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JAIN : THE KEYNOTE OF LORD MAHAVIRA'S LIFE AND TEACHINGS
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divinity inherent in a soul. For full thirty years he devoted himself to the supreme good of all living beings in an absolutely selfless spirit, attaining Nirvāņa in 527 B.C., in the early hours of the day, known all over India and beyond wherever Indian cultural influence reached as the Deepāvali or Divālī, "The Festival of the Lamps."
Lord Mahāvīra was the embodiment of true Renunciation. His entire life and his teachings, often translated in the life of those who have sincerely followed them, are living examples of this great ideal of Renunciation which, even if partially but willingly and sincerely practised, will go a great way in bringing about peace and happiness to individuals and to the human society as a whole.
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