* 599 BC – Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism ( d. 527 BC )

The 24th, and last Tirthankar is Mahavira, who lived from 599 to 527 BCE.

Compassion for all life, human and nonhuman, is central to Buddhism, which was founded by Siddhattha Gotama ; and also Jainism, which was founded by Mahavira 599 – 527 BC.

* Mahavira of Vaishali, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism ( possibly 599 BC – 527 BC )

* 527 BC — Mahavira, major Jain reformist ( b. 599 BC )

For example, the ancient Jaina Anekantavada principle of Mahavira ( c. 599 – 527 BC ) states that truth and reality are perceived differently from diverse points of view, and that no single point of view is the complete truth ; and the Greek philosopher Protagoras ( c. 481 – 420 BC ) famously asserted that " man is the measure of all things ".

* 599 BC — Vardhamana Mahavira, last Tirthankara of Jainism, is born.

* Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism ,( 599 – 527 )

Jains believe Mahavira lived from 599 – 527 BCE, though some scholars prefer 549 – 477 BCE.

Licchavi was an ancient republic which existed in what is now Bihar state of India, since before the birth of Mahavira ( b. 599 BC ), Vaishali was the capital of the Licchavis and the Vajjian Confederacy.

Even before the advent of Buddhism and Jainism, Vaishali was the capital of the vibrant republican Licchavi state since before the birth of Mahavira ( c. 599 BC ), which suggests that it was perhaps the first republic in the world, similar to those later found in ancient Greece.

Bhadrabahu I is considered the author of the text and it is traditionally said to have been composed about one hundred and fifty years after Nirvāṇa of Mahavira ( traditionally 599 – 527 BCE ).

One of the first known republics in the world, Licchavi, existed in the region since before the birth of Mahavira ( c. 599 BC ).

Mahavira ( c. 549 – 477 BCE ), proponent of Jainism, and Buddha ( c. 563-483 ), founder of Buddhism were the most prominent icons of this movement.

For Jains, Diwali marks the attainment of moksha or nirvana by Mahavira in 527 BCE.

On this day Lord Mahavira, the last of the Jain Tirthankar of this era, attained Nirvana on Chaturdashi of Kartika ( Oct. 15, 527 BCE ) at Pavapuri.

And so, quite possibly, is the Mahavira Nirvana calendar of the Jains ( with a zero point in 527 BCE ).

When Mahavira revived and reorganized the Jain movement in the 6th or 5th century BCE, ahimsa was already an established, strictly observed rule.

In one of these kingdoms, Magadha, Mahavira and Gautama Buddha were born in the 6th or 5th century BCE and propagated their śramanic philosophies.

Jainism was established by a lineage of 24 enlightened beings culminating with Parsva ( 9th century BCE ) and Mahavira ( 6th century BCE ).

Indian discussion of reincarnation enters the historical record from about the 6th century BCE, with the development of the Advaita Vedanta tradition in the early Upanishads ( around the middle of the first millennium BCE ), Gautama Buddha ( 623-543 BCE ) as well as Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism.

Jain philosophy, which is a non-creationist philosophy and based on teachings of Mahavira ( 6th century BCE ), states that universe and its constituents like matter cannot be destroyed or created.

Parsva ( 23rd Tirthankara in 9th century BCE ) and Mahavira, ( 24th Tirthankara in 6th century BCE ), known as the fordmakers of Jainism lived during this age.

Organized Jainism can be dated back to Parshva who lived in the ninth century BCE, and, more reliably, to Mahavira, a teacher of the sixth century BCE, and a contemporary of the Buddha.

* c. 520 BC — Mahavira

Economics in Jainism is influenced by Mahavira and his principles and philosophies.

Dharma also refers to the teachings and doctrines of the founders of Buddhism and Jainism, the Buddha and Mahavira.

Sculpture representing two founders of Jainism: left, Rishabha ( Jain tirthankar ) | Rishabha first of the 24 tirthankara s ; right Mahavira, the last of those 24, who consolidated and reformed the religious and philosophical system.

In the 6th century BC, Vardhamana Mahavira became one of the most influential Jainism teachers.

The Buddhists have always maintained that during the time of Buddha and Mahavira ( who, according to the Pali canon, were contemporaries ), Jainism was already an ancient, deeply entrenched faith and culture there.

* Ancient India: The Buddha and Mahavira found Buddhism and Jainism

Mahavira ( 599-527 BC ), the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism, developed an early philosophy regarding relativism and subjectivism known as Anekantavada.

Jainism existed before Mahavira, and his teachings were based on those of his predecessors.

However, Mahavira did reorganize the philosophical tenets of Jainism to correspond to his times.

* The first convert of Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism was Indrabhuti ( aka Gautamswami ) the Brahmin, who headed a group of other Brahmins and converted them to Jainism.

Jainism came into formal being after Mahavira synthesized philosophies and promulgations of the ancient Sramana philosophy, during the period around 550 BC, in the region that is present day Bihar in northern India.

Gautama Buddha in the 6th or 5th century BC was the founder of Buddhism, which later spread to East Asia and South-East Asia, while Mahavira revived and propagated the ancient religion of Jainism.

Asaga wrote Vardhaman Charitra ( Life of Vardhman Mahavir ), an epic which runs in 18 cantos, in 853 CE, the first Sanskrit language biography of 24th and last Thirthankara of Jainism, Mahavira, though his Kannada language version of Kalidasa's epic poem, Kumārasambhava, Karnataka Kumarasambhava Kavya is lost.

According to Jain traditions, it was on this day, falling at the beginning of chaturmas, the four month rainy season retreat, Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara, after attaining Kaivalya, made Indrabhuti Gautam, later known as Gautam Swami, a Ganadhara, his first disciple, thus becoming a Guru himself, therefore it is observed in Jainism as Guru Purnima, and is marked special veneration to one's Gurus and teachers.

Mahavira, the founder of Jainism, believed that the only way to be released from the cycle of life ( birth, death, and then rebirth ), one must follow, like Buddhists, ahimsa and not harm any living creature ( Regenstein 1991, p. 229 ).

Mahavira ( Vardhamana ) was the last ( 24th ) Tirthankara to attain enlightenment.

The 24th and most recent Tirthankar, Lord Mahavira, lived in c. 6th century BC, in a period of cultural revolution all over the world.

The 24th and last Tīrthaṅkara was Mahavira ( 599-527 BC ).

The city is also associated with the travels of Lord Buddha's contemporary Lord Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism.

Gosala is believed to have been a friend of Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism.

The meditation undertaken by Siddhartha Gautama founder of Buddhism and Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism, earned Mahavira the exalted state of Moksha.

A Buddhist text, the Majjhima Nikaya mentions Buddha as a Kosalan and Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism taught in Kosala.

Detail of a leaf with, The Birth of Mahavira ( the 24th Jain Tirthankara ), from the Kalpa Sutra, c. 1375-1400.

This similarity is not accidental, since Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism, preached in the same area ( Magadha ) as Gautama Buddha.

Kuśināra and Pava are very important in the history of Buddhism and Jainism since Buddha and Lord Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara took their last meals at Kushinara and Pava / Pavapuri respectively.

According to the old Jain book Acaranga Sutra, the last ( 24th ) great Tirthankara Mahavira had wandered through this land, referred to as the " pathless country of Ladha in Vajjabhumi and Subbhabhumi ( probably Suhma )" in the 5th century, B. C.

Vaishali, a center of religious renaissance, Baso Kund, the birthplace of Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism and a contemporary of Gautama Buddha, continue to attract visitors from across the international borders.

According to the Jain tradition, he attained nirvana 250 years before the nirvana of Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankar.