Mahavira — "Do not kill. Do not lie. Do not steal. Do not be unchaste. Do not possess anythi…"
Do not kill. Do not lie. Do not steal. Do not be unchaste. Do not possess anything.
Get This Quote & Author's Image Illustrated On:
Click any product to generate a realistic preview. Up to 3 at a time.
* Initial load can take up to 90 seconds — revising the preview in another color is nearly instant.
Kitchen
Apparel
Other
More from Mahavira
"All living beings desire to live."
"Look at the world with the eyes of a friend."
"All living beings are endowed with consciousness."
"A man should wander about treating all creatures as he himself would be treated."
"The world is full of illusion, and the truth is hidden."
About Mahavira (c. 599-527 BCE)
24th and last Tirthankara of Jainism, whose teachings of strict ahimsa (non-violence), aparigraha (non-attachment), and karma reshaped ancient Indian religion. Closely associated with The Buddha (near-contemporary moral revolutionary, also reacting against Vedic ritualism). For an intellectual contrast, see Vedic Brahmanical ritual sacrifice, the animal-sacrifice-centered Vedic religion of his era — Mahavira's ahimsa demanded total non-violence, including not eating root vegetables that kill the plant — a maximum-distance ethical move from the Vedic priestly tradition that ritually sacrificed cattle and horses. The two cleanest poles of ancient Indian religious ethics.
Verification
Unverifiable
Found in 1 providers: grok
1 source checked
Understanding this quote
What it means
This lists five absolute ethical prohibitions that form a complete moral code: no violence against any living being, no deception, no theft, no sexual impurity, no accumulation of possessions. Together they describe a life that causes zero harm — through action, word, or desire — and claims nothing for the self. It's an entire ethical system compressed into five commands, each targeting a distinct way humans damage or exploit the world around them.
Relevance to Mahavira
These are literally the Five Great Vows — Pancha Mahavrata — that Mahavira lived before he taught them. Born a Kshatriya prince in 599 BCE, he renounced wealth and family at 30, spent 12 years as a naked wandering ascetic, and filtered water to avoid killing microorganisms. He owned nothing, touched nothing he hadn't been offered, and remained celibate throughout. This quote is his autobiography compressed into five imperatives.
The era
Mahavira lived in 6th-century BCE northeastern India during the Axial Age. Vedic sacrifice required animal killing to appease gods; caste hierarchy legitimized exploitation of lower orders; rising merchant wealth made possession a social virtue; regional kingdoms waged constant war. Each of Mahavira's five prohibitions directly challenged a normalized practice: killing for religion, dishonesty in trade, theft through power, sexual domination, and wealth accumulation. His vows were not personal piety — they were a systematic rejection of his civilization's operating assumptions.
AI-generated insights based on extensive research and information for context. Factual errors? Email [email protected].