Heart of Jainism

Author(s): Mrs Sinclair Stevenson
Publisher: Mrs Sinclair Stevenson

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THE LIFE OF MAHAVIRA he attained Nirvāṇa, and the people awakened only to find their lord was dead.
Now at last Mahāvīra was freed; his forty-two years as a monk with all their self-denial and austerities had completely exhausted his karma. He had, unaided, worked out his own salvation, and never again could the accumu. lated energy of his past actions compel him to be reborn, for all their force was spent. The Jaina say there are two Terrible Ones who dog the soul, like policemen attending a prisoner: one is called Birth and one Death. 'He who is born must die some day or other, and he who is dead must be born in some form or other.' These two Terrible Ones had no longer any power over Mahāvira, for the chain of karma that bound him to them had been snapped, and never again could the prisoner be sentenced to life.
All of Mahāvira's disciples had been present at his death, save the chief of them, Gautama Indrabhūti. This earliest disciple knew that he could never attain omniscience whilst he was attached to a human being; nevertheless, he could not conquer his love for his master. On the night of Mahāvīra's death he had been sent on some mission, and whilst absent he was able to overcome this last tie of friendship, and having attained Kevala jñāna, he returned to find the master, whom he no longer loved, dead and the people mourning.
The kings who were present on the night that Mahāvīra died instituted an illumination to commemorate him, for they said, 'Since the light of intelligence is gone, let us make an illumination of material matter'; 2 and this the Jaina claim to be the origin of the yearly festival of lamps, Divālī, which the Hindus and they alike observe.
Some Digambara give a different version of the saint's 1 It was only for sixty-four years after Mahāvira's death that it was possible for any one to obtain Kevala jñāna, but during that time not only Gautama but also Sudharma (on Gautama's death) and Jambū (on Sudharma's death) became omniscient.
* Kalpa Sūtra, S. B. E., xxii, p. 266.