Mahavira. The title given to the Indian religious leader Vardhamana whose teachings are followed by the Jains. Jain tradition assigns to him the dates 540468 BCE. He and the Buddha shared a common heritage and regional origin in northeast India and also many similarities in their outlook and personal histories. Mahavira left home for the wandering life of the Indian ascetic when he was about thirty. He is said to have become fully enlightened and eventually to have died of voluntary starvation at Pava in Bihar. See Jains.

Geddes MacGregor, Dictionary of Religion and Philosophy, New York: Paragon House, 1989

Mahāvīra

(Sanskrit, great hero). Honorific title given to the Jain teacher Vardhamāna, known in Buddhist sources as Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta. He died near Patna at the age of 73. Ranked as one of the Six Sectarian Teachers by the Buddhists, he is regarded by Jains as the greatest of all their teachers. See also Jainism.

A Dictionary of Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 2003, 2004 (which is available in electronic version from answer.com)