In the thirteenth
year of this wandering life he believed he had attained to the highest
knowledge and to the dignity of a holy one. He then appeared as a prophet,
taught the Nirgrantha doctrine, a modification of the religion of
Par['s]va, and organised the order of the Nirgrantha ascetics. From that
time he bore the name of the venerable ascetic Mahavira. His career as a
teacher lasted not quite thirty years, during which he travelled about, as
formerly, all over the country, except during the rainy seasons. He won
for himself numerous followers, both of the clergy and the lay class,
among whom, however, in the fourteenth year of his period of teaching, a
split arose--caused by his son-in-law Jamali.
The extent of his sphere of influence almost corresponds with that of the
kingdoms of Sravasti or Kosala, Vidcha, Magadha, and A[.n]ga,--the modern
Oudh, and the provinces of Tirhut and Bihar in Western Bengal. Very
frequently he spent the rainy season in his native place Vai['s]ali and in
Rajag[r.]iha. Among his contemporaries were, a rival teacher Gosala the
son of Ma[.m]khali--whom he defeated in a dispute, the King of
Videha--Bhambhasara or Bibbhisara called Sre[n.]ika, and his sons
Abhayakumara and the parricide Ajata['s]atru or Ku[n.]ika, who
protected him or accepted his doctrine, and also the nobles of the
Lichchhavi and Mallaki races.
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