In Jainisam Tirthankar is a saviour & spiritual teacher of Dharma. The word tirthankara signifies the founder of a Tirtha. According to Jains, a Tirthankara is an individual who has conquered the saṃsara, the cycle of death and rebirth, on their own, and made a path for others to follow. After understanding the true nature of the self or soul, the Tīrthankara attains Keval Gnan (omniscience). Tirthankara provides a bridge for others to follow the new teacher from saṃsara to Moksha (liberation).
In Jain cosmology, the wheel of time is divided in two halves, Uvsarpini or ascending time cycle Avsarpini, the descending time cycle (said to be current now). In each half of the cosmic time cycle, exactly twenty-four tirthankaras grace this part of the universe. There have been an infinite number of tirthankaras in the past time periods. The first tirthankara in this present time cycle (Hunda Avsarpini) was Rishabhanatha, who is credited for formulating and organising humans to live in a society harmoniously. The 24th and last tirthankara of the present half-cycle was Mahavira Swami Ji (599 BC–527 BC). History records the existence of Mahavira and his predecessor, Parshvanath, the twenty-third tirthankara.
A tirthankara organises the Sangh a fourfold order of male and female monastics, Shravakas (male followers) and Shravikas (female followers).
The tirthankara's teachings form the basis for the Jain canons. The inner knowledge of tirthankara is believed to be perfect and identical in every respect and their teachings do not contradict one another. The degree of elaboration varies according to the spiritual advancement and purity of the society during their period of leadership. The higher the spiritual advancement and purity of mind of the society, the lower the elaboration required.
Tīrthankaras are Arihants who after attaining Kevalgnan (pure infinite knowledge) preach the true dharma. An Arihant is also called Jina (victor), that is one who has conquered inner enemies such as anger, attachment, pride and greed. They dwell exclusively within the realm of their Soul, and are entirely free of kashayas, inner passions, and personal desires. As a result of this, unlimited siddhis, or spiritual powers, are readily available to them – which they use exclusively for the spiritual elevation of living beings. Through darsana, divine vision, and deshna, divine speech, they help others in attaining Kevalgnan, and moksha (final liberation) to anyone seeking it sincerely.
Five auspicious events called Panch kalyaṇaka mark the life of every tirthankara:
- Garbha kalyaṇaka (conception): When Atman (soul) of a tirthankara comes into his mother's womb.
- Janma kalyaṇaka (birth): Birth of a tirthankara. Indra performs a ceremonial bath on tirthankara on Mount Meru.
- Tapa kalyaṇaka (renunciation): When a tirthankara renounces all worldly possessions and become an ascetic.
- Jnanna kalyaṇaka: The event when a tirthankara attains Kevalgnan (infinite knowledge). A samavasarana (divine preaching hall) is erected from where he delivers sermons and restores sangha after that.
- Nirvaṇa kalyaṇaka (liberation): When a tirthankara leaves his mortal body, it is known as nirvana. It is followed by the final liberation, moksha, after which his souls dwells in Siddhashila.
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| Symbolic Dreams by mother of Tirthankar |
A tirthankara is represented either seated in lotus position (Padmasana) or standing in the meditation Khadgasana (Kayotsarga) posture. This latter, which is similar to the military standing at attention is a difficult posture to hold for a long period, and is preferred by Jains because it reduces to the minimum the amount of the body in contact with the earth, and so posing a risk to the sentient creatures living in or on it. If seated, they are usually depicted seated with their legs crossed in front, the toes of one foot resting close upon the knee of the other, and the right hand lying over the left in the lap.
Tirthankara images do not have distinctive facial features, clothing or (mostly) hair-styles, and are differentiated on the basis of the symbol or emblem (Lanchhana) belonging to each tirthanakar except Parshvanatha. Statues of Parshvanath have a snake crown on the head. The first Tirthankara Rishabha can be identified by the locks of hair falling on his shoulders. Sometimes Suparshvanath is shown with a small snake-hood. The symbols are marked in the centre or in the corner of the pedestal of the statue. The sects of Jainism Digambara and Svetambara have different depictions of idols. Digambara images are naked without any ornamentation, whereas Svetambara ones are clothed and decorated with temporary ornaments. The images are often marked with Srivatsa on the chest and Tilaka on the forehead. Srivatsa is one of the ashtamangala (auspicious symbols), which sometimes resembles fleur-de-lis, an endless knot, a flower or diamond-shaped symbol.
The bodies of tirthankara statues are exceptionally consistent throughout the over 2,000 years of the historical record. The bodies are rather slight, with very wide shoulders and a narrow waist. Even more than is usual in Indian sculpture, the depiction takes relatively little interest in the accurate depiction of the underlying musculature and bones, but is interested in the modelling of the outer surfaces as broad swelling forms. The ears are extremely elongated, alluding to the heavy earrings the figures wore in their early lives before they took the path to enlightenment, when most were wealthy, if not royal.
Sculptures with four tirthanakars, or their heads, facing in four directions, are not uncommon in early sculpture, but unlike the comparable Hindu images, these represent four different tirthanakars, not four aspects of the same deity. Multiple extra arms are avoided in tirthanakar images, though their attendants or guardians may have them.
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| Chaumukhji Sculpture |
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