Lord Mahavira was 24th and last Tirthankar of Jainism. He was born in 599 BC to royal family of Licchavis near Vaishali(Bihar). His father was a chief of Jnatra Clan.
Ascetic Life
Mahavira belong to rich and wealthy family. However, he gave up the worldly possessions at the age of 30 and adopted the ascetic way of life. He lived as ascetic for 12 years to gain knowledge. He wants to get freedom from different bonds of life. As a result he aspire to lead a simple life. He meditate for long period of time and lived very frugal life. He considered all life form sacred. As a result he took steps to avoid any harm to them.
Attainment of Moksha
After 13 years of tough ascetic life, he finally attained complete wisdom. As a result he spent next 30 years of his life to spread the great truth. At this point he went to different parts of India to spread his message. Mahavira gave his first sermon in Vipula peak in Rajgir, Bihar. His disciples called him Mahavira which means the great hero.
Basic tenets of Jainism
Mahavira taught four basic principles of Jainism,
- Non-injury to living beings (Ahimsa),
- Speaking the truth (Satya),
- Not stealing (Asteya) and
- Limiting one’s possessions (Aparigraha).
He also preached and promoted chastity (Brahmacharya). The most important principle of Jainism is non-injury. Mahavir preaches non- injury not only to plants and animals but also to water and metals. According to Mahavira the ultimate goal of life is to attain state of bliss called Moksha. Moksha is liberation of soul from cycle of birth, life, pain, misery and death. He felt that it is important to remove all external things from life including clothes.
Death of Mahavira
In 527BC, Mahavira died at the age of seventy two in pavapuri, Bihar. Afterward his devotee took away ash from cremation site. Some devote took even the around soil from the cremation site. A crater were formed due removal of soil creating a small lake. Later, a Jalmandir was build on the site to mark nirvana of Lord Mahavira.
Trivia
He was also called Tirthankara. Tirthankara means ‘ford builder’. Mahavir one who built ford to help people to cross ocean of suffering.
The people of Karnataka celebrate Nirvana Din during Diwali.