Ahimsa the Ultimate Winner

Author(s): N P Jain
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 62

The greatness of Mahavir was that he practiced first and preached later. While engaging in his spiritual practices, he experienced suffering, torture and adversities with patience and forgiveness. Out of this, he discovered the road to true bliss. He was born and brought up in the lap of royal comforts. He forsook them voluntarily and without the least regret and resolutely took to the life of hard penance, contemplation and meditation with unbounded enthusiasm and conviction in order to cleanse his soul of its ego-pollution. He conquered anger by forgiveness, pride by humility, deceit by straightforwardness and greed by contentment. His eternal message has been:
"I forgive all living beings, may all living beings forgive me. I cherish friendship towards all and harbour enmity
towards none."
Mahavir was both an introvert as well as an extrovert. He has emerged in the history of the universe as a living example of not only victory over self, but also of an ardent advocate of preserving and enriching the divine web of interdependence between human beings, all other life forms, and the nature of around us. Building both inner and outer environment with compassion and large heartedness was the sheet anchor of his life's mission and became the legacy of love and piety for humanity.
Mahavir stood for building a society that would follow the inspiring discipline of Ahimsa, Anekant and Aparigraha. He preached for restraint in consumption, renunciation of acquisitiveness and judicious control of desires. Only then would an individual or the society as a whole would develop a nobler quality of life for self as well as others. It is interesting that the 12 vows he prescribed for Shravaks (votaries) include prominently limitation on one's needs in the following ways:
1. Upbhog-paribhog vrat--the vow of limiting the quantities of commodities one will use.
2. Digvrat - the vow of limiting the area of traveling
Ahimsa: The Ultimate Winner
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