Jains Today in World

Author(s): Pirre Paul AMIEL
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 70

Their Revered Beings : 39 (Varanasi) of King Aśvasena and Queen Vāmā. According to the Śvetāmbara he was married to the daughter of the King of Kuśasthala, according to Digambara he became a monk when still young. He reorganized the Jain community and recorded early canonical texts (Pūrva) that are now lost or, according some, partly included in the “Anga” as we will see in the next chapter. He died in 777 BC at the age of one hundred years. His body colour is blue or dark. According to Jain tradition, Pārśva had saved two snakes from fire during his life. One of them was reborn as Dharanendra, King of the Nāgas. When the demon Meghamālī assaulted him under the form of a fearful storm, Dharanendra would have protected him with a hood of seven cobras. This is the reason why Pārsva's symbol is a snake and his images are depicted with this characteristic feature.
24) Vardhamāna or Mahāvira (the Great Hero): The last Tīrthankara of the present cycle of time is also really a historical and not a mythical being. He was born at Kundagrāma, a suburb of Vaiśālī named as Kundapura in the North of Patna (in modern Bihar) of noble Siddhārtha and Queen Trišalā. According to the Svetāmbara he was married to Princess Yasodā and they had one daughter called Aņojyā or Priyadarsinī. For the Digambara he never get married, nor had a daughter before becoming an ascetic. He bears a golden body and his symbol is a lion. 10
All the Tirthankara, according to Jain tradition, renounced the world to become ascetics. Most of them attained their liberation on Mount Sammet-Shikhar in Bihar, called also Mount Parashnath in memory of Pārsva. Rsabha would have been liberated at Mount Aștāpada (Mount Kailāśa), Vāsupūjya at Campāpurī in Bihar, Nemi on Girnar Hill in Gujarat and Mahāvīra at Pāvā in Bihar/Uttar Pradesh.
We must mention that most of the Tīrthankara have their name followed by the word “nātha” meaning "Lord". This is the case for Ādinātha, Ajita, Sambhava, Abhinandana, Sumati, Supārsva, Sitala,