Chaitra Shukla Trayodashi
The thirteenth day of the bright half of Chaitra

He looked around and found the society corrupted by the distortions of the true concept of Dharma. Violence in the form of animal sacrifice had overshadowed the true spirit of yajna and yaga. Spiritual values had been supplanted by superstitions and lifeless rituals and dogmas. Propitiating various Gods and Goddesses was considered as a means of acquiring religious merit - Punya - to the exclusion of the true spiritual significance of these Vedic practices. Mahaveera, with his penetrating insight born out of self-realization, struck mercilessly at these perversions. He simplified the religious procedures and concentrated on righteous conduct.

Mahaveera's simple and convincing method of appealing to the highest and noblest impulses in the living breast soon won him a large following. He would, for example, pose the following question in order to bring home the grand message of non-injury to every living being: "Can you hold a red-hot iron rod in your hand merely because some one wants you to do so?" The listeners would instantly reply, "No, never". Then Mahaveera would ask them, "Then, will it be right on your part to ask others to do the same thing just to satisfy your desire? If you cannot tolerate infliction of pain on your body or mind by others' words and actions, what right have you to do the same to others through your words and deeds?" Mahaveera would then sum up his message: "Do unto others as you would like to be done by. Injury or violence done by your to any life in any form, animal or human, is as harmful as it would be if caused to your own self."

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