Tirthankara

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In Jainism, a Tirthankara (Sanskrit:

tīrthaṅkara; English: literally a 'ford-maker')
is a saviour and spiritual teacher of the
dharma (righteous path).[1] The word
tirthankara signifies the founder of a
tirtha,[2] which is a fordable passage
across the sea of interminable births and
deaths, the saṃsāra. According to Jains, a
Tirthankara is an individual who has
conquered the saṃsāra, the cycle of death
and rebirth, on their own, and made a path
for others to follow. After understanding
the true nature of the self or soul, the
Tīrthaṅkara attains Kevala Jnana
(omniscience). The first Tirthankara
founded Jainism. Tirthankara provides a
bridge for others to follow the new teacher
from saṃsāra to Mahaviraswami
(liberation).[3][1][4]
Jain miniature painting of 24 Jain Tirthankaras,
Jaipur, c. 1850

The 24 Tirthankaras forming the tantric meditative

syllable Hrim, painting on cloth, Gujarat, c. 1800
In Jain cosmology, the wheel of time is
divided in two halves, Utsarpiṇī or
ascending time cycle and avasarpiṇī, the
descending time cycle (said to be current
now). In each half of the cosmic time
cycle, exactly twenty-four tirthankaras
grace this part of the universe. There have
been an infinite number of tirthankaras in
the past time periods.[5] The first
tirthankara in this present time cycle was
Rishabhanatha, who is credited for
formulating and organising humans to live
in a society harmoniously. The 24th and
last tirthankara of present half-cycle was
Mahavira (599 BC–527 BC).[6][4][7] History
records the existence of Mahavira and his
predecessor, Parshvanath, the twenty-third
tirthankara.[8]

A tirthankara organises the sangha, a

fourfold order of male and female
monastics, srāvakas (male followers) and
śrāvikās (female followers).[9]

The tirthankara's teachings form the basis

for the Jain canons. The inner knowledge
of tirthankara is believed to be perfect and
identical in every respect and their
teachings do not contradict one another.
However, the degree of elaboration varies
according to the spiritual advancement
and purity of the society during their
period of leadership. The higher the
spiritual advancement and purity of mind
of the society, the lower the elaboration
required.

While tirthankaras are documented and

revered by Jains, their grace is said to be
available to all living beings, regardless of
religious orientation.[10]

Tīrthaṅkaras are arihants who after

attaining kevalajñāna (pure infinite
knowledge)[11] preach the true dharma. An
Arihant is also called Jina (victor), that is
one who has conquered inner enemies
such as anger, attachment, pride and
greed.[3] They dwell exclusively within the
realm of their Soul, and are entirely free of
kashayas, inner passions, and personal
desires. As a result of this, unlimited
siddhis, or spiritual powers, are readily
available to them – which they use
exclusively for the spiritual elevation of
living beings. Through darśana, divine
vision, and deshna, divine speech, they
help others in attaining kevalajñana, and
moksha (final liberation) to anyone seeking
it sincerely.

Meaning
Jain iconography

Tirthankara images at Siddhachal Caves inside

Gwalior Fort.
Rishabhanatha, the first Tirthankara

The word tirthankara signifies the founder

of a tirtha which means a fordable
passage across the sea of interminable
births and deaths (called
saṃsāra).[12][13][14][15]Tirthankaras are
variously called "Teaching Gods", "Ford-
Makers", "Crossing Makers" and "Makers
of the River-Crossing.[16][15]

Tīrthaṅkara-naam-karma
Jain texts propound that a special type of
karma, the tīrthaṅkara nama-karma, raises
a soul to the supreme status of a
Tīrthaṅkara. Tattvartha Sutra, a major Jain
text, lists sixteen observances which lead
to the bandha (bondage) of this karma:[17]

Purity of right faith

Reverence
Observance of vows and supplementary
vows without transgressions
Ceaseless pursuit of knowledge
Perpetual fear of the cycle of existence
Giving gifts (charity)
Practising austerities according to one's
capacity
Removal of obstacles that threaten the
equanimity of ascetics
Serving the meritorious by warding off
evil or suffering
Devotion to omniscient lords, chief
preceptors, preceptors, and the
scriptures
Practice of the six essential daily duties
Propagation of the teachings of the
omniscient
Fervent affection for one's brethren
following the same path.
Panch Kalyanaka

Auspicious dreams seen by a tirthankara's mother

during pregnancy

Five auspicious events called Pañca

kalyāṇaka mark the life of every
tirthankara:[18]

1. Gārbha kalyāṇaka (conception): When

ātman (soul) of a tirthankara comes
into his mother's womb.[19]
2. Janma kalyāṇaka (birth): Birth of a
tirthankara. Indra performs a
ceremonial bath on tirthankara on
Mount Meru.[20][21]
3. Tapa kalyāṇaka (renunciation): When
a tirthankara renounces all worldly
possessions and become an ascetic.
4. Jñāna kalyāṇaka: The event when a
tirthankara attains kevalajñāna
(infinite knowledge). A samavasarana
(divine preaching hall) is erected from
where he delivers sermons and
restores sangha after that.
5. Nirvāṇa kalyāṇaka (liberation): When
a tirthankara leaves his mortal body,
 it is known as nirvana. It is followed
by the final liberation, moksha, after
which his souls dwells in Siddhashila.

