Mahavira Jayanti
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- In April, we celebrate the birth anniversary of the 24th tirthankar, Vardhaman Mahavir, the pivotal figure in the 5,000-year-old ascetic religious tradition of Jainism. Mahavir, born a
prince in 599 BC, renounced worldly life at the age of 30 and undertook austere penance till he achieved realisation. Not satisfied with keeping the knowledge of the highest good to himself, he spread
the message of salvation to the world. Thus started the faith of the 'Jinas' or victors of the soul. Mahavir was perceived in his times as a reformer who vehemently opposed the ritualism and
false beliefs which saddled Hinduism in later Vedic times. He led his followers instead to seek salvation through penance and abstinence. Mahavir himself was against idol worship. Even so,
today, many members of the community will perform the rite of 'abhishek'. They will make offerings of milk, rice, fruit, incense, lamps and water to the tirthankar. Some sections of the
community will even participate in a grand procession. Mahendra Bhansali felt that emphasis on external practices had crept into the faith with time and almost obliterated the real purpose of
the religion. Some academicians feel that Jainism was the oldest atheistic religion, as Mahavir felt there was no supreme being who could create or sustain the universe. The faith held that the
universe did not have a beginning, was endless and operated according to natural law. The goal of a Jain was to attain 'kevala' or, in other words, to transcend the universe by moving out of the
vicious cycle of 'karma', action and consequence
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