Vardhamana Mahavira and Jainism

At a Glance

• Founder (real) Vardhamana Mahavira
• Predecessor Parshvanatha, 23rd tirthankara
• Born Near Vaishali (one tradition: 540 BC)
• Kaivalya At 42
• Died Pavapuri, near Rajgir
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Ancient History: Religious Movements, Mahajanapadas and Foreign Invasions

Where Does It Fit?

This is the second topic of the category on religious movements. The previous topic explained why new faiths arose, and this one covers Mahavira’s life. The next topic covers Jaina doctrines, spread and contribution. Previous topic: Causes of the Rise of New Religious Movements in the Sixth Century BC.

Who Were the Tirthankaras?

In short: Jaina tradition lists twenty-four teachers, with Mahavira as the last.

The Jainas believe that their most important teacher Mahavira had twenty-three predecessors, called tirthankaras. If Mahavira is taken as the twenty-fourth, the origin of Jainism goes back to the ninth century BC. Some Jainas believe that Rishabhadeva was the first tirthankara, but he is associated with Ayodhya, which was settled on any scale only by 500 BC. Most tirthankaras up to the fifteenth were supposed to have been born in eastern UP and Bihar, but their historicity is extremely doubtful, because no part of the mid-Gangetic plains was settled on any scale until the fifth century BC. The mythology of tirthankaras seems to have been created to endow Jainism with antiquity. The earliest important teachings are attributed to Parshvanatha, the twenty-third tirthankara, who hailed from Banaras, abandoned royal life and became an ascetic. His spiritual successor Vardhamana Mahavira was the real founder of Jainism.

What Do We Know of Mahavira’s Life?

The exact dates are difficult to fix. According to one tradition Vardhamana Mahavira was born in 540 BC in a village near Vaishali, coterminous with Basarh in Vaishali district of north Bihar. His father Siddhartha headed a famous kshatriya clan, and his mother Trishala was the sister of the Lichchhavi chief Chetaka, whose daughter was married to Bimbisara. Mahavira’s family was thus connected with the royal family of Magadha, and such connections made it easy for him to approach princes and nobles in the course of his mission. Initially he lived as a householder but, in his quest for truth, abandoned the world at thirty and became an ascetic. He wandered for twelve years, staying no more than a day in a village and five days in a town, and it is said that he never changed his clothes and abandoned them altogether at forty-two, when he attained omniscience, kaivalya. Through kaivalya he conquered misery and happiness, hence he is called Mahavira, the great hero, or jina, the conqueror, and his followers are the Jainas. He propagated his religion for thirty years, in Koshala, Magadha, Mithila, Champa and elsewhere, and died at seventy-two in 468 BC at Pavapuri near modern Rajgir.

What Is the Dating Problem?

According to another tradition Mahavira passed away in 527 BC, but archaeology does not support his existence in the sixth century BC, because the towns and settlements with which he was associated did not come into existence until 500 BC. The same objection applies to Gautama Buddha, discussed in Gautama Buddha and the Rise of Buddhism.

Other traditions about the early community are also tentative. The tirthankara list is not independent history: most of the first fifteen are placed in eastern UP and Bihar, regions that, on the evidence of settlement, were thinly peopled before the fifth century BC, and the association of the first tirthankara with Ayodhya runs into the same difficulty. Mahavira’s own connection with the ruling houses is firmer in the tradition, since the family tie with Chetaka, the Lichchhavi chief, and through him with Bimbisara, gave him access to rulers and nobles. His itinerary of Koshala, Magadha, Mithila and Champa also matches the main centres of the new agrarian economy described in the previous topic.

It is useful to separate three layers when answering. The first is the tradition, which gives a full biography with ages and places. The second is the textual layer, in which Mahavira appears as a contemporary of the Buddha and of Magadhan rulers. The third is the material layer, in which cities such as Vaishali, Rajgir and Champa acquire an urban character only after about 500 BC. The honest position for an examination answer is that the life is traditional and the dates are uncertain, while the social setting is well attested.

As an analytical point, the tradition gives a dating based on faith, while the material evidence suggests that large-scale urban life in the mid-Gangetic plains is later, and an answer should mention both. The social and economic context is in Causes of the Rise of New Religious Movements in the Sixth Century BC, and his teachings follow in Doctrines, Spread and Contribution of Jainism.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Origin of Jainism Standard Prelims topic
• Dating Traditions versus archaeology
• Links Magadhan royal connection

What Came Next?

The next topic describes Jaina doctrines, spread and contribution. Next topic: Doctrines, Spread and Contribution of Jainism.

Key People and Terms

• Tirthankara Ford-maker, Jaina teacher
• Jina Conqueror
• Kaivalya Omniscience
• Mahavira Great hero
• Parshvanatha 23rd tirthankara
• Pavapuri Place of Mahavira’s death

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions focus on Mahavira’s life and the historicity issue. These points add depth.

• Lineage Tirthankara tradition
• Connections Royal links
• Evidence Archaeology and dating