Mahavira's Natural Bend of Mind
All biographies of Mahavira are agreed upon one point, namely, that he led
the life of a householder for thirty years. With what mental attitude this
period of life was lived, of that we have no certain knowledge. Certain
Digambara books suggest that Mahavira lived his life as a house-holder in
a normal manner, taking a healthy interest in his environment and enjoying
the many opportunities of work and play afforded to him by his exalted
station in society, until all of a sudden in his thirtieth year he began
to reflect and meditate and feeling dissatisfied with the prospect of an
‘unending mundane existence’ made up his mind to renounce the world. The
Svetambara accounts, on the other hand, depict Mahavira as having been an
unusually reflective lad from the very beginning. Even in his early youth
he seems to have thought of renouncing the world, but he was always
prevailed upon by his affectionate parents to change his resolve. Nor did
Mahavira desired to hurt his parents, if he could help it. It appears that
Mahavira’s parents were quite assiduous in making attempts to engage the
boy’s mind in worldly things and in creating around him a luscious
atmosphere of amusement and pleasure. Fairly early in life he was married
to a charming princess, Yasoda, belonging to the Kaundinya gotra.
On the question of Mahavira’s marriage there is a fundamental difference
of detail between the Digambara and Svetambara accounts. While the
Svetambara books distinctly mention that Mahavira lived married life for
about 10 years and begot a daughter named Anojja or Priyadarsana, the
Digambara books deny the fact of marriage altogether. But from a critical
study of the several old biographies of Mahavira, it is possible to
establish that the Digambara view is based upon a misconstruction of
certain verses in the Paumacariya and Avasyaka Niryukti.
These books give in a comparative form the various details about the life
of the Tirthankaras; with reference to their status at the time of
renunciation these books mention hat while the other Tirthankaras
renounced the world after having been actual rulers over their states,
Vasupujya (the 12th Tirthankara), Malli (the 19th Tirthankara), Nemi (the
22nd Tirthankar), Parsva (the 23rd Tirthankara), and Mahavira were still
kumar (i.e. princes).
Mali Arithnaimee paso veero ya vasupunjay (57)
Aiai kumarsiya gayaho nigya jinrvarinda
Saisa vi hu rayanro puhee bhotunr nikhanta (58)
-Padmachriam……
Veeram aritoothanaimee pasem malim cha vasupunjam cha
Aiai mutoonr jinrai avsaisa asee rayanro
Raikulaisu vi jaya visudhvanyaisu khtiykulaisu
Na ya ichhiyabhisaya kumarvsami pviya
-Avashykaniryukti
The same couplets, in Sanskrit, have been repeated in the Digambara books
such as Padma-Purana and Harivamsa-Purana.
Vasupoojyo bhaveero mali pasharvo yadutam
Kumara nirgata gaihat prithveepatyoparai
-Padyapuran 20.67
Nishkrantivrasupoojysy malairnaimijinantyo
Panchanan tu kumarakhyan ragyan -shaishjinaishanam
-Harivanshpuranr 60.214
It is clear that the word kumar in these verses has been interpreted in
its other meaning of ‘celibate’ by the later Digambara acaryas1;
but it is also obvious that this meaning will not possibly bear in the
context. There is no particular reason in these circumstances to
disbelieve the facts of Mahavira’s marriage. It is possible, however, that
the marriage when made was against his own inclination and desire and was
made in difference to the wishes of the parents; but that he lived a
marriage life for several years and became father seems to be
well-founded.
The Digambara and Svetambara versions differ also on another point,
whether in the thirtieth year of Mahavira’s life when he actually
renounced the world his parents were alive or dead. The Svetambara
accounts mention hat Mahavira had made a promise to his mother that he
would not renounce the world so long as the parents were alive. This would
seem to follow quite logically from what has been said before about
Mahavira’s leaning toward ascetic life and the parent’s objection to his
renouncing the world and taking up an ascetical career and from the
further fact that Mahavira was naturally a dutiful and considerate son,
although strong in his determination at the same time. The story goes that
Mahavira’s parents died when he was in his twenty-eighth year, that
‘perceiving that the time of his renunciation had come’ he repeated his
desire to enter the Order to his elder brother who was now the eldest
member of the family, and that the brother dissuaded him from acting on
that desire forthwith, for ‘the deaths of our parents are still fresh in
our memories, your leaving us at this time would render our bereavement
the more unbearable and painful.” Mahavira lived for two years more in the
palace and then ‘with the consent of those in power entered the spiritual
career’. The Digambara books, on the other hand, mention that Mahavira’s
parents were alive at the time when he renounced the world, that they
tried first to dissuade him from his resolve but yielded in the end when
they found that Mahavira was definitely bent upon executing it.
Renunciation:
Be that as it may, the fact remains that disgusted with the non-finality
of the things of the world and persuaded by a desire to search for the
ultimate Truth, on the tenth day of Margasirsa Mahavira formally
renounced all his secular bonds, left his silver, gold and riches, quitted
and rejected his real, valuable property, distributed his wealth in
presents, set out for the life of a homeless monk. The great event has
been somewhat poignantly described in the Kalpa-sutra.
