LORD MAHAVIRA
[A study in Historical Perspective]
BY
BOOL CHAND, M.A. Ph.D (Lond.)
P. V. Research Institute Series: 39
Editor: Dr. Sagarmal Jain
With an introduction by
Prof. Sagarmal Jain
P.V. RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Varanasi-5
Published by
P.V. Research Institute
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Varanasi-5
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2nd Edition 1987
Price Rs.40-00
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PUBLISHER’S NOTE
The book ‘Lord Mahavira’, by Dr. Bool Chand was first published in 1948 by Jaina Cultural Research Society which has been merged into P.V. Research Institute. The book was not only an authentic piece of work done in a historical perspective but also a popular one, hence it became unavailable for sale soon. Since long it was so much in demand that we decided in favor of brining its second Edition. Except some minor changes here and there, the book remains the same. Yet a precise but valuable introduction, depicting the relevance of the teachings of Lord Mahavira in modern world has been added by Dr. Sagarmal Jain, the Director, P.V. Research Institute. As Dr. Jain has pointed out therein, the basic problems of present society i.e. mental tensions, violence and the conflicts of ideologies and faith, can be solved through three basic tenets of non-attachment, non-violence and non-absolutism propounded by Lord Mahavira and peace and harmony can certainly be established in the world.
We feel immense pleasure in bringing this book before the readers on the eve of the Golden Jubilee celebration of the P.V. Research Institute.
We are thankful to Sri Ashok Kumar Singh for its proof reading and to Vivek printers for its speedy printing.
Bhupendra Nath Jain
Secretary
Sohanalal Jain Vidya Prasarak
Samiti, Amritsar
PREFACE OF FIRST EDITION
In preparing this book, the first large one to be published by Jain Cultural Research Society, I have been assisted at every step by Pandit Dalsukh Malvania, Asstt. Prof. of Jaina Philosophy at the College of oriental Studies, Benares Hindu University. I am deeply indebted to him for his help.
Sriyut Nathmal Tatia, M. A., Research Scholar, Calcutta University has very kindly read the proofs and added the concluding chapter, which I had not been able to complete owing to various preoccupations.
With Pandit Sukhlalji, Pandit Mahendra Kumarji and other Scholars I have had the benefit of discussing portions of the book. Such discussion has always been of the utmost help to me. The responsibility for opinions stated here is, however, fully mine.
23-3-48.
BOOL CHAND.
THE RELEVANCE OF THE TEACHING OF LORD MAHAVIRA IN THE PRESENT WORLD (INTRODUCTION)
Prof. Sagarmal Jain
We are living in the age of science and technology. The growth of the scientific knowledge and technology have given new dimensions to our life and influenced each and every field of our living. Science has done a great service to mankind by providing amenities of pleasant living and saved him from many miseries and uncertainties of the primitive past. It has also destroyed many superstitions and religious dogmas, but at the same time it has also uprooted the moral, religious and cultural values of our society. Our traditional religious values and beliefs have been thrown away by this growth of scientific knowledge and out-look. We know much about the atom but not about the values needed for a meaningful and peaceful life. We are living in the state of chaos. Our life is full of excitements, emotional disorders and value conflicts. Thus our age is also the age of anxiety and mental tensions.
Today what is needed for a man, is mental peace and a complete integration with his own personality as well as with his social environment. Can religion, in general and Jainism in particular meet this need of our times? Yes, it can. Religion for Jain thinkers, does not mean some superstitions, dogmas and rituals, it has some eternal virtues and values, which can meet the needs of the time. First of all we should try to understand its real meaning and essence.
The Essence of
Religion
Our fundamental question is what we mean by the term religion? Many of the western scholars define religion as faith. Prof. E. B. Taylor writes “Religion is the belief in spiritual beings.”1 Prof., Hoffding mentions “Religion is faith in the conservation of values.”2 According to Jaina thinkers also the inner core of religion is faith, but it is the faith in our own existence and our own real nature, religion is a firm belief in some eternal and spiritual values which are more essential for the uplift and existence of mankind. In the famous Jaina text, Kartikeyanupreksa dharma (religion) is defined as the real nature of the things.3 If it is so, then question arises what is the real nature of human being? Lord Mahavira has given two definitions of religion in Acarangasutra. He says “Worthy people preach that the religion is mental equanimity.”4 Equanimity is considered as a core or essence of religion, because it is the real nature or essence of all the living beings including human beings also. In a Jaina text known as Bhagavati-sutra there is a conversation between Lord Mahavira and Gautama.5 Gautama asked Mahavira “What is the nature of soul?” and Mahavira answered “The nature of soul is equanimity.” Gautama again asked “What is ultimate end of soul?” and Mahavira replied “The ultimate end of soul is also equanimity.” Acarya Knndakunda also equated the word ‘samaya’ or ‘samata’ with svabhava or essential nature of soul, further he also explained “Sva-samaya or sva-svabhava is the ultimate goal of our life.”
In Jainism, religion is nothing but a practice for the realization of our own essential nature of sva-svabhava. This enjoying of one’s own essential nature means to remain constant in sakibhava or drastahava. It is the state of pure knowership or subjectivity. In this state the consciousness is completely free from constant flickerings, excitements and emotional disorders and mind becomes pacific. It is the pre-condition for enjoying spiritual happiness and the way to get freedom from mental tensions, which are the vibhavas or impure states of mind. This is known in Jainism as samayika or practice for equanimity of mind. Nobody wants to live in a state of mental tensions, every one would like no tension but relaxation, not anxiety but satisfaction. This shows that our real nature is working in us for a mental peace or equanimity and religion is nothing but a way of achieving this mental peace. According to Jainism the duty of a religious order is to explain the means by which man can achieve the equanimity of mind or mental peace. In Jainism this method of achieving mental peace and equanimity is called samayika, which is the first and foremost duty among six essential duties of the monks and the householders.
The three-fold path of right knowledge, right attitude and right conduct is only an application of equanimity (samatva) in the three aspects of our conscious life i.e. knowing, feeling and willing. Even mindedness, broader and unbiased outlook and regard for others ideologies and thoughts are regarded as equanimity of knowledge or right knowledge. Detachment from the objects of worldly pleasures, balanced state of mind and the feeling of equality are considered as equanimity of feeling i.e. right attitude or samyak-darsana and control over one’s desires, regard for other’s life and property, equal treatment in social life are known as equanimity of willing or right conduct. Again, right conduct consists of three organs i.e. mind, body and speech. According to Jaina thinkers
equanimity of mind, body and speech should be a directive principle of religious life. The equanimity of mind is non-attachment (anasakti or aparigraha), equanimity of body is non-violence (ahimsa) and equanimity of speech is non-absolutism (anekanta or syadvada). Non-attachment, non-violence and non-absolutism are the three pillars of Jainism, and are fully competent to meet the needs of our age and to establish peace and harmony in the world.
