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Lord Mahâvîra His Teachings
feature of Jainism. No one is free from the clutches of the results of his Karma. Each one of us has to reap the results of our actions, good or bad. And even the Tirthankaras are not exempted from this universal rule. So the Tirthankara Mahâvîra had to experience the effects of his past deeds not only in his previous births but also in his last birth when he was to become Tirthankara. If we compare the Jataka stories with these stories, one prominent difference catches our attention. The Jataka stories emphasise the development of the Bodhisattva with regards to various spiritual qualities of the soul. Which are responsible for making of the Buddha, while the birth stories of Mahâvîra emphasise the theory of Karma. This does not mean that in his previous births there took place no incident providing opportunity to develop spiritual virtues. Such incidents took place in previous births of Mahâvîra too but the stories do not put emphasis on them. It becomes clear from these stories that after reaping the fruits of his karma he comes out victorious and becornes a perfect man to guide the others to the path of perfection.
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It is needless to say that these stories are narrated in such a way that they betray the impact of the cotemporary literature of the Buddhists and of the Hindus.
And also we must bear in mind that no better person could have been found to illustrate the theory of Karma than Mahâvîra himself who was so much respected by the Jainas.
It will be appropriate if we illustrate here some of the incidents of his various births to show how the law of Karma worked in his
case.
Importance of compassion as a condition of right attitude is emphasised in the birth-stories of Mahâvîra. The first story is about a man, named Nayasara, living in a Jungle. He shows the right way to the ascetics who had lost their path in the jungle. Again, out of compassion he gave them food to eat from whatever little he had. As a result of this little act of compassion he was able to attain right conviction for spiritual life when he heard the preaching of these ascetics. And as a result of this shifting of attitude or interest from the worldly life to the spiritual life he became in his last birth the Tirthankara the ('Ford-maker') i.e. propounder of the path to the spiritual liberation for beings lost in the jungle or worldly life.
