Right from his early childhood Lord Mahavira manifested spiritual traits. People were quite astonished at his virtuous nature. He was very interested in meditation and ways of self-realisation. When he was eighteen years old, Lord Mahavira decided to renounce the world. But on the insistence of his brother, he stayed on till the age of 30. Eventually, he forsook the royal household; his family, which included his wife, ‘Yashoda’ and a daughter, named ‘Anoja’ and adopted the life of a monk. He realised that soul was different from the ‘karmic’ matter and he had wasted many years of this life, as well as his past lives in meaningless worldly pursuits. Lord Mahavira was of the considered opinion that only renunciation could lead to eternal bliss. He entered into a life of penance and deep meditation. Next twelve years of his life were spent in wandering bare foot with scarcely any clothes on his body. He followed the well established creed of his predecessor Tirthankar Parshvanath.
Most of his ascetic life was spent in deep silence and in a mood of self-contemplation. He hardly talked to anyone and felt that this way he could harness his spiritual energies towards right direction. At the end of his intense seclusion and penitence, Lord Mahavira attained omniscience, in 557 B.C. This state of self-realization of soul is called the ‘Kevaljnana.’ The blissfulness of absolute freedom and knowledge is also called the ‘Moksha.’
The rest of his life was spent in preaching and spreading the message of humanity, non-violence and peace far and wide. Lord Mahavira also emphasised the fact that in matters of spiritual attinments man and woman were equally placed and members of both sexes could achieve emancipation provided they knew the way. He organized his followers, into a four fold order, namely monk (Sadhu), nun (Sadhvi), layman (Shravak), and laywoman (Shravika). This order is known as Jain Sangh. He attained a massive following throughout the country. Amongst his disciples were ordinary folks as well as kings, princes, nobles and their families.
Lord Mahavira’s message was taken by his immediate followers called the Agam Sutras. They orally passed on the teachings of the Lord down the generations. About a thousand years later, they were recorded in ink and paper called the Tadpatris.
At the age of 72 in 527 B.C., Lord Mahavira attained ‘Nirvana’ or complete salvation and his purified soul left his body to be eternally liberated from the cycle of birth and deaths. The day is celebrated as Deepawali in the Hindu and Jain Calendars. It is believed that practice of lighting up homes on the Deepawali had begun with this occasion only.
Lord Mahavira’s divine message can be summed up in the five-fold path of non-violence (Ahimsa), truth (Satya), abstinence from theft (Achaurya), celibacy and chastity (Brahma-charya), and non-possession (Aparigraha). He emphasised the need to harmonize the soul with itself and then with society and the environment. He emphatically preached the sanctity of life in all forms, irrespective of shape and size of the being. He advocated a harmonious relationship of man with his surroundings. Hence, he can be called the ancient precursor to the modern movement of environmentalism.
This year the Jayanti of Lord Mahavira falls on April 3rd. We felicitate our visitors on this great occasion.
