Essay on life of Mahavir Swami : Mahavir Swami, the originator of the Panchsheel principle and the twenty-fourth Tirthankar of Jainism, was an embodiment of non-violence. Lord Mahavir was born in the era when violence, animal sacrifice and caste discrimination were prevalent. He tried to show the right path to the world through special teachings like truth and non-violence. Through his many sermons he guided people correctly.

Introduction

Many religious gurus were born from time to time on the land of religious India. The reason for this was the distortion of the rituals of the religions prevalent in the country. The practice of human sacrifice along with animals was prevalent in many religions in the country. All this was hypocrisy in the name of religion. In such a situation, many Mahatmas were born on the soil of the country.

Mahavir Swami ji was born to establish religion and protect noble people at a time when the importance of yagyas had started increasing in the country. Due to this, the prestige of only Brahmins in the society was continuously increasing. Animals were also sacrificed in yagyas. Brahmins considered themselves superior to other castes in the society. Other castes considered themselves inferior and dirty in front of Brahmins. After some time, Brahmins established dominance in the society. They started harassing castes other than their own. At this time, Mahavir Swami appeared on Indian soil to understand the true nature of religion and to eliminate mutual discrimination.

Mahavir Swami was born about two and a half thousand years ago, on the day of Chaitrasudi Trayodashi, in the house of Licchavi dynasty Kshatriya king Siddhartha in Kundgram near Vaishali in Bihar state. His father Shri Siddhartha was the ruler of Vaishali. His mother’s name was Trishala Devi. Before giving birth to her son, Trishala Devi had seen many auspicious dreams. Seeing these dreams, she believed that the son she gave birth to from her womb would be a son with great qualities and his fame would spread throughout the world. Mahavir Swami’s actions also proved his belief true. King Siddhartha expressed great joy on the birth of a son. On this occasion, he organized a festival with great pomp and provided many facilities to the people. Lichchhavi dynasty was quite famous at that time. After the birth of a son, the influence of King Siddhartha increased further. For this reason he was named Vardhaman.

Childhood and Education:

Mahavir Swami’s name in his childhood was Vardhaman. Because of controlling a big snake and an intoxicated elephant in his adolescence, he came to be known as Mahavir. He had no dearth of family happiness but these happiness started pricking him like thorns. Mahavir always remained engrossed in the meaninglessness of the world.

He got married to a beautiful princess. Still, he did not get attached to his wife’s love attraction, rather his mind started moving away from the world. Due to the demise of his father, his recluse mind became more sad and he expressed his desire to take renunciation from the world. On the insistence of his elder brother Nandivardhan, he somehow spent two more years of family life. During these two years he gave donations freely. After the age of thirty, he left the attachment to his family and relatives and became a saint. He indulged in penance in solitary and quiet places for self-purification. After doing penance for twelve years he attained true knowledge.

After this he started explaining the nature of religion to the public. He gave his first sermon on Vipulachala mountain near Rajagriha. Gradually the influence of his sermons spread across the country. Influenced by his teachings, many became his disciples and they all started propagating his principles.

Mahavir Swami considered the only goal of life to be attainment of salvation. Mahavir Swami promoted Jainism through his rays of knowledge. The five main principles of this religion are – truth, non-violence, not stealing, not accumulating more than necessary and purification in life. He said that only by following these five principles man can attain salvation or nirvana. He advised everyone to follow this path.

Mahavir Swami said that caste and caste neither makes anyone superior or great nor does it have any permanent life value. Everyone’s soul should be considered equal to one’s own soul, this is humanity. Lord Mahavir Swami is revered and worshiped with respect and reverence even today as the twenty-fourth Tirthankara of Jainism.

Although he died at the age of 72 on the new moon day of Kartik month at a place called Papapur in Bihar state.

Article on Mahavir Swami

Preface:

Jainism is a great religion in the world. In Jainism, there were 24 Tirthankaras at different times, who are called the founders of Jainism. He was a pioneer in the religion of his time.

