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Lord Mahavira His Teachings
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Mahâvîra, only these two names occur there. And at the end of each of the four parts of the chapter nine he is mentioned as Mahana. This seems to be quite curious because in later stories he is described as a Ksatriya, and not as a Brahmana. This mention of Mahâvîra as Mahana may be due to his persistence in saying that a true ascetic is a real Brahmana (Uttaradhyayana 25.19.35). It may be also due to his confession that he was the son of a Brahmin woman Devananda whose husband was a Brahmin Rsabhadatta (Bhagavati 9.33). It has remained a mystery for us as to why the story of the change of embryo has been introduced. There are many explanations but we are not concerned with them here.
The second stage of Mahâvîra's life-story is found in the Kalpasutra and in the second part of the Acaranga which though included in the canonical literature are quite late. Here for the first time we get the information about his life as a house-holder. Names of his father, mother, clan and other relatives are given. V not find here any important incident of his life as a house- hold or as an ascetic. We find only long descriptions of the dreams of his two mothers, of the change of embryo by a god, of the incident of his showing compassion for his mother by remaining quite motionless in the womb and of the mythological gods rejoicing on his birth, requesting him to establish the Tîrtha and celebrating the beginning of his ascetic life, etc. The information abo age, the dates of his birth, world renunciation etc. and his stay at various places during monsoon is given. For the first time mythological elements are found at this stage. And in other canonical works such as Bhagavati this mythological elements are gaining ground. In the canonical literature his preachings and encounter with others are described.
The third stage can be found in the Avasivakanirvukti and its various commentaries like Bhasya, Curni, etc. and also in the Jaina Puranas wherein his life forms a part of the Jaina mythology of 24 Tirthankaras. At this stage a new tupic of his previous births is added. Again, at this stage for the first time we see his connexion with the first Tirthankara Rsabha. Here we are told that in one of his previous births he was a grandson of Rsabha and a son of Bharata, the first Cakravarti. At this stage we find his life-story in details. Later authors follow these details.
