Here is a simple overview of Mahavira’s life and teachings from a Jain perspective.

Life of Mahavira (Vardhamana)

• Birth and family: Mahavira was born as Vardhamana in a royal Śvētāmbara tradition lineage at Kundagrama (near present-day Rajgir). His family belonged to the Śvetāṅga lineage of kings.
• Early life: He grew up as a prince, enjoying comforts but was deeply inclined toward truth and compassion.
• Renunciation: At about 30 years of age, he renounced worldly life to seek spiritual liberation, beginning a severe and long period of ascetic discipline.
• Awakening: After many years of rigorous practice, he attained kevala jñāna (perfect, omniscient knowledge) and became a Tirthankara (a ford-maker, a teacher who shows the path to liberation) in the Jain tradition.
• Teaching and mission: He spent decades teaching the path to liberation, gathering a following of monks, nuns, and laypeople. He established a code of conduct and moral discipline that became the core of Jain practice.
• Death: Mahavira attained nirvāṇa (liberation) in a state of omniscient awareness, traditionally said to be at Pawapuri (in modern-day Bihar).

Teachings and key principles

• Ahimsa (non-violence): A central and foundational principle; Mahavira taught outward and inward non-violence toward all living beings and guided adherents to minimize harm in thought, speech, and action.
• Anekantavada (non-absolutism): The idea that truth and reality are complex and can be understood from many perspectives; this encourages open inquiry and tolerance of other viewpoints.
• Aparigraha (non-attachment): Detachment from possessions and desires to reduce bondage and cultivate inner freedom.
• Satya (truth), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (celibacy or self-control), and Openness to non-violence in conduct—these form the basic ethical vows for Jain monks and nuns and guidance for laypeople.
• Kevala jñāna (omniscient knowledge): The ultimate realization of perfect knowledge, which Mahavira attained; the goal for all Jain adherents is to progress toward spiritual purification and liberation through disciplined practice.
• Three jewels (Ratnatraya): samyak darśana (right faith), samyak jñāna (right knowledge), and samyak charitra (right conduct) as the path to liberation.

Traditions and variations

• Digambara and Śvetāmbara differences: Both traditions honor Mahavira as the 24th Tirthankara, but they differ in certain biographical details and practices:

- Digambara: Traditionally emphasizes Mahavira’s wardrobe-free renunciation (monks do not wear clothes) and emphasizes ascetic rigor; some details about the life of Mahavira and his disciples differ in their canonical accounts. - Śvetāmbara: Emphasizes a more inclusive portrayal of Mahavira’s life, with monastic rules and scriptures that differ in arrangement and commentary; both traditions agree on the core path of liberation and the Five Vows.

• Despite these differences, both streams uphold Mahavira’s core teachings on ahimsa, anekantavada, and aparigraha, and both view his life as a model for spiritual discipline and liberation.

If you’d like, I can share short, with-text quotes from Jain scriptures about Mahavira or summarize his sermons and the structure of the Jain vow system in more detail.