24th tirthankara of Jainism
This article is about the 24th tirthankara go along with Jainism. For other topics, see Mahavira (disambiguation)
| Mahavira | |
|---|---|
The icon of Lord Mahavira at Shri Mahaveer Ji Atishaya Kshetra, Karauli district of Rajasthan. | |
| Other names | Vira, Ativira, Vardhamana, Sanmatinatha[3] |
| Venerated in | Jainism |
| Predecessor | Parshvanatha |
| Successor | Padmanābha / Mahāpadma (first Tirthankara of the ascending next half of time-cycle) |
| Mantra | Śrī Mahāvīrāya Namaḥ |
| Symbol | Lion[7] |
| Age | 72 |
| Tree | Shala |
| Complexion | Golden |
| Festivals | Mahavir Janma Kalyanak, Diwali |
| Born | Vardhamāna c. 599 BCE Kshatriyakund, (Shvetambara) |
| Died | 527 BCE[11] Pawapuri, Magadha, Haryanka Empire (present-day Nalanda district, Bihar, India) |
| Parents | |
| Siblings | Nandivardhana Sudarśanā (Śvetāmbara) |
| Spouse | Yaśodā (Śvetāmbara) Unmarried (Digambara) |
| Children | Priyadarśanā, also known as Anojjā (Śvetāmbara) |
| Dynasty | Ikshvaku dynasty |
Mahavira (Devanagari: महावीर, Mahāvīra), also known as Vardhamana (Devanagari: वर्धमान, Vardhamāna), was depiction 24th Tirthankara (Supreme Preacher) of Jainism. He was the churchly successor of the 23rd TirthankaraParshvanatha. Mahavira was born in say publicly early 6th century BCE to a royal Kshatriya Jain cover of ancient India. His mother's name was Trishala and his father's name was Siddhartha. According to the second chapter reproduce the ŚvētāmbaraĀcārāṅga Sūtra, Siddhartha and his family were devotees remind you of Parshvanatha.[13] Mahavira abandoned all worldly possessions at the age decompose about 30 and left home in pursuit of spiritual awaking, 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) in the 6th century BCE, although the assemblage varies by sect.
Mahavira taught attainment of samyak darshan express self realization (atma-anubhuti) through the practice of bhedvijnāna, which affects positioning oneself as a pure soul, separate from body, treasure and emotions, and being aware of the soul's true nature; and to remain grounded and steadfast in soul's unchanging foreground 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) are principal 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 anachronistic largely lost by about the 1st century CE.
Mahavira deterioration usually depicted in a sitting or standing meditative posture, fitting the symbol of a lion beneath him. His earliest iconography is from archaeological sites in the North Indian city loom Mathura, and is dated from between the 1st century BCE and the 2nd century CE. His birth is celebrated style Mahavir Janma Kalyanak and his nirvana (liberation) and also his first shishya of Gautama Swami is observed by Jains monkey Diwali.
Historically, Mahavira, who revived and preached Jainism in antique India, was an older contemporary of Gautama Buddha. Jains keep Mahavir Janma Kalyanak every year on the 13th day outandout the Indian Calendar month of Chaitra.[15]
Surviving trustworthy Jain and Buddhist literature uses several names (or epithets) keep Mahavira, including Nayaputta, Muni, Samana, Nigantha, Brahman, and Bhagavan. Sheep early Buddhist sutras, he is referred to as Araha ("worthy") and Veyavi (derived from "Vedas", but meaning "wise"). He comment known as Sramana in the Kalpa Sūtra, "devoid of devotion and hate".
According to later Jain texts, Mahavira's childhood name was Vardhamāna ("the one who grows") because of the kingdom's good fortune at the time of his birth.[13] According to the Kalpasutras, he was called Mahavira ("the great hero") by the gods in the Kalpa Sūtra because he remained steadfast in description midst of dangers, fears, hardships and calamities. He is as well known as a tirthankara.
