Mahavir

There lived a characterless and cruel person called Achandak in Morak. He was a good for nothing man, ignorant in every field. But, he was quite famous by the name of Tantrik (black magician). He used to earn his living by extorting large amounts of money from people and imposing false rituals on them.

But when Mahavir reached there, he became well known for his true and intense penance. People came to know about the evil tricks of Achandak. As a result, his livelihood reduced drastically. He was terrified. One day, he came up to Mahavir and with folded hands, began pleading, "You are respected everywhere. You will be treated warmly wherever you go. But, since you have arrived here, people have been attracted towards your penance and meditation. They have lost faith in me. My income has declined. If this goes on for some more days, it will become difficult for me to sustain my family. So, please have pity on me and go somewhere else."

Mahavir felt sympathy for Achandak after hearing this. He remembered his pledge - 'not to stay in impolite places.' He set out from there immediately. Then, he reached a village named Vachal. From there, he proceeded towards the town of Shvetambari.

On the way to Shvetambari, Mahavir met a cowherd, who said politely, "This way goes straight to Shvetambari, but it is a dangerous place. There is a dangerous and venomous snake, which resides on the way. People say that at the mere sight of the serpent, a person's body is infected by venom. Thus, it has been named the 'lurking venom'. Thus, don't dare to reach Shvetambari through this route. Though the other route is long, it is more advisable." Mahavir accepted and appreciated the cowherd's truthfulness and the cowherd went away.

Mahavir had compassion for every creature. He thought that the serpent could be reformed with twice the strength with which he turned to the evil way. Due to Mahavir's equality towards everyone, he decided to reform the serpent.

People hated the snake but according to Mahavir there was no reason to hate it. He believed that not the one who is hated but the one who hates is actually the hated one. The one who wants self-realization always loves everybody. He always considers everyone to be equal.

By now, Mahavir was used to suffering pains. The only aim of his penance was to bear all the pains in service happily. He believed that a man shouldn't be content by just performing simple deeds. In such an action, many powers of the soul remained unused. Thus, one should always be eager to do tougher things and should make them easier with the power of his penance and sacrifice.

Thus, with the desire of the welfare of the serpent, Mahavir proceeded on the same path. Mahavir reached the place where it lived. Then, he stood motionless and started meditating. After some time, the serpent came out in the open. It advanced towards Mahavir and bit him fiercely. The bite was so fierce that a blue hue could be seen all around. All the birds sitting on the nearby branches fainted and fell on the ground. But, Mahavir was unaffected. The serpent was furious on seeing this. It charged towards him. It bit his thumb this time. He was still meditating calmly. He was neither affected by the venom nor was he aware of the snake bite. The snake bit various parts of Mahavir's body, but no physical strength could subdue his mental strength.

The snake was bewildered to see the futility of its bite on Mahavir. It stared at his body. Suddenly, all its evil feelings began leaving. It began to undergo a transformation. At that time, Mahavir said, "I am pleased by the change in your evil habits. It's a result of your past good deeds, that virtues have grown momentarily in your soul. Try to stabilize them. You had forgotten yourself due to your desires. You are sad due to the same darkness. O Chandkaushik! May you move towards the path of self-realization. Undergo penance for the mistakes that you committed due to your selfishness and start doing good deeds. You have attained these virtues to rectify your mistakes. Don't commit any more faults. Otherwise, you will revert to irreligious conduct.

Thus, Mahavir forgave Chandkaushik. In his forgiveness, there was an ability to forgive and forget the perpetration despite being able to seek revenge.

Such was the impact of Mahavir's restraint, truth, non-violence, penance and forgiveness on Chandkaushik's mind that it immediately adopted the vow of abstaining from food and also resolved not to harm anyone. It slammed its body down.

Later, a few young cowherds saw Mahavir calmly sitting near the dangerous serpent. They were dumbfounded. They cautiously moved forward. They were overjoyed to see the dead snake. They injured the snake by throwing stones at it. The snake didn't however budge. The youngsters came near it and began throwing it around with sticks. The snake still didn't budge. The youngsters ran towards the village and narrated the whole story. Hearing it, everyone came rushing. Mahavir was still meditating. All the people exclaimed that the mendicant had performed the miracle. The people returned talking about the snake and the mendicant.

The way, which had been deserted for years, became operational again. Mahavir's restraint and penance fascinated people. Their devotion for him grew. The women-folk who passed by the way, worshipped the snake with `ghee' (clarified butter). Such worship went on for some time. Then, ants started crawling on to the snake's body in the greed to get the butter. Thus, the worship was stopped. The ants destroyed the snake's body. Still, the snake displayed exemplary tolerance. It died in the same posture after fifteen days.

Then, Mahavir went to northern Vachaal. There, he meditated for 15 days. On the day of 'Parna' (having meals), Mahavir reached the house of a family man named Nagsen, in search of food and water. He offered water and food to Mahavir. Mahavir had his meals there and set out from there.