Lord Mahavira, also known as "Vardhamana", was the 24th and last Tirthankara of Jain religion. He was born in Kundagrama, i.e., Basukund of today in 599 B.C. He was a powerful thinker who had taken a keen interest in all the problems of his times and he knew answers to the questions with which he had become familiar. At the age of 30, he left his family and royal household, gave up his worldly possessions, including clothing and become a monk.
Life of Mahavira
Mahavira was born to King Siddhartha and Queen Trishala. He lived as a prince and belonged to the Kashyapa Gotra of Kshatriya clan. Till his age of 30, he led an aristocratic life. He married Yashoda and had a daughter from her named Priyadarshana. At the age of 30, Mahavira renounced his kingdom and family, gave up his worldly possessions. When Mahavira left his house, he fasted for two and half days under an Ashoka tree, put on the garments of a monk and pulled out his hair in five tufts. After experiencing and seeing many things, he attained omniscience, the perfect clear knowledge about the nature of Sahasrara and the path leading from it to bliss and to salvation.
Nirvana of Lord Mahavira
Mahavira attained supreme enlightenment at the age of 42, in the 13th year of his renunciation. After attaining Kevaljnana the last 30 years he wandered to different places preaching people about the eternal truth. He taught about his religious system, organising order of ascetics, preaching his doctrines and making converts. During his life, Mahavira organised a systematic religion and philosophy. He laid down a social order for his large group of followers. He revived the religious order consisting of monks, nuns, Sravakas and Sravikas. The Four Orders of Jainism is also known as Jain Sangha. Nirvana of Lord Mahavira took place at the age of 71 years. He died in the chancellery of King Hastipala of Pawapuri.
Teachings of Lord Mahavira
The objective of Lord Mahavira was to elevate the quality of life. He taught the necessity of right faith. He organized his followers, into a four-fold order, namely monk, nun, layman and laywoman. They came to be known as Jain Reformers later on. The ultimate objective of his 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 also known as liberation, nirvana, absolute freedom or Moksha. He explained that from eternity, every living soul is in bondage of karmic atoms that are accumulated by its own good or bad deeds.
Under the influence of karma, the soul is habituated to seek pleasures in materialistic belongings and possessions, which are the deep-rooted causes of self-centred violent thoughts, deeds, anger, hatred, greed and such other vices. This results in accumulating more karma. He taught that men and women are spiritual equals and both may renounce the world in search of ultimate happiness. He could look down upon the activity in the Samsara with a royal gesture from the summit of his knowledge and show and indicate the way to all who longed for salvation. He had himself given up a lift which was full of joys and enjoyments to dedicate his whole personality to a loftier goal; he had mortified his flesh to the extreme. Lord Mahavira preached that right faith, right knowledge and right conduct together will help attain the liberation of one`s self.
