Mahavir Prince Of Peace

Author(s): Ranchor Prime
Publisher: Mandala Publishing

Page 16

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Prince of Peace
Introduction
of the hardships he underwent are preserved in the Archaranga and the Kalpa Sutras. People verbally abused him, boys threw stones at him and he was sometimes violently attacked without provocation by those who simply saw him as an incomprehensible stranger. He bore all these ordeals without complaint, and through twelve years of self denial and homelessness he eventually triumphed over the frailties of the body and mind to attain pure and perfect knowledge. Thus at the age of forty-two he began his ministry
The powerful King Srenika.ruler of Rajagriha, and his wife, Queen Chelana became devoted followers and gave Mahavira their protection. He organized his followers into four orders of monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen, and set forth strict principles by which they were to live. The hallmark of his teaching style was accessibility: He taught in the local dialect, which was unusual in those days, and he made use of simple parables to put across his message to the masses. His chief emphasis was on the practice of ahimsa--not giving violence to any creature, human or animal and practicing patience and detachment. He spent the last thirty years of his life teaching throughout modern Bihar, and died in 527 BCE at the age of seventytwo. It is said that by that time he had over four thousand monastic followers.
Mahavira taught that the soul is eternal, that it does not begin in time, but is subjected to the influence of different forms of karma that bind it to this world. The aim of religion is to rescue the soul from matter. This is achieved by following the rules of morality, and by practicing penance. Penances include fasting, self-mortification, study and meditation. Morality is compassed in the five great vows, which are:
Nonviolence Truthfulness Nonthieving Celibacy Nonattachment