www.jainworld.com

THE PATH OF ARHAT

Justice T.U.Mehta

Five Resolves at Morak Hermitage

From the above place, Mahavira went to ‘Morak Sannivesa' where there was a hermitage conducted by one who knew him. He was invited to pass four months (Caturmasa) of rainy season at the hermitage. He agreed and used to live at a thatched hut of grass where he was meditating. Once, some cows came and began to eat away the grass of all such hutments of the hermitage. All the inmates of the hermitage, except Mahavira, ran to drive away the cows and saved the hermitage from further damage. Mahavira, however, remained engrossed in his meditation. Such incident were repeated two or three times more when Mahavira adopted the same attitude. Others resented this as a callous and careless attitude and complained to the head of the hermitage who called Mahavira and tauntingly asked him what kind of Ksatriya (Ruling class) he was that he could not protect his own hut being damaged. Mahavira did not utter anything but immediately left the hermitage making the following five resolves for future :

"Henceforth, I will not stay at any place so as to cause discomfort to others, will pass as much time as possible in meditation, will observe silence, will receive food in palms to eat it, and will not do any service to householders." This was his first major lesson of life of a wandering recluse.