આ પૃષ્ઠ હજી ગુજરાતીમાં ઉપલબ્ધ નથી — નીચે અંગ્રેજી આવૃત્તિ છે. અનુવાદ ટૂંક સમયમાં આવે છે.
पार्श्वनाथ
Parshvanatha
The twenty-third Tirthankara, and the earlier of the two for whom there is evidence beyond tradition. Commonly depicted sheltered by a many-hooded serpent.
The twenty-third Tirthankara, and the earlier of the two figures for whom there is historical evidence beyond tradition — generally placed in the ninth or eighth century BCE, some two and a half centuries before Mahavira.
He is nearly always shown sheltered by the hood of a many-headed serpent. The story behind it: coming upon an ascetic performing a fire penance, Parshvanatha saw that a pair of serpents lay inside the log about to be burned, and had it opened. The serpents, reborn as the naga king Dharanendra and his consort Padmavati, later shielded him from a storm sent to break his meditation. Padmavati remains among the most widely venerated figures in Jain practice in her own right.
His followers observed four restraints. Mahavira is described as having added chastity as a distinct fifth vow — a seam in the record that historians read as evidence of two genuinely separate teachers rather than a single tradition projected backwards.
There is historical evidence for this figure beyond tradition.
Written for Jain Times. Corrections are welcome — see sources and licences.