CHAPTER III
NIRGRANTHA
MAHAVIRA
1.The great
Renunciation:
Young Prince Mahavira was passing his days in
the
As this stage on one day Mahavira remembered his earlier births and it created an
excessive stir in his mind. The memory of his earlier births strengthened his
feelings of dissatisfaction towards wordly pleasures
and vehemently urged him to take further steps on the path of self-restraint.
This memory alone was sufficient to arouse the strong feelings of asceticism in
his mind. The same thing had happened in the
lives of earlier Tirthankaras like Sumatinatha, Padmaprabha, Vasupujya, Santinatha, Kunthunatha, Munisuvrata, Naminatha, Neminatha and Parshvanatha. They did relinquish the wordly
pleasures when they remembered their earlier lives. In the case of Mahavira also the memory of his earlier lives goaded him
towards the difficult path of asceticism. Like Gautama
Budha, no external incident was necessary for Mahavira to change his mind towards asceticism as the
feelings of asceticism were uppermost in his mind from his very childhood.
As a result Mahavira
took a final decision to leave the house and to relinquish all pleasures so as to attain self-purification. He
earnestly requested his parents to give consent to his decision. The parents also gladly allowed him to follow
his path of self-realisation through the practice of
asceticism as they were fully convinced about his firm resolve and were in
their mind that Mahavira would show by his example
the path of salvation and eternal happiness to the mankind. The parents
therefore, began to make necessary preparations for the purpose. They
distributed what are known as ‘Kimich-chhaka’ presents to the learned persons. The arrangements
in detail were made to take Mahavira in a grand
procession to the place or Diksha i.e. initiation ceremony. Mahavira's
favourite pelanquin named ‘Chandraprabha’ was kept ready for the procession.
The auspicious day to renounce
the worldly attachments and to enter the ascetic order dawned. It was the tenth
day of the dark half of the month of Margashirsha
corresponding to Monday, 29th December 569 B.C. On
that day in the afternoon Prince Mahavira, wearing
rich clothes, costly ornaments and fragrant garlands, left the Nandyavarta Palace in a mood of self-satisfaction and sat
in the finely bedecked ‘Chandraprabha’ planquin for being carried in a procession to the
pre-determined place of initiation in the Jnatrkhanda garden on the outskirts of Kundalapur.
Mahavir's parents, relatives and friends and
practically all citizens of Kundalapur had joined the procession. This unique
procession wended its way through the major streets of Kundalapur
and entered the Jnatrkhanda garden. There Prince Mahavira
got down from the ‘Chandraprabha’ palanquin and
facing the North sat on a stone-slab, under the shadow of the Ashoka tree. Then in the presence of the entire congregation
and in a mood of self-concentration Prince Mahavira
slowly removed all clothes, ornaments and garlands on the body and assumed
complete nudity, the highest stage in Jaina
asceticism, as and indication of the renouncing of all worldly attachments. He, then, sat in a Yogic posture of Padmasana on the same stone-slab, performed Keshalocha, i.e. the distinctive practice of Jaina
ascetics to pluck out one's hair by one’s own hands without shedding even a
drop of water from the eyes, adopted Pancha Mahavratas i.e.
the five great vows of a Jaina ascetic and accepted Samayika Charitra i.e.
the mode of conduct prescribed in detail for the scrupulous observance by the
saints in the ascetic order of the Jainas. This Diksha-vidhi, i.e. initiation ceremony took place in the evening
when the, Moon was in the Uttara Phalguni constallation. Thus Prince Mahavira
became a Nirgrantha Muni
i.e. an ascetic who is outwardly unclothed and inwardly unfettered. This event
of Prince Mahavira's relinquishment of all worldly
attachments and of his becoming Nirgrantha Mahavira is known as Mahavira's Abhinishkramana i.e. the Great Renunciation of Mahavira.
