Mahaveera - A Great Democrat
By Dr. Indra Chandra Shastri
Lord Mahaveera, the last pontiff of Jains, was born in Bihar six hundreds years before Christ. He was elder contemporary of Buddha and came from the clan of Lichhavi Ksatriyas, well known for its spirit of independence and democratic state. His father, Siddhartha was a member of the great republic of Vaishali constituted by nine Malli and nine Lichhavi kingdoms. Vaishali is now a small village known as Vasala. It is situated 30 miles north of Muzaffarpur in Bihar. Mahaveera was born in Kstriyaskunda, which was a suburb of Vaishali.
Deeply imbibed with the great spirit of democracy, Mahaveera could not tolerate inequality, not only between man and man, but between man and animal also. His heart pained at the pathetic sight of animals being sacrificed for the sake of human enjoyments. His mind revolted against the social injustice perpetrated to the female and Sudras. He did not like the slavery of man to gods and goddesses, and thought that man himself is the moulder of his destiny. He wanted to introduce drastic reform in the human outlook and in the standards of valuation. But, he thought only a strong soul could implement reforms, and the strength of soul lies in its purity. A soul guided by prides and prejudices, carried by favours and frowns, induced by desires for sensual enjoyments and perverted by such other weaknesses cannot purify the society.
Consequently, he decided to renounce the worldly pleasures, and practice penances for self-chastisement.
Up to the age of thirty years he lived as a householder. But he thought possession as bond of soul. A prince is imprisoned in the walls of his vain glory. He cannot breathe in free air. Dispossession is necessary condition for free thinking and free living; and no correct attitude can be had without perfect freedom in thought and life. A prince has many fears; at the same time he is fear to many. He cannot give the message of fearlessness of the afraid. He cannot be a devotee of Universal friendship. Mahaveera became an ascetic, a mendicant possessing nothing, no even a begging bowl, a perfect nirgrantha.
After getting freedom from external boundaries he started his struggle against the inner enemies.
Non-violence was the first and foremost object of his practices. He thought that no man could be non-violent as long as he bears slightest malice towards his servant enemy. Non-violence, he admitted is not confined to non-injury or non-killing to others, which is only its only external form. Its real and positive form is the purity of heart, that one does not wish ill even of his enemy. During the period of his meditations he was tortured, insulted and beaten by different types of people. A cowherd thurst a spike into his ears swarms of bees stung him. Chanda Kausika, the venomous snake, bit him; the people of Radha set dogs and inflicted other injuries on his body, but, his tranquility was undisturbed. He did not feel the slightest malice against any body. On the other hand, he wished emancipation of those misguided souls, who were committing such acts out of ignorance. A sinner, he thought, is a diseased person, deserving out sympathy and love. One should wish for his recovery from the disease and not be angry upon him. “I cherished friendship with all beings and enmity with none.” – this was the keyword of Mahaveera during his practices.
Most of his time during the long period of twelve years of spiritual practices, passed in penance and meditation. He kept long fast ranging up to six months and took food only a few times. These severe practices gave him strength, so much, so that physical discomforts had no meanings for him. He distinctly realized that soul is separate from the body, and any injury to the body has no relation with soul. Attachment is the weakness of man and he had risen above all attachments.
At the age of forty-two, on the bank of Sadanira, he got enlightenment and became Arhan, a perfect soul, worthy of worship. He realized that every soul possesses, by nature, four infinites, i.e., infinite knowledge, Infinite Intuition, Infinite Bliss and Infinite Energy. This nature of soul is obscured by the karmic matter. As soon as soul is purified of this dirt, it gains the four infinites. It should be therefore, the aim of every soul to make an effort to get rid of karmic influence. Having realized the truth, he started for propagation of his mission.
The Mission of Mahaveera can be summed up in one word and that is Samata (equity). It is the essence of democracy. The entire system of Jainism, its philosophy, its logic and its ethics, is dominated with this spirit. The “Samayika” prescribed as a daily rite for Jains is nothing but a practice for implementing the spirit of equality into life. Mitti me savvabhutesu ( I have friendship with all beings) is the strain of Jain prayers.
