Sadhvi Vishrut Vibha
The Importance Of Forbearance
Long ago there lived a merchant’s son, Kurudatta, in the city of Hastinapura. He accepted initiation from a well-versed Acharya, who first examined the potentiality of Kurudatta and then imparted the deep knowledge of several, ‘Agamas’ to him. Due to his polite and decent behavior, Kurudatta earned vast knowledge and became an erudite monk. Later on, after seeking his Acharya’s permission he accepted the ‘Akal Vihar Pratima’ and proceeded towards a town named Saket. It was almost the fourth ‘prahara’ of the day when he reached the outskirts of the town. Now according to his vows, he couldn’t go any where so he just stopped there and stood firm in ‘Kayotsarga’. There was a crematorium nearby, where some dead bodied were still in the process of burning.
At that time a gang of thieves passed that way after having stolen cows from a nearby village and these thieves were being chased by a group of men. The muni happened to stand at the junction of the two roads leading to two different villages.
The folks saw the muni and asked him as to which way the thieves had gone. The muni did not reply. Infuriated by his silence the angry folks tied the monk’s head with a wet leather band and placed burning coals on it and went away. But the muni did not move at all. Instead he thought, “I should consider this a golden opportunity. To prove tolerance of such pain, when you are independent and capable of protecting yourself, is possible only in this human birth.”
Thus, thinking so, he remained still and attained salvation.