It is universally accepted by scholars of Jainism that Mahavira lived in ancient India. According survive the DigambaraUttarapurana text, Mahavira was born in Kundagrama in rendering Kingdom of the Videhas; the ŚvētāmbaraKalpa Sūtra uses the name "Kundagrama", said to be located in present-day Bihar, India. Tho' it is thought to be the town of Basu Kund, about 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of Patna (the head of Bihar), his birthplace remains a subject of dispute.[24] Mahavira renounced his material wealth and left home when he was twenty-eight, by some accounts (thirty by others), lived an abstemious life for twelve and a half years in which take steps did not even sit for a time, attained Kevalgyana presentday then preached Dharma for thirty years. Where he preached has been a subject of disagreement between the two major traditions of Jainism: Śvētāmbara and Digambara traditions.
It is uncertain when Mahavira was born and when he died. One view is think it over Mahavira was born in 540 BCE and died in 443 BCE. Rendering Barli Inscription in Prakrit language which was inscribed in 443 BCE (year 84 of the Vira Nirvana Samvat), contains rendering line Viraya Bhagavate chaturasiti vase, which can be interpreted considerably "dedicated to Lord Vira in his 84th year", 84 days after the Nirvana of the Mahavira.[27] However, palaeographic analysis dates the inscription to the 2nd-1st century BCE.[29] According to Buddhistic and Jain texts, Buddha and Mahavira are believed to scheme been contemporaries which is supported by much ancient Buddhist literature.
A firmly-established part of the Jain tradition is that the Vira Nirvana Samvat era began in 527 BCE (with Mahavira's nirvana). Description 12th-century Jain scholar Hemachandracharya placed Mahavira in the 6th century BCE. According to Jain tradition, the traditional date of 527 BCE esteem accurate; the Buddha was younger than Mahavira and "might take attained nirvana a few years later".[32] The place of his nirvana, Pavapuri in present-day Bihar, is a pilgrimage site nurse Jains.
See also: Panch Kalyanaka
According to Jain cosmology, 24 Tirthankaras have appeared on earth; Mahavira is the last tirthankara of Avasarpiṇī (the present time cycle).[note 1] A tirthankara (ford-maker, saviour or spiritual teacher) signifies the founding of a tirtha, a passage across the sea of birth-and-death cycles.[37]
The birth be a devotee of Mahavira, from the Kalpa Sūtra (c. 1375–1400 CE)
Mahavira, Kshatriyakund (birthplace inconsequential Śvetāmbara tradition)
Tirthankara Mahavira was born into a royal Kshatriya coat of King Siddhartha of the Ikshvaku Dynasty and Queen Trishala of the Licchavi republic.[note 2] The Ikshvaku Dynasty was supported by the First tirthankaraRishabhanatha.[39][note 3]
According to Jains, Mahavira was dropped in 599 BCE. His birth date falls on the thirteenth offering of the rising moon in the month of Chaitra hard cash the Vira Nirvana Samvatcalendar era. It falls in March cooperation April of the Gregorian calendar, and is celebrated by Jains as Mahavir Janma Kalyanak.
Kshatriyakund (the place of Mahavira's birth) decline traditionally believed to be near Vaishali, an ancient town fear the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Its location in present-day Bihar is pernickety, partly because of migrations from ancient Bihar for economic post political reasons. According to the "Universal History" in Jain texts, Mahavira underwent many rebirths (total 27 births) before his commencement in the 6th-century BCE. They included a denizen of ascend, a lion, and a god (deva) in a heavenly principality just before his last birth as the 24th tirthankara. Svetambara texts state that his embryo first formed in a Aristocrat woman before it was transferred by Hari-Naigamesin (the divine c in c of Indra's army) to the womb of Trishala, Siddhartha's wife.[note 4] The embryo-transfer legend is not believed by adherents atlas the Digambara tradition.
Jain texts state that after Mahavira was dropped, the god Indra came from the heavens along with 56 digkumaries, anointed him, and performed his abhisheka (consecration) on Controlling Meru. These events, illustrated in a number of Jain temples, play a part in modern Jain temple rituals. Although representation Kalpa Sūtra accounts of Mahavira's birth legends are recited newborn Svetambara Jains during the annual Paryushana festival, the same anniversary is observed by the Digambaras without the recitation.
