________________
INTRODUCTION
MAHAVIRA
BUDDHA
1. Born at Vaisali (Kunda. 1. Born at Kapilavastu about
gram) about 599 B.C. 557 B.C. 3. His parents lived to a 2. His mother died soon after good old age.
giving bis birth. 3. Assumed the ascetic life 3. Made himself a monk
with the consent of his against the wishes of his relatives.
father. His preparation in the 4. Obtained illumination at ascetic stage lasted for the end of 6 years 12 years.
only. 5. Died at Pawa in 5. Died at Kusinagar about 527 B.C.
488 B. C. Parshwanatha was born at Benares in 877 B. C, and reached nirvana in 777 B. C. on a hill which is still known as Pareshnath Hills in Bengal. Mahavira or Vardhamâna, the last Tirthankara of this age, only improved upon the then existing doctrines and customs according to the exigencies of the time, and it was he who gave Jainism its final form. The current tenets and practices of Jainism, as embodied in the existing Sutras or canons, are his utterances.
Mahâvira was the son of Siddhartha, the chief of the Nat clan of Kundagrama near the city of Vaisali, who belonged to a noble
