In Jainism, a Tirthankara (Sanskrit: tīrthaṅkara; English: literally a 'ford-maker') is a saviour and supreme spiritual teacher of the dharma (righteous path).^[1] The word tirthankara signifies the founder of a tirtha,^[2] 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.^[3] 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).^[4]

In Jain cosmology, the wheel of time is divided into two halves, Utsarpiṇī, the ascending time cycle, and avasarpiṇī, the descending time cycle (said to be current now). In each half of the cycle, exactly 24 tirthankaras grace this part of the universe. There have been infinitely many tirthankaras in the past.^[5] The first tirthankara in the present cycle (Hunda Avsarpini) was Rishabhanatha, who is credited with formulating and organising humans to live in a society harmoniously. The 24th and last tirthankara of the present half-cycle was Mahavira (599 BC–527 BC).^[6][7][8] History records the existence of Mahavira and his predecessor, Parshvanatha, the 23rd tirthankara.^[9]

A tirthankara organises the sangha, a fourfold order of male and female monastics, srāvakas (male followers) and śrāvikās (female followers).^[10]

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 contain no contradictions. The degree of elaboration varies according to society's spiritual advancement and purity during their period of leadership. The higher the level of society's spiritual advancement and purity of mind, the lower the elaboration required.

While Jains document and revere tirthankaras, their grace is said to be available to all living beings regardless of religion.^[11]

Tīrthaṅkaras are arihants who, after attaining kevala jñāna (pure infinite knowledge),^[12] preach the dharma. An Arihant is also called Jina (victor), one who has conquered inner enemies such as anger, attachment, pride, and greed.^[4] 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 living beings' spiritual elevation. Through darśana, divine vision, and deshna, divine speech, they help others attain kevalajñana and moksha (final liberation).

The word tirthankara signifies the founder of a tirtha, a fordable passage across saṃsāra, the sea of interminable births and deaths.^{[13][14][15][16]} Tirthankaras are variously called "Teaching Gods", "Ford-Makers", "Crossing Makers", and "Makers of the River-Crossing.^[17][16]

Jain texts propound that a special type of karma, the tīrthaṅkara nama-karma, raises a soul to the supreme status of a Tīrthaṅkara. The Tattvartha Sutra, a major Jain text, lists 16 observances that lead to the bandha (bondage) of this karma:^[18]

• Purity of right faith
• Reverence
• Observance of vows and supplementary vows without transgressions
• Ceaseless pursuit of knowledge
• Perpetual fear of the cycle of existence
• Giving gifts (charity)
• Practising austerities according to one's capacity
• Removal of obstacles that threaten the equanimity of ascetics
• Serving the meritorious by warding off evil or suffering
• Devotion to omniscient lords, chief preceptors, preceptors, and the scriptures
• Practice of the six essential daily duties
• Propagation of the teachings of the omniscient
• Fervent affection for one's brethren following the same path.

Five auspicious events called Pañca kalyāṇaka mark every tirthankara's life:^[19]

1. Gārbha kalyāṇaka (conception): When a tirthankara's ātman (soul) comes into his mother's womb.^[20]
2. Janma kalyāṇaka (birth): Birth of a tirthankara. Indra performs a ceremonial bath on tirthankara on Mount Meru.^[21][22]
3. Diksha kalyāṇaka (renunciation): When a tirthankara renounces all worldly possessions and become an ascetic.
4. Keval Gyan kalyāṇaka (omniscience): When a tirthankara attains kevalajñāna (infinite knowledge). A samavasarana (divine preaching hall) is erected from where they deliver sermons and establish 'tirth (chaturvidh sangha) after that.
5. Nirvāṇa/Moksha kalyāṇaka (liberation): When a tirthankara leaves their mortal body, it is known as nirvana. It is followed by the final liberation, moksha, after which their soul resides in Siddhashila.

