Nataputta Vardhamana, also known as Mahavira ("great hero") to his followers, has traditionally been identified as the founder of Jainism.

Here you will learn a little about his life. If you want to read about Jainism, you will have to wait until I complete that part of the site. Thanks!

In orthodox Jainism, Mahavira was only the last in a long line of founders. Twenty-three figures preceded Mahavira in the establishment of Jainism. All of them, together, including Mahavira, were known as Tirthankaras or "crossing builders".

Most sources suggest that Mahavira lived between 599 and 527 B.C.E., but some authorities place his death as late as 467 B.C.E.

Mahavira was born in the sixt century B.C.E. to parents of the Kshatriya caste; his father was a minor ruler. Mahavira was the second of two sons. According to legend, the family possessed great wealth and luxury. They resided in Vaisali, the capital city of the region of Magadah in north India. Mahavira married and had a daughter at proper age. Despite his position and wealth, he was not happy and sought a religious answer to his unhappiness. When a group of wandering ascetics came to dwell in his village, Mahavira became interested in them and longed to join their order. Being a dutiful son, however, he waited until his parents died and the business affairs of the family had been taken over successfully by his older brother. Then he bade farewell to his family, turned his back on his wealth and luxury, tore out his hair and beard by the handfuls, and went off to join the ascetics.

*Note, if you don't know what an ascetic is, I recommend looking it up. Eventually I will have information up on them, but not in time with this. It's really interesting.*

Mahavira did not find what he had sought among his group of ascetics. He came to believe instead that one must practice a more severe asceticism than they practiced to find release of the soul from this life. In addition to his concern for extreme asceticism, Mahavira eventually felt that one must also practice ahimsa (non-injury to life) to find release. Therefore, he went forth on his own path.

The legends concerning this period of Mahavira's life emphasize the extreme measures of asceticism that he imposed on himself. Because he did not wish to become attached to people or things, he never stayed more than one night in any place when he traveled. During the rainy season, he stayed off the roads to avoid walking w here he might inadvertently step on an insect. During the dry season, he swept the road before him as he walked to avoid crushing insects. He strained all the water he drank to prevent swallowing any creature it might contain. Like any true ascetic, he begged for his food; but he refused to eat raw food and preferred to eat only that which had been left over from the meal of some other person, so that he might not be the cause of death. To better torment his body, he sought out the coldest spots in the winter months and the hottest climates in the summer, and he always went about naked. Whenever angry or vile persons sent their dogs after him, Mahavira allowed himself to be bitten rather than resist them. Legend also tells of a time when Mahavira was meditating and some people built a fire beneath him to see if he would resist; he did not. After twelve years of the harshest forms of asceticism, he achieved release (moksha) from the bonds that tie one's soul to the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Thus, he became known to his followers as a Jina (conqueror) because he had heroically conquered the forces of life. Although he had achieved moksha, Mahavira lived for another thirty years and died at the age of seventy-two.

       According to some Jain legends, the parents of Mahavira died of self-imposed starvation. Because Jainism places such high value on asceticism, this form of death becomes the ideal.