page_title: Tirthankara
section_title: Present cosmic age
hierarchical_section_title: Tirthankara / List of the 24 tirthankaras / Present cosmic age
caption_attribution_description: English: India, Uttar Pradesh, circa 600 Sculpture Sandstone Gift of Anna Bing Arnold (M.85.55) South and Southeast Asian Art
context_page_description: In Jainism, a Tirthankara is a saviour and spiritual teacher of the dharma. The word tirthankara signifies the founder of a tirtha, which is a fordable passage across the sea of interminable births and deaths, the saṃsāra. According to Jains, a Tirthankara is an individual who has conquered the saṃsāra, the cycle of death and rebirth, 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. The first Tirthankara founded Jainism. Tirthankara provides a bridge for others to follow the new teacher from saṃsāra to Mahaviraswami.
  In Jain cosmology, the wheel of time is divided in two halves, Utsarpiṇī or ascending time cycle and avasarpiṇī, the descending time cycle. In each half of the cosmic time cycle, exactly twenty-four tirthankaras grace this part of the universe. There have been an infinite number of tirthankaras in the past time periods. The first tirthankara in this present time cycle was Rishabhanatha, who is credited for formulating and organising humans to live in a society harmoniously. The 24th and last tirthankara of present half-cycle was Mahavira.
context_section_description: In chronological order, the names, emblems and colours of the 24 tirthankaras of this age are mentioned below: Dhanuṣa means "bow", hatha means "hands" and 1 Purva equals 8,400,000 x 8,400,000 or 70,560,000,000,000 years.
caption: Jain chaumukha sculpture at LACMA, 6th century
exif: {}