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Affliction by Kataputna
It is an incident from the sixth year of the period of spiritual practices of Shraman Mahavir. It was the month of Magh, the peak
of winter season. Chilling and biting winds were blowing. During the quiet part of the night, in a lonely jungle Mahavir was
standing in meditation. All of a sudden a witch named Kataputna came there. Seeing Mahavir deep in meditation she
became angry for no apparent reason.
But there is nothing that happens without a reason. There must certainly have been some antagonism from some previous
birth. As soon as the feeling surfaced, Kataputna lost her reason, and, in order to take revenge of some forgotten deed from
some past life, she started torturing Mahavir.
She took the form of a giant and ominous looking Parivrajak with long strands of hair. Filling ice cold water in her braided hair
she sprayed that freezing water on Mahavir. The atmosphere was filled with the moaning sound of icy winds and demonic
laughter of the witch. It was a horrific scene.
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Mahavir, elevated completely into a high spiritual realm, remained unmoved and serene. At last the witch accepted defeat.
She bowed at the feet of Shraman Mahavir and left. As a result of his total absorption in the self and his high purity of soul,
Mahavir acquired the special mental powers of perceiving the whole physical world at will. (Vishishta Lokavadhi Jnan). (M-
21/1)
In the Prison
During the sixth year of his practices, Mahavir one day went to the Kupiya village in the state of Videh, east of Vaishali. The
village guards caught in him and, taking him to be a spy, put him in the prison. There were two female mendicants inn the
village. When they, Vijay and Pragalbh, heard that a spy disguised as a nude ascetic had been apprehended, they came to
see him. Shraman Mahavir, tied up, was standing in meditation in the prison. The mendicants recognized him and became
sad. They approached the guard’s ad said, “You call yourself guardians of the state and people and you fail to distinguish a
thief from a honest citizen. You do not find any difference between a Shraman and an ascetic son of king Siddharth. Have
you no fear of the wrath of the gods”?
With this revelation, the soldiers started trembling. They, at once, released Mahavir and sought his forgiveness. Shraman
Mahavir just raised his palm as a gesture of pardon and assurance and left for some other solitary place. (M-21/2)
Deadly Torture by Sangam
One day Shraman Mahavir was doing a special one-night meditation in the Polash temple in Pedhal garden outside the
Pedhal village. In this practice
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one makes his body, mind, psyche and soul absolutely still and tranquil. Observing the high
degree of engrossment meditation, Indra exclaimed, “You are great, Prabhu Vardhaman! Today you have no equal as an
ascetic and a serene, brave, and equanimous spiritualist”. Sangam, a god in Indra’s assembly, was peeved at this praise of
a mortal being. He retorted, “If Devraj promises not to interfere, I can disturb the concentration of Mahavir. It is a child’s play
for me”.
Indra remained silent, though unwillingly. Considering it to be affirmative, Sangam, with all his cunning and power came to
Polash temple. One after another he created twenty almost fatal predicaments to disturb Mahavir’s meditation.
He created a terrible sandstorm and in no time Mahavir was submerged in a heap of sand. Mahavir, in his unshakable
determination did not even close his eyes. As soon as the storm stopped, arrived a swarm of ants. Mahavir’s body was
covered with biting and stinging ants, but he remained still. After this, innumerable mosquitoes attacked Mahavir’s body. After
mosquitoes, came an attack by white ants turning him into a termite-hill. Scorpions crawled over his body and pierced it with
poisonous stings. Biting by mongoose, large cobras and giant field rats followed this.
After all this, appeared a wild elephant that goaded Mahavir with its large pointed tusks. This elephant than lifted Mahavir in
its trunk and tossed him up. When Mahavir fell on the ground, it crushed him with its legs. This was followed by an attack by
an ominous looking ghost. Then a tiger attacked and gored Mahavir with its sharp talons.
When all these painful afflictions failed to disturb Mahavir’s meditation, Sangam took a different approach. He created
realistic illusion of Siddharth and Trishla weeping and wailing profusely. But this too could not penetrate Mahavir’s iron
resolve. Sangam then lit a fire almost touching Mahavir’s feet and started cooking. After this he took the form of a bird
catcher and hung a number of cages on Mahavir. The birds attacked Mahavir with their beaks and talons through the gaps in
the cages. Blood oozed from these new wounds. Then came a storm, torrential rain, and hailstorm. Nothing could disturb
the rock hard resolve of Mahavir.
Now came a giant whirlwind; lifting and swirling everything that came in his path. Mahavir’s body swirled but his mind
remained stable. At last Sangam himself lifted a large mace and hit Mahavir. It was a heavy blow that buried Mahavir in the
Amar Muni - Tirthankar Charitra - Surana # 39
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