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Mahavira

Indian spiritual leader and the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism

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Shri 1008 Mahavir Swami
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Lab · Class 6–7Vedic Age

According to traditional legends and hagiographies, Mahavira was born in 599 BCE to a ruling royal kshatriya Jain family of the Nāya tribe in what is now Bihar in India. According to traditional sources like the Ācārāṅga Sūtra, the Nāyas were followers of Parshvanatha, Mahavira's predecessor. Mahavira abandoned all worldly possessions at the age of about 30 and left home in pursuit of spiritual awakening, becoming an ascetic. Mahavira practiced intense meditation and severe austerities for twelve and a half years, after which he attained Kevala Jnana (omniscience). He preached for 30 years and attained moksha (liberation) when he died.

Mahavira taught attainment of samyaka darshana or self realization (atma-anubhuti) through the practice of bhedvijnāna. This practice involves positioning oneself as a pure soul, separate from the body, mind, and emotions; being aware of the soul's true nature; and remaining grounded and steadfast in soul's unchanging essence during varying auspicious or inauspicious external circumstances. He also preached that the observance of the vows of ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truth), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacharya (chastity), and aparigraha (non-attachment) is necessary for spiritual liberation. He taught the principles of Anekantavada (many-sided reality): syadvada and nayavada. Mahavira's teachings were compiled by Indrabhuti Gautama (his chief disciple) as the Jain Agamas. The texts, transmitted orally by Jain monks, are believed to have been largely lost by about the 1st century CE.

Mahavira is usually depicted in a sitting or standing meditative posture, with the symbol of a lion beneath him. His earliest iconography is from archaeological sites in the North Indian city of Mathura, and is dated from between the 1st century BCE and the 2nd century CE. His birth is celebrated as Mahavira Janma Kalyanaka while his nirvana (liberation) and attainment of Kevala jnana (omniscience) by Gautama Swami are observed by Jains as Diwali.

Historical Mahavira

Although it is universally accepted by scholars of Jainism that Mahavira lived in ancient India, the year of his birth and some additional information about his life are "uncertain and debatable."

Dating

Traditional Jain-accounts

The Digambara and Śvetāmbara sects give different accounts of Mahavira's life. They agree that Mahavira was born in 599 BCE, but according to the Śvetāmbaras he died in 527 BCE, while the Digambaras believe that he died in 510 BCE.

Rapson notes that "The Jains themselves have preserved chronological records concerning Mahavira and the succeeding pontiffs of the Jain church, which may have been begun at a comparatively early date. But it seems quite clear that, at the time when these lists were put into their present form, the real date of Mahavira had already either been forgotten or was at least doubtful."

The Jain-tradition accepts the Vira Nirvana Samvat chronology, which starts in 527 BCE. The Vira Nirvana Samvat is based on the Vikram Samvat, which dates from the medieval period, and starts in 57 or 58 BCE, to which 470 years are added, giving 527 or 528 BCE. According to Rapson, this calculation is based on "a list of kings and dynasties who are supposed to have reigned between 528 and 58 BC[E]," and is not reliable, "as it confuses rulers of Ujjain, Magadha, and other kingdoms; and some of these may perhaps have been contemporary, and not successive as they are represented."

The 12th-century Jain scholar Hemachandra placed Mahavira in the 6th–5th century BCE.

Scholarly datings

There has been considerable scholarly debate on Mahavira's dates since the 19th century, and various dates have been proposed. While traditional accounts adhere to the timeline that places his birth in 599 BCE and his nirvana in 527 BCE or 510 BCE, "[s]ome scholars believe this date to be as much as 100 years early."

On the basis of chronologies in Hemachandra's Pariśiṣṭaparvan, some historians have dated Mahavira's birth to 549 BCE, and his death to 477 or ca. 468–467 BCE.

Ultimately, Mahavira's dates depend on the dates for the Buddha, who was a (slightly later) contemporary of Mahavira, which is supported by Buddhist texts. They both lived during the reigns of the kings Bimbisara and Ajatashatru of Magadha. Historians who accept the "Short Chronology" for Gautama Buddha's lifetime (ca. 480–400 BCE), argue that the traditional dates for Mahavira are also too early, by as much as one century, since Mahavira and Buddha were contemporaries. Dundas suggests that Mahavira may have died "around 425 BCE, or a few years after", and Long suggests "c.499–427 BCE" as his approximate lifespan.

Role in Jainism

Jain-accounts: successor

Jains believe that the 23 previous tirthankaras also espoused Jainism. Mahavira is placed in Parshvanatha's lineage as his spiritual successor and ultimate leader of shraman sangha. According to Dundas, Jains believe that the lineage of Parshvanatha influenced Mahavira. Parshvanatha, as the one who "removes obstacles and has the capacity to save", is a popular icon; his image is the focus of Jain temple devotion. Of the 24 tirthankaras, Jain iconography has celebrated Mahavira and Parshvanatha the most; sculptures discovered at the Mathura archaeological site have been dated to the 1st century BCE.

According to Jain tradition, Parshvanatha was a tirthankara born 273 years before Mahavira, which would mean he lived in about the 9th or 8th century BCE. However, "some scholars have suggested that Pārśvanātha and Mahāvīra were actually closer in time than the tradition claims", and that "Pārśva could not have started his ascetic career before the beginning of the sixth century BC[E]" and "may have passed away only a few decades before Vardhamāna [i.e., Mahāvīra] had started his preaching career".

Scholarly accounts: reformer

Mahavira is believed by historians to have revived and reformed an earlier Jain or proto-Jain community which had likely been led by Pārśvanātha, whom Jains consider to be Mahavira's predecessor. According to Moriz Winternitz, Mahavira may be considered a reformer of an existing Jain sect known as Niganthas (fetter-less) which was mentioned in early Buddhist texts.

Birthplace

According to both sectarian text Uttarapurana and Kalpa Sūtra, Mahavira was born in Kundagrama in the Kingdom of the Videhas. Kundagrama is said to be located in present-day Bihar, India, although the exact location of Kundagrama within Bihar remains a subject of dispute.

Kundagrama was identified by J. P. Sharma as a suburb of the city of Vaishali, and because of this, some sources refer to him as Vesālie.

Another potential location of Kundagrāma is the village of Basu Kund, about 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of Patna (the capital of Bihar).

Life-course

Mahavira renounced his material wealth and left home when he was twenty-eight, according to some accounts, and thirty according to others. He lived an ascetic life for twelve and a half years in which he did not even sit for a time, attained Kevalgyana and then preached Dharma for thirty years. The location where he preached has been a subject of disagreement between the two major traditions of Jainism: Śvētāmbara and Digambara. The place of his nirvana, Pavapuri in present-day Bihar, is a pilgrimage site for Jains.

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