Lord Mahavir was the twenty-fourth and the last Tirthankara of the Jain religion. According to Jain philosophy, all Tirthankaras were born as human beings but they have attained a state of perfection or enlightenment through meditation and self realization. They are the Gods of Jains. Tirthankaras are also known as Arihants or Jinas.
Tirthankara - One who establishes the four fold order (Monk, Nun, Layman, and Laywoman) of religion.
Arihant - One who destroys his inner enemies like anger, greed, passion, ego, etc.
Jina - One who conquers his inner enemies like anger, greed, passion, ego, etc. The followers of Jina are known as Jains.
Lord Mahavir organized his followers, into a four fold order, namely monk (Sadhu), nun (Sadhvi), layman (Shravak), and laywoman (Shravika). Later on they are known as Jains.
The ultimate objective of his teaching is how one can attain the total freedom from the cycle of birth, life, pain, misery, and death, and achieve the permanent blissful state of one's self. This is also known as liberation, nirvana, absolute freedom, or Moksha.
Lord Mahavirpreached that right faith (samyak-darshana), right knowledge (samyak-jnana), and right conduct (samyak-charitra) together will help attain the liberation of one's self.
At the heart of right conduct for Jains lie the five great vows:
Nonviolence (Ahimsa) - not to cause harm to any living beings
Truthfulness (Satya) - to speak the harmless truth only
Non-stealing (Asteya) - not to take anything not properly given
Chastity (Brahmacharya) - not to indulge in sensual pleasure
Non-possession/Non-attachment (Aparigraha) - complete detachment from people, places, and material things.