Pārśvanātha
Pārśvanātha, or ' and Pārasanātha', was the 23rd of 24 tīrthaṅkaras of Jainism. Pārśvanātha is the earliest Jaina tīrthaṅkara who is acknowledged as probably a historical figure, with some teachings attributed to him that may be accurately recorded, and a possible historical nucleus within the legendary accounts of his life from traditional hagiographies. Historians consider that he may have lived between 8th to 6th century BCE, founding a proto-Jaina ascetic community which subsequently got revived and reformed by Mahāvīra.
According to traditional Jaina narratives, he was born to King Aśvasena and Queen Vāmādevī of the Ikshvaku dynasty in the Indian city of Varanasi, 273 years before Mahāvīra, which places him between the 9th and 8th centuries BCE. Renouncing worldly life, he founded an ascetic community. He was the spiritual successor of the 22nd Tirthankar Neminatha. He is popularly seen as a supreme propagator and reviver of Jainism. Pārśvanātha is said to have attained moksha on Mount Sammeda popular as Parasnath hill in the Ganges basin, an important Jaina pilgrimage site. His iconography is notable for the serpent hood over his head, and his worship often includes Dharaṇendra and Padmāvatī.
Texts of the two major Jaina sects differ on the teachings of Pārśvanath and Mahāvīra. The Digambaras believe that there was no difference between the teachings of Pārśvanātha and Mahāvīra. According to the Śvētāmbaras, Mahāvīra expanded Pārśvanātha's first four restraints with his ideas on ahimsa and added the fifth monastic vow. Pārśvanātha did not require celibacy and allowed monks to wear simple outer garments.
Historical Pārśvanātha
Historicity
Pārśvanātha is the earliest Jaina tīrthaṅkara who is acknowledged as probably a historical figure. Historians consider that he may have lived between 8th to 6th century BCE, founding a proto-Jaina ascetic community which subsequently got revived and reformed by Mahāvīra.According to some scholars, Jainism's origin as a distinctive system can be traced to him, although possibly drawing upon earlier existing doctrines. According to Paul Dundas, Jaina texts such as section 31 of Isibhasiyam provide circumstantial evidence that he lived in ancient India. Historians such as Hermann Jacobi have accepted him as a historical figure because his Caturyāma Dharma are mentioned in Buddhist texts. In the Manorathapurani, a Buddhist commentary on the Anguttara Nikaya, Vappa, the Buddha's uncle, was a follower of Pārśvanātha.
There may be a "historical nucleus" within the traditional accounts of his life, although these hagiographic writings are otherwise considered later, legendary, and not historically reliable. The earliest biographical description of his life is from a chapter of the Kalpa Sūtra : it is "extremely short in extent and probably modelled on that of Mahāvīra", so as it is of a formulaic and hagiographic nature, "its value as a historical document is somewhat doubtful".
However, some other scholars are more skeptical in their considerations. According to Gough, "the historicity of Pārśva is not, however, firmly established". Gough additionally notes that the stories about Pārśva are rather reflective of the much later historical context when they were written: according to Gough, "since early Jaina biographical accounts of the tīrthaṅkaras were composed in north India around the turn of the first millennium", "there is no evidence that he lived in Varanasi", which more likely reflects the city's status as "an important commercial center of north India in the early centuries of the Common Era", i.e., "the time periods when monks composed and developed these stories."
Doubts about Pārśvanātha's historicity are also supported by the oldest Jaina texts, which present Mahāvīra with sporadic mentions of ancient ascetics and teachers without specific names. The earliest layer of Jaina literature on cosmology and universal history pivots around two jinas: the Adinatha and Mahāvīra. Stories of Pārśvanātha and Neminatha appear in later Jaina texts, with the Kalpa Sūtra the first known text. However, these texts present the tīrthaṅkaras with unusual, non-human physical dimensions; the characters lack individuality or depth, and the brief descriptions of the tīrthaṅkaras are largely modelled on Mahāvīra. The Kalpa Sūtra is the most ancient known Jaina text with the 24 tirthankar, but it lists 20; three, including Pārśvanātha, have brief descriptions compared with Mahāvīra.
