Stories by Arpit

The year was 527 BC . Lord Mahavir was now 72 years of age, and forty-two years had passed since the beginning of his ascetic life. After attaining Kevalgyan (enlightenment), Lord Mahavir had tirelessly and selflessly given discourses; initiated thousands of monks and nuns and preached the gospel of Ahinsa to millions. Realizing that his Nirvan was near, he arrived at Apapapuri (Pawapuri, Bihar). On the dark night of Amavasya (new moon) in the month of October [Ashvin (Gujarati) / Kartik (Marvadi)] , the Lord observed a fast for two days – without even taking water – and delivered his longest sermon lasting 48 hours before the four fold sangh which included rulers of various kingdoms in Malla, Licchavi, Kashi & Koshal regions.   All gazed at the Lord of the three worlds, who was seated in the lotus position before them, and drank in his every word. At the dawn of the Amavasya , Lord Mahavir entered into deep meditation , shed all the Aghati Karmas (non-destructive) and withdrew

Recently, after a few discussions with some of my non-Shwetambar friends and even reputed well-known scholars, I realized that there were a lot of pre-conceived notions and misconceptions with respect to the Shwetambar sect of Jainism and some of its practices. Although, most of these had already been addressed in my various blogs, I thought to make them more comprehensive and compile them in one place to provide easy answers to some ‘controversial’ and/or ‘difficult’ questions which even some Shwetambars are unaware of.  Note: The author would like to inform the readers that this post doesn't claim the superiority of any sect over the other and the intent is not to injure any matter/ practice/ belief of tradition or faith. The only intent is to give rational and meaningful explanations to misconceptions which have come up with respect to the Shwetambar tradition based on philological and archaeological evidences.   References for the same have been provided at the end of the post

Enriched with forests, waterfalls, rivers, valleys, beaches, lakes and temples, Odisha is a kaleidoscope of past splendor and present glory. Being the meeting place of Aryan and Dravidian cultures, with is delightful assimilations, from the fascinating lifestyle of the tribes, Odisha retains in its distinct identity. Once, a stronghold of Jainism, the Jain heritage of Odisha has now been lost in the pages of history. Such was the dominant presence of Jainism in the ancient era, that a Vedic Puran named “ Adityapuran ” placed Kalinga in the list of “ Anarya Bhumis ” [1] (a land where the Dharma is not established), whereas Jains gave Kalinga, a place in its list of 25 Arya Bhumis (where Dharma was established).  Note: Footnotes with numbers in brackets have been provided [] for references which are mentioned at the end of the article . Following is the timeline of Jainism in Odisha - ~850 BC - The revered Jain Agam, Shri Uttaradhyayan Sutra mentions that Lord Parshwanath visited th