Non-attachment and Regard
for Other’s Necissities
As I have already mentioned that most burning problem of our age is the problem of mental tensions. The nations, who claim more civilized and economically more advance are much more in the grip of mental tensions. The main objective of Jainism is to emancipate man form his sufferings and mental tensions. First of all we must know that what is the cause of these mental tensions. For, Jainism, the basic human sufferings are not physical, but mental. These mental sufferings or tensions are due to our attachment towards worldly objects. It is the attachment, which is fully responsible for them. The famous Jaina text Uttaradhyayana-sutra mentions “The root of all sufferings physical as well as mental of every body including gods, is attachment towards the objects of worldly enjoyment.”7 It is the attachment which is the root cause of mental tensions. According to Lord Mahavira to remain attached to sensuous objects is to remain in the whirl. He says “Misery is gone in the case of a man who has no delusion, while delusion is gone in the case of a man who has no desire, desire is gone in the case of a man who has no greed, while greed is gone in the case of a man who has no attachment.”8 The efforts made to satisfy the human desires through material objects can be likened to the chopping off of the branches while watering the roots. Thus we can conclude that the lust for and the attachment towards the objects or worldly pleasure is the sole cause of human suffering.
If mankind is to be freed from mental tensions it is necessary to grow a detached outlook in life. Jainism believes that the lesser will be the attachment the greater will be the mental peace. It is only when attachment is vanished, the human mind will be free from mental tensions and emotional disorders. For this Jainism preaches the vow of complete nonpossession for the ascetics and the vow to limit ones own possession for the house holders, which are technically called as aparigraha-mahavrata and parigraha-parimana-vrata respectively.
Non-Violence or Regard for Life
Samata or equanimity is a personal or inner aspect of our religious life, when it is applied in the social life or it is practiced outwardly, it becomes non-violence. Thus non-violence is a social or outer aspect of our religious life. In Acaranga Lord Mahavira give another definition of religion. He remarks--
“The worthy men of the past, present and the future all say thus, speak thus, declare thus, explain thus: all breathing, existing, living and sentient creatures should not be slain, nor treated with violence, nor abused, nor tormented. This is the pure, eternal and unchangeable law or the tenet of religion.”9 In other words, non-violence is the eternal and pure form of religion. In Jainsim non-violence is the pivot on which its whole ethics revolves. For Jains violence represents all the vices and non-violence represents all the virtues. Non-violence is not a single virtue but it is a group of virtues. In Prasnavyakarana-sutra the term non-violence is equated with sixty virtuous qualities, just as peace, harmony, welfare, trust and fearlessness, etc.10 Thus non-violence is a wider term, which comprehends all the good qualities and virtues.
The concept of non-violence and the regard for life is accepted by almost all the religions of the world. But none of the religions obsere it so minutely as Jainism. Jainism prohibits not only killing of human beings and animals but of the vegetable kingdom also. To hurt the plants is also an act of violence or himsa. It’s basic principle is that the life, in whatever form it may be, should be respected, we have no right to take another’s life, because everyone wants to live as we do. The Dasavaikalika mentions that everyone wants to live and not to die, for this simple reason, Nigganthas prohibit violence.11 It can be said that the Jaina concept of non-violence is extremist and not practical, but we cannot challenge its relevance for human society. Though Jainism sets its goal as the ideal of total non-violence, external as well as internal, yet the realization of this ideal in the practical life is by no means easy. Non-violence is a spiritual ideal, which is fully realizable only in the spiritual plane. The real life of an individual is a physio-spiritual complex; at this level complete non-violence is not possible. According to Jaina thinkers the violence is of four kinds (i)Deliberate or aggressive violence i.e. intentional killing. (ii) Protective violence i.e. resorting to violence to save the life of one’s own or his fellow being or to ensure peace and justice in the society, (iii) Occupational violence i.e, the violence which one commits in his occupation such as farming, tilling the soil or running factories and industries, (iv) Violence, which is involved in performing the daily routine work of a house-holder such as bathing, cooking, walking etc. A person can proceed toward the fullness of non-violent life to the extent as he rises above the physical level. The first form of violence, which is deliberate, is to be shunned by all, because it relates to our mental proclivities. So far as the thoughts are concerned, a man is his own master, so it is obligator for all to be non-violent in this sphere. The other forms of violence i.e. protective, occupational and violence involved in daily routine work are inevitable so far as man is living on a physical level, but this does not mean that the ideal of nonviolence is not practicable and so it is not necessary for human race.
Non-violence is nothing but to treat all living beings as equal. The concept of equality is the core of the theory of non-violence. The preaching of non-violence is to honor the each and every form of life. Jainism does to discriminate the human beings on the basis of their caste, creed and color. According to Jaina point of view, all the barriers of caste, creed and color are artificial. All the human beings have an equal right to lead a peaceful life. Though violence is unavoidable, yet it can not be the directive principle of our living, because it goes against the judgments of faculty of reasoning and the concept of natural law. If I think that nobody has any right to take my life then on the ground of same reasoning I have also no right to take another’s life; the principle ‘live on others’ or ‘living by killing’ but ‘Living with others’ or ‘Live for others’ (parasparopagrahaojivanam).12 Though in our world complete non-violence is not possible, yet our motto should be ‘lesser killing is better living’.
Further we must be aware of the
fact that in Jainism non-violence is not merely a negative concept i.e. not to
kill; but it has positive side also as service to mankind. Once a question was raised to Mahavira: “O
Lord, one person is rendering his services to the needy persons while other is
offering puja to you, between these
two, who is the real follower of yours!”
Mahavira answered “First one is the real follower of mine, because he is
following my teachings”.13
Through some one or other form of violence is inevitable in our life, yet on this basis we can not conclude that the non-violence is not necessary at all. Just as violence is inevitable for living, non-violence is also inevitable for social living. So far the existence of human society is concerned it depends on mutual co-operation, sacrifice of our interest for the sake of our fellow-beings and regard for others life. If above mentioned elements are essential for our social life, how can we say that the non-violence is an inevitable principle of the existence for human society. At present we are living in an age of nuclear weapons and due to this the existence of human race is in danger. It is only the firm faith in observance of non-violence, which can survive the human race. It is mutual credibility and the belief in the equality of human beings which can restore the peace and harmony in human society.
Regard for
Other’s Ideologies and Faiths
Jainism holds that the reality is
complex. It can be looked and
understood from various view points or angles.
