Tīrthaṃkaras

views updated

TĪRTHAṂKARAS

TĪRTHAṂKARAS . According to the Jains, one of the oldest religious communities in India, the Tīrthaṃkaras (called titthagaras in the Jain canon) are the prophets who periodically teach the world the truth of the imperishable Jain tradition; the term is almost equivalent to jina ("victor") or arhant ("saint"). The term tīrtha(ṃ)-kara refers literally to one who "builds the ford" that leads across the ocean of rebirths and suffering, and thus builds or renews the Jain fourfold community of monks and nuns, laymen and laywomen.

Twenty-four Tīrthaṃkaras are said to appear at given periods in selected regions. As they are capable of ultimate spiritual perfection they are thus regarded as having more than a human status. Together with the cakravartins (universal sovereigns) and other such heroes, they form the class of the venerated sixty-three personages of the Jain "universal history." They are called mahāpuruṣas ("great men") by the Digambaras and śalākāpuruṣas ("men with the staff") by the Śvetāmbaras.

Members of the Lineage

Tīrthaṃkaras are born only in the "middle world" (Madhyadeśa), and there only in the very few karmabhūmis (regions where one reaps the fruit of one's actions) of the central continent (Jambūdvīpa): in the southern land of Bhārata (i.e., India), in the northern land of Airāvata, and in half of the central land of Videha. Except in Videha, where conditions differ, they are said to live exclusively during the third and fourth of the six stages of the avasarpiṇīs and utsarpiṇīs, that is, the descending and ascending halves of the endless temporal cycle, thus at times of mixed happiness and misery.

In Bhārata, the teacher of the present era is Vardhamāna Mahāvīra, the twenty-fourth and last of the series of Tīrthaṃkaras in our avasarpiṇī half cycle. According to tradition, he was born seventy-five years and eight and one-half months before the end of the fourth period, in which he lived for seventy-two years. Three years after his nirvāṇa, allegedly in 523 bce, the present period began, characterized by misery.

The first Tīrthaṃkara was Ṛṣabha, who is said to have been born toward the end of the third period and to have died three and one-half years before its completion. His life span extended over millions of so-called Pūrva years. In the fourth period, after Ṛṣabha and before Mahāvīra, the law was preached by twenty-two Tīrthaṃkaras : Ajita, Sambhava, Abhinandana, Sumati, Padmaprabha, Supārśva, Candraprabha, Suvidhi (Puṣpadanta), Śītala, Śreyāṃsa, Vāsupūjya, Vimala, Ananta, Dharma, Śānti, Kunthu, Ara, Malli, Munisuvrata, Nami, (Ariṣṭa)nemi, and Pārśva.

Tradition also gives the lists of their contemporaries in Airāvata, as well as of past and future Tīrthaṃkaras of Bhārata. In Videha, the prevailing conditions of happiness mixed with misery are always akin to those of this, the third period in an avasarpiṇī half cycle, so that a Tīrthaṃkara can be preaching there at any time.

The Career of a TĪrthaṂkara

No soul will become the soul of a Tīrthaṃkara unless it has gone through a considerable number of rebirths and has finally practiced exceptional virtues resulting in a special karman. The soul is urged by gods to "fall" from its divine mansion and be reborn to practise and propagate the true law. Tīrthaṃkaras are usually considered to become incarnate only through male figures; the Śvetāmbaras nevertheless consider the nineteenth, Malli, to be a female, although the Digambaras deny this point.

The career of a Tīrthaṃkara conforms to a well-structured pattern, and traditional descriptions of the Tīrthaṃkaras provide very few or no distinctive individual characteristics. The biography of a Tīrthaṃkara is stereotyped, listing in an almost formulaic sequence the following information: (1) some details of his former existence, (2) the five kalyāṇas, or religiously significant moments of his life (i.e., conception, birth, renunciation, attainment of omniscience, nirvāṇa ), (3) the names of his parents, (4) the number of his followers, (5) the duration of his life, (6) the color of his body (most are golden, but the twentieth and twenty-second are black, the eighth and ninth are white, the sixth and twelfth are red, the twenty-third and another [the nineteenth, according to the Śvetāmbaras, the seventh, according to the Digambaras] are blue-green), (7) his height, (8) his guardian divinities, and (9) the length of time elapsed since his predecessor's nirvāṇa. All are born to princely families, and, with two exceptions, are related to the Ikṣvāku dynasty. The conception of a Tīrthaṃkara is announced to his mother by a standardized succession of auspicious dreams (fourteen according to the Śvetāmbaras, sixteen according to the Digambaras).