Among them, Swami Rishabh Dev was the first Tirthankar and Mahavir Swami was the last and 24th Tirthankar. The meaning of Tirthankar is: ‘The one who saves from the ocean of the world.’ The Tirthankar tradition ends after Mahavir Swami. After him, the Jain tradition continued to grow through the Acharyas.

Ancestry and birth introduction:

Mahavir Swami was born in a royal family in Kundapur district of Vaishali Republic (Muzakkar Nagar district of Bihar) on Chaitra Shukla Trayodashi 656 BC (599 BC). His father’s name was Raja Siddhartha and mother’s name was Trishala.

After his birth, his father’s wealth, grains etc. increased, hence he was named ‘Vardhman’. He is also called Vardhaman Mahavir. He was incomparable in strength and power and invincible in the world, hence he became famous in the world by the name of Mahavir.

Childhood and Education:

Vardhaman Mahavir’s childhood was spent like a prince. All the resources were available to him at home. Vardhaman’s education started at an early age. Soon he became proficient in all the sciences and arts.

He was a philosopher, his inclination towards religion was innate, hence despite being the master of all the riches, he was moving towards detachment. He was married to a princess named Yashoda but he did not feel like running a household. At the same time, he was not indifferent to his responsibilities towards the people, the state and the family.

Homelessness and renunciation:

After the death of his parents at the age of thirty, Vardhaman, with the permission of his elder brother Nandivardhan, broke his ties with Gahasya and accepted the Yati religion. Yeti religion was Jainism propounded by the Tirthankars before them. After taking initiation, he indulged in rigorous penance for 12 years.

After rigorous penance he realized the truth. As a result, he attained the status of ‘Kaivalya’. He became free forever from worldly happiness, sorrow, attachment and sorrow. Only the experience of joy and supernatural happiness is Kaivalya, this is the ultimate height of sadhana.

As Tirthakar:

According to Jainism, there were 23 Tirthankaras before Mahavir Swami. Swami Parshvanath ji was a Tirthankar 250 years before him. According to Jain followers, Tirthankaras are the Sadguru of time. They are born wise. They are born to give initiation of welfare to the living beings of the world, hence they are called Jagat Guru.

His other disciples also attain the status of ‘Kaivalya’ but there cannot be any other Tirthankar. After attaining the post of ‘Faivalya’, Mahavir Swami became a Tirthankar.

Propagation of Knowledge:

For a pilgrim the whole world is equal. He wants to liberate the unhappy people of the world by giving them happiness and peace, similarly Mahavir Swami now got busy in propagating his self-experienced knowledge. His teachings were spread equally from common people to the royal family.

The then kings and Maharajas also got initiated into the religion propagated by him. The rulers of states like Anga, Magadha, Kaushambi etc. accepted knowledge from him. Mahavir Swami opened the doors of knowledge equally for Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras, men, women etc.

Followers Detail:

During the reign of Mahavir Swami, knowledge spread and propagated everywhere. According to the facts given in some Jain religious texts, during his rule, Gautam was the chief of 14 thousand monks, Chandanbala was the chief of 36 thousand sadhus, Anand was the chief of 1 lakh 59 thousand worshippers, Jayanti was the chief of 3 lakh 18 thousand worshipers. In front of him were eleven Ganadhar Kevalis who were his great and main disciples.

Nirvana period:

After widely propagating Jainism, Mahavir Swami attained Nirvana in Pavatpuri at the age of 72 in 527 BC. Pava Nagar near Raj Rah is still a big pilgrimage site for Jain people. This place is about ten kilometers away from Bihar Sharif station.

Epilogue:

Even after leaving his body hundreds of years ago, the divine messages of Lord Mahavir are still guiding us. He propounded such an opinion which is for the welfare of human beings. The path of peace and non-violence he showed to the world is exemplary for everyone in this turbulent era.

On our website, you may view further fantastic essays, GK questions, and kid-friendly exercises.