Archaeology and inscriptions
Early archaeological finds, such as the statues and reliefs near Mathura, lack iconography such as lions and serpents. Two of the early bronze images of Pārśvanātha can be found on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya and Patna Museum dating back to the second century BCE to the first century CE. A first century BCE Ayagapata is in State Museum Lucknow containing the image of Pārśvanātha. A seventh century CE statue was found in the Asthal Bohar village of Rohtak, Haryana. Kankali tila image of headless Parsvanatha is dated from 100 BCE to 75 BCE.Relation with Mahāvīra
Pārśvanātha's biography with Jaina texts says that he preceded Mahāvīra by 273 years and that he lived 100 years. Mahāvīra is dated to in the Jaina tradition, and Pārśvanātha is dated to. According to Dundas, historians outside the Jaina tradition date Mahāvīra as contemporaneous with the Buddha in the 5th century BCE which, based on the 273-year gap, would date Pārśvanātha to the 8th or 7th century BCE.Section 2.15 of the Ācārāṅga Sūtra says that Mahāvīra's parents were lay devotees of Pārśvanātha, which "has led to the widespread scholarly conclusion that Mahāvīra must have renounced within Pārśva's ascetic lineage." Despite the generally accepted historicity of Pārśva, some historical claims such as the link between him and Mahāvīra, whether Mahāvīra renounced in the ascetic tradition of Pārśvanātha, and other biographical details have led to different scholarly conclusions. Dundas further states, "It is impossible to be certain about the relationship between Mahāvīra and Pārśva and in actuality the chronological distance between the two teachers may have been much less than two and a half centuries."
Long points out "some scholars have suggested that Pārśvanātha and Mahāvīra were actually closer in time than the tradition claims", referring to studies by Madhusudan Dhaky—who has identified certain Jaina texts containing wording which implies that not so many years had elapsed between the two, leading Dhaky to suggest "Pārśva could not have started his ascetic career before the beginning of the sixth century BC" and "may have passed away only a few decades before Vardhamāna had started his preaching career". In Jaina tradition, Pārśva is said to have visited some cities which, according to archaeological and historical evidence, first came to prominence during India's Second Urbanisation period, in the 7th–6th century BCE.
Jaina biography
Pārśvanātha was the 23rd of 24 tīrthaṅkaras in Jaina tradition.Life before renunciation
He was born on the tenth day of the dark half of the Hindu month of Pausha to King Ashwasena and Queen Vamadevi of Varanasi. He is said to have been born 84,000 years after his predecessor, Neminatha. His height is mentioned as 9 hastas. Pārśvanātha belonged to the Ikshvaku dynasty. Before his birth, Jaina texts state that he ruled as the god Indra in the 13th heaven of Jaina cosmology. While Pārśvanātha was in his mother's womb, gods performed the garbha-kalyana. His mother dreamt 14 auspicious dreams, an indicator in Jaina tradition that a tirthankar was about to be born. According to the Jaina texts, the thrones of the Indras shook when he was born and the Indras came down to earth to celebrate his janma-kalyanaka.Pārśvanātha was born with blue-black skin. A strong, handsome boy, he played with the gods of water, hills and trees. At the age of eight, Pārśvanātha began practising the twelve basic duties of the adult Jaina householder. He lived as a prince and soldier in Varanasi.
The temples in Bhelupur were built to commemorate place for three kalyanaka of Pārśvanātha.
According to the Digambara school, Pārśvanātha never married; Śvētāmbara texts say that he married Prabhavati, the daughter of Prasenajit. Heinrich Zimmer translated a Jaina text that sixteen-year-old Pārśvanātha refused to marry when his father told him to do so; he began meditating instead because the "soul is its only friend".
Renunciation
At age 30, on the 11th day of the moon's waxing in the month of Pausha, Pārśvanātha renounced the world to become a monk after seeing the image of his predecessor, Neminatha. He removed his clothes and hair and began fasting strictly. Pārśvanātha meditated for 84 days before he attained omniscience under a dhaataki tree near Benares. His meditation period included asceticism and strict vows. Pārśvanātha's practices included careful movement, measured speech, guarded desires, mental restraint and physical activity, essential in Jaina tradition to renounce the ego. According to the Jaina texts, lions and fawns played around him during his asceticism.Ahichchhatra is believed to be the place where Pārśvanātha attained Kevala Jnana. According to Vividha Tirtha Kalpa, Kamath in an attempt to obstruct Pārśvanātha from achieving Kevala Jnana caused continuous rain. Pārśvanātha was immersed in water up to his neck and to protect him the serpent god Dharanendra held a canopy of thousand hoods over his head and the goddess Padmavati coiled herself around his body. Ahichchhatra Jaina temples are built to commemorate Pārśvanātha attaining Kēvalajñāna kalyāṇaka. On the 14th day of the moon's waning cycle in the month of Chaitra, Pārśvanātha attained omniscience. Heavenly beings built him a samavasarana, so he could share his knowledge with his followers.
After preaching for 70 years, Pārśvanath attained moksha at Shikharji on Parasnath hill at the age of 100 on Shravana Shukla Saptami according to Lunar Calendar. His moksha in Jaina tradition is celebrated as Moksha Saptami. This day is celebrated on large scale at Parasnath tonk of the mountain, in northern Jharkhand, part of the Parasnath Range by offering Nirvana Laddu and reciting of Nirvana Kanda. Pārśvanātha has been called by Jains.