Bondage and Freedom

Author(s): Chitrabhanu
Publisher: Divine Knowledge Society

Page 80

The word Jain is derived from the generic term "Jina." A person who conquers his lower nature, i.e. passion, hatred and the like and brings into prominence the highest, and achieves the state of the supreme being is called a Jina. There have been several Jinas and there can be many more in the future. A Jina who is a guiding force to his followers, reviews principles of religion and regenerates the community, is called a “Tirthankara”.
Adinath who dates back to the beginning of the world was the first Tirthankara and founder of Jain religion according to Jain philosophy. Today in the twentieth century we live in the era of Bhagwan Mahavira, the twenty-fourth and the last Tirthankara. Bhagwan Mahavira was born in 198 B.C. in modern Bihar, lived upto the age of seventy-two years and attained Moksha, i.e. salvation, in 526 B.C. He revived the Jain philosophy about 2500 years ago. Since that time Bhagwan Mahavira has been the spiritual guide of the Jains. .. .
Even now about four million Jains of India practise the preachings of Bhagwan Mahavira and it is the duty of their mentors to guide them in practising it in its spirit in this rapidly changing world. “What then, is the essence, the spirit of Jainism:”—you may ask.
Jainism, viewed as a whole, rests on the four pillars which are Ahimsa, i.e. Nonviolence,
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