For example we can have hundreds of photographs of the same and one tree
from different angles. Though all of
them give a true picture of it from certain angles, yet they differ from each
other. Not only this, but neither each
of them, nor the individually as well as jointly will give us a complete
picture of that tree. They individually
as well as jointly will give only a partial picture of it. So is the case with human knowledge and
understanding : we can have only a partial and relative picture of reality, we
can know and describe the reality only from certain angle or view-point. Though every angle or viewpoint can claim
that it gives a true picture of reality, yet it gives only a partial and
relative picture of reality. In fact we
can not challenge its validity or truth value, but at the same time we must be
aware of the fact that it is only a partial truth or one sided view. One, who knows only partial truth or has a
one-sided picture of reality, has no right to discard the views of his
opponents may also be true from some other angles. Jaina theory of anekantavada
emphasizes that all the approaches to understand the reality give partial but
true picture of reality and due to their truth-value from certain angle, we
should have a regard for other ideologies and faiths. Thus anekanatvada
forbids us to be dogmatic and one-sided in our approach. It preaches us a broader outlook and
open-mindedness, which is more essential to solve the conflicts due to the
differences in ideologies and faiths.
Prof. T.G. Kalghatgi rightly observes “The spirit of anekanta is very much necessary in
society, specially in the present day, when conflicting ideologies are trying
to assert supremacy aggressively. Anekanta brings the spirit of
intellectual and social tolerance.”14
For present day society what is awfully needed is the virtue of tolerance. This virtue of tolerance i.e. regard for others ideologies and faiths is maintained in Jainism from its earlier times to the present days. Mahavira mentions in Sutrakrtanga “those who praise their own faiths and ideologies and blame that of their opponents and thus distort the truth will remain confined tot he cycle of birth and death.”15 Jaina philosophers all the time maintain that all the view-points are true in respect of what they have themselves to say, but they are false in so far as they refute totally others view-points. In one famous Jaina text of 3rd century B.C. namely Isibhasiyaim, the views of different teachers of Sramanic and Brahmanic trends like Narada, Bharadvaja, Gautam Buddha, Mankhali Gosala and many others, have been presented with regards. They are called as Arhatrsis and their preaching are regarded as Agamas. Here I would like to quote two beautiful verses of Haribhadra (8th century A.C.) and Hema Candra (12th Century A.C.) respectively which are the best examples of religious tolerance. Haribhadra says:
“I bear no bias towards Lord Mahavira and no disregard to Kapila and other saints and thinkers, whatsoever is rational and logical ought to be accepted.”
Hemacandra says:
“I bow all those who have overcome the attachment and hatred, which are the cause of worldly existence, be they Brahma, Vishnu, Siva or Jina.”
Jaina saints tried all the times to maintain the harmony in different religious faiths and to avoid religious conflicts. That is why Jainism can survive through the ages.
The basic problems of present society are mental tensions, violence and the conflicts of ideologies and faiths. Jainism tried to solve these problems of mankind through the three basic tenets of non-attachment, (aparigraha), non-violence (ahimsa) and non absolutism (anekanta), If mankind observes these three principles, peace and harmony can certainly be established in the world.
Reference:
1. Quoted in Dharma-darsana, p. 28.
2. Ibid., p. 39
3. Kartikeyanupreksa , 478
4. Acaranga, 1/1/8/3.
5. Bhagavati-sutra, 1/9.
6. Samayasra.
7. Uttaradhyayana-sutra
8. Ibid., 32/7-8
9. Acaranga, 2/4/127
10. Prasanavyakaran-sutra, 2/1/21
11. Dasavaikalika-sutra, 6/10
12. Tattvartha-sutra, 5/21
13. Avasyaka-vrtti, pp. 661-662
14. Vaisali Institute Research Bulletin, No. 4. P. 31.
15. Sutrakrtanga, 1/1/2/23
CONTENTS
Introduction
AGE OF MAHAVIRA
Character of the Age: Social Conditions: Religion and Philosophy: Economic Conditions: Political Conditions:
EARLY LIFE OF MAHAVIRA
Tirthankara Parsva: The Jaina Idea of Biography: Mahavira’s Biographies: Parentage and Birth: Facts of Early Life:
ASCETIC LIFE OF MAHAVIRA
Mahavira’s Natural Bent of Mind: Renunciation: The Ascetic life: Penance: His wanderings: Gosala Mankhaliputra:
ENLIGHTENMENT
Kevalin: Jina: Tirthankara:
ENUNCIATION OF THE TRUTH
Mahavira’s Teachings: View of the world: Fundamental Truths: System of Ethics: Jaina Atheism:
PROPAGATION OF THE DOCTRINE
Conversion of the Ganadharas: Influence at Royal Courts: Licchavis and other Republican Clans: map of Mahavira’s travels: Mahavira’s Community of Followers: Nirvana:
RIVAL SECTS
Classification of Creeds: Buddhists: Ajivikas: Brahmanic Schools: Nihnavas:
CONCLUSION
THE AGE OF MAHAVIRA
Character of
the Age:
6th century B.C., the age in which Mahavira was born, was a period of great intellectual stir practically all over the world. Greece, Persia and China as well as India- all centers of important civilizations- experienced ferment in the realm of thought. The advent of Socrates and his distinguished pupils and contemporaries in Greece, of Zoroaster in Persia, and of Lao Tse and Confucius in China marked a revolution in the thought of those countries in just the same way as the coming of Mahavira and the Buddha meant the advent of philosophical rationalism in our own country.
In Indian society this age was in many ways a period of transition and uncertainty. The state of society which is revealed in the religious literature of the Jainas and the Buddhists is quite different from that which is depicted in the Epics of the later Vedic literature and is, of course, fundamentally different from that depicted in the Vedas. From the simple and on the whole republican social organization of the Vedic times the country and been passing through a process of gradual statification until by the time of the birth of Mahavira caste distinctions and priestly oligarchy had become a source of enormous social irritation and a means of popular exploitation. The simple religion of nature worship implied in the hymns of the Rigveda had similarly been developing into a curious combination of theoretical monotheism and practical worship of a multiplicity of gods and divine satellites with an admixture of elaborate rituals and superstition. This development was disturbing to the equanimity of the thinking part of the population, and already there had grown up a school of mediators who discarded the rituals and pantheistic worship under priestly auspices and retired to forests for meditation and contemplation of the truth, thus giving rise to a form of philosophical pantheism. In economic life agriculture was still the main occupation of the people and the village (gram) the unit of administration and the center of all activities, but the period was marked by a transition to cottage industrialism and a remarkable growth of trade and commerce. Politically, a new type of republican and tribal kingdom was arising, which was rapidly assuming a monarchical form of government and imperialistic designs in the sense of territorial conquests. The whole life of the community was in short undergoing fundamental transformation. The geographical outlook of Indo-Aryans, limited for a long time to the Gangetic valley, had extended to the eastern and southern regions. The art of writing had got diffused among men and women, and because of the development of commercial contacts with foreign lands the mental horizon of the people had greatly broadened. These changes had their impact on the social, religious, economic and political conditions of the country, and this needs to be examined in some detail.
