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The Life of Mahavira
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later became chief spokesman. It is related that they were together for six years during which time Gosala became thoroughly acquainted with Mahâuîra and his abilities. Mahâuîra described the six months of austerities which he thought necessary for the attainment of trese abilities. Mahâuîra finally attained kevalajnana (Dynamic Omniscience State) precisely 12 years, 6 months and 15 days after starting out on his search. Thus he was able to comprehend the mechanism of the universe as a whole and human nature in particular, which led him to the root of all problems. Career as a Tirthankara
Having left his princely state in pursuit of his goal, on his enlightenment Mahâvîra came back to share his knowledge with the community. The event of coming back is far more significant than his search. He gave his first sermon to an audience which included Indrabhûti Gautama, who was well-versed in Hindu scriptures and extremely proud of his knowledge. Through this encounter Gautama became his chief disciple (ganadhara). Eventually he had eleven ganadharas as his inner circle. He had a great natural organisational ability and as his followers grew in number, he formed "tirtha" (the order) of monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen. Also his daughter, Priyadarsana, who was married to Jamali, eventually became a follower of Mahâvîra.
To distinguish his ideas clearly from the prevalent influence of Hinduism, he developed a very versatile talent for coining new terminology, e.g. the lay followers were called Sravaka, those who are attentive (right) listeners, and monks were called sramana, that is, labourers on the spiritual path. He vigorously reaffirmed the concept of autonomous self-responsibility, that is, removing the idea of a God who influences the day to day activities of eyeryone. Further, he claimed "Every man has a right to and could attain nirvana by his own effort without the help of any supreme authority or mediatory priest.”. .
He preached equality to all living beings, including the equality of all mankind, i.e. abandonment of slavery, the caste system, animal sacrifices, etc. In fact, the leader of the order of nuns was a slave named Candanâ. At the other extreme, one of the kings of that time, Bimbisâra, became a staunch follower. (See, H.L. Jain & Upadhye, 1974).
