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General Editorial
At a time, when the human race, despite its scientific and technological achievements, is caught in the grips of want, scarcity, suspicion, misunderstanding, conflicts, terrorism and war, there is being celebrated everywhere the 2500th anniversary of the Nirvana of Bhagavan Mahāvīra, one of the greatest humanists the civilised world has ever produced. The highest value which he set for judging human behaviour is man's reverence for life in all its forms: no violence is to be intended, expressed or inflicted through thought, word or act on any living being. This is known as ahimsā. Similarly, though a prince by birth, Mahāvīra adopted a mode of living with minimum attachment for the world and its ties. He controlled his desires and put limits to his needs; thus he found solutions to various problems of life and death. Not only he preached non-attachment but he lived a life which fully illustrated what it means.
His preachings are meant for one and all who seek guidance from him. Intellectual tolerance, i.e., appreciation of the point of view of others, is the hallmark of his philosophy.
It is necessary that authentic details about Mahavira and his times, and about his outlook on life are presented so that we understand him better and try to put his principles in practical life to the best of our ability. With this objective in view, here is presented a brochure, Mahāvīra : His Times and His Philosophy of Life. It contains two essays which are supplementary to each other with very little common details. The first is by the late Dr. Hiralal Jain. He wrote it in Hindi by way of Introduction to his edition of the Vira-jinimda-cariu
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