The Life of Lord Mahavira: The Great Renunciation, Part 4 of 4

“His heart was filled with equanimity and compassion. His face beamed with a spontaneous smile.” Why does He feel compassion after He has this power? No one would be able to really function well in this world no matter how strong spiritually, if that person continued to open this faculty, psychic power, and hearing all the suffering of the world. “He walked with firm and steady steps towards the jungle without turning around or hesitating.” “And then a wiry and weak Brahman, moving briskly with the help of a stick, ‘Give me something; remove my poverty.’ So He tore it (the divine cloth) into two parts and gave half to the Brahman. After about a year, the remaining piece of the divine cloth fell one day from Mahavir’s shoulder. Som sharma picked it up, got it mended, and sold it to King Nandivardhan for a hundred thousand gold coins.” “Neglecting His body, the venerable ascetic Mahavir meditated just by Himself, in blameless lodgings and wandering.”