Parshva

Pārśva
23rd Jain Tirthankara

Idol of Pārśva, Pārśvanātha Jain Temple, Lodhruva, 10km north of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India
Details
Alternate name: Parasnath
Historical date: 877 – 777 BCE
Family
Father: Asvasena
Mother: Vamadevi
Dynasty: Ikshvaku
Places
Birth: Varanasi
Nirvana: Shikharji
Attributes
Colour: Blue
Symbol: Snake
Height: 7.7142852 Feet
Age At Death: 100 years old
Attendant Gods
Yaksha: Vamana
Yakshini: Padmavati
Jainism

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Pārśva (Sanskrit: पार्श्वनाथ) or Paras (Gujarati: પારસ) was the twenty-third Tirthankara "Ford-Maker" in Jainism (traditionally 877–777 BCE).[1][2][3] He is the earliest Jain leader generally accepted as a historical figure.[4][5][6] Pārśva was a nobleman belonging to the Kshatriya varna.

Contents

Life as a Tirthankara

Parshva lived a life of a nobleman for 30 years and was never married before renouncing the world to become a monk. He meditated for 84 days before attaining kevalajñāna.[7] According to the Jain tradition, he attained nirvana 250 years before the nirvana of Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankar.[4] The chronology accepted by most Jains (Svetambaras) places Mahavir's death in 527 BCE.[8] Parshva was the son of king Ashvasena and queen Vama of Varanasi. He renounced the world and became an ascetic when he was 30 years old.[9] He achieved Nirvana atop Sammet Sikhar, now named Parshvanatha after him. He was called purisādāṇīya "beloved of men", a name which shows that he must have been a genial personality.[10] He remains beloved among Jains.[11]

There is a mention of four prominent leaders of the order of Lord Parshvanath:

  1. Gandhara Shubhdatta (Shumbh)
  2. Arya Haridatta
  3. Acharya Samudra Suri
  4. Arya Keshi Shraman

In addition, Parshvanath had ten Ganadhars, or disciples. He also has 108 names.

Arya Keshi Shraman is believed to have been born about 166 to 250 years after the death of Bhagawan Parshvanath. He met Ganadhara Indrabhuti Gautama Svami, the main disciple of Lord Mahavira. Their discussion about the apparent differences between the teachings of the two Tirthankaras is recorded in Jain texts.

Parsvanatha is the most popular object of Jain devotion. He is closely associated with compassion, although free from the world of rebirth like all tirthankaras and therefore unable to aid his devotees personally.[12] Jain religion teaches that a person has to help himself/herself to achieve the salvation. Others can only be a nimitta "efficient cause". A tirthankara teaches the world of the way to attain the salvation.

Iconography

Lord Pārśvanātha is always represented with the hood of a nāga shading his head. This nāga usually has three, seven or eleven heads. The Yaksha Dharanendra and the Yakshi Padmavati are often shown flanking him. There is a famous legend about the three of them as follows:

Parshvanath was walking one day when he saw an old man next to a fire. With a special type of knowledge called Avdhignan he could tell that a pair of snakes was in one of the logs in the fire. He quickly warned the man that he was burning the snakes, but instead of acting rapidly to save them, the man became angry at Parshvanath and denied the presence of the snakes. Parshavanath pulled out the right log and put it out, then gently split it, revealing two badly burned snakes. He recited the Navkar Mantra, a prayer, for them before they died. The two nagas reincarnated to become the two Yakshas, Dharanendra and Padmavati.

Notable temples

Many temples are dedicated to Parshva throughout India. There are at least 108 different images by which he is honored. Some of the most famous ones are:

Gallery

References

  1. ^ Fisher, Mary Pat (1997). Living Religions: An Encyclopedia of the World's Faiths. London: I.B.Tauris. ISBN 1860641482.  p. 115
  2. ^ "Parshvanatha". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2007. http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9058576. Retrieved 2007-10-22. 
  3. ^ Bowker, John (2000). "Parsva". The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t101.e5504. Retrieved 2007-10-22. 
  4. ^ a b Charpentier, Jarl (1922). "The History of the Jains". The Cambridge History of India. 1. Cambridge. pp. 153. 
  5. ^ Ghatage, A.M. (1951). "Jainism". In Majumdar, R.C. and A.D. Pusalker. The Age of Imperial Unity. Bombay. pp. 411–412. 
  6. ^ Deo, Shantaram Bhalchandra (1956). History of Jaina monachism from inscriptions and literature. Poona [Pune, India]: Deccan College Post-graduate and Research Institute. pp. 59–60. 
  7. ^ Danielou, A (1971) L'Histoire de l'Inde Translated from French by Kenneth Hurry. pp.376 ISBN 0-89281-923-5
  8. ^ Kristi L. Wiley: Historical Dictionary of Jainism, Lanham 2004, p. 134.
  9. ^ Ghatage p. 411, Deo p. 60.
  10. ^ Ghatage p. 411.
  11. ^ Walther Schubring: Jinismus, in: Die Religionen Indiens, vol. 3, Stuttgart 1964, p. 220.
  12. ^ Bowker, John. World Religions. New York: DK Publishing, Inc. 1997.