“In that period, in that age, in the first month of winter, in the
first fortnight, in the dark (fortnight) of Margasirsa, on its
tenth day, when the shadow had turned towards the east and the (first)
Paurusi was full and over, on the day called Suvrata, in the
Muhurta called Vijaya, in the palanquin Candraprabha,
Mahavira was followed on his way by a train of gods, men, and asuras,
and surrounded by a swarm of shell-blowers, proclaimers, pattivalas,
courtiers, men carrying others on the back, heralds, bell beaters. They
praised and hymned him with kind, pleasing, sweet and soft
words.............
“Then the Venerable Ascetic Mahavira-gazed on by a circle of thousands of
eyes, praised by a circle of thousands of mouths, extolled by a circle of
thousands of mouths, extolled by a circle of thousands of hearts, being
the object of many thousands of wishes, desired because of his splendor,
beauty, and virtues, pointed out by a circle of thousands of forefingers,
answering with (a greeting) of his hands a circle of thousands of jointed
hands of thousands of men and women, passing along a row of thousands, of
palaces, greeted by sweet and delightful music, as beating of time,
performance on the Vina, Turya and the great drum, in which
joined shouts of victory, and the low and pleasing murmur of the people;
accompanied by all his pomp, all his splendor, all his army, all his
train, by all his retinue, by all his magnificence, by all his grandeur,
by all his ornaments, by all the tumult, by all the throng, by all
subjects, by all time-beaters, by the whole seraglio, adorned with
flowers, scented robes, garlands, and ornaments, and under the continuous
din and sound of trumpets, with great state and splendor, with a great
train of soldiers, vehicles, and guests, under the sound, din, and noise
of conches, cymbals, drums, castanets, horns, small drums, kettle drums,
Muajas, Mrdangas, and Dundubhis, which were
accompanied at the same time by trumpets-went right through Kundapura to a
park called the Sandavana of the Jnatrkas and proceeded to
the excellent tree Asoka. There under the excellent tree Asoka he
caused his palanquin to stop, descended from his palanquin, took of his
ornaments, garlands and finery with his own hands, and with his own hands
plucked out his hair in five handfuls. When the moon was on conjunction
with the asterism Uttaraphalguni, he after fasting two and a half
days without drinking water, put on a divine robe, and quite alone, nobody
else being present, he tore out his hair and leaving the house entered the
state of houselessness.”
The Ascetic Life:
Mahavira’s ascetic life before his attainment of the highest spiritual
knowledge lasted for more than twelve years. Since his parents were lay
disciples of the Order of Parsva, it would be justified to infer
that he began his novitiate as an ascetical member of the same Order. At
the same time it appears that he did not abide rigorously by all the
specified rules of the Order: there is a tradition current in Jaina
literature that a Tirthankara does not adopt a guru and, presumably, the
prevailing practice of an earlier Tirthankaras Order. There seems to be no
doubt that the monks of Parsva’s Order wore clothes. In the
Uttaradhyayayana sutra there is an account of a meeting between
Kesi, a young Sramana of the school of Parsva, and Gautama, the
chief disciple of Mahavira, in which ‘knowledge and virtuous conduct were
for ever brought to eminence and subjects of the greatest importance were
settled.’ The matter that had been occasioning controversy was hat
Parsva’s law recognized only four vows and permitted the wearing by the
monks of an under and an upper garment, while Mahavira’s law enjoined five
vows and forbade the wearing of clothes altogether; and Gautama explained
away the difficulty by stating that ‘the various outward marks of
religious men introduced to distinguish them do not count towards final
liberation but only knowledge, faith and right conduct. In conformity with
the rules of Parsva’s Order, Mahavira also wore clothes for a year and a
month, but then adopted nudity and stuck to it throughout the rest of his
life. The Digambara tradition credits him with having adopted nudity from
the start.
His habits of life during this period may be briefly mentioned. He went
about naked and without any outfit of any kind. He did not even possess a
bowl for collecting food, which he collected in the hollow of his hands.
He completely neglected his body and abandoned care of it. Many insects
crawled on his person, bit him and caused him pain, but he bore it with
patience. People were shocked at the sight of him; they shouted at him and
at time even struck him. He bore everything patiently and with equanimity.
For days and months he would observe silence and remain absorbed in his
own thoughts. The Digambara tradition mentions that he observed the vow of
silence for twelve years, but that is possibly an exaggeration. He avoided
men as well as women, often gave no answers to questions put to him and
omitted to return greetings. Diversions of all kinds he positively
avoided. The ascetic life of Mahavira strongly contrasted with the
probationary period in Buddha’s life. The Buddha created an agreeable
impression wherever he went; he was welcomed by teachers like Alara Kalama
and Uddaka Ramaputta and their pupils, and even when he followed a
graduated course of austerities and consequently reduced himself to a mere
skeleton, skin and bone, he did not arouse the hostility of the onlooker.
Mahavira’s troubles were partly due to his unkempt appearance and partly
to his somber silence and look of grim determination. Not without
justification do the Jaina accounts say that unusually large for a
Tirthankara was Mahavira’s share of the defilement of Karma which he had
to suppress before obtaining enlightenment.
Philosophy
