Vardhamana Mahavira
Vardhamana Mahavira Jainism is one of the world’s oldest religions. Much of its early history isn’t known or has come all the way down to us during a form during which historical fact is difficult to tell apart from miraculous stories. However, we do know that this ancient religion was passed on to us through the high spiritual genius of 1 of the best religious teachers of all time, Mahavira. We must be clear, from the beginning, that Mahavira wasn’t the founding father of Jainism. What he did was to assemble in an exceedingly systematic form the beliefs and philosophy of his predecessors, preach them widely throughout his home country, and lay the foundations of an organized Jain ‘church’ with monks and nuns, and laypeople following his teachings. The social order that he created has endured to the present day. Mahavira wasn’t some imaginary being. He was a true man and we know, with reasonable certainty, that his life on earth ended just over 2500 years ago, in 527 B.C. we all know the details of his life. He was born in 599 B.C. into a family of the Kshatriya, or knightly, caste. His father, Siddhartha, was a prince or lord, and his mother, Trisala, also came from a noble family. His birthplace is believed to have been near the fashionable city of Patna, in Bihar in north-eastern India. Although generally said as Mahavira (which means ‘great hero’), his original name was Vardhamana. Until his late twenties, he doubtless led a life not very different from that of the other young men in his level of society. Both his parents were followers of the religious teachings of Parsva, the ‘fourfold teaching’, chaturanga dharma, abstention from violence, theft, untruth, and acquisitiveness. We should always nowadays call them Jains. Parsva, who had lived some 250 years before Mahavira, is recognized because of the twenty-third Tirthankara, or prophet of Jainism. it was shortly after his parent’s death that Vardhamana, or Mahavira, decided at the age of thirty to renounce worldly life. He gave up all his possessions, even his clothes, and lived for the following twelve years a lifetime of great hardship, training himself to endure the pains and discomforts of the body until he became indifferent to them. The wandering ascetic, seeking knowledge alone in the wilder places, or company with fellow seekers for truth, was (and still is) an accepted figure on the edge of Indian society. The sixth century B.C. was an era of intellectual ferment, an exciting period for a young man of inquiring spirit when various groups were searching beyond the bounds of the rather rigid religious orthodoxy of the time. The best-known individual, at least from a historical perspective, was the Buddha, a near contemporary of Mahavira. a number of the earlier Western scholars who encountered Jainism didn’t distinguish it from Buddhism (although there are some similarities, moreover as very marked differences) and even confused the persons of Mahavira and also the Buddha. Mahavira persevered with this austere lifestyle, marked by long spells of fasting and other penances, and by deep meditation. At last, during one period of meditation by the side of a river, he came to a comprehension of the whole nature and meaning of the universe. This total knowledge, omniscience, keval jnana; is incredibly important to Jainism. Most folks have had the experience, at it slow, of puzzling over something we don’t quite understand, when, suddenly, almost like a cloud clears, we get a flash of understanding, and we see the answer to our problem. Can we imagine this flash of understanding spreading out, clearing the clouds over not just our small problem but all the issues of the universe, giving us an understanding of the whole nature and workings and meaning of the universe? this is often what happened to Mahavira. And it can happen and is going on, to others yet. This total knowledge doesn’t come easily: for Mahavira, as we’ve seen, it had been the result of years of austerity and meditation. This was the fourth of the five great events of Mahavira’s life which are celebrated by Jains today: his conception, birth, renunciation, and now enlightenment. The fifth great event, nirvana or moksa came thirty years later. During these thirty years Mahavira, strengthened by his knowledge, spread his message among the people. He spoke in the language of the region, Ardhamagadhi, not in the classical Sanskrit of the students, and also the oldest Jain scriptures are preserved in that language. Some people, men, and women were inspired to give up all their possessions and become monks and nuns. Others were unable to travel that far but followed Mahavira’s teachings without giving up their homes families and work. Mahavira taught a scientific explanation of the character and meaning of life and a guide on how we must always behave to draw this real nature and meaning into our own lives. We must start with three things. First, we must have RIGHT FAITH, we must believe in truth. Second, we must have the proper KNOWLEDGE; we must study to grasp what life is all about. Third, we must follow RIGHT CONDUCT, the conduct which our faith and knowledge show us to be correct. These are the three jewels’, ratnatraya of Jainism. RIGHT FAITH is probably the hardest of all. Nobody can tell us what we will believe, but we can examine the message of Mahavira and believe that he did know what he was talking about which his message is sensible. Mahavira’s message contains the idea of RIGHT KNOWLEDGE. Life is a puzzle. Where did we come from before birth? Where will we go after death? Nobody’s life is totally happy, but why do some people have lives of great misery et al have much joy? Mahavira teaches us that this can be not the result of the whims of some distant god. No, every one of us is what we’ve made ourselves by our actions during this life and former
