Lord Mahavira

Author(s): Boolchand
Publisher: Jain Cultural Research Society

Page 31

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Facts of Early Life.
The facts of the early life of Mahavira given in the several biographies whose names we have recounted above are very few indeed. The later accounts have connected him with certain anecdotes, myths and miracles; but they appear to have been culled from the other traditional sources and cannot, therefore, be justifiably recounted as the facts of Mahavira's life. There is, for instance, an anecdote in one of the Digambara books, illustrative of Mahavira's supreme valour, which runs thus: "One day, while playing with his friends in the garden of his father, Mahavira saw an elephant, which was mad with fury with juice flowing from his temples, rushing towards him. His companions, all boys, shocked and frightened on the sight of the impending danger, deserted their comrade and ran away. Without losing a moment, Mahavira made up his mind to face the danger squarely, went towards the elephant, caught hold of his trunk with his strong hands and mounted his back at once"
It is nevertheless a fact that the Jains never attempted to give a connected account of the life of this great Master as the Buddhists gave a life of the Buddha in the Mahavagga, from the obtainment of Enlightenmant to the admission of Sariputta and Moggallana into the order and in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, which recounts the events of Buddha's last days. The Kalpa-Sutra used a somewhat conventional style while writing about the great rejoicings that took place in the family and the town on the birth of Mahavira, about the illuminaaion of the streets, about the liberation of prisoners, and about the performance of numerous other charitable deeds. At the core of much that is conventional, however, a few facts would seem to clearly emerge. In person Mahavira seems to have been handsome and impressive; all descriptions agree on that point. The several names by which he is called in the Jain books Vira, Ativira, Mahavira, etc, all clearly indicate that the chief quality of his character was
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