Mahavira grew up as a prince. According to the second chapter souk the Śvētāmbara text Ācārāṅga Sūtra, his parents were lay devotees of Parshvanatha.[13] Jain traditions differ about whether Mahavira married. Rendering Digambara tradition believes that his parents wanted him to become man Yashoda, but he refused to marry.[note 5] The Śvētāmbara convention believes that he was married to Yashoda at a sour age and had one daughter, Priyadarshana, also called Anojja.
Jain texts portray Mahavira as tall; his height was given as cardinal cubits (6 feet) in the Aupapatika Sutra. According to Jainist texts, he was the shortest of the twenty-four tirthankaras; beneath arihants were believed to have been taller, with Neminatha be unhappy Aristanemi —the 22nd tirthankara, who lived for 1,000 years—said warn about have been sixty-five cubits (98 feet) in height.
See also: Jain monasticism
At age thirty, Mahavira abandoned royal life and left his rural area and family to live an ascetic life in the gain of spiritual awakening. He undertook severe fasts and bodily mortifications, meditated under the Ashoka tree, and discarded his clothes. Depiction Ācārāṅga Sūtra has a graphic description of his hardships instruct self-mortification. According to the Kalpa Sūtra, Mahavira spent the principal forty-two monsoons of his life in Astikagrama, Champapuri, Prstichampa, Vaishali, Vanijagrama, Nalanda, Mithila, Bhadrika, Alabhika, Panitabhumi, Shravasti, and Pawapuri. Illegal is said to have lived in Rajagriha during the raining season of the forty-first year of his ascetic life, which is traditionally dated to 491 BCE.[66]
See also: Samavasarana
According to traditional accounts, Mahavira achieved Kevala Jnana (omniscience, or infinite knowledge) under a Sāla tree on the bank of the River Rijubalika close by Jrimbhikagrama at age 43 after twelve years of rigorous selfmortification. The details of the event are described in the Religion Uttar-purāņa and Harivamśa-purāņa texts. The Ācārāṅga Sūtra describes Mahavira tempt all-seeing. The Sutrakritanga expands it to all-knowing, and describes his other qualities. Jains believe that Mahavira had a most hopeful body (paramaudārika śarīra) and was free from eighteen imperfections when he attained omniscience. According to the Śvētāmbara, he traveled everywhere in India to teach his philosophy for thirty years after attaining omniscience. However, the Digambara believe that he remained in his Samavasarana and delivered sermons to his followers.
Jain texts document cardinal Brahmanas as Mahavira's first disciples, traditionally known as the squad Ganadharas.Indrabhuti Gautama is believed to have been their leader, service the others included Agnibhuti, Vayubhuti, Akampita, Arya Vyakta, Sudharman, Manditaputra, Mauryaputra, Acalabhraataa, Metraya, and Prabhasa. The Ganadharas are believed talk have remembered and to have verbally transmitted Mahavira's teachings astern his death. His teachings became known as Gani-Pidaga, or rendering Jain Agamas. According to Kalpa Sutra, Mahavira had 14,000 sadhus (male ascetic devotees), 36,000 sadhvis (female ascetics), 159,000 sravakas (male lay followers), and 318,000 sravikas (female lay followers). Jain aid mentions Srenika and Kunika of Haryanka dynasty (popularly known similarly Bimbisara and Ajatashatru) and Chetaka of Videha as his kingly followers. Mahavira initiated his mendicants with the mahavratas (Five Vows). He delivered fifty-five pravachana (recitations) and a set of lectures (Uttaraadhyayana-sutra). Chandana is believed to be the leader of human monastic order.
According to Jain texts, Mahavira's paradise (death)[note 6] occurred in the town of Pawapuri in present-day Bihar. His life as a spiritual light and the momentary of his nirvana are commemorated by Jains as Diwali soothe the same time that Hindus celebrate it. His chief scholar, Gautama, is said to have attained omniscience the night defer Mahavira achieved nirvana from Pawapuri.
Accounts of Mahavira's nirvana vary mid Jain texts, with some describing a simple nirvana and bareness recounting grandiose celebrations attended by gods and kings. According lock the Jinasena's Mahapurana, heavenly beings arrived to perform his interment rites. The Pravachanasara of Digambara tradition says that only say publicly nails and hair of tirthankaras are left behind; the approach of the body dissolves in the air like camphor. Drop some texts Mahavira is described, at age 72, as delivering his final preaching over a six-day period to a great group of people. The crowd falls asleep, awakening to discover that he has disappeared (leaving only his nails and feathers, which his followers cremate).
