JAIN RELIGION. THE TIRTHANKARAS

The Tirthankaras. Mahavira was the last Tirthankara to appear. His predecessor, Parshvanatha, lived about 250 years. According to Jaina belief, each cosmic age produces its own group of 24 Tirthankaras, the first of whom--if it is an age of descending purity--are giants, but they decrease in stature and appear after shorter intervals of time as the age proceeds. In art the Tirthankara is represented either standing stiffly in the pose known as kayotsarga, or seated cross-legged on a lion throne in the posture of meditation, dhyanamudra. The images are carved out of marble or other highly polished stone or are cast in metal, the cold surfaces serving to emphasize the frozen detachment from life. Since the Tirthankara is a perfect being, there is little to distinguish one from another, except for symbolic colours or emblems. The names of the 24 Tirthankaras are attributed to dreams by their mothers before their births or to some other circumstance surrounding their entry into the world. The word -natha, is added as an honor to their names. In order of their appearance, the names, signs, and colours of the Jinas of this age are:- (1) Rsabhanatha ("Lord Bull"), or Adinatha ("Lord First"), his emblem the bull, his colour golden. (2) Ajita ("Invincible One"), elephant, golden. (3) Shambhava ("Auspicious"), horse, golden. (4) Abhinandana ("Worship"), ape, golden. (5) Sumati ("Wise"), heron, golden. (6) Padmaprabha ("Lotus-Bright"), lotus, red. (7) Suparshva ("Good-Sided"), the swastika symbol, golden. (8) Candraprabha ("Moon-Bright"), moon, white. (9) Suvidhi, or Puspadanta ("Religious Duties" or "Blossom-Toothed"), dolphin or makara (sea dragon), white. (10) Shitala ("Coolness"), the shrivatsa symbol, golden. (11) Shreyamsha ("Good"), rhinoceros, golden. (12) Vasupujya ("Worshiped with Offerings of Possessions"), buffalo, red. (13) Vimala ("Clear"), boar, golden. (14) Ananta ("Endless"), hawk (according to the Digambara sect, ram or bear), golden. (15) Dharma ("Duty"), thunderbolt, golden. (16) Shanti ("Peace"), antelope or deer, golden. (17) Kunthu (meaning uncertain), goat, golden. (18) Ara (a division of time), the nandyavarta (an elaborated swastika; according to the Digambara sect, fish), golden. (19) Malli ("Wrestler"), water jug, blue. (20) Suvrata, or Munisuvrata ("Of Good Vows"), tortoise, black. (21) Nami ("Bowing Down"), or Nimin ("Eye-Winking"), blue lotus, golden. (22) Nemi, or Aristanemi ("The Rim of Whose Wheel is Unhurt"), conch shell, black. (23) Parshvanatha ("Lord Serpent"), snake, green. (24) Vardhamana ("Prospering"), later called Mahavira ("Great Hero"), lion, golden. Images of the Tirthankara are not worshiped as personal gods, capable of giving blessings or interfering with human events. Rather, Jain believers pay them homage as representatives of great beings in the hope that they may be filled with a sense of renunciation and the highest virtues and thus encouraged along the path toward their final liberation. The Maha Purusha. Is an individual of extraordinary destiny, distinguished by certain physical traits or marks. Such men are born to become either universal rulers (chakravartis) or great spiritual leaders such as buddhas or the Jaina spiritual leaders, the Tirthankaras. The signs have frequently been depicted in representations of the Buddha or of the Jaina Tirthankaras.Catalogs of the distinguishing marks differ slightly between the religious traditions. In Buddhism the laksanas are enumerated as 32 major marks and 80 minor marks. The major laksanas include: (1) the usnisa, or protuberance on the top of the skull. (2) hair arranged in short twists, each curl turning from left to right. (3) the urna, a little ball or tuft of hair between the eyebrows. (4) 40 perfectly shaped, dazzling white teeth, equal in size. (5) a large, long tongue. (6) golden-tinged skin. (7) long arms that reach to the knees when the individual is standing upright. (8) webbed fingers and toes. (9) a thousand-spoked wheel on the sole of each foot. Jainism honours 54 "great souls". They include the 24 Tirthankaras, 12 chakravartis, 9 vasudevas, and 9 baladevas. The birth of a great soul is always preceded by certain auspicious dreams seen by the mother. Some lists add 9 prati-vasudevas, making a total of 63. The lives of the Maha Purusas are the subject matter of the Jaina epic and Puranic texts. The Jaina Religious Literature. In addition to the canons and commentaries, the Svetambara and Digambara traditions have produced a voluminous corpus of literature, written in several languages, about the philosophy, poetry, drama, grammar, music, mathematics, medicine, astronomy, astrology, and architecture. In Tamil, the epics Chilappatikaram and Jivikachintamani, which are written from a Jaina perspective, are important works of early post-classical Tamil literature. Jaina authors were also an important formative influence on Kannada literature. The Adipurana of the Jaina lay poet Pampa another text dealing with the lives of Rsabha, Bahubali, and Bharata, is the earliest existant piece of mahakavya in Kannada literature. Jainas were similarly influential in the Prakrit language, Apabhram, Old Gujarati, and, later, Sanskrit. A particularly important literary figure in Prakrit and Sanskrit was the Svetambara monk Hemachandra, 12th century, who composed an important Prakrit grammar, as well as poetry, philosophical treatises, and a mammoth epic poem on the lives of the 63 Jaina maha-purusas, entitled Trisasti- Maha Purusacharitra. Other non-canonical Jaina writers on philosophy include Mallavadin I,4th century, Siddhasena Divakara (c. 5th century), Haribhadra Suri (c. 8th century), Samantabhadra (before the 5th century), Akalanka (c. 8th century), Siddharsi Ganin (10th century), Shantisuri (11th century), Vidyanandin (c. 8th-9th century), Anantakirti (10th century), Manikyanandin (11th century), Prabhacandra (11th century), and Vadi Deva Suri (12th century). Among later authors, UpadhyayaYashovijaya (c. 17th century), a versatile scholar, is especially noteworthy.Digambaras also value the Prakrit works of Kundakunda (c. 2nd century), including the Pravachana-sara, the Samaya-sara, the Niyama-sara, and the six Prabhatas on various religious topics. Of similar importance is the Tattvarthadhigama-sutra of Umasvati. Composed early in the Christian Era, the Tattv-arth-adhigama-sutra was the first work in Sanskrit on Jaina philosophy dealing with such subjects as logic, epistemology, ontology, ethics, cosmography, and cosmogony; it generated numerous commentaries, including one by Umasvati himself.