Tirthankar Mahavir

Amongst all the planets of the solar system, earth is the most beautiful. On its floor, 2613 years back, on Chetra Shukla Treyodasi (27th March, 598, B.C.), Vardhamaan Mahavir was born at Shatriye Kund Gram in Vaishali. He devoted his entire life towards social welfare and welfare of the soul. According to Acharya Hazari Prasad Diwedi, “Lord Mahavir is one of the pure souls on which India could be proud in true sense”. Inspirations from such great personalities had made the world a fabulous place to live. But, several years after them, today the headlines of the newspapers have forced us into deep thoughtfulness.

According to the research conducted by London’s East Angilia University, human race is a danger for the four layers of ozone. As a result of global warming, glaciers are melting, oceans are getting poisonous, earth is shivering and the mountains are trembling. Heap of ultra-modern weapons and uncountable missiles at large are ready to finish the human race. Siblings are harming each other due to their addiction to selfishness.

In the present scenario, in order to save the world from destructive situations, the principles of Lord Mahavir need to be recalled again. As a religious preacher, Lord Mahavir established non-violence. He said, “Panya veera Mahavihi” (1/37 Aacharang), which means non-violence is the path of the courageous. The follower of this path needs to not only protect the humans but also have to safeguard the lives of all the living creatures, whether on earth, water, air, fire or vegetables. Had we followed the preaching of Mahavir and not had hollowed the earth through numerous dynamites, we would have been saved from undergoing the massive tragedy of Uttrakhand.

His message from ‘Atmavat sarv bhuteshu’ need to be delivered to each and every person so that the extreme misuse of all the living creatures on earth and pollution could be controlled and also the creatures could be saved from disasters such as draught and tsunami.  Inspired by the non-violence principle of Mahavir, Mahatma Gandhi brought freedom to India from the British rule through his non-violence strategies. Even today, through the power of non-violence, there could be peaceful environment spread all across the globe.

There was a secret behind the healthiness of body, mind & soul of Lord Mahavir in which vegetarianism was also a major factor.

‘Anekanth’ and ‘Syaddhadh’ are also Lord Mahavir’s wonderful gifts to the world. Every single thing in this world has its unique nature. ‘Anekanth’ is to observe and know each and every thing with different perspectives. ‘Syadhvadh’ is the way of expressing the thoughtfulness of anekanth. In this way, accepting all the aspects of truthfulness, with the coordination of conceptual diversities, introduces the role model example of ‘Sarva Rashtriya Sambhav’, ‘Sarva Dharm Sambhav’ and ‘Sarv Vyakti Sambhav’. After the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, if all the parliaments are provided with the training of ‘Anekanth’ and ‘Syadhvadh’ then undoubtedly, the Indian democracy can run smoothly and establish a new history.

Through the philosophies of ‘Aparigrah’ and ‘Icchaa Parinam’, Lord Mahavir granted man with the secret of staying happy. The endless desires of man and to fulfil those desires, the increase in injustice, torture and use of inappropriate methods has given birth to corruption which abolishes the growth of the nation. Today, the philosophy of ‘Icchha Parinam’ can be a strong weapon in decreasing the wall between poor and rich and in demolishing corruption in the nation.

Establishing the philosophies of ‘Brahmacharya’ and ‘Swadaar Santosh’, Lord Mahavir taught man to have a control over his senses, desires and lust. In the present India scenario, the security of a 4 years old child till a 70 years old woman is a major question. An answer to this question lies in the philosophy of ‘Swadaar Santosh’, which means to have sexual satisfaction with one’s partner only.

‘Equality in creatures’ is another revolutionary philosophy proposed by Lord Mahavir. He said, “Nno Hinne, Nno Airatte, Nno Piheye (3/49Aacharang)”.  This means, nobody is inferior, nobody has surplus and nobody is untouchable. All the living creatures have even soul. If this thought is clearly understood people, then issues such as reservations, communal riots and honour killing can be resolved.

In true sense, to recognise Lord Mahavir means to strive from roughness to fineness, to march from darkness towards light. In short, Lord Mahavir was such a great soul who invoked the devotees to be like God by laying examples of the soul’s eternal knowledge, eternal sight and eternal power. By adopting the philosophy of ‘Sarvajan Hitaye, Sarvajan Sukhaye’, every person could become a responsible citizen and the present problems of the world could be solved. Therefore, to know such a great soul, one needs to light up the wisdom within oneself and by lighting candle by candle, need to make attempts to brighten up the entire world. Only then can Lord Mahavir be recalled truly.