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Lord Mahâvîra
Man is higher than the gods, this is the main precept of Lord Mahâvîra. He declared "Man is great, not because he is endowed with the highest intellect, but because he has infinite strength to exert and work for his own emancipation. Man's consciousness is more developed than the gods' because of his renunciatory capacity."
Indra once wanted to conquer a mundane king by flaunting before him his material wealth and affluence. Mahâvîra said to the King, when he approached him: "Oh King" You are a man. He who knows the infinity of his own strength knows no defeat. Strength of renunciation is higher than the strength of accumulation." The King turned ascetic and the Kind of Gods. Indra, had to bow down to his feet.
Thus Lord Mahâvîra established the superiority of men over the gods and made them conscious of their latent strength. What is Religion?
The history of religion is as old as human life. So long as the mystery of life and death prevails, religion will play an important role in life. But the pertinent question is what is religion?
Defining religion, Lord Mahâvîra said: "Religion is the nature of the soul, purity unbounded. In other words, that which is bereft of all the passions is religion; freedom from attachment and repulsion is religion; to dwell in the self is religion and everything else is delusion."
The Lord continued: "Those who entangle themselves in the rigmarole of rituals can never realise the truth. Rituals are like a rough rind which covers the sweet fruit. The rind is essential for it helps the fruit to grow, but it cannot serve the purpose of the fruit. Hence those who give too much importance to rituals and ignore the main tenets of religion are like those who love the rind and not the fruit. Rituals are meant to inspire an individual to think of the 'Self' and go ahead in the quest of truth. They are the means and not the end. When their spirit is lost and they are made absolute, they should then be shunned and got rid of."
Once Lord Mahâvîra came out of the city of Rajagriha and went to Nalanda, where he spent the night. Early next morning while passing through the streets, he noticed at one place, some people engaged in philosophical discussions. He aproached them
