After the passage of King Siddhartha and Queen Trishala to the other world the elder brother of Vardhman, Prince Nandivardhan had descended on the throne of Kundgram. Nandivardhan wanted his younger brother to share the responsibility of the state with him. But the younger brother had little interest in crowns and thrones. His mind was made up long ago. He had decided to renounce the worldly ties and dedicate himself fully to penance and spiritual matters of the higher order. He had put off temporarily his mission to honour the wish of his parents.
A short time later an incident occurred which completely destroyed his link with the material world.
One day Vardhman was going towards Nandan Kanan for meditation which he did usually. He was riding a tall white horse. Some soldiers were also escorting him on horse backs.
On the way, at a place they heard cries of a person who appeared to be in great pain. Vardhman asked the soldiers to find out who was suffering from what. A soldier raced his horse in the direction the sound of cries was coming from.
The rest of the party waited for him.
The soldier came back after a while. He reported to Vardhman, “Prince, a rich fellow is whipping his slave.”
“What for?” Prince Vardhman wanted to know.
“The slave committed some mistake. So, his master is dealing him the punishment.”
“Didn’t the slave apologize for his error?”
The soldier replied, “He did, O prince. But the rich man is a cruel slave driver. He derives pleasure in flogging his slave at slightest pretext.”
“But the slave could die,” the prince remarked.
“O prince, that does not worry the rich man. He says he had bought the slave. His body and soul belongs to him. He can do anything with him.”
“Oh! Such inhuman act!!” the prince moaned and said, “Can’t the administration do something to stop such beastly acts?”
“Prince! In the matters of master and his slave the state does not intervene. The law of the land says that a slave is the property of his master. The master can do anything with his property. What can the state do?”
“That is gross injustice,” the prince remarked and added, “The state has power to change laws and make new laws. Such dastardly acts must be made illegal.”
“It is not possible sir,” this time the commander of the soldiers spoke because the matter was becoming technical involving legal complications.
Prince Vardhman asked, “Why is it impossible?”
“Respected prince! This thing is not as simple as it looks. Kundgram is merely a member state of a large confederation of kingdoms called ‘Vajji Sang’. The matters relating to slaves are ruled by confederation laws. What you heard from the soldiers was confederation law which is beyond our power to amend or change. Some kingdoms did try to amend this ‘slave law’ but the efforts failed because the majority kingdoms were against any amendment because slave masters are very powerful lobbies. Many kings depend on them to survive.”
“Oh!” Prince Vardhman moaned and uttered, ‘‘that means this inhuman justice will continue and poor slaves will go on suffering.”
“Yes prince. We can’t do anything about it.”
“The state may not do anything but individual citizen can register his protest. And I condemn this inhuman practice,” Vardhman declared.
No soldier offered any comment.
The prince no more wanted to go to Nandan Kanan to meditate. He turned his horse backward and raced it towards the palace. The soldiers followed the prince fully understanding the change of his mood.
Prince Vardhman was no more enamoured with the ruling system of the kingdom. His heart was revolting against the prevailing state of affairs. ‘What kind of system it was where a man bought the life of another man with money? Rich could buy and sell human beings like cattle! The master could flog his slave to death without incurring any punishment!’ Such thoughts kept troubling the mind of Vardhman. He decided to leave the kingdom where human rights meant nothing.
Prince Vardhman went to his brother Nandivardhan who was the incumbent king of the kingdom of Kundgram. The king was pleased to see his younger brother whom he loved very much.
“Brother!” Vardhman said and added, “You know well that I had promised that I would not seek ascetic life as long as mother and father were alive. Now they are no more with us. I request you to grant me the permission to leave the palace to go in pursuit of spiritual goals.”
“Prince brother! What was that?” the king-brother said. “Are you unhappy here for some reason or I did something wrong to hurt you unwittingly?”
Emotionally overwhelmed Vardhman held the right hand of his brother with both his hands and put his forehead reverently to it. Then, he spoke, “Brother, you are my elder, the dearest and the respected one. After the departure of the father and mother my parental reverence is also vested in you. You can never cause any hurt to me. But that is not the point. It is the duty of life. Your duty is to rule the kingdom and make people happy in every respect. Similarly my duty is to renounce the worldly things and seek the spiritual kingdom of God, the aim of my life.”
“Dear brother, our parents left us only a few months back. If you too desert me so soon I will get shattered. I want you to stay with me because in you I feel the presence of the late father and the mother. If you want to rule the land I will abdicate in your favour without any second thoughts. Just say it, my brother.”
“The throne is not my interest, brother. And then, who wants to rule the land where human rights count for nothing?” Vardhman said complainingly.
The soldiers had told the king about the incident concerning the master and his slave.
King Nandivardhan said, “Dear brother, our Kundgram is a part of Vajji confederation. We have to abide by the confederation laws. We can’t make our own laws to supersede federation laws. That is the situation.”
