Vardhamana was born at Kundagrama, a suburb of Vaisali now known as Basukunda (modern Muzafarpur district of Bihar) in the Jnatric (known as Niya in Pali) Kshatriya clan. His father Siddhartha was a wealthy noble; mother Trishala was sister of a Lichchhavi prince Chetaka of Vaisali whose daughter was wedded to Bimbisara of Magadha. Vardhamana was married to his cousin Yasoda and had a daughter Priyadarshana or Anojja who was given in marriage to his nephew Jamali. Different dates have been given by different scholars about his birth and death though all of them agree that he lived for 72 years and died at Pava near Rajagriha in the house of the ruler by the name Hastipala (Hatthivala).

According to one view he was born in 618 B.C. and died in 540 B.C. As per another view he was born 540 B.C. and died in 468 B.C., which is generally accepted. According to the Jaina tradition Mahavira’s death took place 470 years after the beginning of Vikrama Era i.e. 470+58=528 B.C. Hence, according to this view he was born in 528+72=600 B.C. But this view is generally discarded, as the source is undependable for confusing between kingdoms of Ujjain and Magadha. The famous Jaina writer Hemachandra (12th century A.D.) states that Chandragupta Maurya’s accession to the throne took place 155 years after the death of Mahavira. As per this view the year of death comes to 322+155=477 B.C and that of birth comes to 477+72=549 B.C. In any case he was a senior contemporary of Gautam Buddha.

Attainment of Knowledge:

After the death of his parents and with the permission of his elder brother Nandivardhana, he left home at the age of 30. For over twelve years Vardhaman wandered from place to place begging his food, meditating,disputing and subjecting his body to extreme austerities. During this period another ascetic, Gosala Mukhaliputta, shared his hardships for six years but ultimately the two quarreled on doctrinal isssues and Gosala left Vardhamana to found the new sect of Ajivikas. At first he wore a single garment for thirteen months after which he gave it up and the rest of his life was spent in complete nudity. In the 13th year of his asceticism out of severest penance and deep meditation under a saal tree on the banks of the river Rijupalika not far away from the village Jrimbhikagrama he found full enlightenment and the ultimate state of knowledge (Kaivalya) and became Jina (the conqueror) or Nigrantha (free from bondage) or the Arhant (worthy).

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Thus, Mahavira (the great hero) propagated Jainism, the religion of the Jinas (the conquerors). He spent the remaining 32 years of his life propagating Jainism.

Parsvanath :

According to traditional accounts the doctrines embodied in Jainism were preached by twenty-fourth Tirthankaras (preparers of the path) or Saints each of whom preached during his own age. With the exception of the last two, Parsvanath and Mahavira the remaining twenty-two are all mythical figures. According to Abhidharma Chaintmani Rishavadeva was the first Tirthankara followed by Adinatha, Sambhabanath, Abhinandanatha, Sumantinath, Padmaprabha, Suparvanath, Chandraprabha, Suvidhinatha, Vasupuja, Vimalnatha, Anantanatha, Dharmanath, Santinatha, Kunthunatha, Aranatha, Mallinatha, Munisuvrata, Neminatha, Parsvanatha and Mahavira. The life of Parsvanath who flourished about 250 years before Mahavira, is not known with any element of certainty. He was the son of Asvasena of Varanasi and his wife was Vama. At the age of 30 he abandoned his royal life and became an ascetic and after 84 days of intense penance attained enlightenment. He lived upto 100 years and preached his religion.

Parsvanath taught the fourfold virtue of Satya (truthfulness), Ahimsa (non-injury), Aparigraha (non-possession) and Asteya (non-receipt of anything except when it is freely given). Mahavira added one more to these four vows – Brahmacharya (celibacy). Hence unlike Buddha, Mahavira was more a reformer than the founder of a new faith.