Ahimsa Varsh 2600th Birth Anniversary of Mahavir Swami

Author(s): Naresh Jain, P Jayaraman
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

Page 37

Vol. 147
WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2001
No. 53
Congressional Record
United States
of America COMMEMORATING THE 2600TH BIRTHDAY OF LORD MAHAVIR
HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR. OF NEW JERSEY SPOKE IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
on Wednesday, April 25, 2001
Mr. Speaker, I come to the House floor today to praise the Prime Minister of India. Mr. Vajpayee, in declaring this year as the year of nonviolence. April 6 commemorates the 2600th birthday of the greatest prophet of Jainism, Lord Mahavir.
Jainism is a beautiful religion originating in India over two millennia ago, built on the principles of nonviolence, working on the self, and realization of multiplicity of truth through our varying perspectives of life. Lord Mahavir worked tirelessly all his life until he reached Nirvana, and then embarked barefoot to spread his message of truth across the great nation of India.
Lord Mahavir practiced and preached envioronmental protection to safegurad trees, plants and animals for the living. The observation of the nonviolent practices of the Jains was a major influence on the philosophy of the great Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi. The same principles of nonviolence and respect for life were practiced more recently by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in the United States, as he led the struggle for civil rights for all Americans.
Mahavir's principles are extremely important today as well. Mahavir or the Great Soul taught us liberation of soul by right knowledge, right faith and right conduct. We must all bring this into our lives to make this world a better place for our children and grandchildren.
April 6th marks the beginning of pioneering celebrations throughout the world for non-violence, and thus I ask my collegues to join me in recognizing the year 2001 as the year of non-violence worldwide.
Note: It is a reproduction from the Congressional record of April 25, 2001
Meet the Artist
Shobha Joshi, a well-known Indian classical and light music vocalist had her training in classical music under Prabha Atre, Manik Verma and Pt. Yeshwant Joshi and in light music under Mehdi Hasan, Yeshwant Deo and Mahesh Chandra. She has performed extensively in India as well as in Canada, Russia, UK, USA, Netherlands, Europe, South Africa, Hong Kong and Singapore. A recipient of 'Surmani' award from Sursingar, Mumbai, Shobha Joshi has been a performing artist over All India Radio and Doordarshan. She has recorded songs for more that 250 films. She has to her credit 55 audio cassettes / albums in different categories of music - classical, ghazals, bhajans and folk songs. Her address is: 102 Sandeep Park, S.T. Road, Deonar, Mumbai 400 088, India. / Telephone: (91) (22) 551-1853
For Per 3
& Private Use Only