enter into worldly relations with another being. The husband's consciousness will have to be diverted to the external world. Vardhaman was unwilling.
Unattachment : The prince lived in the royal palace surrounded by relatives, servants and all kinds of prosperity but his mind was turned inward into the depths of the self. His tendencies had become spiritualized. Man's ego remains shared by the attractions of the world when his spiritual consciousness is undeveloped. Once the spirit wakes up, sensuous pleasures do not attract him any more and the world begins to appear to be tasteless. Vardhamana's spirit had attained this stature and he lived in the world unattached like the lotus in the pond. Vardhamana had his own spiritual kingdom to rule and he seemed to live in a different world to the amazement of his parents and relatives. He observed strict austerity in the matter of food. This was resented by all. They failed to appreciate his abstinence. Similarly they could not understand the attitude of compassion and equality which the prince adopted towards everyone. People had expected him to develop an authoritarian attitude as a prince.
People believe that everyone should swim with the current. But there are some who would like to swim against the current. They like to toe an independent line. Such people become a problem for their relatives and friends. The parents of the prince had become enlightened and sought new horizons. It was impossible for the him to be traditional in his attitude.
Mahabhiniskramana (The Great Renunciation) : The wheel of Time revolves ceaselessly pro9ducing changes in the states of all things. Poised on this wheel the child become young and the young man enters in the old age. The young prince arrived at the age of twenty-eight. Having grown old his parents passed away. The royal family was plunged into sorrow as a result of their death. The prince loved his parents, but their death did not affect him at all. The spiritual heights he had attained made him averse to pleasures and pains. He was not a sheer philosopher. He had a direct perception of Truth. He did not take death seriously. It was to him a normal happening in life.
He ties of affection which bound him to his parents broke. His resolve to serve his parents during their life time had served its purpose. There was arose in him in great desire to renounce the world. He apprised his elder brother of his intention. Nandivardhana was shocked to hear of his plans. His whole being trembled and the began to weep. He had hardly recovered from the shock of the death of his parents when he was called upon to face a new situation. He knew that relieved by the death of his parents his brother thought it the right time to renounce the world. His mind had already been seized of a spiritual fervour. The death of the near and dear ones produce a mood of aversion to the world. One who has a sipiritual inclination is all the more prone to the desire for renunciation. Nandivardhana felt that his younger brother had been seized of a strong inclination to renounce the world, but he felt nervous and was unwilling to part company with his younger brother at this stage. He would not be able to stand two successive shocks.
Prince Vardhamana did not like to cause any kind of inconvenience to anybody. His mind was full of love and compassion and this forced him to remain with his family for another two years. He passed through a strange state of mind. He was neither a house-holder nor a recluse during these two years. He realized his self and remained in a state of complete surrender of all worldly activities. He had developed a feeling of complete equality with all living beings of the world. He saw life in raw water and left using it. He acquired complete control over his sense- organs. He had mastered the process of meditation with a full control over his speech. Although he lived in the family, his life was that of a recluse. He still had the responsibility of his family on him and could not be called a recluse even.
A year passed. Now there was an interval of only a year between Vardhamana's present way of life and the one he intended to follow in the future. Though he led a worldly life, his mind remained occupied with the idea of renouncing the world. He was no doubt surrounded by the grandeur of the royal family, but his conscience was busy planning a frier's career for himself. He did not like wealth accumulating in the hand of a few. Every morning he would give up a part of his wealth and income, and share them with thousands of needy persons. This continued for a full year. He had now and that of aparigraha (non-possession) was to begin.
Two years want by. Nandivardhana's imposition of the time limit was over. The prince felt that now it was time for him renounce the world. He had no hitch whatsoever. He, therefore, placed again his proposal to leave the family before brother Nandivardhana and uncle Suparsva. They agreed with him. The Great Exit took place at the muhutra called Vijaya, in the lunar month of Margastra in the season of Hemanta (autumn) (corresponding to the month of November).
Prince Vardhaman had been fasting for the last two days. He had a peculiar way of fasting because he was realizing that his body was entirely different from soul. One who is not able to distinguish between the soul and the body attaches value to the body, but one who has the right knowledge to distinguish between the two puts a premium on the soul alone. For him living for the body is no life at all. He lives in order to liberate the soul from the bondage of the world. It is necessary to free oneself from the limitations imposed by the body in order that the soul might be liberated. Fasting is a part and parcel of his process of liberation. Fasting leads a man into the independent world of the soul. The prince had attained this state and renounced the world. Only those who have attained self-enlightenment can renounce the world.
Vardhamana's renunciation was marked by rejoicings in the family. Young girls sang song of joy and sky resounded with the music of instruments. The bards recited auspicious hymns. There was a happy commotion everywhere. But Vardhamana sat engulfed in his own loneliness, forgetful of the noisy atmosphere.
Seated in a palanquin the prince left home for the Jnatakhanda forest. Nandivardhana and Suparsva and a crowd of thousands of the people ascorted him to the forest. The prince alighted from the palanquin, Stood under an Asoka trree, took off the householder's garments and become a nirgrantha (ascetic). The strain of music stopped and everyone began to gaze at the prince. Nature seemed to be engulfed in a strange calmness. The prince plucked off the hair of his head and stood looking towards the horizon between the east and the north. His face beamed with joy and a divine light shone on his forehead. The whole atmosphere pulsated with joy and enthusiasm. Folding both his hands, the price said, "I bow to the Perfect Being." As soon as he had dedicated himself to the attainment of liberation, his egotism and attachment disappeared. He resolved whole-heartedly to follow the principle of equanimity and not to do any action born of attachement or aversion. Attachment and aversion give birth to inequality and sin. One who renounces passions becomes unfettered-a nirgrantha. A nirgrantha is one who is free from inhibition. Prince Vardhamana assumed the status of Sramana Vardhamana in the presence of the people of Ksatriya Kundapura. He no more belonged the kingdom he had left behind. He had now entered into an empire where there were no rules and the ruled. He left behind the ties of his family and entered into a new family where there was no distinction between "mine" and "thine". Thousands of people shed tears to him feeling sad at the solemn parting. It is a strange custom of the world to treat one as our own till he lives with us and to treat him as a stranger as soon as he had estranged himself from us. Sramana Vardhamana now appeared to be such a stranger to the ksatriya Kundapura. Vardhamana remarked :-
"Now I am a Sramana. I have risen above the limitations of the state and the nation. You the are citizens of a state living within its boundaries. No boundaries surround me. I am a wandering ascetic. How far will you be able to accompany me ?" He then took leave of the follwors and went ahead alone. The last stage of the individual's development is a state of loneliness. Sramana Vardhamana appeared to be an example of this. He transcended the limitation of time and space, completely cut off from his people. People watched him disappear in the distance and returned home. Nandivardhana took charge of the affairs of the state and Sramana Vardhamana installed himself as the emperor of the Kingdom of the spirit. Nanddivardhana's duties were of the a gross and simple nature; those of Sramana Vardhamana were subtile and complex. But he was bent on changing the complex into the simple.
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From : "Bhagavan Mahavira"
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