Social
Conditions:
Society in 6th century B.C. had definitely come to be organized on the basis of caste. Historians are not always agreed on the origin of the caste system in India. When the Aryans came to India, it seems quite certain that they were a homogenous mass of people and were not divided into distinct castes or even classes. The formation of classes did not occur until after their settlement over extensive territories in the Gangetic plains, and it took place in the age of the later samhitas, but not in the form of a rigid caste system at first. There are passages in Sruti literature which indicate quite clearly that the knowledge of Vedic texts and ceremonies rather than the fact of birth in a Brahmana family, qualified a person to be a Brahmana. The development of caste rigidly can be traced through the period of latter samhitas, the Vajasaneya Samhita for instance prefers a Brahmana for priestly duties descended from three generations of Rsis. Such rules are evidence of a deliberate attempt to make caste system more and more static. But as yet those essential features, the prohibition of inter dining and inter-marriage, which are the special characteristics of caste system today, had not developed in their fulness, nor had the Brahmana yet attained and unquestioned position of supremacy, the Ksatriya being able to contest it with him at every step. In establishing the supremacy of the Brahmanas the most important part was played by the sacrifice (yagya), the ritual.
The early Vedic age was one of creative impulses. It was marked by “a charming appreciation of all that is good and sublime in nature, leading to outburst of individual enthusiasm in inspiring stanza addressed to various divinities.” The theology of the later Vedic literature did not much differ from the theology of the hymns, but the religious spirit had undergone a change. The creative age had changed into an age of criticism, and inspiration naturally yielded place to formalism. Of this formalism the priestly class now devoted its whole attention to find out the hidden and mystic meaning of the rites and ceremonies. The ceremonies were multiplied until they comprehended both domestic and other great sacrifices. The domestic ceremonies embraced the whole course of a man’s life, right from the conception in the mother’s womb up to death, or rather beyond it, for several ceremonies refer to the departed souls. The well known forty samskaras or sacraments, although finally drawn up at a later period, reflected the conditions of the age before the birth of Mahavira. These sacraments included twenty-six Grhya-rituals (1) Garbhadhan, the rite to cause conception: (2) Punsvan, the rite to secure the birth of a male child; (3) Simnthotryan, the parting of the pregnant wife’s hair by the husband; (4) Jatkarm, the rite for the new-born child; (5) Namkaranr, the ceremony of naming the child; (6) Atrprashan, the first feeding of the child with solid food; (7) Choodakarm, the tonsure of the child’s head; (8) Upnyan, initiation ceremony; (9) to (12) the four vows undertaken for studying the different Vedas; (13) Smavartan, the completion of studentship; (14) Sehdharmcharinreesanyog, marriage; (15) to (19) five great daily sacrifices to the Gods, manes, men, goblins and Brahmana; (20) to (26) the seven Pakyagya small sacrifices-which had to be performed mostly by the householder himself, and fourteen major rituals-the seven kinds of Haviryagya and seven kinds of somyagya in which three sacred fires were kindled, to which offerings of cake, grain, milk, honey, etc., were made. In the Samayajnas even animals were killed. To this list could be added numerous other sacrifices, like the vratya-stoma, the Rajasuya, the Asvamedha, and the Purusamedha. Some of these sacrifices were informed by a new spirit of symbolism and spirituality, evident for instance in the building of the altar, and lasted from twelve days to a year or years.
The elaboration of these rituals led to the growth of Brahmanism, or the hierarchy of Brahmanas; and with Brhmanism came the rigidity of the caste system. Under rigid caste system, in which a man’s caste was determined by the fact of birth, the Brahmanas became parasites living on the resources of the industrial classes without doing anything worthwhile to compensate the other classes. The Ksatriya class which had always been active evolving philosophical system and which had stood for experience as against the Brahmanic emphasis on intellect, felt the inequity and injustice of this position and revolted against it. Mahavira and the Buddha freely denounced the arbitrary distinctions of caste and proclaimed the equality of all human beings, and in doing so they were giving an effective expression to the innermost feeling of the masses.
With the growing rigidity of the caste system, the position of women had also deteriorated. During even the later Vedic age there were exceptional cases of women attaining a high position in society and in the learned world. The stories of Gargi and Maritreyi mentioned in Brihdaranryak Upanisad are remarkable examples of this. But by the 6th century B.C. the position had become deteriorated. With the increase in royal power, Indo Aryan chiefs had become polygamous. Women were denied the right of inheriting property, and a father had the right to divide his property among his sons according to his will. On the death of her husband, a widow passed on to his family like his property. The prevailing attitude towards women is apparent in the initial reluctance of the Buddha to admit them into his religious order. A little later, Megtasthenes also said that “the Brahmans do not communicate a knowledge of philosophy to their wives.” But Mahavira and the Buddha took a highly rational attitude in this matter; both permitted the inclusion of women into their sanghas, and this step marked a revolutionary improvement of their status in society.
Religion and
Philosophy
In the domain of religion and philosophy, 7th and 6th centuries B.C. were a period of great confusion and doubt. The period was marked by growing orthodoxy on one side and extensive revolt against it on the other. The Buddhist literature mentions as many as sixty-three different philosophical schools, all presumably non-Brahmana, existing at the time of the Buddha; Jaina literature, which is more analytical in its approach, mentions an even larger number of such heretical doctrines.
The religion of the early Aryans had been simple nature-worship. Its simplicity stands in striking contrast to the later elaboration of the religious side of life by the priests. The objects of worship were the great phenomena of nature, conceived as alive and usually represented in anthropomorphic shape like dyo: (the Heaven), Prithvee (the Earth), Surya (the Sun), Usha (the dawn), Agnee (the Fire) and Som (the well-known sacrificial drought). In the late tenth book of the Rgveda, beginning of philosophy made its appearance; the multiplicity of Gods was questioned and the unity of the universe asserted. As the center of culture shifted from the west to east, new gods- originally perhaps of the aborigine-like Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, came to be included in the Hindu pantheon, the original Vedic gods were thrust into the background, and as a result a change occurred in the spirit of religion and in the spirit of worship. The borrowed gods belonged to a system which was nurtured under a different conception of godhead from that underlying the Aryans nature-gods; they had to be dreaded and appeased by the performance of sacrifices and not approached in confidence, but once propitiated they were supposed to help their worshippers against their enemies, open or hidden. Their gods were terrific, and so the propitiatory ritual became weird and mystic. Originally the post-priest of the Rgveda was content to invite the gods, in the fullness of his heart, to partake of his offerings; now the priest becomes more anxious to secure a monopoly of the God to himself and to his patrons and to avert him and his grace from his rival worshippers. So the technique of sacrifice became enormously elaborated and obscured, religion became formalized and completely divorced from ethics.
This development was a particular characteristic of the age which marked the composition of the Brahmanas. The growth of ritualism led to the increase of the priestly class, and since the priestly class was the beneficiary of the performance of these rituals and sacrifices it was in its interest to develop ritualism still further. It became a vicious circle. The earlier sacrifices used to occupy one day, now they began to last for weeks, months and even years. The earlier sacrifices used to require as the most seven priests, hotri, potri, naishtri, Anidhr, Prshastri, Advaryu and brhamn; now the sacrifices required seventeen.
