Mahavir Swami

--the Great hero

History Of The Lord Mahavira
 Lord Mahavira is often
credited with the advent of
Jainism in India. Mahavira is
not the founder of Jainism but
He revised the Jain doctrines.
He was more a reformer than
the founder of the faith.
 For a Jain, Lord Mahavira is
no less than God and his
philosophy is like the Bible.
Born as Vardhamana
Mahavir, he later came to be
known as Bhagvan Mahaveer
 Lord Mahavir was the twenty fourth and last
Tirthankara of the Jain religion of this era.
According to Jain philosophy, all Tirthankaras
were human beings but they have attained a state
of perfection or enlightenment through
meditation and self-realization. They are the
Gods of Jains.

 Lord Mahavira was born in the royal family of

Bihar on Chaitra Shud 13 in 599 B.C About 2594
years back.
 His father's name was King Siddhartha (Raja of
Kundalpura) and mother's name was Queen Trishala.
Mahavir was a prince and was given the name
Vardhaman by his parents. Being son of a king, he had
many worldly pleasures, comforts and services at his
comands.

 The young boy was a very bright and courageous who

showed extraordinary skills at a very young age. He was
obedient to his parents and served them with great faith
and devotion.
Trishala had 14 auspicious dreams before giving birth to Vardhaman, signs
foretelling the advent of a great soul.
King Siddharth and Queen Trishla with Mahavira.
JOURNEY OF SUCCESS

Early years
As King Siddartha's son, he
lived as a prince. However,
even at that tender age he
exhibited a virtuous nature. He
started engaging in meditation
and immersed himself in self-
contemplation. He was
interested in the core beliefs of
Jainism and started to get
further away from worldly
matters.
 Twelve years of spiritual pursuit

At the age of thirty Mahavira renounced his kingdom and

family, gave up his worldly possessions, and spent twelve
years as an ascetic. During these twelve years he spent most of
his time meditating. He had given up all worldly possessions
including his clothes, and lived an extremely austere life. His
courage and braveness earned him the name Mahavira. These
were the golden years of his spiritual journey, at the end of
which he achieved Keval Gyan. He was now a person of
infinite harmony,knowledge and self-control.
Keval Gyan
 Later years
Mahavira devoted the rest of his life to preaching
the eternal truth of spiritual freedom to people
around India. He traveled barefoot and without
clothes, in the hardest of climates, and people
from all walks of life came to listen to his message.
At one point Mahavira had over 400,000
followers. Mahavira's preaching and efforts to
spread Jain philosophy is considered the real
catalyst to the spread of this ancient religion
throughout India and into the mainstream.
Walking barefoot and without any clothes in hardest of climate.
Preaching eternal truth of spiritual freedom to people around the world.
 At the age of 72 years, he attained Nirvana (In
Jainism, this is called as Moksh) in the area
known as Pawapuri on the last day of the Indian
and Jain calendars, Dipavali. Jains celebrate this
as the day he attained liberation or Moksha.
 QUALITIES
 Mahavir denounced the worship of gods and goddesses
as a means of salvation. He taught the idea of supremacy
of human life and stressed the importance of the positive
attitude of life.
 His message of nonviolence (Ahimsa), truth (Satya), non-
stealing (Achaurya), celibacy (Brahma-charya), and non-
possession (Aparigraha) is full of universal compassion
 Lord Mahavir also preached the gospel of universal love,
emphasizing that all living beings, irrespective of their
size, shape, and form how spiritually developed or under-
developed, are equal and we should love and respect them.
 Mahavir was more of a reformer and propagator of an
existing religious order than the founder of a new faith.
 In the matters of spiritual advancement, as envisioned by
Mahavir, both men and women are on an equal footing.
 Mahavir preached that right faith (samyak darshana),
right knowledge (samyak jnana), and right conduct
(samyak charitra) together is the real path to attain the
liberation from karmic matter of one's self.
Spreading message of non-violence, truth, non stealing, celibacy and non-possessions .
ACHIEVEMENTS
 Mahavira opposed the wanton
human and animal sacrifice and the
misleading rituals in the name of
religious Yajnas for benefits in the
next life. As a more humane and
rational alternative he showed the
path of Ahimsa.

 He broke the established tradition

of depriving women in general and
men of lower castes from the formal
study of scriptures and indulging in
many religious activities. He
successfully rooted out the caste
system in his area of influence at
social and spiritual level.
 Under his influence the established norms of social status based on
caste, wealth, power and grandeur were shattered and new norms of
social status based on virtues and moral and ethical values were
established.
 He used Ardha-Magadhi, the lingua-franca of that period for his
discourses. Giving importance to folk culture and language of the
masses over Sanskrit, the language of scholarly few and the upper
class, he preached in eloquent and attractive style.
 The Shravakas (householders) in his organization included people
from all walks of life.
 The religious organization of Mahavir was founded on virtues like
detachment, equanimity, knowledge and discipline.
 The original contributions of Mahavir were Ahimsa as the basis of
code of conduct and relativity of thought (Anekant) as the basis of
spiritual purity and equanimity.
PUNCH LINES
Thank you