2. The Practice of Penance:
The Great Renunciation of Mahavira took place at the age of 30 and from that time Mahavira moved as Nirgrantha Muni i.e. a naked ascetic. Since Mabavira
willingly and gladly adopted ascetic career as a part of his planned life, he
made an Abhigraha, i.e.
a very firm resolve, to make the best of the opportunity in securing his
objective of self-realisation and of finding out a
way to achieve eternal happiness. Throughout his life, Mahavira
never swerved away from this resolve.
Immediately after his Dilcsha-vidhi, i.e. initiation ceremony, Mahavira
started to practice Tapas, i.e. penance of religious austerity. The Diksha-vidhi took place in the evening on the tenth day of the
dark half of the month of Margashirsha. Next day morning i.e. on the eleventh day of
the dark half of the month of Margashirsha, Nirgrantha Mahavira left the Jnatrkhanda. garden, the place of his initiation ceremony,
and observed Upavasa, i.e.
fast on that day. On the next day i.e. on the twelfth day of the dark half of
the month of Margashirsha, Mahavira
entered the adjoining village Kula and there in the morning took his first Ahara i.e. meals as a Nirgrantha
Muni at the hands of the King of Kula. Soon he left Kula and went to another place. In this way he wandered from place to place continuously for a
period of 12 years and during this period Mahavira practised severe penance.
The most prominent characteristic of
his penance was that he invariably practised Satvika-tapasya, i.e. real or true penance, and never even thought of
practising Tamasa-tapasya, i.e. dark penance. The dark penance involved the
ghastly and terriable practices like to sleep on the
pointed iron nails, to walk on the burning fire, to get onself
suspended from a tree, to get onself buried in the ground, etc. On the other hand, the Satvika-tapasya involved the genuine or natural ways of practising penance. This
real or true penance gave prominance to the practice
of Dhyana, i.e.
meditation and Upavasa, i.e., fasting.
Nirgrantha Mahavira always gave
utmost preference to the practice of ‘Dhyana’ as it involved complete concentration of mind on the
Atman,
i.e. the self and complete
absence of the movements of the body. He practised Dhyana either in Padmasana i.e. in a sitting posture or in Kayotsarga i.e.
in a standing posture. The observance of Dhyana is a very difficult practice because it is
continued for hours and at times for days together at one stretch and during
this period taking of food or water is
entirely prohibited. In spite of this
difficult nature of Dhyana, Mahavira developed his inner strength to observe Dhyana for longer durations at one stretch and to practise it through all seasons of the year. It was quite usual for Mahavira
to undertake Dhyana continuously
for many days and at times even for a
month at a stretch. This practice was
not interrupted by the vastly varied conditions of different seasons of the
year. In the severe cold season he used to sit for meditation on the top of a
mountain or on the bank of a river or on the ground in the open. Similarly, in the hot or rainy season it was
normal for him to practise Dhyana on a stone-slab in the open quite unmindful of the effect
of the bleaching hot wind and torrential, cold rain-water on his naked body.
Generally Mahavira preferred isolated and lonely
places for his meditation because they were quite helpful in increasing his
concentration of mind. That is why he always selected for his Dhyana out of the way places like forests,
cremation grounds, caves, mountain-tops, etc. Further,
while meditating he had to undergo through various Parishakas i.e. hardships or sufferings, like hunger, thurst,
heat, cold, insectbite, abuse and beating by others
and in these calamities Mahavir did achieve Parishaha-jaya i.e. conquest of sufferings. Moreover, during the period of meditation or
while wandering from place to place Mahavira had to
face the fierce attacks from wild animals, thieves, robbers, etc. But Mahavira did not even think of retaliating these
attacks. He always suffered them in a
calm and collected manner.
