Mahavira His Life and Teachings

Author(s): Bimla Charn Law
Publisher: Luzac and Co UK

Page 15

8
MAHĀVĪRA : HIS LIFE AND TEACHINGS
still, sleeping or awake, the unlimited knowledge and vision were constantly his continuous and unperturbed.' The Pāli aparisesa, occurring as it does as a predicate of that knowledge and vision, is just a synonym of the Jaina term kevala.
The teaching of Mahāvīra which commended itself to the Nirgranthas and satisfied them is characteristically represented thus 'Whatsoever a person experiences, whether it is pleasant or painful or neither pleasant nor painful, is due to his karma (totality of deeds) in the past Hence by extenuating through penance (tapasā) the effect of all past deeds and by not accumulating the effect of fresh deeds, the future gliding in rebirth is stopped , with the future gliding in rebirth stopped, the past is wiped out, with the past wiped out, ill is no more ; with ill no more, painful feelings are no more, with painful feelings no more, all ill is outworn (exhausted or negated)’2 Here penance (tapa) means the practice of austerities (dukkaracarıyā).
Mahāvīra is correctly represented as an exponent of the doctrine of action (kiriyāvādo) $ This doc
1 Majjhima, I, pp 92-93 , abid , II, P 31, Anguttara, I, p 220 , abid , IV, p 428.
2 Anguttara, 1, pp 220-221, Majjhima, II, p 214. 3 Anguttara, IV, PP 180-181.