Lord Mahaveera was a towering personality
- Anekant Jain
Jainism is one of the oldest living religions in India. Anciently Jainism used to be called Śraman-dharma. Antiquity of Jainism goes back to the Pre- historic period of Indian culture. We find references of Vratya and Arhats in Rigveda and Atharvaveda, the Oldest text of the Indian literature.
They were also known as sramanas in the Upanishadic period. We find citation of some Jaina Teerathankaras such as Risabhadev, Ajitanath, and Arishtanemi in them. It is a certain proof that Jainism in its oldest form as Vratya tradition was prevalent at the time of the composition of Vedas hence its antiquity goes back to the Pre- Vedic period.
Secondly, in Mohan jo Daro and Harappa, some seals of meditating yogis have been found, which show that the tradition of performing meditation and yoga was much earlier in the Indian culture. In these earlier days, Present Jainism was known as a Vratya-Dharma, Aarhat-dharma, and Nirgrantha- Dharma. Many shreds of evidence found also in the Vedic Puranas that our nation's name BHARAT VARSH became from the first Jain Teerthankar Rishabha's elder son named Bharat.
After Rishabhadev there were twenty-three Teerthankaras propounded Jainism and the last twenty-fourth Teerthankar Lord Mahaveera spread Jainism all over India.
The main aim of the Teerthankara Mahaveera's teaching
More than two thousand six years ago, The twenty fourth teerthankar of Jain religion Lord Mahaveera made a simple yet profound statement, based on the absorption of the non-violence into the fabric of his consciousness.
He realized-
“All of life is just like me. I want to live. So do all souls, all living beings. The instinct of self-preservation is universal. Every animate being clings to life and fears death. Each of us wants to be free from pain. So let me carry out all my activities with great care not to be harmful to any living being like me.”
He always advised his disciples to discover the truth after taking into account all aspects and giving them due to weight. This broadens one's outlook and trains the mind to accommodate the feelings and the way of life of other faiths and communities. He gave the theory of Anekāntavāda that is many- sidedness. Anekant encourages interpersonal and communal harmony by promoting tolerance in the community.
The same principle of tolerance can be extended to intellectual, social, religious and other fields of activities. Tolerance, as enunciated by Anekant, will end all inter-caste strife and communal violence. Anekant is thus the pillar of religious and social harmony and the sheet anchor of secularism. Anekant ensures peaceful co-existence of all shades of philosophical and religious opinions, paths as well as their followers.
Lord Mahaveera regarded the individual and his social responsibilities as the key to the progress of both the individual and society. The teachings of Lord Mahaveera are as useful and timely as they were 2600 years ago. They pointed to a new era of hope and promise for the masses delivering social equality, Peace, empowerment of women, non- violence, tolerance, and social justice.
Lord Mahaveera was a towering personality who has left a lasting impact in the form of his teachings for the spiritual advancement of the individual, protection, and conservation of all forms of life, and a rational, just, peaceful and secular social order. The teachings of Lord Mahaveera are as useful and timely as they were 2600 years ago. He put forward the doctrine of Anekāntavād that is many-sidedness and the doctrine of Nayavād that stands point, as a part of Anekāntavād. Without Nayavāda we can't explain the Anekāntavāda.
Reference
1 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion /edit-page/Mahaviras-Message--Of-Ahimsa- Anekant-/articleshow/36151960.cms#ixzz1AWbTBYHS
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