Samavasarana

Samavasarana of Tirthankara Rishabha (Ajmer Jain

temple)

After attaining kevalajñāna, a tirthankara

preaches the path to liberation in the
samavasarana. According to Jain texts, the
heavenly pavilion is erected by devas
(heavenly beings) where devas, humans
and animals assemble to hear the
tirthankara.[22] A tirthankara's speech is
heard by all humans and animals in their
own language. It is believed that during
this speech, there is no unhappiness for
miles around the site.[23]

Tīrthaṅkaras of present
cosmic age
Tirthankars of present, previous and next cosmic ages
(72 in total)

Jainism postulates that time has no

beginning or end. It moves like the wheel
of a cart. The wheel of time is divided in
two halves, Utsarpiṇī (ascending half
cycle) and Avasarpiṇī (descending half
cycle). 24 tirthankaras are born in each half
of this cycle. In Jain tradition the
tirthankaras were royal in their final lives,
and Jain texts record details of their
previous lives. Their clan and families are
also among those recorded in legendary
stories. Jain canons state that
Rishabhanatha, the first tirthankara,[12]
founded the Ikshvaku dynasty,[24] from
which 21 other tirthankaras also rose over
time. Two tirthankaras – Munisuvrata, the
20th, and Neminatha, the 22nd – belonged
to the Harivamsa dynasty.[25]

In Jain tradition, the 20 tirthankaras

attained moksha on mount Shikharji, in the
present Indian state of Jharkhand.[26]
Rishabhanatha attained nirvana on Mount
Kailash, presently located in Tibet,[27] close
to Indian border, Vasupujya at Champapuri
in North Bengal,[28] Neminatha on mount
Girnar, Gujarat, and Mahavira, the last
tirthankara, at Pawapuri, near modern
Patna. Twenty-one of the tirthankaras are
said to have attained moksha in the
kayotsarga (standing meditation posture),
while Rishabhanatha, Neminatha and
Mahavira are said to have attained
moksha in the Padmasana (lotus
position).[16]

List of the 24 tirthankaras

Present cosmic age …

Jain chaumukha sculpture at LACMA, 6th century

In chronological order, the names,

emblems and colours of the 24
tirthankaras of this age are mentioned
below:[29][1][30][31] Dhanuṣa means "bow",
hatha means "hands" and 1 Purva equals
8,400,000 x 8,400,000 or
70,560,000,000,000 years.[32]
No. Name Symbol Colour Height Age Moksh Vriksha

Rishabhanatha 500 8,400,000

1 Bull Golden Ficus benghalensis L.
(Adinatha) dhanuṣa Purva

450 7,200,000 Alstonia scholaris (L.)

2 Ajitanatha Elephant Golden
dhanuṣa Purva R.Br.

400 6,000,000 Shorea robusta

3 Sambhavanatha Horse Golden
dhanuṣa Purva Gaertn.

350 5,000,000 Pterocarpus

4 Abhinandananatha Monkey Golden
dhanuṣa Purva marsupium Roxb.

300 4,000,000
5 Sumatinatha Heron Golden Prunus mahaleb L.
dhanuṣa Purva

250 3,000,000
6 Padmaprabha Padma Red
dhanuṣa Purva

200 2,000,000 Albizia lebbeck (L.)

7 Suparshvanatha Swastika Golden
dhanuṣa Purva Benth

150 1,000,000
8 Chandraprabha Crescent Moon White Mesua ferrea L.
dhanuṣa Purva

Pushpadanta Crocodile or 100 2,00,000 Aegle marmelos (L.)

9 White
(Suvidhinath) Makara dhanuṣa Purva Corrrea

90 1,00,000 Ficus amplissima

10 Shitalanatha Kalpavriksha Golden
dhanuṣa Purva Sm.

80 84,00,000 Diospyros malabarica

11 Shreyanasanatha Rhinoceros Golden
dhanuṣa Years (Desr.) Kostel.

Stereopermum
70 72,00,000
12 Vasupujya Buffalo Red suaveolens (Roxb.)
dhanusa Years
DC.

60 60,00,000 Syzygium cumini (L.)