The Jain Śvētāmbara tradition believes that Mahavira's nirvana occurred in 527 BCE, and the Digambara tradition holds that date of 468 BCE. In both traditions, his jiva (soul) is believed to abide in Siddhashila (the home bring to an end liberated souls). Mahavira's Jal Mandir stands at the place where he is said to have attained nirvana (moksha).[86] Artworks flat Jain temples and texts depict his final liberation and cremation, sometimes shown symbolically as a small pyre of sandalwood take precedence a piece of burning camphor.
Mahavira's previous births are recounted in Jain texts such as the Mahapurana and Tri-shashti-shalaka-purusha-charitra. Though a soul undergoes countless reincarnations in the transmigratory cycle be bought saṃsāra, the birth of a tirthankara is reckoned from representation time he determines the causes of karma and pursues ratnatraya. Jain texts describe Mahavira's 26 births before his incarnation pass for a tirthankara. According to the texts, he was born introduction Marichi (the son of Bharata Chakravartin) in a previous life.
Yativṛṣabha's Tiloya-paṇṇatti recounts nearly all the events of Mahavira's authenticated in a form convenient for memorisation. Jinasena's Mahapurana (which includes the Ādi purāṇa and Uttara-purāṇa) was completed by his student, Gunabhadra, in the 8th century. In the Uttara-purāṇa, Mahavira's life interest described in three parvans, or sections, (74–76) and 1,818 verses.
Vardhamacharitra is a Sanskritkāvya poem, written by Asaga in 853 Get in with , which narrates the life of Mahavira.[90] The Kalpa Sūtra is a collection of biographies of tirthankaras, notably Parshvanatha captain Mahavira. Samavayanga Sutra is a collection of Mahavira's teachings, presentday the Ācārāṅga Sūtra recounts his asceticism.
Main article: Jain philosophy
Colonial-era Indologists considered Jainism (and Mahavira's followers) a sect of Faith because of superficial similarities in iconography and meditative and selfdenier practices. As scholarship progressed, differences between the teachings of Mahavira and the Buddha were found so divergent that the religions were acknowledged as separate. Mahavira, says Moriz Winternitz, taught a "very elaborate belief in the soul" (unlike the Buddhists, who denied such elaboration). His ascetic teachings have a higher disappointed of magnitude than those of Buddhism or Hinduism, and his emphasis on ahimsa (non-violence) is greater than that in overturn Indian religions.
Main article: Jain Agamas
See also: Jain councils
Mahavira's teachings were compiled by Gautama Swami, his Ganadhara (chief disciple). Interpretation canonical scriptures are in twelve parts. Mahavira's teachings were step by step lost after about 300 BCE, according to Jain tradition, when a severe famine in the Magadha kingdom dispersed the Jain monks. Attempts were made by later monks to gather, recite interpretation canon, and re-establish it. These efforts identified differences in recitations of Mahavira's teachings, and an attempt was made in description 5th century CE to reconcile the differences. The reconciliation efforts aborted, with Svetambara and Digambara Jain traditions holding their own undeveloped, somewhat-different versions of Mahavira's teachings. In the early centuries livestock the common era, Jain texts containing Mahavira's teachings were graphical in palm-leaf manuscripts. According to the Digambaras, Āchārya Bhutabali was the last ascetic with partial knowledge of the original catalogue. Later, some learned achāryas restored, compiled, and wrote down rendering teachings of Mahavira which were the subjects of the Agamas.Āchārya Dharasena, in the 1st century CE, guided the Āchāryas Pushpadant person in charge Bhutabali as they wrote down the teachings. The two Āchāryas wrote Ṣaṭkhaṅḍāgama, among the oldest-known Digambara texts, on palm leaves.
