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founder of Jain religion according to Jain philosophy. Today in the twentieth century we live in the era of Bhagwan Mahavira, the twenty-fourth and the last Tirthankara. Bhagwan Mahavira was born in 598 B. C. in modern Bihar, lived upto the age of seventy-two years and attained Moksha, i. e. salvation, in 526 B.C. He revived the Jain philosophy about 2500 years ago. Since that time Bhagwan Mahavira has been the spiritual guide of the Jains.
Even now about four million Jains of India practise the preachings of Bhagwan Mahavira and it is the duty of their mentors to guide them in practising it in its spirit in this rapidly changing world. “What then, is the essence, the spirit of Jainism ?” -you may ask. . .
.. Jainism, viewed as a whole, rests on the four piHars which are Ahimsa. i, e. Nonviolence, Anekantwad, i, e. Theory of Relativity, Aparigraha, i. e. Nonacquisition and Karma, i. e. Deeds or Action.
Ņonviolence, Theory of Relativity, Nonacquisition and Deeds or Action.
