Founder of the present-day Jainism, Mahavira (also known as Kevala or Vardhamana), was a great Jain sage who is recognized as the 24th Tirthankara (a supreme teacher who has transcended the cycles of birth and death). The word ‘Mahavira’ means a ‘great hero’ in Sanskrit.
Mahavira was born in the 6th century BCE to a royal family in the Bihar region of India. When he was about 30, he left home to lead a life of an ascetic in pursuit of Moksha. After about 12 years, he attained Kevala Gyan or the highest form of perception. He spent the rest of his life preaching his spiritual realizations by establishing the path of Ahimsa (non-violence), Brahmacharya (chastity), Satya (truth), and Aparigraha (the practice of non-attachment). Even though there have been 23 Tirthankaras before Mahavira, he is the one who is attributed for laying down a strong foundation for the Jain religion. Most of his teachings are derived from the teachings of the 23rd Tirthankara, Parshvanatha. Mahavira simplified and systematized the teachings of Jainism by devising the Mahavratas (renunciation of greed, killing, lying, sexual pleasures, and abandonment of all worldly attachments). In the present scenario, Mahavira’s teachings are being followed by two main sects of Jainism – Svetambara, and Digambara.