Jainthology

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

Page 65

initially named Vardhamana is an event-free record of his life in which his birth is narrated at some length, followed by his exit being not in response to any challenge, as it happened in the case of Guatama Buddha, but in fulfilment of a mission, his attainment of the supreme knowledge at 42 and ultimately his nirvāņa at 72. The only important event noticed in the Kalpa Sūtra is that immediately after Mahavira's nirvāņa, 18 princes who were present there declared : “The light of intellect is gone ; let us light earthen lamps." The hardships undergone by Mahavira as a monk, his differences with other schools of Sramaņa religion and unification of the remnants of the church of Påráva with that of Mahavira have been described at length in some of the older canonical texts. The myth about his life on which contemporary biographies of Mahavira are based must have developed long after his nirvāņa by people who had never seen and known him personally. The Digambara sources on Mabảvira's life, Adipurāņa and Uttarapurāna, were produced in the medieval period and were to a large extent based on myth.
Although we do not have details about the first 30 years of his life at the palace, it is certain that for the greater part of it he lived like a prince. This did not prevent his final exit. As a boy, he was endowed with a strong and graceful body, was fearless, courageous and intelligent and was by nature serious and grave. He desired to quit the palace at 28 but deferred it by a couple of years at the request of his elder brother. Thereafter he started his career as a monk with the motto 'all sinful acts become unworthy of my indulgence', and this part of his life lasted 12 years during which he visited different parts of the country, including 'non- Aryan' Rādha and Singhabhūmi and Vajrabhūmi in West Bengal and underwent severe hardships. In the 13th year enlightenment came to him. This made him Mahăvira or the Great Hero. As an omniscient personality, he lived for 30 years fulfilling his spiritual mission and inspiring and setting people on the road to liberation. If we are to believe in the account of the Kalpa Sūtra, the Church of Mahavira included within its fold several thousand persons outstanding in one field or the other. At the age of 72, Mahavira passed away in perfect health while delivering his last sermon, at Madhyama Pāvā, which it is widely believed to be near Nālanda.
Ha.
Metaphysics
Metaphysics for which another name is ontology, is devoted to the consideration of real or reals. It has been the unanimous finding
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