Acharya Mahaprajna
9.3.1 taṇaphāse sīyaphāse ya, teuphāse ya daṃsa-masage ya.
ahiyāsae sayā samie, phāsāiṃ virūvarūvāiṃ..
The Lord always tolerated, the manifold touches of grass, cold, heat, mosquitoes and gnats with equanimity.
Bhāṣyaṃ Verse 1
Now begins the description about the places of meditation of the Lord and the hardships that occured here. Sometimes, the Lord entered the Ladha region which abounded in prickly grass. The Lord was profusely pricked when he stood or sat down on grass. In that hilly place, the winter was severe which he had to endure. There was also terrible scorching heat of the sun. The Lord had to suffer that too. There were gadflies and mosquitoes in abundance. The Lord tolerated their bites with equanimity.[1]
Footnotes
- Ācārāṅga Cūrṇi, pp.317-318: 'tattha pahuṃjayamādῑ taṇā lagaṃḍasītaphāseṇaṭhitaṃ viṃdhati, ṇisannaṃ vā kaḍagakisāsaradabbhādi, sῑtaṃ puṇa pavayāinnadese atῑva paḍati, teutti uṇhaṃti, ātāvaṇabhūmῑ jaṃ va hāladāmāe aggimeva āsī, ullueṇa vā koi, daṃsamasagā ya jaloyāo evamādi uvasagge ahiyāsae.
- Ācārāñga Vṛtti, Patra 281: tṛṇānāṃ—kuśādīnāṃ sparśāstṛṇasparśāḥ tathā śītasparśāḥ tejaḥsparśā - uṣṇasparśaścātāpanādikāle āsan, yadivā gacchataḥ kila bhagavatastejaḥkāya evāsῑt, tathā daṃśamaśakādayaśca.
- During the period of sādhanā, Bhagavān Mahāvira once paid a visit to the Lāḍha eontryside, (i.e. the districts of Tāmulaka, Midnāpur, Hugli and Burdvān in West Bengal) which abounded in prickly grass. Very often, this proved to be the cause of sharp bodily pain. The area in which this kind of grass luxuriously grew was also surrounded with mountains, which added to the cold atmosphere there.
The Bhagavān would also cheerfully bore the heat of the sun. In a place like Halduga, he had to put up with scorching and almost burning temperatures.
The Lāḍha teemed with vicious creatures like gad-files, mosquitoes, and leeches. Despite knowledge of all these untoward conditions, the Bhagavān went there to test himself on the touchstone of equanimity.
