________________
LIFE OF MAHÁVÍRA.
85
of thousands whose hearts were won to religion by his conduct, pointed out with admiration by the right hand fore-fingers of a circle of thousands of men and women, with a circle of thousands of joined hands raised in reverence, with a circle of thousands of friends and relations taking leave of him, and with the sound of violins, drums, cymbals, tambourines, and other instruments of music, and a chorus of voices, shouting “Victory, victory!” accompanied also with all his wealth, all his glory, all his troops, all his chariots, all his attendants, all his magnificence, all his ornaments, all his grandeur, all his wealth, all his subjects, all his dancers, all his musicians, all the members of the female apartments, in the midst of all these attendants, and while all those musical instruments were sounding, he proceeded through the midst of Kundanagar, to the garden called the Prince's Park, where the Asoka (Free from Sorrow) tree grew; under it he alighted from his palanquin of state, and stripped himself of all his garlands, jewels, and ornaments ; he then performed the fast of abstinence from six meals without drinking water*, and having torn out five locks of his hair, he then,
* The Jains take two meals daily like other Hindus; this fast then, is a fast continued through two whole days and during the afternoon of the preceding and forenoon of the succeeding day
