णमो अरिहंताणं · णमो सिद्धाणं · णमो लोए सव्वसाहूणं
The lives of the 24 Tirthankaras from the classical texts, with Shvetambara and Digambara tellings both shown and each life linked to its verified star.
The lives of the Tirthankaras are the heart of this site’s Claim Your Story mission: told from the classical texts (Hemachandra’s Trishashti-Shalaka-Purusha-Charitra, the Kalpasutra, the Adi Purana), with Shvetambara and Digambara tellings both honored, tradition and scholarship clearly labeled, and each life linked to its verified birth star.
The series begins where everything begins: with the first.
Tirthankara
Two problems attach to the twenty-first Tirthankara before you reach anything else. His name belongs to a second, …
Tirthankara
Of the twenty-four, he is the one whose story has a scene in it. Most Tirthankara biographies renounce the world by …
Tirthankara
Of the twenty-four biographies, Padmaprabha’s carries the one sentence that matters most to anyone who takes Jain …
Tirthankara
Of the twenty-four, he is the one a historian will argue for. Parshvanatha is not only venerated; he is documented from …
Tirthankara
Tirthankara
Of the five Tirthankaras in this stretch of the sequence, Shantinatha is the one with a story attached, and it is one of …
Tirthankara
Most Tirthankaras are named for a dream, a mark on the body, or a portent read by a sage. Shitalanatha is named for a …
Tirthankara
Two things make the eleventh Tirthankara worth a careful page. His birthplace is a village a mile and a half from the …
Tirthankara
Almost every Tirthankara is named for something that happened during his mother’s pregnancy. Sumatinatha is named …
Tirthankara