The Ascetic Life of Mahavira (Ohānasāyam, Ayārānga Sutta)

Summary

The biography of Mahāvīra begins with his birth as Vardhamāna into a noble clan and recounts the worldly comforts he enjoyed in his youth. At around twenty‑eight years old, he felt an intense dissatisfaction with his privileged existence and decided to renounce wealth, family and status. He took the vow of total non‑violence, abandoned clothes and wandered as a mendicant. For more than twelve years he practised the most severe austerities: he ate minimal food, endured heat and cold, and meditated without concern for his body. According to tradition, he remained standing in meditation for months and maintained silence for long periods. This asceticism was not self‑punishment but a means of purifying the soul; by conquering attachment, he reduced the influx of karmic matter. Mahāvīra’s unfaltering discipline impressed even his enemies, and many attempted to disturb him but failed. Eventually, after twelve and a half years of such penances, he achieved kevalajñāna (omniscience). With this insight he saw the nature of reality and the workings of karma. For the next thirty years he travelled barefoot across northern India teaching the path of liberation. The article highlights the central principles he taught: right faith, right knowledge and right conduct; the five great vows of non‑violence, truthfulness, non‑stealing, celibacy and non‑attachment; and the importance of compassion towards all beings. Mahāvīra’s life serves as the model for Jain monks and nuns, who emulate his renunciation and self‑control in their own quests for liberation.