Mahavira. Mahavira, also known as Vardhamana, was the twenty-fourth tirthankara in Jainism who is believed to have revived and reorganized the religion. He expounded the spiritual, philosophical and ethical teachings of the previous tirthankaras from the remote pre-Vedic era. He was the spiritual successor of 23rd tirthankara Parshvanatha. In the Jain tradition, it is known that Mahavira was born in the early part of the 6th century BCE into a royal Kshatriya family in present-day Bihar, India. He abandoned all worldly possessions at the age of 30 and left home in pursuit of spiritual awakening, becoming an ascetic. Mahavira practiced intense meditation and severe austerities for 12 years, after which he is believed to have attained Kevala Jnana. He preached for 30 years and is believed by Jains to have attained moksha in the 6th century BC, although the year varies by sect. Historically, Mahavira was a contemporary to Gautama Buddha who preached Jainism in ancient India. Scholars variedly date him from 6th-4th century BC and his place of birth are also a point of dispute among them. Mahavira taught that observance of the vows of ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya, and aparigraha is necessary for spiritual liberation. He taught the principles of Anekantavada: syadvada and nayavada. Mahavira's teachings were compiled by Indrabhuti Gautama as the Jain Agamas. The texts, transmitted orally by Jain monks, are believed to have been largely lost by about the 1st century. The surviving versions of the Agamas taught by Mahavira are some of Jainism's foundation texts. Mahavira is usually depicted in a sitting or standing meditative posture, with the symbol of a lion beneath him. His earliest iconography is from archaeological sites in the North Indian city of Mathura, and is dated from the 1st century BCE to the 2nd century CE. His birth is celebrated as Mahavir Jayanti, and his nirvana is observed by Jains as Diwali. Surviving early Jain and Buddhist literature uses several names for Mahavira, including Nayaputta, Muni, Samana, Niggantha, Bramhan, and Bhagavan. In early Buddhist suttas, he is referred to as Araha and Veyavi. He is known as Sramana in the Kalpa Sutra, devoid of love and hate. According to the Kalpasutras, he was called Mahavira by the gods in the Kalpa Sutra because he remained steadfast in the midst of dangers, fears, hardships and calamities. He is also known as a tirthankara. Although it is universally accepted by scholars of Jainism that Mahavira lived in ancient India, the details of his life and the year of his birth are subjects of debate. Although it is thought to be the town of Basu Kund, about 60 kilometres north of Patna, his birthplace remains a subject of dispute. Mahavira renounced his material wealth and left home when he was twenty-eight, by some accounts, lived an ascetic life for twelve years and then preached Jainism for thirty years. Jains believe that Mahavira was born in 599BCE and died in 527BCE. The controversy arises from efforts to date him and the Buddha; according to Buddhist and Jain texts they are believed to have been contemporaries, and much ancient Buddhist literature has survived. However, the Vira Nirvana Samvat era began in 527BCE and is a firmly-established part of Jain tradition. The 12th-century Jain scholar Hemachandra placed Mahavira in the 5thcentury BCE. Kailash Jain writes that Hemachandra performed an incorrect analysis, which along has been a source of confusion and controversy about Mahavira's nirvana. According to Jain, the traditional date of 527BCE is accurate; the Buddha was younger than Mahavira and might have attained nirvana a few years later. The place of his nirvana, Pavapuri in present-day Bihar, is a pilgrimage site for Jains. A Tirthankara signifies the founding of a tirtha, a passage across the sea of birth-and-death cycles.