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Tirthankara Vardhamana Mahavira
twenty third tirthankara Pārsvanatha and modified them in respect of the number of vratas to be practised by the monks and the laymen alike. Buddha said that Tathāgata had no theories of his own. Buddha did not feel that he was announcing a new religion. Radhakrishnan says that Buddha carried the tradition of the Upanisads. 69
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8) Buddha and Mahavira were not fatalists. They taught that we are shaped by the karma that we earn by our activity. The statement Kurmaṇye vadhikaraste presented in the Bhagavadgita, can well be interpreted in the light of the teachings of the two prophets as: 'We are the masters of our own karma'. We earn the karma that accrues to us and we only are responsible for the f.uits of the deeds that we do.
9) In this sense, we have not to depend on the grace of any higher being and even of God. For the Jainas it is not necessary to surrender to any higher being, nor to ask for any divine favours for the individual to reach the highest goal of perfection. There is no place for divine grace; there is emphasis on individual efforts in the moral and spiritual struggle for self-realisation. 70 Buddha said to his disciples "And now, brothren, I take leave of you; all the constituents of beings are transitory; work for your own salvation with diligence"." These were the last words of Buddha.
Mahavira was now 72 years old. For nearly 30 years he went about the country preaching the religion of anekanta, ahimsa and aparigraha. He reached the last lap of his journey. He came to Pāvā. Raja Hastipala was ruling the country. The Samavasaraṇa was arranged. Mahavira gave the last sermon at Pava. He was in the garden. He sat for his last meditation in the centre of the lake on a fine slab of stone. It was in the early hours of the 14th day of the dark fortnight of Kartika (Kartika caturdasi). 72 He was deeply engrossed in the highest form of meditation called the 'Sukladhyana'. He attained the state of Nirvana in 527 B.C. All the aghati karmas were destroyed. His perfection was the consummation devoutly wished for. Uttarapurana describes the attainment of nirvana by Mahavira in graphic terms. 73 munis attained the siddhahood along with him.
One thousand At this time,
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