Mahavira Religion

Mahavira

MAHAVIRA’S BEGINNING

In the religion of Jainism, there is believed to be 24 Tirthankaras (saints). The “Jaina tradition teaches that a succession of 24 Tirthankaras originated the religion” (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 2011). The last and most recent Tirthankara inspires the Jains the most, Mahavira. Mahavira is considered the “reformer and populariser of an ancient way of life” (BBC Religions 2014). He was born as Vardhamana in northeast India in 599 BCE. Recently, scholars believe that this date is 100 years early and that he probably lived around the same time as Buddha. The seventh to fifth century BCE “ was a period of great intellectual philosophical, religious, and social ferment in India” (Shah, 2017). In particular, the stigma towards sacrifices changed greatly throughout the world. There was a growing opposition towards animal sacrifices because “the doctrine of continual rebirth, which linked humans and animals in the same cycle of birth, death, and rebirth” (Shah, 2017) had gained popularity. The thought of reincarnation and karma helped reinforce the doctrine of nonviolence. Mahavira was one of the greatest leaders of the movement.

Mahavira was also a prince, the son of King Siddhartha and Queen Trishala. They were

He became a monk and reached the stage of omniscience. He also “taught a doctrine of austerity. He advocated nonviolence in all circumstances and the acceptance of the five ‘great vows’ of renunciation” (Shah 2017). According to tradition, he based his doctrines on the teachings of the 23rd Tirthankara, Parshvanatha. Mahavira also “systematized earlier Jain doctrines as well as Jainism’s metaphysical, mythological, and cosmological beliefs” (Shah,