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Life and Teachings of Mahavira

Lif e of Lord Mahavira
Mahavira, the last of the Jain Tirthankaras or Ford-makers was born at Kundagrarna in the suburbs of
Vaisali in and about 540 B.C. His f ather was Siddhartha, the head of the Janatrika clan and his mother was
Trisala, sister of the Lichchavi chief Chetaka. Originally Mahaviras name was Vardhamana. When he
attained Supreme Knowledge he came to be known as Mahavira.

Penance and Attainment of Siddhi

Mahavira was married to Yashoda. He had a daughter named Anojja or Priyadarsana by her. Af ter the death
of his parents Mahavira f elt the uselessness of the lif e of a house-holder. Mahavira embraced the lif e of a
monk at the age of 30. Mahavira lived an ascetic lif e f or 13 months and practiced rigorous penance. He
abandoned his clothings. Af ter discarding cloths and garments, Mahavira practiced penance and austerities
f or 12 years. At the age of 42 he attained the Supreme Knowledge and became a Kevalin. He was known as
Mahavira or Great Hero. T he Jaina tradition describes that Mahavira attained his Siddhi or Supreme
Knowledge while he was sitting under a Sala tree on the bank of the river Rijupalika near the village
Jimbhikagrama.

Relation between Mahavira and Gosala

Another important event of Mahaviras lif e was his relations with Gosala Mankhaliputta, the head of the
Ajivaka sect. It is said that Gosala became a disciple of Mahavira and lived with him f or six years. Later on
Gosala lef t him f or his dif f erence with Mahavira on the doctrine of reincarnation. Sixteen years later, they
met again and quarreled again. T hough the relation between the doctrines of Gosala and those of
Mahavira are not def initely known, yet, there are some common points among them. T his may be due to
mutual exchanges of ideas among them. T he Jaina rules of diet might have been borrowed f rom the code
of the Ajivikas laid down by Gosala. Mahavira might have discarded garments due to inf luence of Gosala.

The Missionary Lif e of Mahavira

Af ter the attainment of Supreme Knowledge, Mahavira lived the lif e of a wandering teacher and preached
his doctrines to the people. He used to preach eight months in a year and pass f our months of rainy
season in some town. Mahavira preached in Champa, Vaisali, Rajgriha, Mithila and Sravasti. As his f ame
spread, he began to receive loyal patronage. Bimbisara, the king of Magadha was devoted to Mahavira.
Ajatasatru might have some inclination f or Mahaviras creed. Af ter preaching his doctrines to people of
dif f erent parts of India, Mahavira died at the age of 72 at a place called Pava in Patna district of Bihar. T he
Lichchhavis the Mallas mourned the death of this great teacher by burning lamps as a symbol of Mahaviras
spirit.

Jainism bef ore Mahavira. Role of Parsva

In the 6th century B.C. side by side with Buddhism, there f lourished the creed of Jainism. Although
Vardhamana Mahavira is regarded as the f ounder of Jainism, Jaina traditions give the idea that Jainism
existed long bef ore Mahavira. T here were 23 teachers of Jainism bef ore Mahavira. Mahavira was only the
last or the twenty-f ourth Tirthankara or illustrious teacher of Jainism. We have no inf ormation about the
early twenty two teachers. T he Twenty-T hird Tirthankara or teacher, Parsva or Parsva Nath or Paresh Nath
is a historical f igure. According to the Kalpasutra of Bhadrabahu, Parsva was a Kshatriya. He was the son
of Asvasena, the king of Benaras. Parsva was married to Prabhabati, daughter of king Naravarman. He lived
f or some years, the lif e of a householder amidst luxury and pomp. But he grew tired of this lif e and

embraced the lif e of an ascetic, at the age of 30. He perf ormed deep meditation f or 83 or 84 days and
attained Enlightenment or Kevala jnana. Hence-f orth, he lived the lif e of a religious preacher and died at the
age of 100 years at Mount Sammeta in Bengal. T his event happened in the 8th century B.C. about 250 years
bef ore the advent of Mahavira.

Teachings of Parsva
Some important doctrines of Jainism were laid down by Parsva, the Twenty-T hird Tirthankara. Parsva
believed in the eternity of matter. Only samyama or self -control could destroy Karma or results of the deed
done. Penance could totally destroy it. Parsva announced f our vows f or liberation, viz., non-injury and nonkilling; avoidance of f alsehood; non-stealing and non-attachment. Parsva also allowed his f ollowers to
wear white garments which probably accounts f or the growth of the Svetambara sect.

Inf luence of Parsvas Teaching on that of Mahavira

Parsva was the f ore-runner of Mahavira in the preaching of Jainism. It is theref ore natural that some of his
teachings inf luenced the ideas of Mahavira. From various Jaina Canons, it is known, how the parents of
Mahavira turned to be f ollowers of Parsva. How the disciples of Parsva entered into disputations with the
disciples of Mahavira. It is reasonably suggested that the doctrines of Parsva which were similar to that of
Mahavira were not mentioned in Parsvas name. T hey were ascribed to the name of Mahavira. Only those
points of Parsvas teachings which dif f ered f rom that of Mahavira were mentioned-in Parsvas name in the
Canons.

Teaching of Mahavira
Most of the important principles of Jainism were received by Mahavira as legacies f rom his predecessors. It
does not appear that Mahavira preached a new creed. He was more a ref ormer of existing Jaina religion
than the f ounder of a new f aith. Mahaviras credit lies in regulation and condif ication of unsystematic rules
into a regular code, with certain additions and alterations. He adopted Parsvas ideas of eternity of matter
and the doctrine of self -control or samyama and penance f or liberation f rom Karma. He also accepted
Parsvas doctrine of the f our vows and added to it a f if th vow, viz., and the vow to observe chastity. While
Parsva asked his f ollowers to wear white garments, Mahavira asked his f ollowers to discard garments in
order to be f ree f rom all earthly bonds. T his ultimately led to the growth of the Digamabara sect. Mahavira
also enunciated that by f ollowing T hree-f old Path of Right belief , Right knowledge and Right conduct (Tri
Ratna), a man could attain Siddha-Sila i.e., liberation f rom Karma and transmigration of soul. Mahavira
pointed out that penance; physical hardship helped one to realize the truth. Even death by starvation was
recommended by him. Mahavira rejected the authority of God, the ef f icacy of the Vedic rites and that of the
mantras. He advocated the doctrine of nonviolence or Ahimsha in extreme f orm. He attributed lif e to plants,
animals, metals and water and urged non-injury to them.