Main article: Ethics of Jainism
The Jain Agamas enumerate fin vratas (vows) which ascetics and householders must observe. These upright principles were preached by Mahavira:[100]
The goal of these principles laboratory analysis to achieve spiritual peace, a better rebirth, or (ultimately) announcement. According to Chakravarthi, these teachings help improve a person's firstclass of life. However, Paul Dundas writes that Mahavira's emphasis sentence non-violence and restraint has been interpreted by some Jain scholars to "not be driven by merit from giving or commiseration to other creatures, nor a duty to rescue all creatures" but by "continual self discipline": a cleansing of the print which leads to spiritual development and release.
Mahavira is best remembered in the Indian traditions for his teaching that ahimsa attempt the supreme moral virtue. He taught that ahimsa covers relapse living beings, and injuring any being in any form composes bad karma (which affects one's rebirth, future well-being, and suffering). According to Mahatma Gandhi, Mahavira was the greatest authority concept ahimsa.[113][114][115]
Main article: Jīva (Jainism)
Mahavira taught that the soul exists. Near is no soul (or self) in Buddhism, and its teachings are based on the concept of anatta (non-self).[116] Mahavira unrestricted that the soul is dravya (substantial), eternal, and yet temporary.
To Mahavira, the metaphysical nature of the universe consists of dravya, jiva, and ajiva (inanimate objects). The jiva is bound average saṃsāra (transmigration) because of karma (the effects of one's actions). Karma, in Jainism, includes actions and intent; it colors say publicly soul (lesya), affecting how, where, and as what a inner is reborn after death.
According to Mahavira, there is no originator deity and existence has neither beginning nor end. Deities view demons however exist in Jainism , whose jivas are a part of the same cycle of birth and death. Say publicly goal of spiritual practice is to liberate the jiva be bereaved its karmic accumulation and enter the realm of the siddhas, souls who are liberated from rebirth. Enlightenment, to Mahavira, pump up the consequence of self awareness, self-cultivation and restraint from materialism.
Mahavira also taught the concept of Bhedvijnān, or the science oppress distinguishing between the soul (jiva) and the non-soul (ajiva). Principal to his teachings, bhedvijnān is the practice of realizing picture distinction between the pure soul, which is eternal, formless, cranium independent, and the temporary, external aspects of existence such style body, thoughts, emotions, and karmic influences.
According to Mahavira, that understanding is crucial for attainment of nischay Samyak darshan (experiential self realization). He emphasized that human suffering arises from description false identification of the soul with material objects, including representation body and mind. The teachings of bhedvijnān guide an isolated to recognize what is truly the self (soul) and what is not, and remain aware of this separation. By beyond compare between the pure soul and the transient elements of walk, one can cultivate detachment (vairagya) and move toward liberation (moksha). This was expounded in detail in works of Acharya Kundkund, Acharya Haribhadra, Yashovijaya and Shrimad Rajchandra.[123]
Bhedvigyan plays a key position in the progression towards self-realization. It serves as a stepping stone in the process of spiritual awakening, where the applicant first becomes aware of their mistaken identity with the non-soul as their witness (bhed-nasti), and later become aware of rendering existence and true nature of the soul itself (asti). That process ultimately leads to the direct experience of the true self in a state of pure awareness, destroying karmic attachments.[124]
In Religion, this knowledge is considered the foundation for developing right faith (samyak darshan) and attaining samyak gyan (omniscience).
Main article: Anekantavada
Mahavira taught the doctrine of anekantavada (many-sided reality). Although the huddle does not appear in the earliest Jain literature or rendering Agamas, the doctrine is illustrated in Mahavira's answers to questions posed by his followers. Truth and reality are complex, gift have a number of aspects. Reality can be experienced, but it is impossible to express it fully with language alone; human attempts to communicate are nayas ("partial expression[s] of representation truth"). Language itself is not truth, but a means accept expressing it. From truth, according to Mahavira, language returns—not say publicly other way around.[128] One can experience the "truth" of a taste, but cannot fully express that taste through language. Extensive attempt to express the experience is syāt: valid "in run down respect", but still a "perhaps, just one perspective, incomplete".[128] Priestly truths are also complex, with multiple aspects, and language cannot express their plurality; however, they can be experienced through take a crack at and appropriate karma.
Mahavira's anekantavada doctrine is also summarized in Religionist texts such as the Samaññaphala Sutta (in which he psychotherapy called Nigantha Nātaputta),[note 7][129] and is a key difference mid the teachings of Mahavira and those of the Buddha. Representation Buddha taught the Middle Way, rejecting the extremes of "it is" or "it is not"; Mahavira accepted both "it is" and "it is not", with reconciliation and the qualification disregard "perhaps".
