Mahavir Jayanti

 Lord Mahavir jayanti.
Here is some hindsight
Lord Mahavir was the twenty fourth and last Tirthankara of the Jain
religion of this era. According to Jain philosophy, all Tirthankaras
were human beings but they have attained a state of perfection or
enlightenment through meditation and self-realization. They are the
Gods of Jains. The concept of God as a creator, protector, and
destroyer of the universe does not exist in Jainism. Also the idea of
God's reincarnation as a human being to destroy the demons is not
accepted in Jainism.
Lord Mahavir was born on the thirteenth day of rising moon of Chaitra
month, 599 B.C. in the state of Bihar, India. This day falls in the
month of April as per English calendar. His birthday is celebrated as
Mahavir Jayanti day.
Mahavir was a prince and was given the name Vardhaman by his parents.
Being son of a king, he had many worldly pleasures, comforts, and
services at his command. But at the age of thirty, he left his family
and royal household, gave up his worldly possessions, and become a
monk in search of a solution to eliminate pain, sorrow, and sufferings.
Mahavir spent the next twelve and half years in deep silence and
meditation to conquer his desires, feelings, and attachments. He
carefully avoided harming or annoying other living beings including
animals, birds, and plants. He also went without food for long
periods. He was calm and peaceful against all unbearable hardships
that he was given the name Mahavir, meaning very brave and courageous.
During this period, his spiritual powers fully developed and at the
end he realized perfect perception, knowledge, power, and bliss. This
realization is known as keval jnana or the perfect enlightenment.
Mahavir spent the next thirty years travelling on bare foot around
India preaching to the people the eternal truth he realized. The
ultimate objective of his teaching is how one can attain total freedom
from the cycle of birth, life, pain, misery, and death, and achieve
the permanent blissful state of one's self. This is also known as
liberation, nirvana, absolute freedom, or Moksha.
Mahavir explained that from eternity, every living being (soul) due to
its ignorance is in bondage of karmic atoms. Then these karmic atoms
are continuously accumulated by our good or bad deeds. Under the
influence of karma, the soul is habituated to seek pleasures in
materialistic belongings and possessions. This is the deep-rooted
cause of self-centered violent thoughts, deeds, anger, hatred, greed,
and such other vices. These result in further accumulation of karmas.
Mahavir preached that right faith (samyak darshana), right knowledge
(samyak jnana), and right conduct (samyak charitra) together is the
real path to attain the liberation from karmic matter of one's self.


At the heart of right conduct for Jains lie the five great vows:
Nonviolence (Ahimsa)
not to cause harm to any living beings
Truthfulness (Satya)
to speak the harmless truth only
Non stealing (Asteya)
not to take anything not properly given
Chastity (Brahmacharya)
not to indulge in sensual pleasure
Non possession/ Non attachment (Aparigraha)
complete detachment from people, places, and material things
Jains hold these vows at the center of their lives. These vows can not
be fully implemented without the acceptance of a philosophy of non
absolutism (Anekantvad) and the theory of relativity (Syadvad). Monks
and nuns follow these vows strictly and totally, while the common
people follow the vows as far as their life styles will permit.
In the matters of spiritual advancement, as envisioned by Mahavir,
both men and women are on an equal footing. The lure of renunciation
and liberation attracted women as well. Many women followed Mahavir's
path and renounced the world in search of ultimate truth and happiness.
Thus, the principles of Jainism, if properly understood in their right
perspective and faithfully adhered to, will bring contentment and
inner happiness and joy in the present life. This will elevate the
soul in future reincarnations to a higher spiritual level, ultimately
achieving Perfect Enlightenment, reaching its final destination of
Eternal Bliss, ending all cycles of birth & death.
Mahavir attracted people from all walks of life, rich and poor, kings
and commoners, men and women, princes and priests, touchable and
untouchable. 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.
Lord Mahavir's sermons were orally compiled in Agam Sutras by his
immediate disciples. These Agam Sutras were orally passed on to the
future generations. In course of time many of the Agam Sutras have
been lost, destroyed, and some are modified. About one thousand years
later the Agam Sutras were recorded on Tadpatris (leafy paper that was
used in those days to preserve records for future references).
Swetambar Jains have accepted these Sutras as authentic versions of
His teachings while Digambar Jains did not accepted as authentic.
At the age of 72 (527 B.C.), Lord Mahavir attained nirvan and his
purified soul left his body and achieved complete liberation. He
became a Siddha, a pure consciousness, a liberated soul, living
forever in a state of complete bliss. On the night of his nirvan,
people celebrated the Festival of Lights (Dipavali) in his honor. This
is the last day of Hindu and Jain calendar year known as Dipavali Day.
Jainism existed before Mahavir, and his teachings were based on those
of his predecessors. Thus, unlike Buddha, Mahavir was more of a
reformer and propagator of an existing religious order than the
founder of a new faith. He followed the well-established creed of his
predecessor Tirthankar Parshvanath. However, Mahavir did reorganize
the philosophical tenets of Jainism to correspond to his times.
A few centuries after Mahavir's nirvana, the Jain religious order
(Sangha) grew more and more complex. There were schisms on some minor
points, although they did not affect the original doctrines as
preached by Mahavir. Later generations saw the introduction of
ritualistic complexities, which almost placed Mahavir and other
Tirthankars on the throne of Hindu deities.
Significant points of Teachings of Lord Mahavir:
Mahavir made religion simple and natural, free from elaborate ritual
complexities. His teachings reflected the internal beauty and harmony
of the soul.
Mahavir taught the idea of supremacy of human life and stressed the
importance of the positive attitude of life.
Mahavir's message of nonviolence (Ahimsa), truth (Satya), non stealing
(Achaurya), celibacy (Brahma charya), and non possession (Aparigraha)
is full of universal compassion.
Mahavir said that, 'A living body is not merely an integration of
limbs and flesh but it is the abode of the soul which potentially has
perfect perception (Anant darshana), perfect knowledge (Anant jnana),
perfect power (Anant virya), and perfect bliss (Anant sukha).
Mahavir's message reflects freedom and spiritual joy of the living
being.
Mahavir emphasized that all living beings, irrespective of their size,
shape, and form how spiritually developed or undeveloped, are equal
and we should love and respect them. This way he preached the gospel
of universal love.
Mahavir rejected the concept of God as a creator, a protector, and a
destroyer of the universe. He also denounced the worshiping of gods
and goddesses as a means of material gains and personal benefits.

--
M. Asif
http://www.natureknights.com/
Cell: 9821081566 / 9619182010

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