Portrait of Jain Religion

Author(s): Narendra Jain
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 51

CHAPTER-6
THE LEGACY OF BHAGWAN MAHAVIR
Supreme spiritual leader
Bhagwan Mahavir, the 24th and the last Tirthankar of Jain religion in the present time cycle lived from 599 B.C. till 527 B.C. His 2600th birth anniversary (JANMA KALYANAK) was celebrated in the year 2000 A.D. with festive rituals as well as thoughtprovoking conferences in all major capitals of the world. Mahavir has emerged globally in the front ranks of spiritual masters as an ardent and inspiring messiah of non-violence, peace and compassion
He made a distinct and ever-lasting contribution to the universal spiritual heritage through his elucidation and elaboration of Jain philosophy's principal tenets of Ahimsa (non-violence), Aparigraha (non-possessiveness), and Anekant (doctrine of manifold aspects and relative nature of truth) both as shaping an ethical art of living for humanity, as well as showing the path to eventual salvation.
He put focus on taking an integral view of life as propounded in the Jain philosophy. Neither faith nor knowledge alone could take the humanity to the path of true happiness and bliss. One needed a combination of right faith, right knowledge and right conduct. By knowledge, one understands the nature of substances (VastuSwabhava), by faith and perception one believes in it, by conduct one puts an end to the flow of karmas, and by austerity one attains purity.
Jain scripture Sutra Kratang describes him as follows: "Just as Airawat (Indra's elephant) is regarded as supreme among all the elephants, lion among all the animals, Ganges among all the rivers, and Garuda (eagle) among all the birds,
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A Portrait of Jain Religion