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Jain Digest
Mahavir Jayanti April 15
He spent the next thirty years traveling barefoot around India, preaching the truth he realized. The objectives of his teachings were to show how one can obtain the freedom from the cycle of birth, life, pain, misery, and death. This is also known as the state of liberation or nirvan or moksha. He preached that right faith (samyak-darshan), right knowledge (samyak-jnan), and right conduct (samyak-charitra ) together lead to the liberation.
He organized his followers, known as Jains, into a four fold order, namely; sadhu or monk, sadhvi or nun, shravak or layman, and shravika or lay woman. At the heart of Right Conduct for Jains lie five great vows: Ahisma, or non-violence
not to cause harm to any living being, Satya, or truthfulness
to speak the harmless truth only, Asteya, or non-stealing
not to take anything not given, Brahmacharya, or chastity
not to indulge in sensual pleasure, and Aparigraha, or non-possession
complete detachment from people, places and material things.
Lord Mahavir
By Pravin K. Shah Raleigh, NC
Lord Mahaveer was the twenty-fourth and the last Tirthankar of the Jain religion. According to the Jain philosophy, all Tirthankars were born as human beings but they attained a state of perfection or enlightenment through meditation and self realization. They are the Gods of Jains Tirthankars are also known as Arihants or Jinas. This nomenclature is explained below:
Jains hold these vows as sacred. The monks and nuns follow these vows strictly and totally, while common people try to follow the vows as far as practicable.
At the age of 72 (527 B.C.), Lord Mahaveer left his mortal body and achieved complete liberation. He became siddha, a pure consciousness, a liberated soul, living forever in a state of complete bliss.
Tirthankar: One who establishes the four fold order (Monk, Nun, Layman and Laywoman) of religion, Arihant : One who destroys his inner enemies like anger, greed, passion, ego, etc., and Jina: One who conquers his inner enemies like anger, greed, passion, ego, etc. The followers of Jina are known as Jains.
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Mahaveer was born in 599 B.C. as a prince in the state of Bihar, India. At the age of 30, he left his family and royal household, gave up his worldly passions and became a monk. He spent the next twelve years in deep silence and meditation to conquer his desires. He went without food for long periods. He carefully avoided harming and annoying other living beings including animals, birds, and plants. As a result he realized infinite knowledge and wisdom. This realization is known as keval-jnan.
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