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Their Long History : 3 control. Having attained omniscience (kevala-jñāna), he preached the religion of absolute non-violence (ahimsa) and became the first "fordmaker" (Tirthankara) of the present cycle of time. He obtained his liberation from transmigration (mokṣa) on Mount Aṣṭāpada, in the Himalaya.
After Rṣabha, 23 other Tirthankara successively appeared, most of them during the era we now call "prehistoric". All the Jains worship the memory and example of these 24 "ford-makers" (Tirthankara) to liberation. Their names are, according to their time of appearance on earth: Rṣabha, Ajita, Sambhava, Abhinandana, Sumati, Padmaprabha, Supärśva, Candraprabha, Puspadanta, Śītala, Śreyaṁśa, Vāsupujya, Vimala, Ananta, Dharma, Śanti, Kunthu, Ara, Malli, Munisuvrata, Nami, Nemi, Parsva and Vardhamana also called Mahāvīra.
We have no precise dates of the existence of such benefactors of humanity, except a rough estimation for the two last ones. Concerning the others, some think they are more or less mythical heroes like Perseus, Hermes, Theseus, Hercules, etc. in the history of ancient Greece. Nevertheless, there are numerous images of each of them, some very old and occasionally mutilated or partly worn away dating before the Christian era. We find them in India either painted, cut out in rocks, or standing as statues in temples or outside. We also have more or less stereotyped narrations about these "Tirthankara" giving their height, their length of life, the names of their parents, as well as their places of birth and of liberation. These sites are the objects of worship and of pilgrimages especially dear to all Jain devotees.
Some historians trace back the existence of Nemi, the 22nd Tirthankara, to around 1400 to 1200 BC and consider him as the cousin of the Hindu Kṛṣṇa. Pārśva, the 23rd Tirthankara, supposedly lived one hundred years, from 877 to 777 BC. He was the son of Asvasena, King of Kāśī (modern Varanasi) and his wife Queen Vāmā. After renouncing his princely life and embracing that of a wandering monk, Pārśva attained omniscience and preached Jainism widely.
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