Talk:Mahavira

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Mahavira's teachings are more or less duplicated in the Jainism page. We can prune the extra material and keep here only the details that cannot be found on the Jainism page.
Jay 22:32, 13 Aug 2003 (UTC)

I've checked and I don't see an excessive overlap in content, but have moved the Jain prayer section to Jainism. The Teachings section that is here should stay IMO. It covers what Mahavir taught during his livetime, which is not entirely the same as covering present-day Jain beliefs and practices. Mkweise 04:28, 14 Aug 2003 (UTC)

[edit] Mahavira's dad was *the* Siddartha?

"Being the son of King Siddartha (Siddartha Guatama)...". Is that right? Does (mainstream NPOV) Jainism say that Mahavira was the son of Siddartha Gautama (the founder of Buddhism)? That doesn't sound right / familiar to me, although I have only an interested amateur's knowledge of Jainist doctrine. Poking around on the Web confirms that Mahavira's father was a dude named "Siddhartha", but was it really the Siddhartha? Wouldn't want Wikipedia to be inventing such an interesting fact... (And is "Guatama" just a typo for "Gautama", as the Google check sort of suggests, or what?)

There are no accounts that suggest that The Buddha was the father of Mahavira - they were contemporaries, but most certainly unrelated - we should probably clarify this in the article. Also, are there any sources that say that Mahavira's father was Siddhartha Gautama, as opposed to just Siddhartha? The use of the word Gautama is what seriously bothers me here. --ashwatha 06:55, 21 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Of course he wasn't "the" Siddharta. Moreover, Mahavira's father was no king and his mother was no queen. Siddharta was called raja, which is translated as king - a highly misleading translation in that case. Raja seems to have been, in Siddharta's case, just a title for a wealthy and prominent noble citizen. Mahavira's mother was the sister of "king" Cetaka of Vaisali (just a local ruler), but she was no queen herself. The terms "king", "queen", and "prince" should be removed from the article. The whole matter is properly explained in Helmuth von Glasenapp's scholarly book "Jainism". 85.212.204.34 00:08, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

The Buddha was actually younger than Mahavira. --queso man 13:29, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] NPOV

Thus, the principles of Jainism, if properly understood in their right perspective and faithfully adhered to, will bring contentment and inner happiness and joy in the present life. This will elevate the soul in future reincarnations to a higher spiritual level, achieving Perfect Enlightenment, reaching its final destination of Eternal Bliss, ending all cycles of birth and death.

...

At the age of 72 (527 BC), Lord Mahavira attained Moksha and his purified soul left his body and achieved complete liberation. He became a Siddha, a pure consciousness, and liberated soul, living forever in a state of complete bliss. On the night of his Enlightenment, people celebrated the Festival of Lights (Dipavali) in his honor. This is the last day of the Hindu and Jain calendar year known as Dipavali Day.

And if I wrote in a Wikipedia article "On the third day after Jesus' crucifixion, he rose from the dead." or "Submission to Allah is the only way to achieve happiness," it wouldn't be acceptable. Major rewrites for this article are required if it is to sound less like propoganda for Jainism.--Conwiktion 16:47, 20 August 2005 (UTC)

Okay, I mangled the article in an attempt to make is sound less like a work of apologetics and more like an encyclopedia article. It still needs major work. However, I am not an expert on Jainism, and I would appreciate if someone who was who is interested in writing a neutral article about Mahavira would revise the article.--Conwiktion 05:31, 25 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Where is the anti-idol stuff

Mahavir was completely against any sort of rituals, idol worship. I don't have any sources so i haven't made any changes. Another interesting fact to note would be that he never intended to create a religion or considered a god. I am jain btw Source http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:IAYPsMy31M0J:www.britannica.com/eb/article-59030+site:britannica.com+jainism&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4

[edit] Over View of Life

Mahavir was married as per Swetambar belief whereas as per Digambar belief Mhavir never married. Similarly Mahavir was not a son of King Siddharth and Queen Trishla. Reader may add their comments here. vkvora 16:38, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Definetly

Sanmati needs to be merged in this page!