13 Vimalanatha Boar Golden
dhanusa Years Skeels

14 Anantanatha Porcupine Golden 50 30,00,000 Ficus religiosa L.

according to the dhanuṣa Years
Digambara
 Falcon according
to the Śvētāmbara

45 10,00,000 Limonia acidissima

15 Dharmanatha Vajra Golden
dhanuṣa Years Groff

40 7,00,000
16 Shantinatha Antelope or deer Golden Ficus retusa L.
dhanuṣa Years

Wendlandia heynei
35 95,000
17 Kunthunatha Goat Golden (Schult.) Santapau &
dhanuṣa Years
Merchant

30 84,000
18 Aranatha Nandavarta or fish Golden Mangifera indica L.
dhanuṣa Years

25 56,000
19 Māllīnātha Kalasha Blue Saraca indica L.
dhanuṣa Years

20 30,000 Magnolia champaca

20 Munisuvrata Tortoise Black
dhanuṣa Years (L.) Baill.ex Pierre

15 10,000
21 Naminatha Blue lotus Golden Mimusops elengi L.
dhanuṣa Years

10 1000 Salix tetrasperma

22 Neminatha Shankha Black
dhanuṣa Years Roxb.

Anogeissus latifolia
100
23 Parshvanatha Snake Blue 9 hath (Roxb. ex DC.) Wall.
Years
ex Guillem. & Perr.

Manilkara hexandra
24 Mahavira Lion Golden 4 hath 72 Years
(Roxb.) Dubard

Next cosmic age …

The 24 tirthankaras of the present age

(avasarpinī) are the ones listed above. The
names of the next 24, which will be born in
utsarpinī age are as follows. [Mentioned in
the parentheses is one of the (previous
human birth) of that soul.]

1. Padmanabha (King Shrenika)[33]

2. Surdev (Mahavira's uncle Suparshva)
3. Suparshva (King Kaunik's son king
Udayin)
4. Svamprabh (The ascetic Pottil)
5. Sarvanubhuti (Śrāvaka Dridhayadha)
. Devshruti (Kartik's Shreshti)
7. Udaynath (Shravak Shamkha)
. Pedhalputra (Shravak Ananda)
9. Pottil (Shravak Sunand)
10. Shatak (Sharavak Shatak)
11. Suvrat (Satyaki of Mahabharata)
12. Amam (Krishna)
13. Shrinishkashay (Satyaki Rudhra also
Satyaki of Mahabharata)
14. Nishpulak (Krishna's brother
Balbhadra also known as Balrama)
15. Nirmam (Shravika Sulsa)
1 . Chitragupta (Krishna's brother's
mother Rohini Devi)
17. Samadhinath (Revati Gathapatni)
1 . Samvarnath (Sharavak Shattilak)
19. Yashodhar (Rishi Dwipayan)
20. Vijay (Karna of Mahabharata)
 21. Malladev (Nirgranthaputra or
Mallanarada)
22. Devachandra (Shravak Ambadh)
23. Anantvirya (Shravak Amar)
24. Bhadrakat (Swati)

Iconography

Famous idol of Mahavir Swami at Shri Mahavirji

A tīrthaṅkara is represented either seated
in lotus position (Padmasana) or standing
in the meditation Khadgasana
(Kayotsarga) posture.[34][35] This latter,
which is similar to the military standing at
attention is a difficult posture to hold for a
long period, and has the attraction to Jains
that it reduces to the minimum the amount
of the body in contact with the earth, and
so posing a risk to the sentient creatures
living in or on it. If seated, they are usually
depicted seated with their legs crossed in
front, the toes of one foot resting close
upon the knee of the other, and the right
hand lying over the left in the lap.[1]
Tirthanakar images do not have distinctive
facial features, clothing or (mostly) hair-
styles, and are differentiated on the basis
of the symbol or emblem (Lanchhana)
belonging to each tirthanakar except
Parshvanatha. Statues of Parshvanath
have a snake crown on the head. The first
Tirthankara Rishabha can be identified by
the locks of hair falling on his shoulders.
Sometimes Suparshvanath is shown with
a small snake-hood. The symbols are
marked in the centre or in the corner of the
pedestal of the statue. The sects of
Jainism Digambara and Svetambara have
different depictions of idols. Digambara
images are naked without any
ornamentation, whereas Svetambara ones
are clothed and decorated with temporary
ornaments.[36] The images are often
marked with Srivatsa on the chest and
Tilaka on the forehead.[37] Srivatsa is one
of the ashtamangala (auspicious
symbols). It can look somewhat like a
fleur-de-lis, an endless knot, a flower or
diamond-shaped symbol.[38]

The bodies of tirthanakar statues are

exceptionally consistent throughout the
over 2,000 years of the historical record.
The bodies are rather slight, with very wide
shoulders and a narrow waist. Even more
than is usual in Indian sculpture, the
depiction takes relatively little interest in
the accurate depiction of the underlying
musculature and bones, but is interested
in the modelling of the outer surfaces as
broad swelling forms. The ears are
extremely elongated, suggesting the heavy
earrings the figures wore in their early lives
before they took the path to
enlightenment, when most were wealthy if
not royal.

