LOCATION WISE MONSOON HALTS OF BHAGAWAN MAHAVIRA

Note- For the ascetic (Muni) unbound who seeks the path of redemption it is not advisable to live permanently at one place, so that he may be saved from the attachment and other limitations and from slack conduct and for the good of himself and others, it would not be worth for him to stay at one place for a long time. Hence the male as well as female ascetics have to move from place to place on foot for eight months as per the scriptural command but there is a com- mand that they have to stay at one place for the four months of the monsoon to avoid violence and other evils and to speed up spiritual practices for the purification of his or her life. Bhagavan Mahavira who followed this routine moved from place to place for eight months without any dress, without any possession and observed silence and stayed at one-place during the monsoon. During this period he practised penance, self-control and meditation and at the same time went through various sufferings and ordeals with constant equanimity and went on eliminating the evil effects of actions which veiled the light of absolute enlightenment and finally when such evil effects were completely washed off, he attained absolute enlightenment (three-fold temporal enlightenment) desired for many years (or many births consequently). The Jain ascetics have their particular method of calculating the monsoons. The list of such monsoons from the first monsoon after the initiation to the monsoon of absolute redemption (Nirvana) is presented here in accor- dance with Kalpasutra text.