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Teachers' Notes
The story may be familiar to many children. The story of Prince Vardhman's bravery as a child can be used to explore the children's fears. Maybe you could lead them to discover that fear only exists where there is violence, and to be totally fearless one needs to be totally non-violent. Talk about the 14 auspicious dreams of Queen Trishala at the time of Vardhman's conception. They could draw pictures or colour the pictures of these 14 dreams.
The details of Bhagvan Mahavir's twelve and half years of penance would make a whole book on their own. It would help the teachers if they became familiar with some of the other incidents of Bhagvan Mahavir's life.
We have deliberately introduced words like Kevalagnan (kevalgyan)and moksha here. Though it may be difficult for children to understand these concepts at this stage, introducing these words could form the basis for introducing the subject of the nature of the soul, its properties and the concept of eternal happiness, or moksha, later. Some children grasp this much faster than some adults!.
Bhagvan Mahavir was born in 599 B.C. He attained nirvana in 527 B.C. Discuss these historical dates in relation to the dates relating to other religious leaders around this time to give the children a clear historical perspective of the time. A map of India with the location of the places of relevance should be shown.
What do these words mean?
kevalagnan moksha nirvana penance
Exercises
1. What name was given to Mahavir when he was born?
2. At what age did Bhagvan Mahavir become a monk?
3. Write down the names of the 14 dreams, under the pictures.
Write down the names of Bhagvan Mahavir's parents, and his brother.
5. Where was Mahavir born?
6. In which year was Bhagvan Mahavir born and in which year did he achieve Nirvana?
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