page_title: Mahavira
section_title: Birth
hierarchical_section_title: Mahavira / Jain tradition / Birth
caption_attribution_description: English: Detail of a leaf with, The Birth of Mahavira, from the Kalpa Sutra, c.1375-1400. gouache on paper. Indian.
context_page_description: Mahavira, also known as Vardhamana was the 24th tirthankara of Jainism. He was the spiritual successor of 23rd tirthankara Parshvanatha. Mahavira was born in the early part of the 6th century BC into a royal Kshatriya Jain family in present-day Bihar, India. His mother's name was Trishala and father's name was Siddhartha. They were lay devotees of Parshvanatha. Mahavira abandoned all worldly possessions at the age of about 30 and left home in pursuit of spiritual awakening, becoming an ascetic. Mahavira practiced intense meditation and severe austerities for 12 and half years, after which he attained Kevala Jnana. He preached for 30 years and attained moksha in the 6th century BC, although the year varies by sect.
  Historically, Mahavira, who preached Jainism in ancient India, was an older contemporary of Gautama Buddha. Scholars variously date him from 6th-5th century BC and his place of birth is also a point of dispute among them.
  Mahavira taught that observance of the vows of ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya, and aparigraha are necessary for spiritual liberation. He taught the principles of Anekantavada: syadvada and nayavada.
context_section_description: Tirthankara Mahavira was born into the royal Kshatriya family of King Siddhartha of the Ikshvaku Dynasty and Queen Trishala of the Licchavi dynasty. The Ikshvaku Dynasty was established by First Tirthankara Rishabhanatha 
  According to Jains, Mahavira was born in 599 BCE. His birthday falls on the thirteenth day of the rising moon in the month of Chaitra in the Vira Nirvana Samvat calendar era. It falls in March or April of the Gregorian calendar, and is celebrated by Jains as Mahavir Janma Kalyanak.
  Kundagrama (the place of Mahavira’s birth) is traditionally believed to be near Vaishali, an ancient town on the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Its location in present-day Bihar is unclear, partly because of migrations from ancient Bihar for economic and political reasons. According to the "Universal History" in Jain texts, Mahavira underwent many rebirths (total 27 births) before his 6th-century birth. They included a denizen of hell, a lion, and a god (deva) in a heavenly realm just before his last birth as the 24th tirthankara. Svetambara texts state that his embryo first formed in a Brahman woman before it was transferred by Hari-Naigamesin (the divine commander of Indra's army) to the womb of Trishala, Siddhartha's wife. The embryo-transfer legend is not believed by adherents of the Digambara tradition.
  Jain texts state that after Mahavira was born, the god Indra came from the heavens along with 56 dipkumaries, anointed him, and performed his abhisheka (consecration) on Mount Meru. These events, illustrated in a number of Jain temples, play a part in modern Jain temple rituals. Although the Kalpa Sūtra accounts of Mahavira's birth legends are recited by Svetambara Jains during the annual Paryushana festival, the same festival is observed by the Digambaras without the recitation.
caption: The birth of Mahavira, from the Kalpa Sūtra (c. 1375–1400 AD)
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