Mahaviraa

Mahavira, also known as Vardhamana, was the twenty-fourth and last Tirthankara of the present time cycle in Jainism. He was born in the 6th century BCE in Kundagrama, a village near Vaishali in modern-day Bihar, India. Mahavira is considered the spiritual successor of Parshvanatha, the twenty-third Tirthankara.

Mahavira belonged to a royal Kshatriya family, the Ikshvaku dynasty. He renounced worldly possessions and his royal life at the age of thirty to become an ascetic. For twelve and a half years, he practiced intense meditation and austerities, enduring hardships and suffering without complaint. This period of rigorous spiritual discipline culminated in him attaining Kevala Jnana, omniscience or supreme knowledge.

After achieving enlightenment, Mahavira began to preach his doctrine. His teachings emphasized non-violence (ahimsa) as the paramount principle, followed by truthfulness (satya), non-stealing (asteya), chastity (brahmacharya), and non-possession or non-attachment (aparigraha). These five vows form the core of Jain ethics. He established the fourfold sangha, comprising monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen, to propagate his teachings.

Mahavira's philosophy is characterized by its emphasis on individual effort and self-reliance in achieving liberation from the cycle of birth and death (samsara). He taught that karma, a consequence of one's actions, binds the soul and that liberation is attained by shedding karma through virtuous living and spiritual discipline. Mahavira's teachings continue to be the foundation of Jainism. He passed away at the age of seventy-two in Pavapuri, Bihar.