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The Tirthamkaras have shown us the way to cross the ocean of samsara, the cycle of births and deaths. Lord Mahavira, 599-527 BCE*, the twentyfourth Tirthankara, and the greatest Teacher the world has seen in the past twenty-six centuries, has demonstrated the heights of greatness and glory to which a soul, conscious of its own nature, may reach. He Himself attained the summum bonum, the great ideal of perfection and bliss, and as a true guide and Perfect Teacher has carved out the path to be followed by the aspirants after liberation - ascetics and laymen. Having Himself acquired omniscience (Kevalajnana), He is the true guide to put us on the correct path.
The Tirthamkaras alone are entitled to our fullest measure of reverence on account of having shown the heights of glory to which we can rise by living the life enjoined by Their teachings. As a help to reflect upon Their divine attributes, we worship the images of the Tīrthamkaras installed in our temples. The images are either in standing position (kayotsarga - symbolizing detachment to the body), or in sitting posture (padmāsana - the lotus posture, in deep meditation). In both cases, the images represent the Divine Lord absorbed in pure effulgence of spirit and eternal bliss, as a result of self-realization.
We do not worship these images for obtaining favours or bounties, but for drawing inspiration from a real-life Ideal, who has shown the correct path that leads to the realization of the ultimate goal, having Himself achieved that supreme status.
A Tirthankara, having attained omniscience, delivers divine sermon for the benefit of the potential aspirants to liberation (bhavya jivas), in a majestic congregation (samavasarana) of the four classes of celestial beings (the Residential - Bhavanavasi, the Peripatetic - Vyantara, the Stellar - Jyotişka, and the Heavenly - Vaimānika devas), the four orders of human beings (monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen), and animals. The congregation is set in the most imposing and grand surroundings created by the devas. The presence of Lord Jina (the Tīrthamkara) in the congre
* Abbreviation for 'Before Common Era', a non-religious alternative to the use of B.C. in designating the first period of the Gregorian Calendar; CE - 'Common Era' – a replacement for A.D.
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