Shraman Mahavira

Author(s): Dineshchandra Sharma
Publisher: Mitra Parishad Calcutta

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emancipation, internal and external in this context he found every political system a bondage and chose for himself a career free from such bondages
Jain scriptures are aphoristic in style The ninth Chapter of 'Ayaro' (Acharyas or Masters) reveals Lord Mahavira's spiritual career systematically However, its terse style renders the work incomprehensible in the commentary of 'Ayaro' the commentator has to some extent elucidated the allusions and references but the elucidation is far from satisfactory in crystallising the particular events I have elaborated the events on the basis of the available clues. Some unknown facets of the Lord's life have emerged from this endeavour and a number of aspects of his spiritual accomplishment have been discovered
In Buddhistic scriptures abundant biographical events of Lord Buddha are entwined with his preachings It renders Buddhistic instructions lucid as well as interestings The preachings of Lord Mahavira rarely occur with Illustrative events It results in the style being epigrammatic and tedious This awareness has led me to summon suitable events and to ensconse these into corresponding instructions It ought not to be taken as a flight of fancy I have sought to sieve the indications veiled in the Lord's preachings through my contemplative faculty and then present these in the present work The hero's deeds lend a biography its theme Inaction can never do so it is a common belief that Lord Mahavira was a propounder and a practiser of inaction It is one perspective of truth The other angle of vision is that Lord Mahavira stood for elevation, endeavour, enterprise and herculean effort He never endorsed inertness His endeavour was divorced from statecraft Hence the chapter of his career related to regality is brief His concern was with the inner realms of mind This chapter of his life has been abundantly enlarged and has in its turn enriched the biographical theme The twelve year period of his life saw unprecedented experiments in fearlessness and empathy. He wandered alone