Arihant ( ''arihant'', ''árhat'' "worthy of worship") in Jainism is a siddha who has not yet died and thereby lost all aghatiya karma. The Ṇamōkāra mantra begins, ''Ṇamō arihantāṇaṁ'' "I praise the arihants".

Arihant is not a synonym for ''tirthankara'', which refers specifically to certain arihants who have certain ''karma''s that enable them to become teachers.

Beliefs

Jains believe that the arihant has defeated anger, ego, deception, and greed. When that happens, the person has destroyed the four ''ghati karmas'', namely Jnanavarniya (knowledge blocking) Karma, Darshanavarniya (perception blocking) Karma, Mohniya (passion causing) Karma and Antaraya "obstacle-causing" karma. Thus the arihant obtains: # Kevaljnan, perfect knowledge due to the destruction of all Jnanavarniya Karmas, # Kevaldarshan, perfect perception due to the destruction of all Darshanavarniya Karmas, # becomes passionless due to the destruction of all Mohniya Karmas, # gains infinite power due to the destruction of all Antaraya Karmas.

Complete knowledge and perception means they know and see everything everywhere that is happening now, that has happened in the past, and that will happen in the future.

''Tirthankara''s are special arihants because they revitalize the sangha, the four-fold order consisting of male saints (sādhus), female saints (''sādhvi''s), male householders (Śrāvakas) and female householders (''Śrāvika''s)..

Jains believe that during every half-cycle, twenty-four persons rise to the level of Tirthankara. The first Tirthankara of the current time cycle was R̥ṣabhadēva, and the twenty-fourth and last Tirthankara was Mahavira, who lived from 599 BCE to 527 BCE.

An arihant is also called a ''jina'' "conqueror". At the time of nirvana, the arihant sheds off the remaining four ''aghati karma''s: # Nam (physical structure forming) Karma # Gotra (status forming) Karma, # Vedniya (pain and pleasure causing) Karma, # Ayushya (life span determining) Karma.

These four karmas do not affect the true nature of the soul and are therefore they are called ''aghati karma''s. After attaining salvation, these arihants are called siddhas.

In the Ṇamōkāra mantra, Jains pray to the arihants first and then to the siddhas even though the latter are perfected souls who have destroyed all karmas and are considered to be at a higher spiritual stage than arihants. Since siddhas have attained ultimate liberation, they are inaccessible, but arihants are still human beings and can offer spiritual guidance.

See also

Tirthankara

Kevala Jnana

Nirvana in Jainism

Siddha

Jainism and non-creationism

References

Category:Jain philosophical concepts Category:Jain deities

Mahāvīra ( "Great Hero", ''Mahāvīra'' and Arukaṉ) is the name most commonly used to refer to the Indian sage Vardhamāna (; traditionally 599–527 BCE) who established what are today considered to be the central tenets of Jainism. According to Jain tradition, he was the 24^th and the last Tirthankara. In Tamil, he is referred to as ''Arukaṉ'' or ''Arukadevan''. He is also known in texts as ''Vira'' or ''Viraprabhu'', ''Sanmati'', ''Ativira'',and ''Gnatputra''. In the Buddhist Pali Canon, he is referred to as ''Nigantha Nātaputta''.

Life

Birth of Prince Vardhaman

In a place called Kundalagrama (District Vaishali, Bihar) situated close to 'Besadha Patti', 27 miles from Patna in modern day Bihar, India, Mahavira was born to King Siddartha and Queen Trishala on the 13th day under the rising moon of ''Chaitra'' (April 12 according to the Gregorian calendar). While still in his mother's womb it is believed he brought wealth and prosperity to the entire kingdom. , which is why he was also known as Vardhaman. An increase of all good things, like the abundant bloom of beautiful flowers, was noticed in the kingdom after his conception. Queen Trishala had a number of (14 in Swetambar Sect, 16 in Digambar Sect) auspicious dreams before giving birth to Vardhaman, signs foretelling the advent of a great soul.

Jain tradition states that after his birth, the Hindu King of the gods, Indra, bathed him in celestial milk with rituals befitting a future Tirthankar and he was returned to his mother, Trishala.