After attaining kevalajñāna, the tirthankara preaches the path to liberation in the samavasarana. According to Jain texts, devas (heavenly beings) erect the heavenly pavilion where devas, humans, and animals assemble to hear the tirthankara.^[23] A samavasarana is a three-level structure. The lowest level, made of rajat (silver), is the parking space for vehicles. The second is the svarna (gold) level. All animals reside in the svarna level, while the highest level, made of precious gems, is reserved for various important figures, such as kings and their families, the devas and the ascetics. Humans and animals hear a tirthankara's speech in their language. It is believed that during this speech, there is no unhappiness for miles around the site.^[24]

Jainism postulates that time has no beginning or end. It moves like the wheel of a cart. The wheel of time is divided into two halves, Utsarpiṇī (ascending half cycle) and Avasarpiṇī (descending half cycle). 24 tirthankaras are born in each half of this cycle. In Jain tradition, the tirthankaras were royal in their final lives, and Jain texts record details of those lives. Their clan and families are also among those recorded in legendary stories. According to Jain canons, Rishabhanatha, the first tirthankara,^[13] founded the Ikshvaku dynasty,^[25] from which 21 other tirthankaras rose over time. Two tirthankaras – Munisuvrata, the 20th, and Neminatha, the 22nd – belonged to the Harivamsa dynasty.^[26]

In Jain tradition, the 20 tirthankaras attained moksha on Mount Shikharji, in the present Indian state of Jharkhand.^[27] Rishabhanatha attained nirvana on Mount Ashtāpada (Mount Kailash), Vasupujya in Champapuri, Bihar, Neminatha on Mount Girnar, Gujarat, and Mahavira, the last tirthankara, at Pawapuri, near modern Patna. Twenty-one of the tirthankaras are said to have attained moksha in the kayotsarga (standing meditation posture), while Rishabhanatha, Neminatha, and Mahavira are said to have done so in the Padmasana (lotus position).^[17]

A tīrthaṅkara is represented either in the lotus position (Padmasana) or in the meditation Khadgasana (Kayotsarga) posture.^[33][34] The latter, which is similar to the military standing at attention, is a difficult posture to hold for long and is preferred by Jains because it minimizes the amount of the body in contact with the earth, and thus the risk to 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 upon the knee of the other leg, and the right hand lying over the left in the lap.^[1]

Tirthankara images have no distinctive facial features, clothing, or (mostly) hairstyles, and are differentiated based on the symbol or emblem (Lanchhana) belonging to each tirthanakara except Parshvanatha. Statues of Parshvanatha have a snake crown. The first Tirthankara, Rishabha, is identifiable 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 the corner of the statue's pedestal. The Jain sects 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.^[35] The images are often marked with Srivatsa on the chest and Tilaka on the forehead.^[36] Srivatsa is one of the ashtamangala (auspicious symbols), which sometimes resembles fleur-de-lis, an endless knot, a flower, or a diamond-shaped symbol.^[37]

The bodies of tirthankara statues are exceptionally consistent throughout the over 2,000 years of the historical record's. 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 accurate depiction of musculature and bones but is interested in modeling 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 heads are not uncommon in early sculpture, but unlike the comparable Hindu images, these represent four different tirthanakaras, not four aspects of the same deity. Multiple extra arms are avoided in tirthanakara images, though their attendants or guardians may have them.^[38]

The first Tirthankara, Rishabhanatha is mentioned in Hindu texts like the Rigveda,^[39] Vishnupurana, and Bhagwata Purana.^[40] The Yajurveda mentions the name of three Tīrthaṅkaras: Ṛiṣhabha, Ajitnātha and Ariṣṭanemi.^[41] The Bhāgavata Purāṇa includes legends about the Tirthankaras, particularly Rishabha.^[42] Yoga Vasishta, Chapter 15 of Vairagya Khanda, Sloka 8, gives the saying of Rama:

I am not Rama. I have no desire for material things. Like Jina I want to establish peace within myself.^[43]

Champat Rai Jain, a 20th-century Jain writer, claimed that the "Four and Twenty Elders" mentioned in the Book of Revelation (the final book of the Christian Bible) are "Twenty-four Tirthankaras".^[44]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tirthankaras.

• God in Jainism
• Kundakunda
• List of Tirthankaras
• Tattva (Jainism)