This article is about the Tirthankara of Jainism. For the Jain mathematician Mahavira Acharya, see Mahavira (mathematician).

Idol of Lord Mahavira at Shri Mahaveerji (the holy town in Rajasthan named after Mahavira.) Thousands of worshipers visit Shri Mahaveerji Temple daily to catch a glimpse of this famous statue.

Overview of Mahavira's life

Birth of Prince Vardhaman

Detail of a leaf with, 'The Birth of Mahavira', from the Kalpa Sutra, c.1375-1400.

Jain tradition states that after his birth, Indra bathed him in celestial milk with rituals befitting a future Tirthankar and he was returned to his mother, Trishala.

Vardhaman's birthday is celebrated as Mahavir Jayanti, the most important religious holiday of Jains around the world. Mahavir Jayanti is celebrated with prayers, decorations, processions and festivity.

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

India at the time of Mahavira

Later years

Mahavira 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.

At the age of 72 years and 4.5 months, he attained Nirvana (end of life cycle, and leaving the body, attaining and living in pure soul form. This is not considered as death, since death means having re-birth again in some physical bodily form. When Nirvana is attained, the soul reaches to the highest point of the universe and stays there forever. 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. Jains believe Mahavira lived from 599-527 BCE, though some scholars prefer 549-477 BCE.^[1]

Mahavira's philosophy

Mahavira's philosophy has eight principal cardinals - three metaphysical and five ethical. The objective is to elevate the quality of life. These independent principles reveal exceptional unity of purpose, and aim at achieving spiritual excellence by ethically sound behavior and metaphysical thought. Mahavira's metaphysics consist of three principles - Anekantavada, Sy?dv?da, and Karma; and his Panchavrats, five codes of conduct - Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Brahmacharya, and Aparigraha. He talks of Tri-ratnas - three gems, which are the means and the goal.

The Jina, or Mahavir, as Guru folio from a manuscript,Gujarat, India, Circa 1411

To liberate one's self, Mahavira taught the necessity of right faith (samyak-darshana), right knowledge (samyak-gyana), and right conduct (samyak-charitra). At the heart of right conduct for Jains lie the five great vows:

• Nonviolence (Ahimsa) - not to cause harm to any living beings;
• Truthfulness (Satya) - to speak the harmless truth only;
• Non-stealing (Asteya) - not to take anything not properly given;
• Chastity (Brahmacharya) - not to indulge in sensual pleasure;
• Non-possession/Non-attachment (Aparigraha) - complete detachment from people, places, and material things.

Jains believe these vows cannot be fully implemented without accepting the philosophy of non-absolutism (Anekantvada) and the theory of relativity (Sy?dv?da, also translated "qualified prediction"). Monks and nuns follow these vows strictly, while common people follow them as far as possible.

Mahavira stated men and women are spiritually equal and that both may renounce the world in search of moksh or ultimate happiness.

Mahavira attracted people from all walks of life, rich and poor, men and women, touchable and untouchable. He organized his followers into a fourfold order; monk (Sadhu), nun (Sadhvi), layman (Shravak), and laywoman (Shravika). This order is known as Chaturvidh Jain Sangh.

Mahavira's sermons were orally compiled by his immediate disciples in the Agam Sutras. These Agam Sutras were orally passed on to future generations. In the course of time many Agam Sutras have been lost, destroyed, or modified. About one thousand years later the Agam Sutras were recorded on Tadpatris (leafy paper used in those days to preserve records for the future). Swetambar Jains accept these sutras as authentic teachings while Digambar Jains use them as a reference.

Jainism existed before Mahavir, and his teachings were based on those of his predecessors. Thus Mahavira was a reformer and propagator of an existing religion, rather than the founder of a new faith. He followed the well established creed of his predecessor Tirthankar Parshvanath. However, Mahavira did reorganize the philosophical tenets of Jainism to correspond to his times.

A few centuries after Mahavira's death, the Jain religious order (Sangh) grew more and more complex. There were schisms on minor points, although they did not affect Mahavira's original doctrines. Later generations saw the introduction of rituals and complexities that some criticize as placing Mahavira and other Tirthankars on the throne similar to those of Hindu deities.

Mahavira in the visual arts

Replica of Pavapuri temple at Pansara. Mahavira attained Nirvana at Pava.

Their images were largely the images of mind transformed into stone, metal or colors. With locks of hair falling on his shoulders and serpent hood behind his head, the images of Rishabhadeva and Parshvanatha respectively have a distinct iconography, but such distinction, except some regional variations and a few minor and remote features, is not seen in other Tirthankara images.

Besides his lion emblem and a slightly different modeling of head, the images of Mahavira are largely identical to those of other Tirthankara. In most images - at least the ancient ones which alone are in thousands - the pedestals, which contained emblems of different Tirthankaras, are not intact. Hence, the identity of a Tirthankara image is difficult to discern.

Mahavira's images are mostly either in 'kayotsarga-mudra' or in 'padmasana'. Other postures have not been preferred - not even the 'godohana-mudra', which Mahavira had when he attained 'keval gyan'. Images rendered for devotees of Digambara sect are not only without clothes but also without every kind of ornamentation. Images rendered for Svetambara devotees are represented as wearing garments, jewels and even a crown. They are represented as seated in a throne much like a monarch.

Episodes from his life do not, or little figure in visual arts. Both sculptors and painters have shown some interest in rendering his birth, sometimes as mother Trishala lying on a bed with a number of maids attending upon her, and sometimes as dreaming with sixteen auspicious signs around. A symbolic representation of Mahavira's 'tri-ratnas' is also found in various sculptural panels. Similarly, the diagram of his 'samavasarana' has been the theme of a number of miniatures and wall paintings.

Biographies of Mahavira

There are various Jain text describing life of Lord Mahavira. Most notable of them is Kalpasutra by Acharya Bhadrabahu I.

See also:

"Lord Mahavira and his times" by Kailash Chand Jain (1991) Motilal Banarsidass Publishers PVT LTD Delhi (India)

"Lord Mahavira (A study in historical perspective)" by Bool Chand ( 1987 ) P.V. Research Institute I.T.I Road Varanasi 5 (India)

"Lord Mahavira in the eyes of foreigners" by Akshaya Kumar Jain ( 1975 ) Meena Bharati New Delhi 110003 (India)

Quotes

• "Once when he sat [in meditation]?they cut his flesh?tore his hair?picked him up and?dropped him?the Venerable One bore the pain." (from the Akaranga Sutra)

Footnotes

See also

• Mahavira was ranked #100 on Michael H. Hart's list of the most influential figures in history

External links

• http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/mahavira.html
• http://www.jainguru.com/mahabir.html

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