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Lord MAHĀVĪRA : 5
An Evaluation
Dr. S. B. Deo
M. A., Ph. D.
It is well over two and a half thousand years that the personality of Lord Mahā- vira illumined the religious horizon of India. And yet with the passage of several centuries, the influence of his teachings, instead of waning, as happened in the case of several others, is on the increase. His name still remains a revered memory and an envigorating spiritual force to thousands of people. What then, is the secret of this everlasting popularity ?
The answer lies in the review of the work done by the Lord during his lifetime. With his towering personality, his struggles against various hardships and hence his wisdom arisen out of his own experiences coupled with the zeal of a reformer and the patience of a missionary, he could rise to the occasion.
The two hundred and fifty years which are supposed to have elapsed between Pārsvanātha and Mahāvīra possibly saw, as evidenced by the Sütrakritänga, the rise of numerous sects and subsects loosely grouped into several monastic communities. The ritualistic practices in Brahmanism were again coming up to the forefront. The ideas about the superiority by birth and the privileged position of the priestly class were gaining ground. The commanding personality of Pārsvanātha was no more on the scene. Against such a chaotic background Mahāvira had to work.
He immediately grasped the situation and had the courage to declare
न वि मुंडिएण समणो, न ओंकारेण बंभणो । न मुणी रण्णवासेणं, कुसचीरेण न तावसो॥
The external appearances are no test. What is really required is the mental purity and the behaviour which would lead to such mental purity and the consequent equanimity. Therefore,
समयाए समणो होई, बंभचेरेण बंभणो । नाणेण य मुणी होइ, तवेणं होइ तावसो ॥
Otherwise fake ascetics would take the field. Hence the real brahmin should be
तवस्सियं किसं दंतं, अवचियमंससोणियं । सुव्वयं पत्तनिव्वाणं, तं वयं बूम माहणं ।।
It is the penance and celibacy that make a real brahmin. It is the ideal behaviour which implies non-attachment towards worldly matters that idealises a person.
जहां पोमं जले जायं नोवलिप्पड वारिणा । एवं अलितं कामे हिं, तं वयं बूम माहणं ।। Once this emphasis on actual behaviour, rather than mere sermons on it, was laid bare before the then somewhat demoralised society, Mahāvira led his attack on the caste system. He had the courage to declare that
कम्मुणा बंभणो होइ, कम्मुणा होइ खत्तिओ। कम्मुणा वइसो होइ, सुद्दो हवा कम्मुणा ॥ It is the Karman and not the birth that determines the social status of a person, These ideas were revolutionary ideas indeed! And the receptive intelligent ideological elements in Brahmanism welcomed these ideas. It is significant to note that the ganadharas of Lord Mahāvira were brahmins !
And yet more significant reformist aspect of Mahavira life is that he did not simply point the faults of others, and