1. Hotri with maitravarunr, achhavak, and gravrutut
2. Udgatri with prstot, pratihartri, subrhanyi
3. Adhvryu with pratiprasthapu, naishtri and unaitri
4. Brahman with brahmanrhachhansin, agneedhr and potri
On its part, the priestly class directed all its energies to the further development of ceremonial side, which they worked out in endless detail and to which they attached the most fanciful and mystic significance. The elaboration of the technical part of the sacrifice and the growth of a special class of experts who make a monopoly often art became so marked that intellectualism of this kind began to be confused with morality, and virtue became a by-word for fineness and fussiness over little things.
This state of things was very disconcerting to the serious-minded section of society, and many people took recourse to meditation and contemplation of the truth. They discarded the rituals and the pantheistic worship of the priests, and developed what is known as the way of knowledge(gyanmarg) distinguished from the way of ritualism (karmmarg) of the Brahmana. From out of their philosophical and metaphysical speculation there developed the six famous schools of Indian philosophy- the Samkhya school of a Kapila, the Yoga school of Patanjali, the Nyaya school of Kapila, the Yoga school of Patanjali, the Nyaya school of Gautama, the Vaisesika school of Kanada, the purva-Mimamsa of Jaimini, and the Uttara-Mimamsa or Vedanta of Vyasa. These Upanisadic philosophers concerned themselves with the problems of the origin of the world, the nature of godhood and the creative process in general; and in seeking to solve these problems they expounded in fact a new religion which aimed at the achievement of deliverance from mundane existence by the absorption of the individual soul (atma) in the world-soul (Brahma) by virtue of correct knowledge. The underlying principles of this new religion upon which all philosophers were agreed were, first, that all reality in the ultimate issue must be reduced to one, called variously the holy power or the soul; and secondly, that a man may die repeated deaths in the next world, the doctrine, that is to say, of transmigration of soul, first mentioned in an outline form in the Chhandogya Upanisad and then involved in the form of the gospel of karma or action which determines on a man’s death the nature of his next birth in the Vrihdaranryak Upanishad. But these philosophers disagreed on many other points. Pantheistic ritualism was producing its parallel in the world of thought, a philosophical pantheism. The excessive devotion of the priest to the ritual had thus produced a reaction, but the reaction was proving as confused as the stimulus itself. Neither ritualism nor philosophy really succeeded in restoring to religion that element of ethical values which it had possessed in an eminent degree in the early Vedic period but which had inevitably got eroded from it during its progress from Kuru-Panchala country to Kosala-Videha and the country to the further east. The prevailing religion in 6th century B.C., therefore, when Mahavira was born, was significantly unsatisfying and in a chaotic state.
Economic
Conditions:
From the point of view of economic structure, Indian society in 6th century B.C. was passing through a transition from a cultivating and handicraft to a cottage industry stage. Early Aryans were a pastoral people, their chief occupations being cultivation and cattle -rearing. The land was ploughed, the plough was drawn by oxen. Cattle consisted of kine and sheep. Weaving in cotton and wool was done but of industries very little was known. As the Aryans spread towards the east and the south and occupied the fertile plains of the Ganges and the Yamuna, their material prosperity considerably increased. The plough gradually assumed a large and heavy form; there is mention at one place of twenty-four oxen being harnessed to one plough. Irrigation also improved, and along with it the quality and variety of grains raised from the ground. At this time the society got divided into a number of classes and castes; and among the servile castes we find mention of such as fishermen, shepherds, fire-rangers, charioteers, workers in jewelry, basket-makers, washer-men, rope-makers, dyers, chariot-makers, weavers, slaughters, cooks, professional acrobats, musicians, etc. In the literature collectively known as the later Samhitas there is frequent mention of merchant and also users. The knowledge and use of metals had become quite extensive; besides gold, we find mention of tin, lead and silver, and possibly copper and iron. But during this period Indian economy remained on the whole a purely rural economy, with arts and crafts only incidentally developed.
In the 6th century B.C., however, and about this period our information is both large and accurate, the structure of economy began to get fundamentally transformed. (1) The gram was still the unit of administration and the center of all activities; but the grama was apparently a generic term, meaning almost anything from a group of two or three houses to an indefinite number. In the Buddhist texts there is also an occasional mention of cities in northern India, about twenty such having been recounted, six of which are reckoned as sufficiently important ones. (2) Further, rural economy was based upon a system of village communities of land-owners and marked by instances of collectivist initiative. The peasant proprietors had a nominal head in the bhojak (or headman) who, as their representative at political headquarters and municipal head, was paid by certain dues and fines. (3) Above all in the arts and crafts considerable proficiency and specialization of industry had been reached. “A list of callings given in the Milindapanho reveals three separate industries in the manufacture of bows and arrows, apart from any ornamental work on the same. In the same work, the allusion to a professional winnower of grain indicates a similar division of labor to our own threshing-machinists and steam plough-owners who tour in rural districts.” Important handicrafts were organized into guilds, and at the head of each guild as a president (prmukh) or elder man (jaithak), and these leaders were often important ministers in attendance upon and in favor with the King. There is evidence that regulation of industrial life was on a corporate basis; not only individual but families were often referred to in terms of traditional calling. (4) The age was marked by freedom of initiative and a high degree of mobility in labor. This finds exemplification in stories like those of enterprising woodworkers who, failing to carry out the orders for which prepayment had been made, were summoned to fulfill their contract and, instead of abiding in their lot, secretly made a mighty ship and emigrated with their families shipping down the Ganges by night and so out to sea till they reached a fertile island. (5) Trade and commerce was fast developing. Partnership in commerce either permanent or on specified occasions only, are frequently mentioned in Buddhist and Jaina texts. The overland caravans are sometimes represented as going ‘east and west’ and across deserts that took days and nights to cross. They may have gone from Benares, the chief commercial and industrial center in early Buddhist and Jaina age, across the deserts of Rajputana to the seaport of modern Broach or the seaboard of Sovira and its capital Roruka. Westward of these ports there was traffic with Babylon. The nature of exports and imports is not always specified, but they would seem to include such articles as “silks, muslin, the finer sorts of cloth, cutlery and armor, brocades, embroideries and rugs, perfumes and drugs, ivory and ivory work, jewelry and gold.” It appears that trade was free, in the sense that it was determined solely by supply and demand and unhampered by any system of statutory fixed prices. The use of standard currency and of substitutes for money, like instruments of credit, also appear to have become common. The taking of interest was considered legitimate and the payment of debts an honorable obligation.
Of this developing capitalist economy the natural need was that there should be a theory of economic individualism to support it. This found its echo in spiritual doctrines like Jainism and Buddhism, which placed their emphasis upon the individual rather than upon a World-Soul. The prevailing Brahamnic religion with its traditional restrictions, its caste system, and its expensive sacrifices had begun to collide at an ever-increasing number of points with the existing economic ethics, and this made the growth of “heretical” sects inevitable which, originating outside heiratic circles, would offer a philosophic justification for a concept of individualism and a development of individual personality.
