28. INDRA PREVENTS A COWHERD FROM ASSAULTING BHAGAVAN MAHAVIRA

Bhagavan Mahavira, an embodiment of perfect renunciation, detachment and Ahimsa, once reached the outskirts of a village named Kumaragrama in the course of his tour. He stood there motionless, absorbed in deep meditation. A cowherd approached him and asked him to look after his bullocks while he visited the village. On his return he found that the bullocks were missing. He asked Bhagavan Mahavira but received no reply as he was observing the vow of silence. The cowherd searched for his bullocks throughout the night, but failed to locate them. In the morning he returned to the same spot and found the bullocks seated by the side of the standing saint. Thinking that Bhagavan Mahavira had purposefully sent him on a fool’s errand, He became furious and rushed towards him, With the intention of thrashing him with his whip. Indra, however, intervenes and exhorts him by telling him is no ordinary wandering mendicant, but prince Vardhamana, son of king Siddhartha, Who had recently accepted intimation.