Vardhaman's birthday is celebrated as Mahavir Jayanti, the most important religious holiday of Jains around the world.

Early years

As King Siddartha's son, he lived as a prince. However, even at that tender age he exhibited a virtuous nature. He started engaging in meditation and immersed himself in self-contemplation. He was interested in the core beliefs of Jainism and began to distance himself from worldly matters.

Spiritual pursuit

At the age of thirty Mahavira renounced his kingdom and family, gave up his worldly possessions, and spent twelve years as an ascetic. During these twelve years he spent most of his time meditating. He gave utmost regard to other living beings, including humans, animals and plants, and avoided harming them. He had given up all worldly possessions including his clothes, and lived an extremely austere life. He exhibited exemplary control over his senses while enduring the penance during these years. His courage and bravery earned him the name ''Mahavira''. These were the golden years of his spiritual journey at the end of which he achieved arihant status.

Ascetic practices

The Jain text of Kalpasutra describes Mahavira's asceticism in detail, from whom most of the ascetic practices are derived:

Later years

Mahavira devoted the rest of his life to preaching the eternal truth of spiritual freedom to people around India. He traveled barefoot and without clothes, enduring harshest of climates, meeting people from all walks of life who came to listen to his message. At one point Mahavira had over 37,000,000 followers. Mahavira's preaching and efforts to explain Jain philosophy is considered the real catalyst to the spread of this ancient religion throughout India.

At the age of 72 years and 4 and a half months, he attained Nirvana in the area known as Pavapuri, Nalanda, Bihar on the last day of the Indian and Jain calendars, Deepavali. Jains celebrate this as the day he attained liberation or Moksha. Jains believe Mahavira lived from 599-527 BCE, though some scholars prefer 549-477 BCE.

Previous births

Mahavira’s previous births are discussed in many Jain texts like ''Trisastisalakapurusa Charitra'' and ''Uttarapurana''. While a soul undergoes countless reincarnations in transmigratory cycle of samsara, the births of a Tirthankara are reckoned from the time he secures samyaktva or Tirthankar-nam-and-gotra-karma. Jain texts discuss 26 births of Mahavira prior to his incarnation as a Tirthankara. They are: #Nayasara – A village headman who secured or partial enlightenment in this birth on account of preaching of true dharma by Jain monks. #Demi-god in First Saudharma (Name of Heaven as per Jain cosmology) #Prince Marichi – Grandson of Rsabha, the first Tirthankara. # Demi-god in Fifth Brahma (Name of heaven as per Jain cosmology) #Kaushika – A Brahmin #Pushyamitra – A Brahmin # Demi-god in First Saudharma #Agnidyota – A Brahmin # Demi-god in Second Ishana (Name of heaven as per Jain cosmology) #Agnibhuti – A Brahmin #Demi-god in Third Saudharma #Bharadwaja – A Brahmin # Demi-god in Fourth Mahendra (Name of Heaven as per Jain cosmology) #Sthavira – A Brahmin # Demi-god in Fifth Brahma #Prince Vishvabhuti # Demi-god in Seventh Mahashukra (Name of heaven as per Jain cosmology) #Triprishtha Vasudeva – First Vasudeva of this half-time-cycle #Naraka in the seventh hell #A lion #Naraka in the fourth hell #A human being (Name unknown) # Priyamitra – A Chakvartin (The universal ruler of seven continents) # Demi-god in Seventh Mahashukra (Name of heaven as per Jain cosmology) #Prince Nandana – Accepted the vow of self control and gained Tirthankara nama karma. # Demi-god in tenth Pranata (Name of heaven as per Jain cosmology) #Vardhamana Mahavira (The final birth)

Philosophy

Mahavira's philosophy has eight cardinal principals – three metaphysical and five ethical. The objective is to elevate the quality of life.

Mahavira preached that from eternity, every living being (soul) is in bondage to karmic atoms accumulated by good or bad deeds. In a state of ''karmic'' delusion, the individual seeks temporary and illusory pleasure in material possessions, which are the root causes of self-centered violent thoughts and deeds as well as anger, hatred, greed, and other vices. These result in further accumulation of ''karma''.

