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VARDHAMANA MAHAVIRA
K. R. Chandra Jainism is one of the oldest indigenous religions of India. It belongs to Sramana thought current which developed and flourished in East India. Jainism teaches that the man is his own master, he can spoil or improve his future by his own deeds and the path of his action is moral and ascetic. Man or Heroworship is its salient feature.
Jaina tradition records that there have been twenty-four Tirthankaras. Rşabha was the first among them, who wandered naked with matted hair on his head. Certain references in the Vedas and the Purāņas corroborate it. Nemi was the twentysecond Tirthařkara who was the cousin brother of Krşņa. Pārsva, the twentythird Tirthankara has been well accepted as a historical person. The last Tirthankara was Vardhamāna Mahāvīra who was the contemporary of Lord Buddha and Ajīvika leader, Gośālaka.
Mahāvīra was born in the royal family of king Siddhartha of Kuņdapura which was a suburb of Vaiśāli situated in the north Bihar. He was a prince of the Jñātr clan. His mother Trišalā also known as Priyakāriņī was a sister of Cetaka, the head of Licchavi Republic and President of the Confederacy of the republics of Licchavís and Mallakīs as well as the Gaņarā jyas of Kashi-Koshala. Mahāvīra's elder brother was Nandivardhana who married a daughter of Cetaka. Sreņika Bimbisāra, the mighty king of Magadha was also related with Mahāvīra as the former had married Cellanā, a sister of Cetaka. Supārsva was Mahāvīra's uncle. Mahāvīra had a daughter Priyadarśanā (or Aņujja) who was married to prince Jamālī, the son of Sudarśanā, the sister of Mahāvīra. Priyadarśanā had a daughter Seșamatī or Yašomatí.
Mahāvira's birth-name was Vardhamāna. He was known as Jñātrputra because of his clan, Vaišālika on account of his
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