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23
LIFE OF LORD MAHÂVÎRA AND HIS
TEACHING
-Dr. K. R. Chandra, M.D. Ph. D.
It is held that Jainism is one of the oldest religions of India. It belongs to the Sramana fold that developed and flourished in East India. This system of thought was popularised by others also, namely, the Sânkhyas, Ajîvikas, Buddhists etc. Here we are concerned with the last prophet of the Jainas who belonged to the Sramana school.
As Jain tradition goes, there have been twenty-four Tîrthankaras. Rsabha was the first among them. He wandered from place to place, naked, with matted hair on his head. The references to the Vâtarasana munis, sisna devas and to Rsabha in the Vedic literature and the Puranas prove that the Jain tradition is corroborated by non-Jain sources. Nemi was the twenty-second Tîrthankara. He was the cousin brother of Krsna. Parsva was the twenty-third Tîrthnkara. He has now been accepted as an historical figure. The last Tîrthankara was Vardhamana Mahavira who was contemporary of Lord Buddha and of Gosala, the leader of the Ajivika sect.
Mahavira was born in the royal family of king Siddartha of Kundapura, also known as Ksatriya Kundapura, a suburb of Vaisali situated in the Videha country, now in the north Bihar. He was a prince of the Jñatr clan. His mother Trisala, also known as Priyakari was a princess, a sister of Cetaka. Cetaka was the head of Licchavi Repulic and was the President of the onfederacy which comprised of the Licchavis and Mallakis and the ganarajas of Kasi-kosala. Mahavira's elder brother was Nandivardhana who married a daughter of Cetaka. Srenika Bimbisara, the mighty king of the Magadha country was also related to Mahavira as he had married
