Bhagvana Mahavira

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

Page 60

52
Bhagavan Mahāvīra
1. aṇagāra dharma-the religion of the monks and nuns. 2. sāgāra dharma-the religion of the householders.
As a matter of fact religion is indivisible. The twofold religion taught by Bhagavan Mahāvīra referred to two categories of men and women according to their propensities. One who has the spiritual strength to renounce his household life would accept the religion of the ascetic, comprising the five major vows. One who proposes to follow the path of spiritual discipline within the limitations of the household life would follow the religion of the householder comprising the aṇuvrata or the minor vows.
Men like Indrabhūti Gautama and women like Candanabālā accepted the religion of the ascetic, and many others accepted the religion of the householder. We know the names of the first monk and the first nun to be initiated, but not the names of the first śrāvaka (layman) and the first śrāvikā (laywoman) who accepted the religion of householder.
Bhagavan Mahāvīra had lived a solitary life during the period of his sadhanā. He then had no disciples, no followers. Now he was not alone. He had disciples as well as followers. The tirtha (religious order) had been established. According to the tradition, Bhagavan Mahāvīra founded a fourfold tirtha comprising of the monks, the nuns, śrāvakas and śrāvikās. One may ask as to why Bhagavan Mahāvīra, even after attaining the omniscience, desired to found a tirtha-religious order. The word tīrtha also means pravacana i.e., the fundamental doctrine (of dharma). Bhagavan Mahāvīra is known as a tirthankara, (i.e., propounder of tīrtha), because he enunciated the fundamental doctrine of dharma. The teachings propounded by one who has accomplished self-realization never fail. The teachings of Bhagavan Mahāvīra had the same effect. They got materialized into an organization-a religious order, or tīrtha. It kept these teachings intact and is even now preserving them.
The teachings of Bhagavan Mahāvīra are expression of