Tirthankara

Tirthankara, in Jainism, a saviour who has succeeded in crossing over life’s stream of rebirths and has made a path for others to follow. Mahavira (6th century bce) was the last Tirthankara to appear. According to tradition, his predecessor, Parshvanatha, lived about 250 years earlier; the other Tirthankaras mentioned in the Jain scriptures cannot be considered historical figures. According to Jain belief each cosmic age produces its own group of 24 Tirthankaras, the first of whom—if it is an age of descending purity—are giants, but they decrease in stature and appear after shorter intervals of time as the age proceeds.

In art the Tirthankara is represented either standing stiffly in the pose known as kayotsarga (“dismissing the body”) or seated cross-legged on a lion throne in the posture of meditation, dhyanamudra. The images are often carved out of marble or other highly polished stone or are cast in metal, the cold surfaces serving to emphasize the frozen detachment from life. Since the Tirthankara is a perfect being, there is little to distinguish one from another, except for symbolic colours or emblems. The names of the 24 Tirthankaras are attributed to dreams by their mothers before their births or to some other circumstance surrounding their entry into the world. The suffix -natha, “lord,” may be added as an honorific to their names.

In order of their appearance, the names, signs, and colours of the Jinas of this age are (1) Rishabhanatha (“Lord Bull”), or Adinatha (“Lord First”), his emblem the bull, his colour golden; (2) Ajita (“Invincible One”), elephant, golden; (3) Shambhava (“Auspicious”), horse, golden; (4) Abhinandana (“Worship”), ape, golden; (5) Sumati (“Wise”), heron, golden; (6) Padmaprabha (“Lotus-Bright”), lotus, red; (7) Suparshva (“Good-Sided”), the swastika symbol, golden; (8) Chandraprabha (“Moon-Bright”), moon, white; (9) Suvidhi, or Pushpadanta (“Religious Duties” or “Blossom-Toothed”), dolphin or makara (sea dragon), white; (10) Shitala (“Coolness”), the shrivatsa symbol, golden; (11) Shreyamsha (“Good”), rhinoceros, golden; (12) Vasupujya (“Worshiped with Offerings of Possessions”), buffalo, red; (13) Vimala (“Clear”), boar, golden; (14) Ananta (“Endless”), hawk (according to the Digambara sect, ram or bear), golden; (15) Dharma (“Duty”), thunderbolt, golden; (16) Shanti (“Peace”), antelope or deer, golden; (17) Kunthu (meaning uncertain), goat, golden; (18) Ara (a division of time), the nandyavarta (an elaborated swastika; according to the Digambara sect, fish), golden; (19) Malli (“Wrestler”), water jug, blue; (20) Suvrata, or Munisuvrata (“Of Good Vows”), tortoise, black; (21) Nami (“Bowing Down”), or Nimin (“Eye-Winking”), blue lotus, golden; (22) Nemi, or Arishtanemi (“The Rim of Whose Wheel Is Unhurt”), conch shell, black; (23) Parshvanatha (“Lord Serpent”), snake, green; (24) Vardhamana (“Prospering”), later called Mahavira (“Great Hero”), lion, golden.

Images of the Tirthankara are not worshiped as personal gods capable of giving blessings or interfering with human events. Rather, Jain believers pay them homage as representatives of great beings in the hope that they may be filled with a sense of renunciation and the highest virtues and thus encouraged along the path toward their final liberation.