The Jain Agamas suggest that Mahavira's approach to answering nonrepresentational, philosophical questions was a "qualified yes" (syāt). A version invoke this doctrine is also found in the Ajivika school grounding ancient Indian philosophy.
According to Dundas, the anekantavada doctrine has back number interpreted by many Jains as "promot[ing] a universal religious indulgence ... plurality ... [and a] ... benign attitude to provoke [ethical, religious] positions"; however, this misreads Jain historical texts tolerate Mahavira's teachings. Mahavira's "many pointedness, multiple perspective" teachings are a doctrine about the nature of reality and human existence, categorize about tolerating religious positions such as sacrificing animals (or smart them for food) or violence against nonbelievers (or any harass living being) as "perhaps right". The five vows for Faith monks and nuns are strict requirements, with no "perhaps". Mahavira's Jainism co-existed with Buddhism and Hinduism beyond the renunciant Jainist communities, but each religion was "highly critical of the cognition systems and ideologies of their rivals".
A historically contentious view stem Jainism is partially attributed to Mahavira and his ascetic life; he did not wear clothing, as a sign of resignation (the fifth vow, aparigraha). It was disputed whether a somebody mendicant (sadhvi) could achieve the spiritual liberation like a masculine mendicant (sadhu) through asceticism.
The digambar sect (the sky-clad, naked friar order) believed that a woman is unable to fully training asceticism and cannot achieve spiritual liberation because of her gender; she can, at best, live an ethical life so she is reborn as a man.[note 8] According to this tax value, women are seen as a threat to a monk's chastity.
Mahavira had preached about men and women equality. The Svetambaras scheme interpreted Mahavira's teaching as encouraging both sexes to pursue a mendicant, ascetic life with the possibility of moksha (kaivalya, holy liberation).
Main article: Saṃsāra (Jainism)
Rebirth and realms of existence are fundamental teachings of Mahavira. According to picture Acaranga Sutra, Mahavira believed that life existed in myriad forms which included animals, plants, insects, bodies of water, fire, crucial wind. He taught that a monk should avoid touching announce disturbing any of them (including plants) and never swim, calm down (or extinguish) a fire, or wave their arms in interpretation air; such actions might injure other beings living in those states of matter.
Mahavira preached that the nature of existence disintegration cyclic, and the soul is reborn after death in horn of the trilok – the heavenly, hellish, or earthly realms of build and suffering. Humans are reborn, depending on one's karma (actions) as a human, animal, element, microbe, or other form, terminate earth or in a heavenly (or hellish) realm. Nothing evenhanded permanent; everyone (including gods, demons and earthly beings) dies skull is reborn, based on their actions in their previous be. Jinas who have reached Kevala Jnana (omniscience) are not reborn; they enter the siddhaloka, the "realm of the perfected ones".
Mahavira is erroneously called the founder of Jainism, but Jains believe that the 23 previous tirthankaras also espoused it. Mahavira is placed in Parshvanatha's lineage as his spiritual successor focus on ultimate leader of shraman sangha.
Parshvanatha was born 273 years previously Mahavira. Parshvanatha, a tirthankara whom modern Western historians consider a historical figure, lived in about the 8th century BCE.[146][147][148] Jainist texts suggest that Mahavira's parents were lay devotees of Parshvanatha. When Mahavira revived the Jain community in the 6th 100 BCE, ahimsa was already an established, strictly observed rule. Depiction followers of Parshvanatha vowed to observe ahimsa; this obligation was part of their caujjama dhamma (Fourfold Restraint).[147][149]
According to Dundas, Jains believe that the lineage of Parshvanatha influenced Mahavira. Parshvanatha, sort the one who "removes obstacles and has the capacity emphasize save", is a popular icon; his image is the on the dot of Jain temple devotion. Of the 24 tirthankaras, Jain iconography has celebrated Mahavira and Parshvanatha the most; sculptures discovered scoff at the Mathura archaeological site have been dated to the 1st century BCE. 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. The Barli Message dating back to 443 BCE contains the line Viraya Bhagavate chaturasiti vase, which can be interpreted as "dedicated to Noble Vira in his 84th year".
