India GOParshvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankara: life, teaching and where to find him
पार्श्वनाथ
The twenty-third teacher, the earliest scholars accept as historical: a prince of Varanasi; a seven-hooded cobra shelters his statues.
Parshvanatha, often shortened to Parasnath, is the twenty-third of the twenty-four tirthankaras of Jainism, the “ford-makers” who cross the river of rebirth and show the way. Jain tradition places him in 872–772 BCE, 273 years before Mahavira; historians put him roughly in the 8th to 7th century BCE. In Jain temples he is usually recognised by the serpent’s hood fanned out over the head of a seated or standing figure.
Story
Jain tradition tells that as a prince he pulled a half-burnt snake from an ascetic's fire and spoke the Namokar mantra over it as it died; reborn as the serpent king Dharanendra, it came back years later, when a storm was hurled at the meditating Parshva, and spread its hoods over him for a canopy. He taught four vows (non-violence, truth, no stealing, no possessions) two and a half centuries before Mahavira added the fifth. Varanasi, his birthplace, keeps his temple at Bhelupur; Kolkata's Pareshnath temple carries his name.
उवसग्गहरं पासं पासं वंदामि कम्मघणमुक्कं
“I bow to Parshva who removes all troubles, free of the mass of karma — the dwelling of blessing and welfare.”
Uvasaggaharam Stotra, 1
Places linked to them
Pareshnath Jain Temple · KolkataHis life in Jain tradition
By Jain tradition he was born in Varanasi to King Ashvasena and Queen Vama of the Ikshvaku line, renounced the world at thirty, and after 84 days of meditation attained kevala jnana, omniscience. He then taught for seventy years and at the age of 100 reached moksha, final liberation, on the hill of Shikharji in today’s Jharkhand. That hill is now called Parasnath after him, and Jains count it the holiest of their pilgrimage sites: twenty of the twenty-four tirthankaras are said to have attained liberation on it.
Scholars treat him as the earliest tirthankara whose existence can be accepted as historical. The earlier twenty-two belong to the vast time scales of Jain cosmology.
The four restraints
In the Shvetambara tradition his teaching is called chaturyama dharma, the law of four restraints: ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truthfulness), asteya (not stealing) and aparigraha (non-possession). Mahavira, the twenty-fourth tirthankara, kept all four and added a fifth, brahmacharya (celibacy). These five vows remain the frame of Jain monastic life, and lay Jains keep them in a lighter form.
How to recognise him: the cobra
His emblem is the serpent, most often a seven-hooded cobra rising behind the figure. It recalls the story told on this page: by Jain tradition the snake he saved became Dharanendra, the serpent king, who sheltered him with his hoods when Kamatha, an enemy from former lives, sent a downpour to break his meditation. Dharanendra and the goddess Padmavati often stand beside his images as his guardians. All tirthankaras look much alike in stone, calm and symmetrical; the hood is the quickest clue to Parshvanatha, though Suparshvanatha, the seventh tirthankara, is also shown with one.
Where his name stands
Temples to Parshvanatha are found across India; these are the ones a traveller is most likely to meet.
Pareshnath Jain Temple, Kolkata
Four Shvetambara temples in one garden, begun in 1867 by the jeweller Rai Badridas Bahadur Mookim, every surface working with light: Belgian mirrors, coloured glass, glass mosaic, chandeliers. Despite the name, the main shrine is dedicated to Shitalnatha, the tenth tirthankara. Shoes off; mid-morning is calmest.
Bhelupur, Varanasi
The temples at Bhelupur in Varanasi were built to mark the places of events of his life in Jain tradition, his birth among them.
Shikharji (Parasnath Hill), Jharkhand
The hill of his liberation and the holiest Jain pilgrimage site; pilgrims climb it on foot.
Khajuraho and Shankheshwar
The Parshvanatha temple at Khajuraho is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site; Shankheshwar in Gujarat is one of the best-known Parshvanatha tirthas.
❓ FAQ
Is Parshvanatha the founder of Jainism?
Not in Jain belief: Jainism counts twenty-four tirthankaras, and Parshvanatha is the twenty-third. Historians call him the earliest tirthankara who can be accepted as a historical person.
Which god is called Parasnath?
Parasnath is a common Hindi form of Parshvanatha. Jains see him not as a god but as a liberated teacher; the hill in Jharkhand and many temples carry the name.
What are the four principles of Parshvanatha?
Non-violence, truthfulness, not stealing and non-possession. Mahavira later added celibacy as the fifth vow.
What is Parshvanatha’s symbol?
The serpent: a cobra’s hood, often seven-headed, spread over his head.
Where was Parshvanatha born, and where did he die?
By Jain tradition he was born in Varanasi and attained liberation on Shikharji, the Parasnath hill in Jharkhand.