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Life of Lord Mahavira
Birth and Boyhood
Lord Mahavira was a prince whose childhood name was Vardhaman.
According to the Digambar traditation, Lord Mahavira was born in the year
615 BC, but the Swetambaras believe that he was born in 599 BC. Both sects
however agree that he was the son of Siddhartha and Trisala. It is said
that mother Trisala had Sixteen auspicious dreams before the child
was born (only 14 according to the Swetambaras). Astrologers interpreting
these dreams, stated that the child would be either an emperor or a Tirthankara.
As the son of a king, he had many worldly pleasures, comforts, and services at his command.
In boyhood once while playing he brought under control a terrif serpent.
consequently and symbolic of this feat of bravery, he got the title Mahavira and Vira-natha.
Mahvira's Penances
However at the age of thirty he left his family and the royal household, gave up
his worldly possessions, and became a monk in search of a solution to eliminate
pain, sorrow, and suffering from life of all beings.
Mahavira left home, reetired to the park, Jnatrkhanda-vana, close
to Kundapura and relinquished his ornaments and cloths. He pulled out his
hair by his hands, observed fast for three days, and then plunged himself
into meditation. After some time, he started touring various parts of the
country. He strictly followed Ahimsa, not to deprive others of even
a blade of grass belonging to them, not to speak lie, not to entertain any
sex appetite, even in mind, and not to have any possession of worldly
goods. Along with the practice of his five great voes he got himself
habituated to endure with peace and patience all such physical and mental
tortures like hunger, thirst, cold, heat, insect bites etc. known as parisaha.
Mahavira's Omniscience
Lord Mahavira spent majority of the following twelve and one half years in deep
silence and meditation to conquer his desires, feelings, and attachments, and to
eradicate all four Ghati Karma. He carefully avoided harming other living beings
including animals, birds, insects, and plants. He also went without food for
long periods of time. He remained calm and peaceful against all unbearable
hardships. During this period, his spiritual powers developed fully and he
realized perfect perception, perfect knowledge, perfect conduct, unlimited
energy, and unobstructed bliss. This realization is known as Keval-jnän or the perfect enlightenment.
Mahavira's Religious Sermons
After attaining omniscience, Lord Mahavira came to Rajgrha, the
capital of Magadha and took a worthy seat on the mount Vipulacala. Here he propounded to the audience
the basic principles of Jain dharma, the anu-vrata for the laity and mahavartas for the monks whereby
the blissful ideal of life can be reached,
Lord Mahavira spent the next thirty years traveling barefoot throughout India
preaching the eternal truth he had realized. The ultimate objective of his
teaching is how one can attain total freedom from the cycle of birth, life,
pain, misery, and death, and achieve the permanent blissful state of one's self.
This is also known as liberation, Nirvän, absolute freedom, or Moksha.
Mahavira's Nirvana
At the age of 72 (in 527 BC), Lord Mahavira attained Nirvana and his purified soul
left his body and achieved complete liberation. He became a Siddha, a pure
consciousness, a liberated soul, living forever in a state of complete bliss. On
the evening of his Nirvän, people spiritually celebrated the Festival of Lights
(Dipävali) in his honor. This is the last day of the Jain calendar year.
Mahavira's Organisation
Lord Mahavira was the head of an excellent community of 14,000 monks, 36,000
nuns, 159,00O male lay votaries and 318,OOO female lay votaries. The four
groups designated as monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen constitute the four fold
order (tirtha) of Jainism. Of the eleven principle disciples (ganadharas) of Lord
Mahavira, only two, viz., Gautam Swami and Sudharma Swami survived him. After twenty years of Nirvän of
Lord Mahavir, Sudharma Swami also attained emancipation. He was the last of
the eleven gandharas to die. Jambu Swami, the last omniscient, was his pupil.
He attained salvation after sixty four years of the Nirvän of Lord Mahavira.
Mahavira's Message
Lord Mahavira's message of nonviolence (Ahimsä), truth (Satya), non
stealing (Achaurya), celibacy (Brahmacharya), and nonpossession (Aparigraha) is full of
universal compassion. Lord Mahavira made religion simple and natural, free from elaborate rituals.
Mahavira Teaching reflect the internal beauty and harmony of the soul. Lord Mahavira
taught the idea of supremacy of human life and stressed the importance of a positive attitude towards life.
Lord Mahavira said that, "A living body is not merely an integration of limbs and
flesh but it is the abode of the soul which potentially has infinite perception
(Anantdarshana), infinite knowledge (Anantjnäna), infinite power (Anantvirya), and infinite bliss (Anantsukha).
Mahavira's message reflects freedom and spiritual joy of the living being.
Lord Mahavira emphasized that all-living beings, irrespective of their size,
shape, form, and how spiritually developed or undeveloped, are equal and we
should love and respect them. In this way, he preached the universal love.
Lord Mahavira taught that the true nature of reality is timeless, with no beginning or end and rejected the concept of God as a creator, a protector, and
a destroyer of the universe. He also taught that worshiping heavenly gods and
goddesses, as a means of material gain and personal benefits is contrary to the path of liberation.
Once Lord Mahavira was asked what is the religion from a realistic point of
view. Lord Mahavira said, “ the realistic religion consists of four parts: 1)
equality of all living ones, 2) every living soul has right to put self-effort
to improve itself and should not to be stripped of that right, 3) no one should
rule over other living beings, and 4) all situations should be viewed with equanimity - without like or dislike." If one adopts only one of these four,
other three will automatically be adopted.
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Mahavira Teaching
Mahavira and Jain dharma
तीर्थंकर महावीर (Hindi]
श्रीमहावीर जिन पूजा
चालीसा भगवान श्रीमहावीर
पुरुरवा से लेकर भगवान महावीर के 34 भव
1. पुरुरवा भील 2. पहले स्वर्ग में
देव 3. भरत पुत्र मारिचि 4. पाँचवें स्वर्ग में देव 5.
जटिल ब्राह्मण 6. पहले स्वर्ग में देव 7. पुष्यमित्र
ब्राह्मण 8. पहले स्वर्ग में देव 9. अग्नि
शर्मा ब्राह्मण 10. तीसरे स्वर्ग में देव 11. अग्नि मित्र
ब्राह्मण 12. चोथे स्वर्ग में देव 13. भारद्वाज
ब्राह्मण 14. चोथे स्वर्ग में
देव 15. मनुष्य 16. स्थावर
ब्राह्मण 17, चोथे स्वर्ग में
देव 18 विश्वनंदी 19 दशवे
स्वर्ग में देव 20. त्रिप्रष्ठ अर्षचक्री 21.
सातवे नरक में 22. सिंह 23. पहले
नरक में 24.सिंह 25. पहले
स्वर्ग में देव 26 विधिधर 27
सातवें स्वर्ग में देव 28.
हरिषेण राजा 29. दशवें स्वर्ग
में देव 30. चक्रवर्ती प्रिय
मित्र 31. 12वे स्वर्ग में देव 32,
राजा नंदन 33. 16- वे स्वर्ग
में इन्द्र 34. तीर्थंकर
महावीर |
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