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Mahâvîra and his Philosophy of Life
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A large amount of literature, both ancient and modern, is available on the life and activities of Mahâvîra; and many myths, miracles and legends have grown about his personality, as usual with all religious dignitaries. Scientific and historical scrutiny unaffected by sectarian prejudice and religious bias is made difficult by the very nature of the sources from which the information has to be gleaned. What I have attempted above is a bare outline of Mahâvîra's biography. If it is difficult, or beyond the means of historical study, to know all about Mahâvîra, in my humble opinion, it is more important to understand and put into practice the principles preached by Mahâvîra than to discuss this detail or that about his personal life.
In this connection, I make a little digression of introducing some aspects of Vaishali, the birthplace of Mahâvîra. The town was at its height of prosperity, and by its assosiation with Mahâvîra it became far-famed in the religious world of India.
Teachers from Vaishali preached great principles for the uplift of humanity and lived an austere life of fasts and penances; and Mahâvîra stood out as the most prominent of his contemporaries. According to the Mahavastu, Buddha sought his first teachers in Alara and Uddaka at Vaishali and 'even started his life as a Jain under their teachings.' After discovering his Middle Path, he became more and more honoured at Vaishali, receiving even royal reception: the city built for him a Kutagara-sala, a pinnacled rest house, in its suburban park known as the Mahavana. It is at Vaishali that the Second Buddhist Council was held; and it came to be looked upon as a holy spot where differences in the Sangha could be ironed out. His celebrated disciple Amrapali was a resident of Vaishali at which place she bequeathed her park to Buddha and the community. Vaishali had its political significance too. It had a Republican Government, and King Chetaka, the Licchavi Republican President, organized a Federation of Republics comprising Mallakis, and 18 Ganarajas of Kasikosala, besides the 9. Licchavi Republics. The working of the Vajjian Confederation, so vividly described in the Dighanikaya, is an unique example of its kind and essentially contributed to the efficiency and solidarity of the Republic. Further Vaishali was a commercial capital where seals were
