Lord Mahavira and His Times

SR No.: 011080
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Kailashchandra Jain
Publisher: Motilal Banarasidas
Publication Year: 1974
Total Pages: 427
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 20 MB

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Lord Mahavira and His Times
his Nirvāņa in 527 B.C. as recorded in the Jaina scriptures is not improbable.
8. If we assume this date of Mahāvīra's death to be correct, it does not conflict with the known facts of history. Chanda Pradyota, king of Avanti, died on the same night of 527 B.C. as Tirthankara Mahavira, and he was succeeded by his son Palaka. Chanda Pradyota is known to have ruled for 23 years, which implies that he became a ruler in about 550 B.C. Pradyota is known to be one of the contemporaries of both Bimbisāra and his son Ajātaśatru. According to the Jaina tradition, Mahāvīra died sixteen years after the coronation of Ajātasatru, and this period might have included some years of his Viceroyalty over Champā. It seems that he started his rule from about 535 B.C. His father Bimbisāra, is known to have ruled 28 (or 38) years according to the Purānas, and 52 years according to the Sinhalese chronicles. Hence his accession to the throne may be placed either in 587 B.C. or in 563 B.C. Since Gośāla is known to have died sixteen and a half years before Mahavira, his date of death may be presumed to be 513 B.C. As Buddha was a junior contemporary of Mahāvīra, he might have attained Nirvana a few years after Mahavira.
PERSONALITY
Mahavira was one of the great religious teachers of mankind. He recognized the need for the perfection of self and prescribed certain practical rules of conduct for the attainment of this aim. He did not preach to others what he did not practise himself. For the realization of such an aim, he believed in the blissfulness of the entire being. This happy state, he said, cannot be bought by the wealth, pomp, and power of the world but can certainly be realized through patience, forbearance, self-denial, forgiveness, humanity, compassion, suffering and sacrifice. For this purpose, he inculcated the doctrine of Ahimsa or non-violence in thought, word and action. Those who came under the influence of his personality, gave up the eating of meat and fish and took to vegetarian diet. This principle was at the back of many