Prakrit Proper Names (Agamic Index I) v2.c8.s2.685

v2.c8.s2.685

Then both Mahāvīra and Gosāla reached Siddhatthapura, Kummagāma and again Siddhatthapura.⁶² While in Kummagāma,⁶³ they saw an ascetic named Vesiyāyana with upraised arms and upturned face in the glare of the sun. His body was swarming with lice. Gosāla repeatedly enquired whether he was a sage or a bed of lice. Vesiyāyana got angry and struck him with his supernormal power called tejolesyā, Mahāvīra saved Gosāla by his counter supernormal power called śitalesyā and also explained to him the severe ascetic discipline by which such powers could be obtained. While at Siddhatthapura (or Siddhatthagāma), Gosāla uprooted a sesamum shrub and threw it away challenging Mahāvīra's predication that it would bear fruits. The shrub, owing to a lucky fall of rain, came to life again and bore fruits. From this Gosāla derived the conclusion that everything is pre-determined and that all living beings are capable reanimation. Mahāvīra did not favour such generalisations. Consequently, Gosāla had to severe his association with Mahāvīra. He then found his own sect called Ājīviya. From Siddhatthapura Gosāla went to Sāvatthī and followed a course of rigorous asceticism for a period of six months at the pottery of Hālāhalā. This course enabled him to acquire the super-normal power of tejolesyā.⁶⁴