Jain Journal 1969 07

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 12

My Homage to Lord Mahavira
P. S. LAMA
Jainism is one of the earliest religions of the world and Lord Mahavira is the last, but the everlasting, of Tirthankaras of this great religion. Mahavira is the greatest and rarest of the victors that mankind has ever seen. But it is a victory not of the sword, nor on the battlefield. It is a victory of the human soul over man's baser passions which make him a prisoner of himself. He becomes ‘Jina' and from this word is derived the name Jaina and Jainism. More than 2500 years have passed since then and hundreds of empires have been founded and lost but the road to victory that Mahavira gave to mankind is still shining in its pristine purity and glory. How wonderful indeed is this victory! The voice of ahimsā released by Lord Mahavira and Lord Buddha is still stirring the hearts of mankind through the ages. What a strange coincidence of history that the sacred land of ours—Nepal and India--saw the advent of Lord Buddha and Lord Mahavira, the two Princes of Peace, almost at the same period of history and at very nearby places Lord Buddha was born in my country in Lumbini in 560 B.C. and Lord Mahavira in 599 B. C. in Ksatriya Kundapura near Vaisali (Muzaffarpur) in Bihar.