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c. 599-527 BCEReputable source · 2 sourcesDebated

Mahavira Re-Establishes Jainism

The twenty-fourth Tirthankara systematizes a tradition of nonviolence and asceticism that predates him by centuries

On the timeline · around c. 599-527 BCE · The Mahajanapadas and the New ReligionsThe Vedic PeriodThe Mahajanapadas and the New ReligionsMahavira Re-Establishes Jainism850 BCE750 BCE650 BCE550 BCE500 BCE450 BCE

Quick facts

Traditional dates
c. 599-527 BCE
Position in Jain tradition
24th and final Tirthankara
Core principle
Ahimsa (nonviolence toward all living creatures)
Predecessor
Parshvanatha, 23rd Tirthankara

What happened

Vardhamana, better known as Mahavira, or Great Hero, lived roughly between 599 and 527 BCE and is credited with founding Jainism in its present form, though Jain tradition itself holds that he was not the religion's originator but its twenty-fourth and final Tirthankara, a ford-maker who re-established a path first taught by earlier teachers, most recently Parshvanatha. Jain philosophy centers on liberating the soul from the cycle of rebirth through ascetic renunciation and, above all, ahimsa, strict nonviolence toward all living creatures, a principle severe enough that traditional Jain monastics sweep the ground before them to avoid stepping on insects. Mahavira spent decades as a wandering ascetic before organizing the monastic and lay community structure, and the rules of conduct he set out for monks, nuns, and lay followers still define practicing Jainism today.

Why it matters

Jainism became one of two major non-Vedic movements, alongside Buddhism, to challenge Brahmanical religious authority during the same era of political and intellectual ferment along the Ganges. Its doctrine of ahimsa would later influence Indian religious and political thought far beyond the Jain community itself, including Gandhi's articulation of nonviolent resistance more than two thousand years later.

How we know

Mahavira's biography comes down through Jain canonical texts composed and transmitted by the monastic community he organized, and like the Buddha's traditional dates, his are reconstructed rather than independently documented by contemporary outside sources.

Sources

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Mahavira Re-Establishes Jainism · Ancient India · SourcedStory