Who is mahavir

From a scholarly perspective, most of the 24 tirthankaras in the current cycle are legendary, but the last few can be traced as historical figures. So, that's who Mahavira is. He is depicted in Jain painting and statuary as mostly naked, sitting in the meditation position. The spiritual themes associated with his life are extreme commitment and austerity. He is revered for his life's renunciation of regular life in favor of the rigorous spiritual path of meditation and ascetic practice.

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Mahavira Mahavira Mahavira is regarded as the man who gave Jainism its present-day form; although this is true only in the widest sense. Mahavira becomes an ascetic When Prince Vardhamana reached thirty years of age, not long after the death of both his parents, he left the royal palace to live the life of an ascetic, or a sadhana one who renounces all worldly pleasures and comforts.

Page from a Kalpasutra showing Harinegamesin removing the foetus of Mahavira, Western India, about Museum no. According to the Kalpasutra, before Mahavira's final rebirth, when he was after many lifetimes ready to achieve enlightenment, he took the form of an embryo in the womb of Devananda, a brahmin woman.

Sakra, or Indra, the king of the gods, believed that it was not fitting for a future great spiritual leader to be born to a woman of the brahmin caste and that he should be born instead into a royal family of warrior caste.

Accordingly the commander of Indra's army, Harinegamesin, who is depicted with a goat's head or sometimes an antelope's , removed the embryo and transplanted it into the womb of a woman of the warrior caste ksatriya called Trisala. Page from a Kalpasutra manuscript showing the birth of Mahavira, Gujarat, Western India, 16th century. Trisala experienced 14 auspicious dreams, interpreted as foretelling the birth of a universal sovereign or a spiritual leader.

The dream images had also been seen by Devananda when Mahavira was in her womb. Mahavira was subsequently born to Trisala and her husband, King Siddhartha, and was given the name Vardhamana. Page from a Kalpasutra manuscript showing Mahavira giving alms, Western India, late 15th-early 16th century. In adult life Mahavira renounced the householder's life and all his worldly wealth and power, and became a homeless mendicant.

He is often shown giving away his possessions to the poor. Page from a Kalpasutra manuscript showing Mahavira plucking out his hair, attended by Indra, Western India, late 15th - early 16th century. Mahavira is seen here plucking out his hair to embark on their path of austerities.