यह पृष्ठ अभी हिन्दी में उपलब्ध नहीं है — नीचे अंग्रेज़ी संस्करण है। अनुवाद शीघ्र आ रहा है।
मल्लिनाथ
Mallinatha
The nineteenth Tirthankara.
The nineteenth Tirthankara, and the figure on whom the two traditions differ most consequentially.
Svetambara accounts hold that Malli was born a woman, and cite her as direct evidence that liberation is available from a female birth. Digambara accounts hold that Malli was a man, consistent with the position that liberation requires a male birth and that a woman must first be reborn.
This is not a small disagreement about a detail. It carries the whole question of whether half the community can attain the tradition's ultimate goal in this life, and it is one of the clearest doctrinal fault lines between the two. This site records both accounts and takes neither as settled — presenting one as the fact would tell a large part of the readership that its tradition is the mistaken one.
The emblem is the kalasha, the water pot, in both traditions.
The traditions differ on this Tirthankara and the difference is doctrinally significant. Svetambara tradition holds that Malli was a woman, and cites her as evidence that women may attain liberation. Digambara tradition holds that Malli was a man, and that liberation from a female birth is not possible. Neither account should be presented here as the settled one.
This figure is known from tradition; there is no independent historical evidence. That is a statement about the record, not about the tradition.
Written for Jain Times. Corrections are welcome — see sources and licences.