In Jainism, a Tirthankara is a saviour and supreme spiritual teacher of the dharma. The word tirthankara signifies the founder of a tirtha, a fordable passage across saṃsāra, the sea of interminable birth and death. According to Jains, tirthankaras are the supreme preachers of dharma, who have conquered saṃsāra on their own and made a path for others to follow. After understanding the true nature of the self or soul, the Tīrthaṅkara attains kevala jnana (omniscience). A Tirthankara provides a bridge for others to follow them from saṃsāra to moksha (liberation).
In Jainism, Balabhadra or Baladeva are among the sixty-three illustrious beings called śalākāpuruṣas that are said to grace every half cycle of time. According to Jain cosmology, śalākāpuruṣa are born on this earth in every Dukhama-sukhamāara. They comprise twenty-four tīrthaṅkaras, twelve chakravartins, nine balabhadra, nine narayana, and nine pratinarayana. Their life stories are said to be most inspiring. According to the Jain puranas, the Balabhadras lead an ideal Jain life.
Sumatinatha was the fifth Jain Tirthankara of the present age (Avasarpini). Sumatinatha was born to a Kshatriya King Megha (Megharatha) and Queen Mangalavati (Sumangalavati) at Ayodhya in the Ikshvaku dynasty. His Janma Kalyanak (birthday) was the eighth day of the Vaisakha Sudi month of the Jain calendar.
Suparshvanatha, also known as Suparśva, was the seventh Jain Tīrthankara of the present age (avasarpini). He was born to King Pratistha and Queen Prithvi at Varanasi on 12 Jestha Shukla in the Ikshvaku clan. He is said to have attained moksha at Shikharji on the sixth day of the dark half of the month of Phālguna.
Vasupujya is the twelfth tirthankara in Jainism of the avasarpini. According to Jain beliefs, he became a siddha, a liberated soul which has destroyed all of its karma. Vasupujya was born to King Vasupujya and Queen Jaya Devi at Champapuri in the Ikshvaku dynasty. His birth date was the fourteenth day of the Falgun Krishna month of the Indian calendar. He never married and remained a celibate. He attained Kevala Jnana within one month of Tapsya and Moksha at Champapuri, of Bihar in India on the fourteenth day of the bright half of the month of Ashadh.
Vimalanatha was the thirteenth Jain Tirthankara of the present age (Avasarpini). According to Jain beliefs, he became a Siddha, a liberated soul which has destroyed all of its karma. Vimalanatha was born to King Kratavarma and Queen Shyamadevi at Kampilya of the Ikshvaku dynasty. His birth date was the third day of the Magh Sukla month of the Indian calendar.
Śāntinātha or Śānti is the sixteenth Tīrthaṅkara of Jainism in the present age. According to traditional accounts, he was born to King Vishvasena and Queen Aćira of the Ikshvaku dynasty in the north Indian city of Hastinapur. His birth date is the thirteenth day of the Jyest Krishna month of the Indian calendar. He was also a Chakravarti and a Kamadeva. He ascended to the throne when he was 25 years old. After over 25,000 years on the throne, he became a Jain monk and started his penance.
Mallinatha was the 19th tīrthaṅkara "ford-maker" of the present avasarpiṇī age in Jainism.
Munisuvrata or Munisuvratanatha was the twentieth Tirthankara of the present half time cycle (avasarpini) in Jain cosmology. He became a siddha, a liberated soul which has destroyed all of his karma. Events of the Jaina version of Ramayana are placed at the time of Munisuvrata. Munisuvrata lived for over 30,000 years. His chief apostle (gaṇadhara) was sage Malli Svāmi.
Neminātha, also known as Nemi and Ariṣṭanemi, is the twenty-second Tīrthaṅkara of Jainism in the present age. Neminatha lived 81,000 years before the 23rd Tirthankara Parshvanatha. According to traditional accounts, he was born to King Samudravijaya and Queen Shivadevi of the Yadu dynasty in the north Indian city of Sauripura. His birth date was the fifth day of Shravana Shukla of the Jain calendar. Krishna, who was the 9th and last Jain Vasudev, was his first cousin.
King Nabhi or Nabhi Rai was the 14th or the last Kulakara of avasarpini. He was the father of Rishabhanatha, the first tirthankara of present avasarpini. According to Jain text Ādi purāṇa, Nabhirāja lived for 1 crore purva and his height was 525 dhanusha.
Auspicious dreams are often described in texts of Jainism which forecast the virtue of children. Their number varies according to different traditions and they described frequently as fourteen or sixteen dreams. They are seen by mothers of the prominent figures in Jainism including Tirthankaras, on the conception of their soul in the womb. They are interpreted as describing virtues and kingship of a future child. They are also found in various artistic media as an ornamentation.
Ajitanatha was the second tirthankara of the present age, avasarpini according to Jainism. He was born to King Jitashatru and Queen Vijaya at Ayodhya in the Ikshvaku dynasty. He was a liberated soul which has destroyed all of its karma.
Abhinandananatha or Abhinandana Swami was the fourth Tirthankara of the present age (Avasarpini). He is said to have lived for 50 lakh purva. He was born to King Sanvara and Queen Siddhartha at Ayodhya in the Ikshvaku clan. His birth date was the second day of the Magh shukla month of the Indian calendar. According to Jain beliefs, he became a siddha, a liberated soul which has destroyed all of its Karma.
Anantanatha was the fourteenth Tirthankara of the present age (Avasarpini) of Jainism. According to Jain beliefs, he became a siddha, a liberated soul which has destroyed all of its karma.
Chandraprabha or Chandranatha is the eighth Tirthankara of Tīrthaṅkara of Jainism in the present age. According to traditional accounts, he was born to King Mahasena and Queen Lakshmana Devi at Chandrapuri to the Ikshvaku dynasty. According to Jain texts, his birth-date was the twelfth day of the Posh Krishna month of the Indian calendar. He is said to have become a siddha, a liberated soul which has destroyed all of its karma.
Aranath(Arnath) was the eighteenth Jain Tirthankar of the present half cycle of time (Avasarpini). He was also the eighth Chakravartin and thirteenth Kamadeva. According to Jain beliefs, he was born around 16,585,000 BCE. He became a siddha i.e. a liberated soul which has destroyed all of its karmas. Aranath was born to King Sudarshana and Queen Devi (Mitra) at Hastinapur in the Ikshvaku dynasty. His birth date was the tenth day of the Migsar Krishna month of the Indian calendar.
In Jainism, Pushpadanta, also known as Suvidhinatha, was the ninth Tirthankara of the present age (Avasarpini). According to Jain belief, he became a siddha and an arihant, a liberated soul that has destroyed all of its karma.
Samantabhadra was a Digambara acharya who lived about the later part of the second century CE. He was a proponent of the Jaina doctrine of Anekantavada. The Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra is the most popular work of Samantabhadra. Samantabhadra lived after Umaswami but before Pujyapada.
Dhayanatray (1676-1726) was an Indian writer who wrote on Jainism.
