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FOREWORD
[To the first edition ]
Lord Mahavira, like His contemporary Lord Buddha, was born at a time when India was in a great ferment. The incorporation of the Vratyas, or nomadic Aryans, into the orthodox fold, produced a revolution,-a revolution in ideas, speculations, language, dress, customs and manners,-in short, everything connected with ancient Indian life. India at that time was thoroughly caste ridden, the caste system had become inflexibly rigid, sacrifices were the order of the day, and these magical rites were accompanied by animal slaughter on a large scale. The sacrifices, with their cooked meat, had become extremely popular, and the Brahmanas had become supreme.
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Lord Mahavira, like Lord Buddha, the Vratyas and the materialistic philosophers of that age, challenged everything that Orthodoxy had set up in the name of
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat www.umaragyanbhandar.com
