From the above place, Mahavira went to ‘Morak Sannivesa'
where there was a hermitage conducted by one who knew him. He was invited
to pass four months (Caturmasa) of rainy season at the hermitage. He
agreed and used to live at a thatched hut of grass where he was
meditating. Once, some cows came and began to eat away the grass of all
such hutments of the hermitage. All the inmates of the hermitage, except
Mahavira, ran to drive away the cows and saved the hermitage from further
damage. Mahavira, however, remained engrossed in his meditation. Such
incident were repeated two or three times more when Mahavira adopted the
same attitude. Others resented this as a callous and careless attitude and
complained to the head of the hermitage who called Mahavira and tauntingly
asked him what kind of Ksatriya (Ruling class) he was that he could not
protect his own hut being damaged. Mahavira did not utter anything but
immediately left the hermitage making the following five resolves for
future :
"Henceforth, I will not stay at any place so as to
cause discomfort to others, will pass as much time as possible in
meditation, will observe silence, will receive food in palms to eat it,
and will not do any service to householders." This was his first major
lesson of life of a wandering recluse.
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