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LORD Mahâvîra : A REVOLUTIONARY*
- Muni Dulaharaj
INTRODUCTION
Mahâvîra's life is an embodiment of love and compassion. He was the conscience of immortal India. He reached the pinnacle of spiritual awakening and preached what he realised. He never preached anything new, but accelerated the momentum of truth prevailing and called upon the forces of the past, lying in stupor, for setting the tone. Non-violence became manifest in him and he raised a clarion call for unity of all good forces to wage war against evils. He succeeded in his attempts.
Lord Mahâvîra appeared as a meteor in the Indian Firmament, flashed a beam of light, rent the darkness of ignorance and superstition of the people. He was a great prophet, the twenty-fourth Tirthankar of the Jains. He preached what then was called Nirgrantha religion, which in later centuries assumed the name of Jainism.
It is accepted by all historians that Jain relegion has a very hoary past. It is not the off shoot of any other religion, but has an independent existence. The twenty-four Tirthankaras were born in India, preached the gospel of non-violence and truth, enriched the culture of India and infused in people the love for all living beings without any distinction. Mahâvîra the twenty-fourth leader reformed the old and formulated new religious norms and principles to suit the time and space. He was not the founder of Jain religion, as some believe, but redical changes. Lord Mahâvîra : His Life
* Lord Mahâvîra : Life and Teachings, 1970.
