Tirthankaras
The 24 Tirthankaras
Every Tirthankara idol sits or stands in the same serene meditation. The symbol (lanchhana) carved on the pedestal tells you who it is.
The 24 lives
The twenty-four lives
For each: the key facts, the story the tradition preserves, where it comes from, and where the traditions differ.
tirthankaras/tk-01-rishabhanatha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-02-ajitanatha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-03-sambhavanatha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-04-abhinandananatha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-05-sumatinatha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-06-padmaprabha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-07-suparshvanatha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-08-chandraprabha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-09-suvidhinatha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-10-shitalanatha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-11-shreyansanatha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-12-vasupujya.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-13-vimalanatha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-14-anantanatha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-15-dharmanatha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-16-shantinatha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-17-kunthunatha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-18-aranatha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-19-mallinatha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-20-munisuvrata.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-21-naminatha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-22-neminatha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-23-parshvanatha.jpg · 1200×1600tirthankaras/tk-24-mahavira.jpg · 1200×1600No Tirthankara matches that. Try a name, an emblem or a birthplace.
How we know
How we know what we know
Some of the twenty-four can be placed in history; most live wholly within Jain sacred history, which measures time across vast cosmic ages. Jinavani is clear about which is which.
Historical
Mahavira
A contemporary of the Buddha, named in the Pali Buddhist canon as Nigantha Nataputta. Independently attested — his dates are debated, not his existence.
Accepted by most historians
Parshvanatha
Jain texts record that Mahavira met monks of an older order following Parshva's four restraints, and describe how the two orders merged.
Deep tradition
Rishabhanatha · Neminatha
Rishabha appears in the Bhagavata Purana as a royal sage; Neminatha belongs to the world of Krishna. Suggestive links beyond Jain texts, though not decisive.
Sacred history
The other twenty
The other twenty are known through Jain scripture, with lifespans and intervals given in cosmic rather than biographical units.
The five great events
Every life follows five great events
Each Tirthankara's life is told through the Pancha Kalyanaka — five auspicious events, each with a fixed date in the Jain calendar, re-enacted whenever a new temple image is consecrated.
- Chyavana — conceptionThe mother sees 14 auspicious dreams (16 in the Digambara count).
- Janma — birthIndra and the gods bathe the newborn on Mount Meru.
- Diksha — renunciationA moment of disenchantment; the prince leaves the world.
- Kevala Jnana — omniscienceThe gods raise the samavasarana, where all beings hear the teaching.
- Nirvana — liberationFinal release from all karma — never to be born again.
The 24 Tirthankaras are part of the 63 great figures (shalaka purushas): 24 Tirthankaras, 12 universal emperors (chakravartins), and nine sets of Baladeva, Vasudeva and Prativasudeva — the Jain Rama, Krishna, Lakshmana and their adversaries. Shantinatha, Kunthunatha and Aranatha are both Tirthankara and emperor in one life.
At a glance
The twenty-four at a glance
Twenty of the twenty-four attained liberation on one hill — Sammed Shikharji (Parasnath hill, Jharkhand), the holiest Jain pilgrimage. The four exceptions: Rishabha at Ashtapada, Vasupujya at Champapuri, Neminatha at Girnar and Mahavira at Pavapuri.
Where traditions differ
Where the traditions differ
None of these differences is new, and none takes away from what the traditions share. We present both, in their own terms.
The canon
SvetambaraHolds that the Angas survive, in the recension fixed at the Council of Valabhi (c. 5th century CE) — about forty-five texts.DigambaraHolds that the original canon was lost after the long famine following Mahavira, and treats the Shatkhandagama and the works of Kundakunda and Umaswami as the authoritative base.Can a woman attain liberation in a woman's body?
SvetambaraYes. Hence Malli, the 19th Tirthankara, is a woman, and nuns have long outnumbered monks.DigambaraNo — complete non-possession, including of clothing, is required, so rebirth as a man comes first. Mallinatha is worshipped as male.Mahavira's household
SvetambaraMarried to Yashoda, with a daughter, Priyadarshana; the embryo transferred from Devananda to Trishala.DigambaraCelibate from birth — no marriage and no transfer.Does an omniscient being eat?
SvetambaraYes — the kevalin still takes food.DigambaraNo — the body is sustained without food after omniscience.Temple images
SvetambaraShown with a lower garment, often with inlaid eyes looking outward and, in many temples, ornaments. (Sthanakvasi and Terapanthi traditions do not worship images.)DigambaraUnclothed and unornamented, eyes lowered in meditation.Countable details
Svetambara14 dreams at conception. Emblems: Shitalanatha — shrivatsa; Anantanatha — falcon; Aranatha — nandyavarta.Digambara16 dreams at conception. Emblems: Shitalanatha — wish-tree; Anantanatha — porcupine; Aranatha — fish.
Further reading
Further reading
The main sources behind this page, in order of usefulness.
Trishashti-shalaka-purusha-charitra — Acharya Hemachandra
12th century. Helen Johnson's six-volume English translation (1931–62). The most important source for the twenty-four as narrative.
Adipurana (Jinasena) and Uttarapurana (Gunabhadra)
9th century. The Digambara universal history — best read alongside Hemachandra.
Kalpasutra
Canonical and read aloud during Paryushan. Hermann Jacobi's translation (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 22). Also richly illustrated in manuscripts.
Jnatadharmakatha, chapter 8
The canonical Svetambara account of Malli.
Uttaradhyayana Sutra — chapters 9, 22 and 23
King Nami's renunciation, Rajimati and Rathanemi, and the dialogue of Keshi and Gautama.
Paumachariya — Vimalasuri
The Jain Ramayana, in Prakrit.
Paul Dundas, The Jains
2nd edition, Routledge, 2002. The standard scholarly introduction in English.
Padmanabh S. Jaini, The Jaina Path of Purification
A clear account of the doctrine behind the stories.
U. P. Shah, Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
Iconography: emblems, attendant deities, serpent hoods and sectarian variants.
JAINpedia
The British Library's Jain manuscript project — illustrated Kalpasutra folios with commentary.