Along with Dhyana, Mahavira attached equal importance Upavasa, i.e. fasting, as an integral part of his practice
of Satvika-tapasya, i.e. real penance. Mahavir always remained conscious and alert throughout his
meditations which continued incessantly for hours and at times for days
together. Whenever he felt dire necessity of taking something for maintaining
his normal bodily activities, he used to visit a nearby village or town and
immediately after taking food he used to proceed to a lonely place in a forest
or a hill for meditation. Further, whenever he took food, he did so only once a
day and that too under various restrictions. Like saints of other religions he
never carried a bowl with him, but like Nirgrantha Munis he ate whatever food was placed on his hands. He invariably took Ruksha i. e. dry and dreary food and even this he did not take in
sufficient quantity. While going to a village or a town for taking food, he
followed the rule of Vrata-Parisamkhyana, i. e. to take a pledge to accept food
from that place only which fulfills certain conditions of secret and extempore
nature. He also scrupulously observed
the ‘Rasa-Parityaga’,
i.e. renunciation of tasteful things like milk, clarified butter, curds,
sugar, salt and oil. Thus Mahavira took only that
quantity and quality of food which helped him in his practice of penance. But
such occasions for taking food were very few and far between because Mahavira generally preferred to observe Uparasa, i.e. Fast. During the fast he never took even a drop of water.
Such fasts were frequently undertaken by him and many a time they were of a
longer duration. During his 12 years period of penance, Mahavira
took food on not more than 350 days. In
this way Mahavira laid emphasis on Upavasa as he was convinced that ‘Upavasa’ was
helpful in achieving concentration of mind necessary for meditation.
Further, during his period of
penance Mahavira showed least concern for sleep. Whenever he was exhausted and felt the
necessity of sleep, he used to take sleep only for some part of the night and
that too while lying on the bare ground and without moving the body from one
side to another.
Moreover, when Mahavira wandered, during his
period of penance, from place to place certain incident of high social, significance
like abolution of practice of slavery from society
took place. This practice was in vogue in the city of Kaushambi,
the great commercial centre of Vatsa Kingdom. When Mahavira entered Kaushambi, a
city for Ahara, i.e. food and was going through its main
street along the house of Seth Rishabhadatta, the
commercial magnet of Kaushambi. a slave girl by name Chandana from Seth Rishabhadatta's
house offered the food consisting of portridge of
coarse rise to Mahavira. The residents of Kausambi were greatly surprised to watch this incident
because due to the intense desire of Chandana to
serve food personally to Mahavira, her fetters were
automatically removed and she came from her cellular confinement to the main
door of Seth Rishabhadatta's house to offer food to Mahavira. To the great astonishment of Seth Rishabhadatta and other high dignitaries of Kauhsambi city, Mahavira did not
pay heed to the food offerings made by wealthy merchants and high officers but
accepted the food of coarse rice offered by Chandana. Seth Rishabhadatta,
who was very much moved by this incident, freed Chandana
from her bondages and this example of freeing the salves was emulated by the
salve-owners in Kausambi. After the release of Chandana from slavery it was realised
that Chandana was the younges,
daughter of King Chetaka of Vaishali
and the maternal aunt of Mahavira and that through a
strange mishap she was compelled to live as a slave-girl in the house of Seth Rishabhadatta in Kaushambi. In
due course Chandana entered the ascetic order and
even became the head of the female ascetics in the Sangha, i.e.
the organization of the ascetics founded by Mahavira.
Furthermore, Mahavira had to go through various tests or ordeals
designed by others with a view to disturb him in his meditation during his
period of penance. Mahavira did bear very clamly the several hardships and injuries inflicted by
others. There had been many instances of such calamities during his period of
penance. Among such instances, the Ujjayini incident
could be mentioned. In his wanderings when Mahavira
came to Ujjayini city, he started his Dhyana, or
meditation, in the Atimuktaka cremation ground
as it was a very good place for meditation due to its isolation. At night Rudra, a
fierce God, by name Sthanu came there and began to
trouble Mahavira in many ways. Rudra
assumed various terrible forms, danced like Ghosts and produced fierce sounds
like lions and elephants. But these terrific attempts did not produce any
effect on Mahavira and could not create even slight
disturbance in his meditation. At last Sthanu gave up his efforts to create fear in the mind of Mahavira and went away from Atimuktaka cremation
ground.