Political
Conditions
The economic changes leading to the growth of capitalism in society caused corresponding changes in the political constitution of the country. The power of the tribal chieftain of old increased and he became more or less a real king, with power to deprive any commoner of his private property. The nobles obtained the position of landlords or intermediaries between the cultivators and the king. Slaves and serfs also increased in number. Within the framework of autocracy, there were still operative certain democratic elements, e.g. (1) the people’s voice in choosing the king; (2) the promises made by the king at his coronation; (3) the king’s dependence on the ministry; (4) the popular assemblies the Sabha and the Samiti; but these democratic limitations upon the powers of the king were becoming increasingly obsolete. The territorial concept of the state was becoming more pronounced.
In the 6th century B.C. northern India seems to have been divided into the following sixteen states: (1) Anga, covering possibly the Patna and Monghyr districts, (2) Magadha, covering the Patna and Gaya, (3) Kasi, covering Benares, Ghazipur and Mirzapur districts, (4) Vajji, covering Muzaffarpur, Saran and Champaran districts of north Bihar, (5) Kosala, possibly covering the Gorakhpur district, (7) Vamsa, covering the modern Allahabad and Banda districts, (8) Cheti, possibly the present Kanpur and Unnao districts, (9) Panchala, which may by identified with modern Rohilkhand, (10) Kuru, covering the Aligarh, Meerut, Delhi and Karnal districts, (11) Matsya, possibly covering the present Gurgaon district along with portions of Alwar and Jaipur states, (12) Surasena, possibly covering the Muttra district and portions of Bharatpore and Jaipur states, (13) Asuraka, on the Godavari, (14) Avanti, which seems to be just another name for Malwa, (15) Gandhara, presumably covering the northwest districts of the Punjab as far as Peshawar and adjoining districts, and (16) Kamboja, which may possibly be identified with the modern districts of Kabul and Jalalabad. These sixteen names are given in several places in the Buddhist text, Anguttara-Nikaya and partially repeated in the Sanskrit work Mahavastu. The Jaina text Bhagavati, which also enumerates sixteen names, described the delimitation of states at a somewhat later period; the geographical margins of states mentioned there is much wider.
Among these states four seem to have been particularly powerful Kosala with its capital at Sravasti, Avanti with its capital at Ujjaini, Vamsa (or Vatsa) with its capital at Kausambi, and Magadha with its capital at Fajgriha; and the period was marked by perpetual military contests between them. Ultimately Magadha, under its king Bimbisara (or Srenika), rose to the position of paramountcy. It is possible that the big states included certain more or less autonomous clan or tribal areas, which enjoyed a form of home rule. The Sakyas, for instance, were a tribe of the Kosalas, but held an autonomous tenure.
Besides kingdoms, republic states also existed. Among the republics the following names were prominent:
The Sakyas, with their capital at Kapilvastu;
The Bulis, with their capital at Amalkappa;
The Kalamas, with their capital Kesaputta;
The Bhaggas, with their capital at Sumsumara;
The Koliyas, with their capital at Ramagama;
The Mallas, with their capital at Pava;
The Mallas, with their capital at Kusinara;
The Moriyas, with their capital at Pipphalivana;
The Videhas, with their capital at Mithila; and
the Licchavis, with their capital at Vaisali.
These tribal republics seem to have occupied in 6th century B.C. the whole country east of Kosala between the mountains and the Ganges. Each one of them included several big towns besides the capital. In the territory of the Sakyas, which covered the lower slopes of the Himalayas, there is mention of a number of towns like Catuma, Samagama, Khomadussa, Silavati, Medalumpa, Negaraka, Ulumpa, Devadaha, and Sakkara. The administrative business of these tribal republics and the more important judicial work was carried out in public assembly at which the young and old were alike present. The meetings were held in motehalls, i.e. roofy structure supported by pillars without walls, and the procedure adopted in these meetings seems to have been as in modern parliaments. A single chief was elected as office-holder; he bore the title of raja, although the term did not mean king. He was something like the Roman consul. There were tribal confederacies also, a classical example of which was the Vijjian confederacy, comprising the Licchavis, the Videhas and other clans.
EARLY LIFE OF MAHAVIRA
The preceding description of Indian society in 6th century B.C. has been given in such detail, for it is only with a full knowledge of that background that a correct evaluation of the noble work and achievements of Mahavira is really possible. Mahavira was born in the year 599 B.C. at Kundagrama, which was a suburb of the flourishing town of Vaisali, about twenty-seven miles north of Patna. His father Siddhartha was apparently the chieftain of the place and his mother, Trisala, was the sister of the Vaisali ruler, whose name has been given in the Jaina texts as Cetaka. According to the Jaina belief, Mahavira’s parents were worshippers of Parsva and followers of the Sramanas.
Tirthankara
Parsva:
There is a Jaina tradition that Jainism is as old as the human race, that the religion shall remain in existence till eternity, and that it has been and will be revealed again and again in the endless succeeding periods of the world by innumerable Tirthankaras. In each of these periods there are twenty-four Tirthankaras, the first Tirthankara of present age being Rsabha and the last two being Parsva and Mahavira. Historical research in India was so crude and unorganized at one time that all these Tirthankaras, including Mahavira, were looked upon by the historians of ancient India as just mythical personages. The credit of recognizing the historical existence of Mahavira goes surprisingly enough, to a German scholar in the field of Indology, Professor Herman Jacobi, who made an English translation of the first Jaina Anga: Acaranga, and published it with a masterly introduction in the series called the “Sacred Books of the East” in 1884. Ancient historical research has made some progress since then, and today Indian historians are prepared to freely recognize not only that Mahavira was a historic personage but also that the twenty-third Tirthankara, Parsva, and some at least of his predecessors had historical existence.
Parsva was the son of King Asvasena of Benares, who belonged to the Iksvaku race of the Ksatriya. In his marital relations he was connected with the royal family of King Prasenajit, whose father Naravarman designated himself as the lord of the universe. It has not been possible so far to historically identify Asvasena of Benares or Prasenajit and his father Naravarman of Kusasthala; but in spite of that limitation historians have been willing to accept the historicity of Parsva because of certain other historical and geographical coincidences. The existence of the great tirtha, the hill of Samet-Sikhara (which is locally known as the Parsvanatha Hill), on the spot at which the twenty-third Tirthankara attained his final liberation (Nirvana) affords a monumental proof of his historicity. Jaina literature, of course, contains numerous references to Parsva and records the facts of his life, but even contemporary Buddhist and other literature affords striking evidence about the existence of Nirgranthas before the time of Mahavira.