Iconography

Like their biographies, the images of the Tīrthaṃkaras are all fundamentally similar. The figures are represented in meditation, either seated cross-legged or standing in a kāyotsarga pose (representing a particular type of Jain austerity), with arms stretched slightly apart from the body. Although the canon for the Tīrthaṃkara images appears to have been well fixed by the beginning of the common era, there have been some developments through the course of time. After the fifth century, Śvetāmbara icons are characterized by a dhoti (a wrapped garment of draping layers of cloth) and various ornaments; Digambara icons remain naked. Moreover, a series of characteristic marks (cihnas ) are added to the pedestals in order to distinguish the individual Tīrthaṃkaras : Ṛṣabha's symbol is the bull; Nemi's, the conch shell; Pārśva's, the snake; Mahāvīra's, the lion. Representations of Ṛṣabha, Pārśva, and Mahāvīra are particularly numerous; Pārśva is easily recognized by the snake hoods over his head.

The comparative monotony of the Tīrthaṃkara images is somewhat striking. These icons, however, are not meant to be picturesque but to suggest omniscient awareness and absolute detachment, serenity.

Mythic Importance

Despite such uniformity, several Tīrthaṃkaras emerge as prominent figures. On the whole, the general trend of the present avasarpiṇī implies a notable decline from a golden age and is marked by the considerable shortening of life span, prosperity, and happiness. Thus the legends concerning Ṛṣabha, the "first lord" of this cycle, are of special significance because in them he is shown in a pioneering role.

Ṛṣabha is said to have set the groundwork for civilization: first as a sovereign, when he organized kingdoms and societies, instituted legislation, taught agriculture, fire, cooking, arts and crafts, writing, and arithmetic, and later, when he renounced the world and became the first mendicant, thus shaping the religious life of the present avasarpiṇī. These two spheres of influence were further served by two of Ṛṣabha's sons: Bhārata is renowned in Indian tradition as the first cakravartin of Bhārata. Bāhubali became a forebearing ascetic and as such has long been revered by the Digambaras, especially in the South, where several impressive monoliths representing this hero were erected. One of the best known is a colossal fifty-seven-foot image towering at the top of one of the hills overlooking Śravaṇa Beḷgoḷa, about one hundred miles northwest of Bangalore.

The twenty-second Tīrthaṃkara (Ariṣṭa)nemi, is allegedly related to Kṛṣṇa and the Yādavas. He is extremely popular, especially in Gujarat, where on the sacred Girnar Hills he practiced austerities and eventually understood the ultimate truth, thus achieving enlightenment; after many years he reached final emancipation, nirvāṇa, on the same mountain. His revulsion at the sight of the animals awaiting slaughter for his wedding ceremonies as well as his subsequent refusal to marry his betrothed, Rājīmatī, are highly significant and are the subject of many narratives, songs, and paintings that illustrate the greatness of the doctrine of ahiṃsā, or noninjury.

Pārśva, the twenty-third Tīrthaṃkara, has been regarded by most scholars as possibly being a historical figure. He is said to have lived for a hundred years, some two hundred and fifty years before Mahāvīra, and to have been born in Banaras and ended his life in Bihar on Mount Sameta, which is now also known as Pārasnāth in his honor. He is alleged to have established the "law of four restraints" (caturyāma-dharma ), which is generally, though not unanimously, considered to be the forerunner of the five "great vows" (mahāvratas ) followed by Mahāvīra's disciples. Pārśva is associated with serpents and consequently the object of much veneration.

