Jainism
It cannot be said precisely about when Jainism was born. According to Jain literature, Jainism is older than the Vedic religion of Aryans, but Jainism originated in reaction to Vedic religion, so Jainism could not be older than Vedic religion. The ascetic ascetics who contributed to the establishment and development of Jainism are called Tirthankaras.
The name of Rishabhdev, the first Tirthankara of Jainism and Arishtanemi, the second Tirthankara, is derived from the hymns of Rigveda. The story of Rishabhdev is also mentioned in Vishnu-Purana and Bhagavata Purana, where he is considered to be an incarnation of Narayan. The twenty-third Tirthankara was Parshvanath and the twenty-fourth Tirthankara was Mahavir Swami. The historicity of the first twenty Tirthankaras is doubtful as there is no definite historical evidence about them, but the twenty-third and twenty-fourth Tirthankaras were certainly historical figures.
Lord Parshvanath
According to Jain literature, Parshvanath was born in the eighth century BC, about 250 years before Mahavira. He is also mentioned in Brahmanical literature. He was the son of Ashwasen, the king of Kashi. His mother's name was Vama. There is a mention of a Nagaraja named Ashwasen in the Indian Puranas. The snake found in Jain idols is a symbol of Parshvanath.
Parshvanath was married to Prabhavati, the princess of Kusasthala. Till the age of 30, he lived a life of luxury. Then leaving the householder life and went out in search of truth. After 83 days of severe penance, he attained enlightenment at the Sammed mountain of Varanasi. After attaining enlightenment, he did the work of preaching religion for about 70 years. He died at the age of 100.
'Nigrantha' who followed the path propounded by Parshwanath Called, which means- 'One who is freed from worldly bondage.' Thus the old name of Jainism 'Nigrantha Dharma' In which there is no place for anger and hatred.
The number of followers of Parshvanath was very high. Mention of women following Parshvanath is also found in Jain literature. The parents of Mahavir Swami were also followers of Parshvanath. Parshvanath organized his followers and established the four Ganas and asked them to follow the four principles namely Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya and Aparigraha.
Parshvanath opposed the polytheism and Yagyaism of Brahmins. He did not believe in the authenticity of the Vedas and was opposed to violent sacrifices. He also did not believe in the birth-based varna system. According to Parshvanath every person is entitled to salvation. So it is clear that Mahavir Swami was not the founder of Jainism.
Hundreds of years before his birth, Jainism had been organized. He had his own laws. There was a special arrangement for living. He had four unions of his own. Each Sangha functioned under the supervision of a Ganadhar. Mahavir Swami improved his existing system and made it popular. That is why he is considered a reformer of Jainism.
Mahavir Swami
Mahavir Swami, the 24th and last Tirthankara of Jainism, was born in BC. In 599, he was born in the Jynatrik Kshatriya clan of Kundagram near Vaishali. Some sources date the birth of Mahavira to BC. Says to be in 540. His father Siddhartha was the king of Kundagrama, a small kingdom of Jynatrika Kshatriyas. Mahavira's mother's name was Trishala, who was the sister of the famous king Chetak of the Lichchavi dynasty.
Mahavir Swami's childhood name was Vardhanam. On his birth, astrologers predicted that when he grew up he would either become a Chakravarti king or a learned monk. Vardhamana was given Kshatriyachit education in his childhood. In his youth, he was married to a beautiful princess named Yashoda.
From this matrimonial relationship he also had a daughter who was married to a Kshatriya chieftain named Jamali. When Vardhaman turned 30, his father passed away. Due to this incident, his retirement instinct became more and more strong. He left home after taking orders from his elder brother Nandivardhana and became a monk.
For thirteen months, Mahavira performed severe penance wearing the clothes of a monk. But they did not get success in achieving their goal. On this he left the sect of Lord Parshvanath and started doing penance alone. His clothes became dilapidated and fell, then Vardhamana began to remain naked. Insects started biting his naked body but he remained completely indifferent.
Ignoring the body for twelve years, he endured all kinds of troubles. He broke all the bonds of the world. He became completely detached from the world. In the end Mahavira attained Kaivalya knowledge on the banks of river Ujjuwalia (Rizupalika) near Jambhiyagram (Jambika). Then he should be 'Kevlin' Got the degree. Having conquered the senses, he 'Jin' Called He was called Mahavir for showing extraordinary courage in spiritual practice. By breaking all worldly bonds, he 'Nigrantha' called.
After getting the knowledge of the truth, Mahavir started the work of showing the people the right way of living. He started traveling from place to place to propagate his ideas. The states of Magadha, Kashi, Kosala etc. were his propaganda areas. Mahavir Swami was closely related to many dynasties, so he got a lot of help from those dynasties in propagating his ideas.
Influenced by his truthfulness and simple way of life, hundreds of people became his followers. Raja-Maharaja, Vaish-trader and others started following his teachings and gradually the number of his followers increased considerably. According to Jain literature, many erstwhile kings including Chetak of Lichchavi, Pradyot of Avanti, King Bimbisara and Ajatashatru of Magadha, Dadhivahana of Champa and King Udayan of Sindhu-Saubir were followers of Mahavir Swami. According to Buddhist texts, Bimbisara and Pradyota were the followers of Mahatma Buddha.
This shows that the Hindu rulers of that era were religiously liberal and tolerant and respected wise men equally. For this reason, both Jain and Buddhist religions accepted him as their own follower. Finally, in 527 BC, at the age of 72, Mahavir Swami attained salvation at Pavapuri (Patna). Some sources say that he died in BC. Supposed to be in 467. Even after his death, Jainism continued on the principles laid down by him and his main disciples continued to manage the Jain Sangh.
Difference between the principles of Parshvanath and Mahavir
There was not much difference between the principles of Bhagwan Parshvanath and Mahavir Swami. Parshvanath had insisted on the need for four vows, Mahavir Swami added another vow called 'Brahacharya' with him. Parshvanath had allowed his followers to wear clothes, but Mahavir Swami asked the Jain monks to remain naked. Mahavira used to lay more emphasis on two of his principles - Brahmacharya and Vairagya.
Jain Gana
Among the disciples of Mahavir were sadhus and householders, men and women, rich and poor. These disciples were later divided into 11 groups called 'Ganas'. The leader of each group was called 'Ganadhar'. There are mentions of 13 such Ganas.