These Nirgranthas or followers of Parsva were undoubtedly Jaina monks; Mahavira himself was referred to as such, and he insisted on calling his followers by the same name. This system preached by Parsva must have been philosophically founded upon the same presuppositions that mark the present-day Jaina Siddhanta, but it is presumable that it did not quite offer the same pattern of ethical conduct or moral discipline. First, the religion of Parsva laid down only four vows (chaturiam) for the observance of his followers: ahinsa (non-killing); sunirij (truthful speech), astay (non-stealing), and aprigreh (renouncing of all illusory objects) ; while Mahavira specified, and present day Jainism recognizes, five great vows, the vow of chastity being given the same status as the vow of ahimsa. Jacobi is of the opinion that ”the augmentation in the text presupposes a decay of the morals of the monastic order to have occurred between Parsva and Mahavira.” It was possibly a reflection in the domain of social ethics of the newly growing ideas of sanctity of property which marked the rise of economic capitalism in Indian society. Secondly, although it is clear that Parsva’s sanha as well as Mahavira’s comprehended the monk and the nun, and the layman and the laywoman, the type of distinction between an ordinary layman (shravak) and a layman who took a special type of diksha and undertook to observe the twelve lay vows (shramano pasak), which undoubtedly formed a peculiar feature of Mahavira’s sangha, did not seem to characterize Parsva’s sangha at all. The difference between a sravak and sramano pasek in Mahavira, sangha consisted presumably in this, that a Sravaka took no definite vows but merely expressed sympathy and his faith as a Jaina while a Sramanopasaka took definite vows: Mahavira drew a distinction between the five great vows which laid down the practice of right conduct for the ascetic, and the five lesser vows which indicated the rules of discipline for the layman and were reinforced by seven more lay vows under which the layman imposed on himself voluntary limitations regarding the areas of his desires, his travel, the things of his daily use, the performance of meditation every day and every month, and the giving of alms to the ascetic. There is an occasional mention of the twelve vows of the sravaka in Parsva’s sangha also, but that appears to be no more than a conventional way of writing for it is obvious that there could not be twelve-there could be at best only eleven-vows of Parsva’s sravakas. What is significant is that Parsva’s sravakas. What is significant is that Parsva’s system is invariably spoken of as catuyram in the Buddhist and the Jaina texts, and such invariable use of the term does not warrant the type of distinction which Mahavira felt impelled to draw between the great and the lesser vows.
The Jaina Idea
of Biography:
It is amazing that historical scholars should have ever been inclined to doubt the existence of Mahavira. Jaina literature, particularly Jaina canonical literature, which is avowedly older than the classical Sanskrit literature and which vies in its antiquity with the oldest books of the northern Buddhists, is replete with the facts of Mahavira’s life. Jacobi is of the view that European scholars were confounded by the similarities between Buddhism and Jainism and between Buddha’s and Mahavira’s life and that they came to this conclusion due to their lack of study on the subject. The numerous names and appellations by which these two prophets were called Jina, Arhat, Mahavira, Sugatta, Sarvajna, Tathagata, Siddha, Buddha, Sambuddha, Parinivrtta, Mukta, etc., and the fact that both of them were given the same titles and epithets further confused historical scholars. But, Jacobi has stated, with the exception of Jina and perhaps Sramana, which were quite commonly used by both the sects, the Buddhists and the Jainas made a preferential selection of certain titles only. Thus, Buddha, Tathagata, Sugata and Sambuddha are common titles of Sakyamuni and are only occasionally used as epithets of Mahavira. On the other hand, Mahavira is often referred to in the Jaina Agama as Vardhamana, Because of the ‘increase that had taken place in the popularity of his parents ever since the moment he had been begotten’, still more often as Jnatrputra. The Buddhist texts refer to him as Nataputta, and it was not until quite late that Jacobi identified the term Nataputta to be a variation of Janatrputra. He is also called Vira, Ativira, Sanmati and by a host of other names in the later literature of the Jainas.
These names are clearly qualitative names, that is to say, they are meant to draw attention to certain qualities possessed by Mahavira; and they are all indicative of a distinct point of view which underlay the Jaina idea of biography. The Jaina viewpoint while writing a biography is not that of the usual historical biographer. The Jaina interest is not diffused over the whole range of the subject’s activities; it is all centered at one point, and that point is the attainment by his subject of salvation. The Jaina biographer writes about other things only in so far as they have to do with the attainment of his ultimate object. Interest would be spread over the whole wide field of activity when a biography like that of Rama or Krishna, is written with a view to help the codification of the principles of dharma. The Brahmanic view, which was based on a desire for success in the world as well as the next and which linked up, in the significant phrase of Sir S. Radha-Krishna, “the realm of desires with the prospective of the eternal’, thought in terms of the purusharth or human values- Dharma, artha, kama, and moksa- and considered the acquisition of wealth and the enjoyment of the present life as worthwhile as the ultimate attainment of the moksa. But to the Jaina there is no such thing as a real enjoyment of material things.
The Jaina siddhanta is based upon the presupposition that the whole universe can be classified into one or other of the two everlasting, uncreated, coexisting but independent categories, the jiva and the ajiva; and the Jaina metaphysics proceeds on the assumption that the Jiva (which corresponds in general to the atman of the other schools of Indian thought) not only exists but that it also acts and is acted upon. The intrinsic nature of the Jiva is one of perfection and is characterized by infinite intelligence (anantgyan), infinite perception (anantdarshan), infinite peace (anantsukh), and infinite power (anantveeriya). During the period of the union, however, of the Jiva with matter which constitutes samsara, the characteristic features of the Jiva’s qualities are obscured, although not destroyed, and “the exterior semblance of the Jiva belies its innate glory’; and from this obscuration it becomes the duty of each individual soul to free itself. Man’s personality in this view consists of two elements, the spiritual and the material; and according to Jainism, the object of life is so to subdue the latter as to completely sake off its malignant influence and thereby enable the Jiva to all its inherent excellencies in their fullness. A man’s action in life may be of two kinds, that which maintains, or even strengthens, the bond of union between Jiva and the matter, and thus-whether it brings pleasure or pain to the doer-effectually keeps the Jiva in a state of bondage, and that which tends to cut asunder the union between Jiva and matter and thus helps the Jiva to attain its freedom and ultimately perfection. The first kind of action, and its is just this action which is germane to what we call worldly achievements, is from a spiritual point of view undeserving of very much attention; and so the Jaina biographer, whose main interest is centered on the attainment of the ultimate, has been on the whole inclined to omit it from his analysis. It is only the spiritual activity of the individual about which he has written.
Mahavira’s
Biographies:
Thus, there is no dearth of biographical material for Mahavira, who holds the honored position of being the twenty-fourth and last in the galaxy of Tirthankaras of the present age and who is also the ruling personality of the present patriarchate; but this material is primarily and essentially concerned with the details of the spiritual activities of Mahavira. Of the purely material side of his life, the details provided are not many and not sufficiently lucid or specific.
Jacobi is of the opinion that the first book (Shrutskandh) of the Acarangasutra and of the Sutrakrtanga sutra may be reckoned among the most ancient parts of the Jaina siddhanta. Their style and meter prove the correctness of this opinion.
