Free Republic

‘Scoring top marks doesn’t give happiness’: India’s best student renounces the world to become monkA top Indian student who received the highest score in the exams has decided to take an unusual path. Instead of applying for prestigious college, he renounced the world’s pleasures and became a monk, saying that scoring top marks in exams “does not give happiness”. Varshil Shah from the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state scored 99.9 percent in the May 27 Class 12 exam, topping the state, the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) said. He is Varshil Shah. He is from Ahmedabad...

The “founder” of the Jains religion which is primarily in India is called Mahavira, which mean “The Great Hero” (maha – great, vira – hero). He lived thousands of years ago, and there is ample evidence that not only was he a near contemporary of the “Buddha”, the Buddha or “Intellectual” (buddhi – mind, Budd – intellect, Buddha – the Intellectual) who was a Prince of Nepal called Siddhartha, there is evidence and I personally believe that Mahavira had taught or strongly influenced the “Buddha” in religion and yoga. Mahavira is largely unknown in the West, but that is not...