I D Soni
Mahavira- was born about 599 B.C. in a town in Bihar, near Patna. His father was a Chief, a Kshatrya named Siddhartha. His mother, queen Trishala or Priya – Karini, was a daughter of Chetaka, the head of the Republic of the Vajjis.
Mahavir, as a boy, is sent to school : they find he does not need school-masters. He has in his heart a wisdom which no schools may give. Like the Buddha, he is smitten with a longing to renounce the world. He lives upto the age of twenty-eight with his family. Then his father and mother pass away. He feels he must now enter the stream of Sanyasa (renunciation). He goes to his elder brother for permission to renounce. “The wounds are yet fresh”, says his brother to him; wait”.

Mahavir Jayanti Special

He waits two years more. He is now thirty. Like Jesus, he feels he must renounce all and enter upon a ministry of service. Like the Buddha, he distributes his wealth among the poor. On the day he leaves his family, he gives over his kingdom to his brother, then he passes into a life of penance and prayer. To the Buddha came illumination after six years of sadhana (spiritual discipline). To Mahavira comes illumination after twelve years of medition and tapas (self discipline). He attains wisdom-consciousness on the bank of Rijikulo in the village Jrimbhika. He becomes, in the language of the books, “Tirthankara”, a word which I interpret to mean the “Perfect Man – an Ideal Man”.
The word “Mahavira” means, literally, “great victor”. Mahaviras are the true supermen of history, not supermen of egoism and violence, but supermen of purity, santi, tapasya and love.
“As fire does not put out fire, so evil does not put out evil”, was the note sounded by the great Rishi of Russia, Tolstoy. And Tolstoy’s doctrine is traced to the teachinig of Jesus: “resist not evil!”. Yet over five centuries before Jesus, the teaching of ahimsa was taught and practised by two Indian Sages and Rishis, Gautama Buddha and Mahavira. The Jains worship Mahavira as Bhagawan, the Lord, the Blessed one.
What little I have learnt of Mahavira has impressed me much. His was a life of singular grace and singular beauty. A contemporary of the Buddha, he reminds one, again and again, of Buddha’s renunciation, the Buddha’s tapas, the Buddha’s love for humanity.
Mahavira’s life also influenced profoundly his followers. They carried his message, far and wide. It is said that Pyrrho, the Greek thinker, studied philosophy at the feet of Gymnosophists: and as the name suggests, the Gymnosophists were Jain Yogis.
Mahavira said, “All life is sacred. So tear no leaf from its tree, crush no flower, harm no insect”. Is it a foolish sentiment to treat insects, animals and birds with kindness. According to his teaching “Ahimsa” is true “sacrifice”, profound surrender of myself for the sake of life in others. Ahimsa is non-criticism of others, is forgiveness: I must not Judge others. I Must only Judge myself. Ahimsa is Shakti, true strength which makes no noise, no fuss. Ahimsa is seva (service). Ahimsa is a call to self-giving. Give yourself as a man to man, as a life-unit to all life. He who hath much of him much is asked. Have you more than others in wealth, health, talents, success, strength, influence, happiness? Then must you give for others in a greater measure. Be an adventurer of sacrifice! Give yourself! Invest yourself and all you have in the bank of life.
The ultimate objective of Mahavira’s teaching is how one can attain the total freedom from the cycle of birth, life, pain misery and death and achieve the permanent blissful state of one’s self. This is known as liberation, nirvana, absolute freedom or moksha.
The life and message of Mahavira emphasised three ideas. (1) Brahmacharya which means, literally, walking with God. Brahmacharya is purity, is self-restraint. (2) Anekanlavada or Syadvada. Mahavira taught that no one view of the universe could express the truth in its fullness: for Truth is Ananta (endless). We have suffered much in recent years from strife and hate in the name of “creed”. Creeds have created divisions and quarrels. Let a new conception of the spiritual life create a new unity, a new national life. For Truth is infinite. And religion was meant not to create discord and conflicts, but to teach humility and love. (3) Ahimsa. And Ahimsa Mahavira taught, is anything but not inaction and cowardice. According to him Ahimsa is something very positive. Indeed, it is something more than virtue. It is a Shakti, an energy. It is energy of peace; the will-to-peace in a warring world.
Lord Mahavira also explained that from eternity, every living human being’s ‘soul’ is bondage of karmic action, that are accumulated by its own good or bad thoughts. Under the influence of karma the soul is habituated to seek pleasures in materialistic belonging and possession, which are deep root causes of self-centered, violent thoughts, greed, anger, hatred and such other vices. These create accumulation of more karmas. He preached that right thinking. (Samyak-darshana), right knowledge (samyak-Jnana) and right conduct (samyak-charitra) together will help attain the liberation of one’s self. For the heart of right conduct for Jains lie in the five great vows:-
(a) Non-violence (Ahimsa) not to cause harm to any living beings.
(b) Truthfulness (Satya) to speak the harmless truth.
(c) Non-stealing (Asteya) not to take anything not properly offered.
(d) Chastity – (Brahamacharya) to remain pure by no indulging in sexual pleasure.
(e) Non-possession/non attachment (Apparigraha) complete detachment from people, places and material things.
Lord Mahavira preached the gaspel of ‘Universal Love’, emphasizing that all living beings irrespective of their size, shape and form, spiritually developed or under-developed are equal and we should love and respect them and have peaceful co-existence with them. The broad based ethics and principles of Mahavira’s teachings are given here as under:-
(1) Self (2) Knowledge and conduct (3) Path of liberation (4) Conquest of Passions (5) Mind (6) Karma (7) Reflections (8) Religion.
One of the remarkable sayings of Mahavira is: “You are your own friend”. Yes; and you are your own enemy. Be your friend! Do not be your enemies! We all are in search of happiness; if we really want to be happy than make others happy. This is the law. He who blesses others is blessed, and he who injures others is injured. Therefore, let us practise or adhere to the teachings of Mahavira with good faith and sincerity in our everyday life, and rekindle once again the light of love, brotherhood, peace, harmony and Ahimsa to make our Nation anew. Lord Mahavira believed in that love in peace content is an empowered ethical emotion. Peace balances senses and emotions and halts hasty decisions. Love is mother of peace. What we know and have as love and peace are either tinsels or their fraction. Only virtuous, courageous, compassionate and dynamic have right, according to Mahavira, to peace.
Let us, therefore, try our best to build brotherly civilisation through eternal quest to embody the teaching of Lord Mahavira in our thought, action, art, worship and life.

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