Bhagvana Mahavira

Author(s): Tulsi Acharya
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

Page 13

Before the Advent of Bhagavān Mahāvīra
passions as indispensable. It was the spiritualists alone who considered it sine qua non. They, therefore, maintained that one could not attain liberation without getting freedom from the passions of attachment and aversion.
Attachment to material comforts and sensuous pleasures is one of the instincts of man. It leads men to clash of interests. But when conflicts reach their climax, people are as by necessity driven to seek for spiritual solutions. This situation is a prelude to the advent of a great spiritual leader who would lift society to a higher stage of spiritual development. When the psychological background for a change has been prepared, society takes a leap. The Vajji Republic
Twenty-five hundred years ago, the vast Indian sub-continent was divided into a number of tiny kingdoms. Although geographical expanse of the country at that time was larger than what it is today, there was nobody competent enough to bind these states into a single political unit. There was no Cakravarti (emperor) nor a central political leadership as we understand it today.
There were two systems of government in the Eastern region. The states of Anga, Magadha, Vatsa etc. were monarchies. Those of Kāší, Kausala, Videha etc. on the other hand were republics. Two of these republics were quite well-known, the Republics of the Vajjīs or Licchavis and that of the Mallas. Republics were later developments of monarchies and the precursors of democracies. The Licchavis founded their Republic with a view to consolidating their political power. The credit for its foundation goes to Cetaka, who was a wise and valorous king of Videha. He was also the President of the whole Republic. This RepubJic was the union of eighteen political units, nine of which belonged to the Licchavis and the remaining nine to the Mallas.