During his long period of penance Mahavira invariably observed Mauna, i.e., complete silence. As Mahavira
successfully followed the difficult Mauna-Vrata, i.e. the vow to observe silence, for a considerably
long period, he was termed as ‘Mahamauni’, i.e. the great observer of silence.
3. The Attainment of Omniscience:
As a Nirgrantha
Muni i.e. a naked asectic, Mahavira practised in a very
scrupulous manner different kinds of religious austerities with a view to find
out the way for securing eternal happiness by all living beings. Mahavira's severe practice of penance had continued
uninterruptedly in spite of several hardships and tortures for a period of
twelve years. Mahavira continued further the
observance of the same forms of religious austerities and especially his
practice of meditation, in a standing or squatting posture and with his eyes
fixed on the tip of nose, and contemplation on the Atman, i.e. the Soul. One day, while Mahavira
was plunged in Shukla-Dhyana, i.e. the pure
meditation, in a sitting posture on stone slab under the shadow of a Sala tree
in the forest known as Manohara on the bank of
the river Rijukula having close to
the village ‘Jrmbhaka’ or Jrmbhika
in the Kingdom of Magadha, ‘Kevala-Jnana’ i.e.
omniscience or all-knowledge (which has no limitations of time and space)
dawned on him. This great event occurred
during the after-noon on the tenth day of the bright half of the month of Vaishakha when the Moon was between the consolidations of Hasta and
Uttara, corresponding to
Sunday, the 26th April 557 B.C. It means that Nirgrantha
Mahavira became a ‘Kevali’ i.e.
the possessor of omniscient knowledge after a period of 12 years, 5 months and
15 days of continuous practice of penance.
As Mahavira
attained omniscience he knew and saw all conditions of the world of the Gods,
men and animals, whence they come, whither they go, where they are born as men
or animals, gods or infernal beings, according to their deeds. This fact has
been corroborated by the Buddhist tests, too, which declare him as “the head of
an order, of a following, the teacher of a school, well-known and of repute as
a sophist, revered by the people, an all knowing and all seeing master, who was
endowed with unlimited knowledge and vision.”
Further, as a Kevali, Mahavira
secured Ananta-Chatushtaya, i.e. the
Infinite Quaternary, consisting of (i) Ananta-Jnana, i.e.
infinite knowledge, (ii) Anuntadarshana, i.e. infinite
perception, (iii) Ananta-Sukha, i.e. infinite bliss, and (iv) Ananta-Bala, i.e.
infinite power. Moreover since the attainment of omniscience Mahavira, became completely free from the four kinds of Kashaya, i.e.
passions, viz. (i) Krodha, i.e.
anger, (ii) Mana, i.e. pride,
(iii) Maya, i.e. deception and (iv) Moha i.e.
greed. It meant that Mahavira became Vitaraga, i.e., free from all passions.
Thus due to Kevala-Jnana, i.e.
omniscience Mahavira got satisfactory solutions for all those problems and questions connected
with the life and the Universe, which occur to any inquisitive soul. Obviously
after the attainment of omniscience Mahavira began to
tell these solutions to the people and from that time Nirgrantha
Mahavira became a ‘Tirthankara’ i.e.
a Great Guide or Teacher.
“There is
evidence to show that so far back as the first century B. C. there were people
who were worshipping Rishabadeva, the first Tirthankara. There is no doubt that jainism
prevailed even before Vardhmana or Parsvanath. The Yajurveda
mentions the names of three Thirthankaras-Rishabha, Ajitnath and Aristanemi. The Bhagavata Puran endorses the view
that Rishabha was the founder of Jainism.”
DR.
S. RADHAKRISHNAN
Indian Philosophy Vol.
I, P. 287