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Timeless Message of Bhagwan Mahavira opportunity to listen to them. Women were ill-treated, treated as slaves; as chattel with no identity of their own. Caste distinctions were rampant and untouchability ruled the roost. The low-caste people were subjected to insults and indignities. Enmity was a virtue and shedding blood a sport. It was in such terrible times that Mahavira was born 2600 years ago, shedding luminous light, dispelling darkness.
Sanskrit was the language of the upper caste people, a language not understood by ordinary people. All philosophical discussions were in Sanskrit which were beyond the ken of the common people. Those, who spoke the common language of the ordinary people, were considered inferior, not worthy of respect. The so-called enlightened ones did not remove ignorance. On the contrary they perpetuated it, for knowledge was the preserve of only few. The Shudras (of low caste) and women were not allowed to read the Vedas and those who dared were punished.
The first thing Bhagwan Mahavira did was to break the dominance of Sanskrit - the language of the elite. He said, "Knowledge is not for the knowledgeable, but for the ordinary people, too. Speak the language which they understand." Ardhmagadhi was the language used by the masses and so he began to preach in that language. He expounded the mysteries of existence and religion in easy-to-understand language. Earlier people did not understand the pandits (scholars), but now they did. Women in Mahavira's time were denied social and religious rights and had to depend on men. They were sold as a commodity and were denied decent existence. Mahavira ushered in a revolution. He brought about two reforms. He laid emphais on celibacy and said that if a woman becomes a sadhvi
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