Acharya Mahaprajna
9.3.2 aha duccara-lāḍhamacārī, vajjabhūmī ca subbha (mha?) bhūmiṃ ca. paṃtaṃ sejjaṃ seviṃsu, āsaṇagāṇi ceva paṃtāiṃ..
The Lord travelled in the Vajjrabhūmi and Sumhabhūmi in the difficult terrain of Ladha countryside. There he had poor lodgings and seats.
Bhāṣyaṃ Verse 2
In the country of Ladha, the Lord had to ramble with difficulty, because of many hardships that he faced there. The Lord spent the eighth rainy retreat at Rajgrha. From there, he travelled to Vajjrabhūmi. This indicates that the Lord spent the ninth year of ascetic life in a non-aryan land.[1] According to the Cūrṇi,[2] the Lord stayed there for a period of six months. According to the Āvaśyaka Cūrṇi, it is known that the Lord travelled out of the non-aryan land in the beginning of the autumn, that is, the month of Āśvīna (October).[3] It appears that the Lord spent the ninth rainy retreat in the Vajjrabhūmi. In the Pajusanakalpa, it is said that he spent one rainy retreat in the Paṇiyabhūmi.[4]
'The word 'panta' has the meaning of stale food. It is a deśī word. 'The poor lodging' means the deserted and delapidated houses and the like. 'The poor seats' means dusty seats and the like.[5]
9.3.3 lāḍhehiṃ tassuvasaggā, baheve jāṇavayā lūsiṃsu.
aha lūhadesie bhatte, kukkurā tattha hiṃsiṃsu ṇivatiṃsu..
In the country of Ladhas, he faced many hardships. He was attacked by native people. Their food was insipid and stale, and the dogs fell upon him to bite.
Bhāṣyaṃ Verse 3
'The country people' means the people living in countryside.[6] The Lord was tortured by these people by sticks and blows.[7] In that country, the food was dry devoid of butter and the like.[8] For that reason, the people there were prone to terrible anger.[9] As a result, there occurred troubles. The dogs there attacked him and put him to hardships.[10]
9.3.4 appe jaṇe ṇivārei, lūsaṇae suṇae dasamāṇe.
chuchukāraṃti āhaṃsu, samaṇaṃ kukkurā ḍasaṃtutti..
Few[11] people warded off the dogs attacking and biting him. Instead, they instigated[12] the dogs, crying “chu-chu", and set the dogs upon the Samana, the Lord, to bite him.
9.3.5 elikkhae jaṇe bhujjo, bahave vajjabhūmi pharusasī.
laṭṭhiṃ gahāya ṇālīyaṃ, samaṇā tattha eva vihariṃsu..
In the Vajjrabhūmi, the people were mostly like those who lived on coarse food. They were of harsh nature (on account of their rough food). Other Samanas wandered there with stick and staff.
Bhāṣyaṃ Verse 5
The Lord travelled in such country again and again. In that Vajjrabhūmi, many people consumed rough food. They were eaters of sapless diet. Therefore, they were of fiercely angry dispositions. There, other ascetics always roamed with either a stick or a cudgel in hand, but the Lord was without any stick or cudgel.[13]
9.3.6 evaṃ pi tattha viharaṃtā, puṭṭhapuvvā ahesi suṇaehiṃ.
saṃluṃcamāṇā suṇaehiṃ, duccaragāṇi tattha lāḍhehiṃ..
Travelling even thus equipped, they were bitten by dogs. They were torn by dogs. Dangerous indeed was the Ladha country to travel!
Bhāṣyaṃ Verse 6
The villages etc. were difficult to move freely - this is to be understood.
9.3.7 nidhāya daṃḍaṃ pāṇehiṃ, taṃ kāyaṃ vosajjamaṇagāre.
aha gāmakaṃṭae bhagavaṃ, te ahiyāsae abhisameccā..
Giving up the attitude of violence against living beings and abandoning the care of the body, the Lord reached the Ladha country, tolerating the harsh words and sharp rebukes of the villagers.
Bhāṣyaṃ Verse 7
There in the Vajjrabhūmi, the Lord practised abandonment of bodily comforts. He endured the hardships, caused by human beings and other creatures. He refrained from using any weapon against them - he did not ask people to ward off the dogs.[14]
9.3.8 ṇāo saṃgāmasīse vā, pārae tattha se mahāvīre.
evaṃ pi tattha lāḍhehiṃ, aladdhapuvvo vi egayā gāmo..
Like the elephant at the head of the battle, the Lord Mahāvīra was victorious, unmoved by hardships. Sometimes, he did not get any village, that is a place to live, while travelling in the Ladha country.
Bhāṣyaṃ Verse 8
As an armoured elephant, even when pierced by arrows and other weapons does not yield but conquers the battle,[15] in the same way, the Lord succeeded in the practice of abandoning the body, on account of his experience in meditation. Sometimes, the Lord could not get any village; that is to say that he did not obtain a dwelling place, but he was not perturbed in the least.[16]
(b) Ācārāṅga Vṛtti, patra 281-282: tatra ca prāntāṃ 'śayyāṃ' vasatiṃ sūnyagṛhādikāmane-kāmanekopadravopadrytāṃ sevitavān, thatā prāntāni cāsanāni—pāṃ śūtkara śarkarāloṣṭādyupa-citāni ca kāṣṭhāni ca durghaṭitānyāsevitavāniti.
(b) There were no towns and cities in the districts of Vajra and Suṃha of Lāḍha. There was a dearth of such things as sesamum seeds, from which oil could be produced, or of good cows from which butter could be produced. Consequently, the inhabitants of that place took only insipid, totally fatless food. This sort of food-habit led to their being ill-tempered. Anger, vituperative tongue, and assault were almost habit with them. They used to cover their bodies with grass.
The Bhagavān used to take a single meal only at midday. In Lāḍha, the Bhagavān would get only rice soaked in water, urada (a kind of pulse) - soup or sour-soup, but all without salt.
The dogs of that place were so fierce that people had to use sticks and cudgels to ward them off. Since the Bhagavān was unarmed, the dogs would frequently and easily attack him.
(a) Ācārāṅga Cūrṇi, p.318-319: āhaṃsuttiāhaṇettā keti coraṃ cāriyaṃti ca maṇṇamāṇā, kei padesaṇeṇa.
(b) Ācārāṅga Vṛtti, Patra 282: api tu daṇḍaprahāfādibhirbhagavantaṃ hatvā.
(b) Ācārāṅga Vṛtti, patra 282: 'ṇidhāya - tyaktvā.
(c) Punishment (i.e. violence) is of three kinds:1. (Punishment) inflicted through the mind;
2. through the speech; and
3. through the body.He would not brush away encroaching creatures or annoying inseets either himself or make others to do so. Not even the thought of doing so ever erossed his mind. The Bhagavān was completely self-possessed in thought, speech and action.