The date of these Sutras would be somewhere between the Pali literature and the composition of the Lalitavistara, and has been worried out by Jacobi to be in the 4th century B.C. It is in the first book of the Acaranga that the outlines of Mahavira’s life appear for the first time, but these outlines have been drawn in a rather rough and limited way. There is no mention here of early or householder’s life at all; the story begins with Mahavira’s ‘entry into the order’ and goes on to the narration of his daily habits of life as a monk and the numerous penance’s he went through. The second book of the Acranga, which obviously is a later composition and which does not even fit in with the scheme of writing adopted in the first book, refers possibly, in point of time, to the first part of the 3rd century B.C. when the whole canon was brought together under the patriarchate of Sthulibhadra; and in this book we can obtain the first glimpse of the detailed account of Mahavira’s birth and early life. Certain specific details mentioned here, like the change of embryo, the periodic attendance upon Mahavira of the four orders of Bhavanapati, Vyantara, Jyotiska and Vaimanika gods and goddesses, the enunciation of the five great vows, etc. were described more elaborately and certainly with an element of exaggeration by later writers on the life-history of Mahavira.
The Kalpasutra, written and composed by Bhandrabahu I, is elaborated upon these details with poetic imagery and in picturesque style and further added to them the new element of the fourteen dreams according to Svetamber and 16 according to Digambara sect-the dreams of (1) an elephant; (2) a land; (3) a lion; (4) the anointing of the Goddess Sri; (5) a garland; (6) the moon; (7) the Sun; (8) a flag; (9) a vase; (10) a lotus lake; (11) the ocean; (12)a celestial abode; (13) a heap of jewels; and (14) a flame which a Tirthankara’s mother was believed to have seen. The final forms of Mahavira’s life was attained in the Avasyaka-Niryukti of Bhadrabahu II, which may be ascribed to the 5th century A.D. and in an anonymously written commentary on it added some time in the 6th or 7th century A.D. These books, however, represent the Svetambara version of Mahavira’s life. At the hands of the Digambara acaryas a somewhat different version was prepared on the basis of pumchriya written by Vimala, whose date may be somewhere between the 1st and 3rd century A.D., fist in the Padmapurana, which may be ascribed to the 8th century A.D. and later on by others in various Puananas. The Digambara version gave the facts of life with the usual and in certain ways with more than usual embellishment, but it differed from the prevailing Svetambara version in one or two major details.
Parentage and
Birth:
The first difference between the Svetambara and Digambara version relates to the fact of Mahavira’s birth. Both versions agree that Mahavira was the son of Siddharatha and Trisala, that he belonged to a clan of the Ksatriyas called Jnatrkas (known as Natikas in the Buddhist works), and that he was a Kasyapa by gotra. But the Svetambara version speaks of a transfer of embryo; the Acaranga says-
“Here, forsooth, in the continent of Jambudvipa in Bharatavarsa, in the southern part of it, in the Brahamanical part of the place Kundapura, he took the form of an embryo in the womb of Devananda, of the Jalandhrayana gotra, wife of the Brahmana Rsabhadatta, of the gotra of Kodala....... “Then in the third month of the rainy season, the fifth fortnight, the dark (fortnight) of Asvina, on its thirteenth day, while the moon was in conjunction with Uttaraphalguni, after the laps of eighty-two days, on the eighty-third day current, the compassionate god (Indra) reflecting on what was the established custom (with regard to the birth of the Tirthankaras), removed the embryo from the southern Brahmanical part of the place Kundapura to the northern Ksatriya part of the same place, rejecting the unclean matter, lodged the fetus in the womb of Trisala of the Vasistha gotra, wife of the Ksatriya Siddhartha, of the Kasyapa gotra, of the clan of Jnatrs, and lodged the fetus of the Ksatriyani Trisala in the womb of Devananda, of the Jalandhrayana gotra........”
The Digambara account rejects this legend as ‘absurd’, but the Svetambaras strongly uphold its truth. As the legend is found in the Acaranga, the Kalpasutra, and many other books it cannot be doubted that it is very old; but it is not at all clear why it was invented and given such currency. There are, however, in the Bhagavati-another sutra in the Svetambara canon, two references that would throw further light on the question and would possibly help us in finding a solution. In Sataka V Uddesa IV, in reply to a question regarding the possibility and the procedure of the change of embryo, Mahavira declared that a change of embryo was quite possible and stated his position regarding the procedure by which the change might take place, but significantly omitted to mention- although it would have been quite proper for him in that context to do so- the change of his own embryo. Again, in Sataka IX, Uddesa XXXIII, there is reference to the visit to Mahavira’s camp of the Brhmana Rsabhadatta and his wife Devananda. On the sight of Mahavira, Devananda had a sudden maternal emotion and milk started coming out of her breast. Asked by his chief disciple Gautama to explain the reason of this unusual occurrence, Mahavira plainly stated that Devananda was his mother. He made no mention whatever of Trisala or of the episode of the change of embryo.
These two references are pointer to the fact that actually there was no change of Mahavira’s embryo. The Bhagavati, which makes a record of the actual conversations and sayings of Mahavira, is certainly more trustworthy as a source of information than the Kalpasutra. Which after all is the work of an acarya, however learned. It is not impossible that the story was invented by the author of the Kalpasutra as an occasion to express the prevailing sentiment of contempt for the Brahmanas, and that it was later on embodied in the second book of the Acaranga. But that alone does not solve the problem. In the Bhagavati Mahavira says that Devananda is his mother and in the Acaranga and the Kalpasutra the name of Mahavira’s mother is given as Ksatriyani Trisala. Of this Professor Jacobi offered a some what fanciful solution. “I assume”, he said “that Siddhartha had two wives, the Brahmani Devananda, the real mother of Mahavira, and he Ksatriyani Trisala; for the name of the alleged husband of the former, viz. Rsabhadatta, cannot be very old, because its Prakrit form would in that case probably be Usabhadinna instead of Usabhadatta. Besides, the name is such as could be given to a Jaina only, on to a Brahmana. I, therefore, make no doubt that Rsabhadatta has been invented by the Jainas in a order to provide Devananda with another husband. Now Siddhartha was connected with persons of high rank and great influence through his marriage with Trisala. It was, therefore, probably thought more profitable to give out that Mahavira was the son, and not merely the stepson, of Trisala, for this reason that he should be entitled to the patronage of her relations.” This is obviously far-fetched and also incorrect, for it is certain that in the days of Mahavira the marriage of a Brahmana girl with a Ksatriya was not at all an easy adventure and that anyhow the offspring of such a marriage would not be considered very respectable. What seems more likely is that Devananda was Mahavira’s foster-mother. This likelihood finds substantial support in the text of the Acaranga (second book) which specifically speaks of Mahavira as having been attended by five nurses, one of them being a wet-nurse.