Mahavir Swami --the Great hero

History Of The Lord Mahavira

Lord Mahavira is often credited with the advent of Jainism in India. Mahavira is not the founder of Jainism but He revised the Jain doctrines. He was more a reformer than the founder of the faith.

For a Jain, Lord Mahavira is no less than God and his philosophy is like the Bible. Born as Vardhamana Mahavir, he later came to be known as Bhagvan Mahaveer

Lord Mahavir was the twenty fourth and last Tirthankara of the Jain religion of this era. According to Jain philosophy, all Tirthankaras were human beings but they have attained a state of perfection or enlightenment through meditation and self-realization. They are the Gods of Jains.

Lord Mahavira was born in the royal family of Bihar on Chaitra Shud 13 in 599 B.C About 2594 years back.

His father's name was King Siddhartha (Raja of Kundalpura) and mother's name was Queen Trishala. Mahavir was a prince and was given the name Vardhaman by his parents. Being son of a king, he had many worldly pleasures, comforts and services at his comands.

The young boy was a very bright and courageous who

showed extraordinary skills at a very young age. He was obedient to his parents and served them with great faith and devotion.

Trishala had 14 auspicious dreams before giving birth to Vardhaman, signs foretelling the advent of a great soul.

King Siddharth and Queen Trishla with Mahavira.

JOURNEY OF SUCCESS

Early years As King Siddartha's son, he

lived as a prince. However, even at that tender age he exhibited a virtuous nature. He started engaging in meditation and immersed himself in self-contemplation. He was interested in the core beliefs of Jainism and started to get further away from worldly matters.

Twelve years of spiritual pursuit

At the age of thirty Mahavira renounced his kingdom and family, gave up his worldly possessions, and spent twelve years as an ascetic. During these twelve years he spent most of his time meditating. He had given up all worldly possessions including his clothes, and lived an extremely austere life. His courage and braveness earned him the name Mahavira. These were the golden years of his spiritual journey, at the end of which he achieved Keval Gyan. He was now a person of infinite harmony,knowledge and self-control.

Keval Gyan

Later yearsMahavira devoted the rest of his life to preaching

the eternal truth of spiritual freedom to people around India. He traveled barefoot and without clothes, in the hardest of climates, and people

from all walks of life came to listen to his message. At one point Mahavira had over 400,000

followers. Mahavira's preaching and efforts to spread Jain philosophy is considered the real catalyst to the spread of this ancient religion throughout India and into the mainstream.

Walking barefoot and without any clothes in hardest of climate.

Preaching eternal truth of spiritual freedom to people around the world.

At the age of 72 years, he attained Nirvana (In Jainism, this is called as Moksh) in the area

known as Pawapuri on the last day of the Indian and Jain calendars, Dipavali. Jains celebrate this

as the day he attained liberation or Moksha.

QUALITIES Mahavir denounced the worship of gods and goddesses

as a means of salvation. He taught the idea of supremacy of human life and stressed the importance of the positive attitude of life.

His message of nonviolence (Ahimsa), truth (Satya), non-stealing (Achaurya), celibacy (Brahma-charya), and non-possession (Aparigraha) is full of universal compassion

Lord Mahavir also preached the gospel of universal love, emphasizing that all living beings, irrespective of their size, shape, and form how spiritually developed or under-developed, are equal and we should love and respect them.

Mahavir was more of a reformer and propagator of an existing religious order than the founder of a new faith.

In the matters of spiritual advancement, as envisioned by Mahavir, both men and women are on an equal footing.

Mahavir preached that right faith (samyak darshana), right knowledge (samyak jnana), and right conduct (samyak charitra) together is the real path to attain the liberation from karmic matter of one's self.

Spreading message of non-violence, truth, non stealing, celibacy and non-possessions.

ACHIEVEMENTS Mahavira opposed the wanton

human and animal sacrifice and the misleading rituals in the name of religious Yajnas for benefits in the next life. As a more humane and rational alternative he showed the path of Ahimsa.

He broke the established tradition of depriving women in general and men of lower castes from the formal study of scriptures and indulging in many religious activities. He successfully rooted out the caste system in his area of influence at social and spiritual level.

Under his influence the established norms of social status based on caste, wealth, power and grandeur were shattered and new norms of social status based on virtues and moral and ethical values were established.

He used Ardha-Magadhi, the lingua-franca of that period for his discourses. Giving importance to folk culture and language of the masses over Sanskrit, the language of scholarly few and the upper class, he preached in eloquent and attractive style.

The Shravakas (householders) in his organization included people from all walks of life.

The religious organization of Mahavir was founded on virtues like detachment, equanimity, knowledge and discipline.

The original contributions of Mahavir were Ahimsa as the basis of code of conduct and relativity of thought (Anekant) as the basis of spiritual purity and equanimity.

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