Siddhachalam NJ 1990 04 Mahavir Jayanti

Author(s): Siddhachalam NJ
Publisher: USA International Mahavir Jain Mission Siddhachalam

Page 13

Smt. TULSI JAYARAMAN
NOTED POET, WRITER, THINKER GREAT EXPONENT OF INDIAN CULTURE
TIRTHANKAR MAHAVIRA
Noble souls come to the world as though ordained by destiny or God. When the time needs them, they come to accompolish great service the the humanity and as their task is done, they end their mortal life. Such a noble soul was Tirthankar Mahavira. He was born in 599 B.C. as the second son to a Kshatriya Chieftain in Magadha, the modern Bihar. At the age of twentyeight he took to spiritual way of life. For twelve years he led the life of austerities. Thereafter he was recognized as a prophet of the Jainas or a Tirthankara -- the founder of the path. He became renowned as Mahavira, the great hero, Jina, the spiritual conqueror and so on. The last thirty years he spent in preaching his religious system, organizing his order of ascetics or Munis. Vardhamana was Mahavira and the earlier name given to him by his parents. He was the elder contemporary of Mahatma Buddha.
As the learned say Truth is one,
and the sages describe it in different ways, we see a lot of similarity between the great utterances of Mahavira and the saying of Hindu scriptures. Mahavira wanted to reach the common man those days. Hence, instead of the classical language, Sanskrit, he used Prakrit language which was understood by almost all in the northern part of India, during his time.
Those were the days when people could not have the facilities of printing. Great sayings had to be remembered and to be passed on the others orally. Mahavira's beautiful words of wisdom were listened by his disciples and they tried to retain them in their memory. After Mahavira's beautiful words of wisdom were listened by his disciples and they tried to retain them in their memory. After Mahavira's mortal end, the disciples got scattered here and there. The disciples who were remembering his words became lesser and lesser in numbers. After Mahavira, only in the ninth century A.D., a big jain conference was held under the Presidentshipof SKANLDILACHARYA and NAGARJUNA. That was the first time when Mahavira's words of wisdom were compiled.
Mahavira's most of the sayings were of renunciation which led the life away from the material life of attraction and enjoyment. They remind us of the earlier Hindu scriptures like Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita. In the immortal compilation of Mahavira's sayings, there is a chapter called SATYA SUTRA, in which he says - - Noble person is he who never utters sinful words, even out of anger, desire or humor. Here we recall the words of the codifier of the Hindu Dharma, the great Manu who said -- Even if it is the truth, do not utter it if it would hurt anybody. A man of self control is very much praised in the Hindu scriptures. So too Mahavira praises the pure life of celibacy (Brahmacharya).
Violence, falsehood, stealing and unwanted hoarding, according to Mahavira, are sinful acts. He calls them as ANAASRAVA. Krishna too in the Bhagavad Gita says there are three doorways to hell. They are desire, anger and craziness (lobha). They should be avoided. In the chapter VINAYASUTRA, Mahavira very beautifully explains about the greatness of humility. According to
him, humility leads us to the path of righteousness and liberation is its ultimate goal. Hinduism talks about humility as the greatest jewel of a man of noble character. Jesus Christ remarks -- let a man humble himself till he is like this child, and he will be the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.
In our day-to-day life there are many small things to be observed; they may seeem small, but they build up our inner personality which is known as character. Mahavira wonderfully remarks about such things. He says let us not be always laughing. Let us have control over our senses; let us not use harsh words and hurt anybody. Let us not fall a prey to sensuousness. These words of wisdom are not merely for Munis; they are for all of us who lead the worldly life.
It may be probably difficult to follow the path of Mahavira word to word. But even the little practice will make us shine in life. In Jainism, Mahavira gives fifteen good qualities for a noble person. Such a person is known as SUVINITA. One need not be a Jain to follow this. Let us see what they are and strive to follow them as much as we can.
1. Let us not be arrogant, let us be humble. 2. Let us not be weak-minded, let us be steady.
3. Let us not be trickish, let us be simple in nature.
4. Let us not be inquisitive, let us be serene. 5. Let us not behave carelessly with any body.
6. Let us not entertain anger in us. 7. Let us be kind towards all.
MAHAVIR JAYANTI SOUVENIR
8. Let us not be proud of our learning. 9. Let us not point out anybody's mistake. 10.Let us be friendly with all. 11. Let us not entangle ourselves in any dispute. 12.Let us be wise.
13.Let us be of good character. 14.Let us be pure at heart.
15.Let us be in perfect uprightness with out a shattered mind.
There are the words of wisdom which remind us of the immortal verses of Bhaja Govindam of Adi Sankara. Thus we see that noble souls never differ; they are seldom contradictory to one another. They utter the same great truth, but their language and style differ according to the time and place.
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