Non-violence is the first offshoot of the principle of equality. One should feel for others in the same ways as he feels for himself. You do not like to injury to your own body, mind and soul. Similarly, others also don’t like it. It is, therefore, and imperative duty of a democrat that he should not injure anybody, in body as well as feelings. According to Jainism injury is a very wide term, It covers not only physical injury but that of mind and soul also. When you attack the feelings of a person you injure his mind. The principle of non-injury even to the mind has laid the foundation of Jain logic in the form of non-absolutism (anekantavada). It means that all our judgments are relative and nothing is absolute. The same thing, which is good for you, can be bad for your colleague, and later has also got a perfect right to perform his judgment according to his choice. In spite of apparent contradiction both judgments are correct in their own relations. Nevertheless, people try to impose their views on other, fight for it and attack their opponents vehemently. The principle of non-absolutism teaches that in place of rebuking our opponent we should try to understand him, study the circumstance, environment and the mental make-up under which he is speaking. We must honour the mind of our opponent as we do our own. If there is something really wrong in it, we can try to correct it with out loosing respect for intellect and individual. The way of denouncing one’s views is the way of injury to his mind. Thus a philosophical interpretation of the non-injury to mind is a remarkable contribution of Mahaveera.
There were two causes of conflicts in the world. A man or a nation fights against other man or nation either induced by his self-interest or by the desire of domination or to impose his own views on the other. Mahaveera has discovered both these causes in the definition of non-violence. A person cherishing friendship towards all beings can injure the interest of none. Everybody's interest becomes his own interest. He resolves to abstain from hurting anybody's interest whether it is an individual, community or nation. There are other people holding that truth is confined to their own convictions. They denounce the views of others and wish to impose their own. They are not induced by some external interest; yet, their egoism compells them to be so vehement. If logic is not sufficient to bring others to their views they resort to sword. Thus a religion, the saviour of mankind becomes the cause of bloodshed. Mahaveera prescribed non-absolutism as a remedy for these conflicts of thought.
Social equality comes next in the mission of Mahaveera. He preached that there is no distinction of cast, creed or sex in the domain of spiritual realization. Purity of soul is the only criterion in this field. Everybody, whether a male or female, a Brahmana or the so-called untouchable possess the same right to study religious scriptures, practice prescribed therein and attain salvation thereby. Mahaveera is not particular even about his creed. He admits that any person with the desired purification of soul can attain salvation. It does not matter whether he is in the uniform of a Jain monk or householder or belongs to the order of some other sects.
Next, we find in Mahaveera a strong devotion of self-reliance. It is said that when he started his life of penances and was open to hardships, Indra, the king of gods, came to him and offered his assistance in wording off the intruders. Mahaveera did not accept the offer and said, “A traveler on the path of inner realization does not seek external assistance.”
In a society where pleasure of gods was essential for prosperity and other gains, he announced for the first time, “O man, you and none else, are the make of your destiny.” The self of a man is his friend and the same is his enemy. It is a friend when directed towards right path and enemy directed towards wrong path. Mahaveera recalled the inner strength and released him form the slavery of gods and goddesses. He did not believe even in God as the Creator. The man himself moulds his future as he desires. Non can grant him boons or shower curses if his own actions do not deserve them. This is how the Jain theory of Karman developed; according to which the future of man is decided by his present and past actions. The Jain theory of Karman is altogether different from fatalism where future of a being is sealed, leaving no scope for efforts. According to Jainism the fruit of Karman is not altogether unchangeable. It can transferred from a stronger intensity to the milder one, from longer duration to a shorter one and can be rendered quite fruitless through penance and other practices. Thus, Jainism leaves enough scope for personal efforts, not overlooking the influence of former actions. Thus, the Jain theory of Karman, places entire responsibility of pleasure or pain on the individual.
The mission of Mahaveera can be summed up in the following four respects, and I believe, they are the summum bonum of democracy :
1. Respect for life.
2. Respect for mind.
3. Respect for soul.
4. Respect for personal potencies.
This is a short account of the mission of Mahaveera. It is wrong to confine him to a particular sect or creed. He was leader of mankind and showed the path of true democracy. He lived and preached the path of non-violence which has been foundation of India in the past. It is time that our nation realizes the importance of his Mission and tries to implement it in life.
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Source : "Jainism and Democracy", By Dr. Indra Chandra Shashtri
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