Some Historical Jaina Kings and Heros

Author(s): Kamtaprasad Jain
Publisher: Jain Mitra Mandal

Page 19

his bow, its string carefulness in walking, and its top (where the string is' fastened) content, he should bend this bow with Truth, piercing with the arrow of penance, (the foe's) nailKarman. (In this way) a sage will become the victor in the battle and get rid of the sansara".
Such is a real battle and a true Conquest. But it requires great courage and a sacrificing spirit. Vell-trained people alone can engage themselves as warriors in it. The training begins with a simple code of ethics, consisting of Ahimsa, Truth, Nonthieving, Moral (sensual) Restraint and Limitation of possessions. The man who qualifies himself for. it becomes the spiritual warrior. Mahavira Vardhamana said emphatically that only the heroes of temporal life can become the heroes of Divine life as well. (Je kamme sura te dhamme sura). This has been the spirit of Indian heroism since the remotest age which modern India has resolved to revive.
But who was this Great Hero Vardhamana ? If we answer this in the words of M. K. Gandhi, the saintly leader of the national renaissance in India, we may say that He was the greatest apostle of Ahimsa India ever produced. He lived in the sixth century B. C. and was a scion of the Jnatra Kshatriyas, the then powerful ruling clan in the