MOSCOW, RUSSIA, Apr 14, 2001: A solemn gathering of Jains in the D.P. Dhar Hall here, on the 2,600 birth anniversary of Lord Mahavir, celebrated the life and teachings of the great Indian saint. Mahavir’s principle of “ahimsa,” non-violence, has retained its relevance in the contemporary world. Prayers were offered and schoolchildren described the teachings of Mahavir in relation to their own lives. Mariaetta Stepaniants, head of the Mahatma Gandhi Chair at Moscow’s Institute of Philosophy, said, “The new age might have given us a whole lot of comforts, but we seem to have lost something more precious — peace of mind. Mahavir has shown how we can attain freedom from the cycle of life and achieve the state of mental bliss.”
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