Mahaveer (Vardhamana) ji, the 24th Tirthankara, lived in ancient India and is revered in Jainism as a supreme teacher who revived and clarified the path to liberation.

• Birth and family: Born in Kundagrama (near Vaishali, Bihar) to King Siddhartha and Queen Trishala. He was a prince who grew up in comfort before renouncing the world. You can read a brief life outline here .
• Renunciation and austerities: At about age 30, he left home and spent roughly 12 years as an ascetic, practicing strict nonviolence, truthfulness, non-attachment, and fasting. After this intense penance, he attained kevala jnana (omniscience). A concise version is here .
• Enlightenment and teaching: He emerged as a teacher who set the standard for monastic life and Jain ethics, teaching the core principles of ahimsa (non-violence), anekantavada (many-sided truth), and aparigraha (non-attachment). His early disciples organized the sangha (monastic community) to propagate the dharma. A simple narrative is here .
• Death and legacy: He attained moksha (liberation) at Pawapuri in Bihar, at the age of around 72. His teachings were preserved in the Jain scriptures and form the basis of Jain philosophy to this day.

Notes on traditions:

• Digambaras and Śvetāmbaras differ on some details, such as whether Mahavira married (Śvetāmbara tradition says he had a wife and daughter; Digambara tradition holds he remained celibate) and on certain biographical emphases. Both traditions agree on his renunciation, long ascetic period, kevala jnana, and his moksha at Pawapuri, and they share the core path of the five Mahavratas and the central ideas of Jain ethics. See the brief Life stories above for a compact view in line with Jain tradition. You can read more Mahavira stories here .

If you’d like, I can summarize his key teachings or provide short quotations from Jain scriptures in a simple, respectful way.