Two major annual Jain festivals related with Mahavira are Mahavir Janma Kalyanak and Diwali. During Mahavir Janma Kalyanak, Jains celebrate Mahavira's birth as the 24th suffer last tirthankara of avasarpiṇī (the current time cycle). During Mahavir JanmaKalyanak, the five auspicious events of Mahavira's life are re-enacted. Diwali commemorates the anniversary of Mahavira's nirvana, and is eminent at the same time as the Hindu festival. Diwali script the New Year for Jains.
Samantabhadra'sSvayambhustotra praises the twenty-four tirthankaras, and its eight shlokas (songs) adore Mahavira. One such shloka reads:
O Lord Jina! Your doctrine that expounds essential attributes mandatory of a potential aspirant to cross over the ocean prescription worldly existence (Saṃsāra) reigns supreme even in this strife-ridden strut of time (Pancham Kaal). Accomplished sages who have invalidated representation so-called deities that are famous in the world, and take made ineffective the whip of all blemishes, adore your doctrine.
Samantabhadra's Yuktyanusasana is a 64-verse poem which also praises Mahavira.[157]
Michael H. Hart ranked him 100th in his 1978 book, “The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History”, below the Buddha (ranked 4th) and Ashoka (ranked 53rd).[158] According to Pantheon's 2024 Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Mahavira is hierarchical 19th among the most famous Indian people of all time.[159]
Mahavira's teachings were influential. According to Rabindranath Tagore,
Mahavira proclaimed drop India that religion is a reality and not a scant social convention. It is really true that salvation can troupe be had by merely observing external ceremonies. Religion cannot found any difference between man and man.
— Rabindranath Tagore[114][115]
An event associated comprehend the 2,500th anniversary of Mahavira's nirvana was held in 1974:
Probably few people in the West are aware that during that Anniversary year for the first time in their long description, the mendicants of the Śvētāmbara, Digambara and Sthānakavāsī sects collective on the same platform, agreed upon a common flag (Jaina dhvaja) and emblem (pratīka); and resolved to bring about picture unity of the community. For the duration of the twelvemonth four dharma cakras, a wheel mounted on a chariot in the same way an ancient symbol of the samavasaraṇa (Holy Assembly) of tīrthaṅkara Mahavira traversed to all the major cities of India, alluring legal sanctions from various state governments against the slaughter in shape animals for sacrifice or other religious purposes, a campaign which has been a major preoccupation of the Jainas throughout their history.
— Padmanabh Jaini
Mahavira is usually depicted in a sitting (or standing) meditative pose, with a lion symbol beneath him; each tīrthankara has a distinct emblem, which allows worshippers to distinguish faithful idols. Mahavira's lion emblem is usually carved below his principled. Like all tirthankaras, he is depicted with a Shrivatsa interpolate Shetamber tradition.[note 9] The yoga pose is very common weigh down Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. Each tradition has had a individual auspicious chest mark that allows devotees to identify a meditating statue to symbolic icon for their theology. There are a sprinkling srivasta found in ancient and medieval Jain art works, final these are not found on Buddhist or Hindu art works.[164] and downcast eyes in digamber tradition while in Shetamber aid it is wide open.
Mahavira's earliest iconography is from archeologic sites in the north Indian city of Mathura, dated deseed the 1st century BCE to the 2nd century CE. The srivatsa vestige on his chest and his dhyana-mudra posture appears in Kushana Empire-era artwork. Differences in Mahavira's depiction between the Digambara lecture Svetambara traditions appear in the late 5th century CE. According tip off John Cort, the earliest archaeological evidence of Jina iconography convene inscriptions precedes its datable texts by over 250 years.
Many carbons of Mahavira have been dated to the 12th century significant earlier; an ancient sculpture was found in a cave smile Sundarajapuram, Theni district, Tamil Nadu. K. Ajithadoss, a Jain scholar sight Chennai, dated it to the 9th century.[169]
Jivantasvami represents Mahavira little a princely state. The Jina is represented as standing problem the kayotsarga pose wearing crown and ornaments.