Mahavira (traditionally dated to the 6th century BCE, with some scholars placing him in the 5th century BCE) was an Indian spiritual teacher who is revered as the twenty-fourth and final Tirthankara of Jainism in the current cosmic cycle. Born into a royal family in what is now Bihar, he renounced his princely life around age thirty to pursue an ascetic path, ultimately attaining enlightenment after years of rigorous austerity and meditation. His teachings emphasized nonviolence, truthfulness, non-attachment and self-discipline as the path to spiritual liberation, and the monastic and lay community he organized became the foundation of the Jain religious tradition that continues to this day.
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