Cultic Life

Immediately after death, the Tīrthaṃkaras become siddhas ("perfected" souls), and thus became completely inaccessible. But the example they set should be meditated upon, and it is extolled daily when the Jains recite the Caturviṃśatistava (Praise of the twenty-four [Tīrthaṃ-karas ]); the images of the Tīrthaṃkaras should serve only as meditative supports. Archaeological evidence indicates that this method of worshiping the Tīrthaṃkaras, known as deva-pūjā, goes back to the first few centuries bce.

Many lay believers, however, cannot refrain from appealing to superhuman benevolence. They direct their worship and supplications for assistance to the pairs of guardian deities who serve the Tīrthaṃkaras. Among the most popular are the snake god Dharaṇendra and his consort Padmāvatī, both of whom flank Pārśva. The Jain teachers, however, have always insisted on the inferior position of these deities and have succeeded in preventing them from usurping the supremacy of the Tīrthaṃkaras.

TĪrthaṂkaras and Indian Religious Experience

In Jainism it is clear that the recurrent presence of Tīrthaṃkaras, who periodically appear in the human realms in order to preach and show the true law, have a function similar to that of the seven (later twenty-five) Buddhas in Buddhism, and also to that of the Hindu avatāras of Viṣṇu. On the other hand, by promoting civilization, the first Tīrthaṃkara, Ṛṣabha, recalls the role played by Pṛthu in the epics, by Mahāsammata in Buddhism, and by Prometheus in the Greek and Roman traditions. Thus from many perspectives Jainism offers a coherent system that links the evolutions of time, cosmos, humankind, and the Jain church.

Bibliography

The standard books on Jainism provide general information on the Tīrthaṃkaras. A comparatively detailed treatment will be found in Helmuth von Glasenapp's Der Jainusmus: Eine indische Erlösungsreligion (Berlin, 1925; reprint, Hildesheim, 1964; English translation by S.B. Shrotri: Jainism. An Indian Religion of Salvation, Delhi 1998). Padmanabh S. Jaini, The Jaina Path of Purification. (Berkeley, Los Angeles London 1979). A substantial although short account is provided by Josef Deleu's "Die Mythologie des Jinismus," in H. W. Haussig's Wörterbuch der Mythologie (Stuttgart, 1976), pp. 207–284, esp. pp. 270–273. Various aspects of the Tīrthaṃkaras —concept, worship, representation—are considered in several papers of Approaches to Jaina Studies: Philosophy, Logic, Ritual and Symbols, edited by N.K. Wagle and Olle Qvarnström (Toronto, 1999).

Sculptures of Tīrthaṃkaras are among the most ancient Indian religious images, dating from first to second century ce. Since the eleventh century, illustrated manuscripts (first palm-leaves, later paper manuscripts) represent figures of Jinas and/or depict important moments of their lives. Brightly coloured Jain miniatures (especially in "Western Indian Style"), as well as statues and bas-reliefs are reproduced in Pratapaditya Pal et al., The Peaceful Liberators : Jain Art from India (Los Angeles, 1994); Kurt Titze, Jainism: A Pictorial Guide to the Religion of Non-Violence (Delhi, 1998); Jan Van Alphen, Steps to Liberation: 2500 Years of Jain Art and Religion (Antwerp, 2000). Also see the monograph by José Pereira, Monolithic Jinas: The Iconography of the Jain Temples of Ellora (Delhi, 1977).

For the iconography of the Tīrthaṃkaras, see Brindavan Chandra Bhattacharya's The Jaina Iconography, 2d rev. ed. (Delhi, 1974), and Klaus Bruhn's The Jina-Images of Deogarh (Leiden, 1969). The lives of Mahāvīra and the other Jinas are the subject of the Jiṇacariya, edited and translated by Hermann Jacobi in The Kalpasûtra of Bhadrabâhu (Leipzig, 1879), and of the Jaina Sûtras, vol. 1 (London, 1884; reprint, Delhi, 1964). See also Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra, or The Lives of the Sixty-three Illustrious Persons by Hemacandra, 6 vols., translated by Helen M. Johnson (Baroda, 1931–1962). On Ṛṣabha and civilization, see Adelheid Mette's Indische Kulturstiftungsberichte und ihr Verhältnis zur Zeitaltersage (Mainz, 1973).