“King brother! My concern is not for changing laws in Kundgram only. I want Vajji confederation to change its style of law making. I want all the kings to change their attitudes. I want all the other confederations beyond Vajji to treat all humans alike. I want the rule of ‘Might is right’ to be banished from the face of the earth. I want to fight for the justice to all human beings and all the creatures. And for that brother, change of heart is needed. I seek renunciation to seek that through spiritual route. In that quest I must do penance. So, I beg you to release me, brother.”
Nandivardhan shook his head, “Dear brother, I can’t allow you to leave me so soon after the death of our parents to protect the people’s faith in the crown. Your early departure would raise suspicion that to safeguard my kingly self interest I plotted to get rid of you. I will lose the respect of the subjects and our courtiers.”
Vardhman said with folded hands, “Bringing disrepute to you in any form is the last thing I would like to do since now I owe my parental respect to you as well. Tell me how long should I stay with you to make it safe from all the suspicions?”
“You must stay at least for the time the mourning period of the demise of our parents lasts as per our royal tradition.”
“When does the mourning period end?”
“Two years from the time of the death.”
“Alright, king brother,” Vardhman said and added, “I will stay here in the palace and spend that period with you. But you won’t interfere in my exercises and the way of living.”
“Promise, dear Vardhman. You will live as you would wish. No interfering,” King Nandivardhan gave the word to his spiritualist younger brother.
Vardhman lived in the palace virtually like an ascetic, in dress and thoughts. His was already mentally detached from the worldly desires and attachments. His body was trapped in the palace but his mind was free to soar into the skies of the spiritualism. To attain the higher levels Vardhman had built a spiritual pyramid with its three faces consisting of truth, non-violence and celibacy.
He had started expanding his soul to touch the other souls of the creatures. He had adopted non-violence against even insects and other tiny creatures. He ate little, drank little and completely cut out night meals because cooking involved accidental deaths of thousands of insects. This developed equanimity and a feeling of brotherhood of all creatures.
Many inmates of the palace didn’t like this unroyal exercises but no one dared to criticize. They knew that the king had granted his brother immunity.
At last the mourning period of two years ended. King Nandivardhan had to allow his brother to go away for his spiritual quest.
Before leaving Vardhman said, “Brother, I want my share of the royal property distributed amongst the poor and the needy.”
“Dear brother, do as you like,” the king told him. Next day a mass feast was arranged for the poor. Vardhman distributed his property and cash amongst the poor after the feast. Now he felt fully liberated.
Now Vardhman was required to abdicate his royal position in formal tradition. At this point of time he was 30 years old adult, the year being 569 B.C.
The departure customs began.
Vardhman took bath with rose water. A gem studded royal palanquin was brought to him. He sat into it facing east attired in his best regalia. On his right side sat the senior most lady of the clan. And on his left sat his birthday nurse Ambadhata.
Both the old ladies were in snow white silk attires and bedecked with jewellery. The nurse was holding beggar’s carry bowl, ascetic dress and initiation material. Then two virgins arrived dressed in royal fashion. One of them stood in front of Vardhman and fanned him. The other stood at his back waving the ceremonial royal pom-pom.
The palanquin was thus carried to a garden by 16 carriers. Under an Ashoka tree the palanquin was grounded gracefully. The passengers alighted led by Prince Vardhman. The prince took off his royal attire and ornaments.
Then, he held a lock of his lustrous hair in his right fist tightly and gave it a yank. The lock got pulled out of his head. He bled. He continued the act. In five painful yanks he got rid of his beautiful hair. His head was smeared in blood. He paid obeisance to the liberated souls of his hair.
It was the 10th day of auspicious Aghanvadi. He raised his hand and formally announced his total break off with the worldly things and attachments.
The birthday nurse tearfully handed him the begging bowl and the ascetic’s loin. Vardhman was no more the prince. He had severed his past and walked away as a child towards the world of spiritualism.
A crowd had gathered outside the garden hoping to get a glimpse of the strange ceremony. Before walking away Vardhman condescended to address the crowd.
He said, “Brothers and sisters! Now on I will do no deed that is sin and stands as hurdle in my spiritual liberty. I will face all challenges and overcome everything that stands in my way of total spiritual freedom. I would rather die, I promise you that.”
Vardhman walked away into his spiritual quest.
The ritual proved that renouncing the world was not a coward’s job as generally perceived. Neither it is escapism. Infact it is daring to face the ultimate truth. The process of renunciation requires an extraordinary courage, grit and bravery to go through. No weak hearted can take up asceticism. Infact, it is the real valour when one dares to defeat the enemy within. The people who witnessed the renunciation process gone through by Vardhman realised that it was the ultimate act of courage and bravery. They all began to earnestly believe that he infact was ‘Mahavir’ which literally meant ‘the great valiant’.
Vardhman had now truly become ‘Mahavir’ for all practical purposes. Like a phoenix, Mahavir rose out of the ashes of Prince Vardhman burnt in the fire of renunciation. Prince Vardhman had arrived in the garden and out of it walked a new entity ‘Mahavir’.