To liberate one's self, Mahavira taught the necessity of right faith (''samyak-darshana''), right knowledge (''samyak-gyana''), and right conduct (''samyak-charitra'''). At the heart of right conduct for Jains lie the five great vows:

Nonviolence (''Ahimsa'') - to cause no harm to any living being;

Truthfulness (''Satya'') - to speak the harmless truth only;

Non-stealing (''Asteya'') - to take nothing not properly given;

Chastity (''Brahmacharya'') - to indulge in no sensual pleasure;

Non-possession/Non-attachment (''Aparigraha'') - to detach completely from people, places, and material things.

These vows cannot be fully implemented without accepting the philosophy of non-absolutism (''Anekantvada'') and the theory of relativity (''Syādvāda'', also translated "qualified prediction"). Monks and nuns adhere strictly to these vows, while the laypeople observe them as best they can.

Mahavira taught that men and women are spiritual equals and that both may renounce the world in search of moksha or ultimate happiness.

Mahavira attracted people from all walks of life, rich and poor, men and women, touchable and untouchable. He organized his followers into a fourfold order; monk (''Sadhu''), nun (''Sadhvi''), layman (''Shravak''), and laywoman (''Shravika''). This order is known as ''Chaturvidh Jain Sangh''.

Mahavira's sermons were preserved orally by his immediate disciples known as Ganadharas in the ''Agam Sutras''. Through time many ''Agam Sutras'' have been lost, destroyed, or modified. About one thousand years after Mahavira's time the ''Agam Sutras'' were recorded on ''Tadpatris'' (palm leaf paper used then to form books). Swetambar Jains accept these ''sutras'' as authentic teachings while Digambar Jains use them as a reference.

Jainism existed before Mahavir, and his teachings were based on those of his predecessors. Thus Mahavira was a reformer and propagator of an existing religion, rather than the founder of a new faith. He followed the well established creed of his predecessor Tirthankar Parshvanath. However, Mahavira did reorganize the philosophical tenets of Jainism to correspond to his times.

A few centuries after Mahavira's Nirvana, the Jain religious order (''Sangh'') grew more and more complex. There were schisms on minor points, although they did not affect Mahavira's original doctrines. Later generations saw the introduction of rituals and complexities that some criticize as placing Mahavira and other ''Tirthankars'' on the throne similar to those of Hindu deities.

Texts

There are various Jain texts describing the life of Lord Mahavira. The most notable of them is Kalpasutra by Acharya Bhadrabahu I. The first Sanskrit biography of Mahavira was ''Vardhamacharitra'' by Asaga in 853 CE

Quotes

"Once when he sat [in meditation]... they cut his flesh... tore his hair... picked him up and... dropped him... the Venerable One bore the pain." (from the ''Acaranga Sutra'')

See also

Tirthankara

Jain philosophy

Jainism

History of Jainism

Trishala

Notes

Further reading

"Sraman Mahavira" by Acharya Mahapragya

"Lord Mahavira and his times" by Kailash Chand Jain (1991) Motilal Banarsidass Publishers PVT LTD Delhi (India)

"Lord Mahavira (A study in historical perspective)" by Bool Chand ( 1987 ) P.V. Research Institute I.T.I Road Varanasi 5 (India)

"Lord Mahavira in the eyes of foreigners" by Akshaya Kumar Jain ( 1975 ) Meena Bharati New Delhi 110003 (India)vaibhav singh 8th

External links

http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/mahavira.html

Shri Mahavir Swami Jain temple in Osiya

Bhagwan Mahavir Swami's Message

Category:527 BC deaths Category:599 BC births Category:Ascetics Category:Founders of religions Category:Indian religious leaders Category:People from Bihar Category:Tirthankars Category:Sanskrit words and phrases Category:Nonviolence advocates Category:Jain pacifists Category:Indian Jains Category:6th-century BC philosophers Category:Jain deities

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