Sculptures with four tirthanakars, or their

heads, facing in four directions, are not
uncommon in early sculpture, but unlike
the comparable Hindu images, these
represent four different tirthanakars, not
four aspects of the same deity. Multiple
extra arms are avoided in tirthanakar
images, though their attendants or
guardians may have them.[39]

In other religions
The first Tirthankara, Rishabhanatha is
mentioned in Hindu texts like the
Rigveda,[40] Vishnupurana and Bhagwata
Purana.[41] The Yajurveda mentions the
name of three Tīrthaṅkaras – Ṛiṣhabha,
Ajitnātha and Ariṣṭanemi.[42] The
Bhāgavata Purāṇa includes legends about
the Tirthankaras of Jainism particularly
Rishabha.[43] Yoga Vasishta, Chapter 15,
Sloka 8 gives the saying of Rama:

I am not Rama. I have no desire

for material things. Like Jina I
want to establish peace within
myself.[44]

Champat Rai Jain, a 20th-century Jain

writer, claimed that the "Four and Twenty
Elders" mentioned in the Book of
Revelation (the final book of the Christian
Bible) are "Twenty-four Tirthankaras".[45]

See also
 Wikimedia Commons has media
related to Tirthankaras.

God in Jainism
Kundakunda
List of Tirthankaras
Simandhara
Tattva (Jainism)

References

Citations …

1. Britannica Tirthankar Definition ,

Encyclopædia Britannica
2. Babb 1996, p. 5.
 3. Sangave 2006, p. 16.
4. Taliaferro & Marty 2010, p. 286.
5. Dundas 2002, p. 20.
. Dundas 2002, p. 19.
7. Sanghvi, Vir (14 September 2013),
Rude Travel: Down The Sages ,
Hindustan Times
. Zimmer 1953, p. 182-183.
9. Balcerowicz 2009, p. 17.
10. Flügel, P. (2010). The Jaina Cult of
Relic Stūpas. Numen: International
Review For The History Of Religions,
57(3/4), 389–504.
doi:10.1163/156852710X501351
11. Sangave 2006, p. 164.
12. Upinder Singh 2016, p. 313.
13. Balcerowicz 2009, p. 16.
14. Sangave 2006, p. 169-170.
15. Champat Rai Jain 1930, p. 3.
1 . Zimmer 1953, p. 212.
17. Vijay K. Jain 2011, p. 91.
1 . Cort 2001, p. 110.
19. "HereNow4U.net :: Glossary/Index –
Terms – Eastern Terms – Chyavana
Kalyanak" , HereNow4u: Portal on
Jainism and next level consciousness
20. Wiley 2009, p. 200.
21. Wiley 2009, p. 246.
22. Vijay K. Jain 2015, p. 200.
23. Pramansagar 2008, p. 39-43.
24. Natubhai Shah 2004, p. 15.
25. Vijay K. Jain 2015, p. 151.
2 . Osho 2016, p. 4.
27. Jain 2009, p. 273.
2 . Burgess 1874, p. 136.
29. Doniger 1999, p. 550.
30. Vijay K. Jain 2015, p. 181-208.
31. "Tirthankara (EMBLEMS OR
SYMBOLS) pdf" (PDF). Archived from
the original (PDF) on 13 July 2015.
32. "Jain Reality/Existence – JAINA-
JainLink" . www.jaina.org.
33. Dundas 2002, p. 276.
34. Zimmer 1953, p. 209-210.
35. Umakant P. Shah 1987, p. 79.
3 . Cort 2010.
37. "Red sandstone figure of a
tirthankara" .
3 . Jain & Fischer 1978, p. 15, 31.
39. Srinivasan, Doris, Many Heads, Arms,
and Eyes: Origin, Meaning, and Form
of Multiplicity in Indian Art, pp. 329-
330, 1997, BRILL, ISBN 9004107584,
9789004107588, google books
40. George 2008, p. 318.
41. Rao 2007, p. 13.
 42. Dr. K. R. Shah 2011, p. 9.
43. Ravi Gupta and Kenneth Valpey (2013),
The Bhagavata Purana, Columbia
University Press, ISBN 978-
0231149990, pages 151–155
44. ://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~pluralsm/affi
liates/jainism/quote/greatmen.htm
45. Champat Rai Jain 1930, p. 78.

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