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Pārśvanātha (Jainism) intentional or hasty value judgment toward Buddhist philosophy and culture which look so strange or mysterious to their own eyes. Everyone cannot help thinking about others within the framework of his own standpoint, but he will be able to know more about the truth by taking time enough to approach it from multifaceted viewpoints. The original meaning of “parinirvāṇa” also can be evolved and deepened within the range of Buddhist thoughts streaming from the philosophy of Indian religions. 867 Pārśvanātha (Jainism) Gregory M. Clines Committee on the Study of Religion, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA Synonyms Pārśva Cross-References Definition ▶ Nirvāṇa ▶ Stūpa In Jainism, Pārśvanātha was the 23rd and penultimate Tīrthaṅkara (ford maker) of the current world age. References Introduction to Pārśvanātha 1. Droit R-P (1997) Le Cult du Néant: Les Philosophes et le Bouddha. Éditions du Seuil, Paris 2. Hirakawa A (1963) The Rise of Mahāyāna Buddhism and its Relationship to the Worship of Stūpas. Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko (The Oriental Library) No.22. The Toyo Bunko, Tokyo 3. Hirakawa A (1990) A History of Indian Buddhism. Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi 4. Mizuno K (1985) The Life of Śākyamuṇi Buddha (Shakuson no shougai). Shunjusha, Tokyo (Japanese edition) 5. Nakamura H (1980) Mahāparinibbāna-Suttanta. Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo (Japanese translation and commentary) 6. Rhys Davids TW, Estlin Carpenter J (eds) (1947) The Dīgha Nikāya. The Pāli Text Society, London 7. Tanaka K (2004, 2012) Comparative Religion – Many Views of “Life” on Earth– (Hikaku Shūkyougaku –Inochi no Tankyū –). Hokuju Shuppan, Tokyo (Japanese edition) Parivrājaka ▶ Śramaṇa Pārśva ▶ Pārśvanātha (Jainism) Along with the 24th Tīrthaṅkara, Vardhamāna Mahāvīra, Pārśvanātha is one of only two Tīrthaṅkaras believed to have been a historical individual. Scholarly consensus dates Pārśvanātha to sometime between the eighth and seventh centuries B.C.E. Scholars also believe the parents of Mahāvīra to have been lay followers of Pārśvanātha, and while the direct relationship between Pārśvanātha and Mahāvīra is difficult to trace (as will be shown below), it is widely believed that Mahāvīra originally took initiation within Pārśvanātha’s ascetic lineage. In iconography, Pārśvanātha’s emblem is the cobra or snake, his complexion is blue-black or blue-green, and his attendant deities are Dharaṇendra and Padmāvatī. Unlike icons of other Tīrthaṅkaras, which are for the most part identifiable only by either the emblems carved into the icon’s base or the attendant deities who usually flank the Tīrthaṅkara, icons of Pārśvanātha are immediately recognizable by the snake-hood parasol that covers his head (explained in more detail below). According to copious Jain biographical literature, Pārśvanātha was born in Banāras to King Aśvasena and his wife, Queen Vāma. Pārśvanātha is one of only two Tīrthaṅkaras to P 868 hail from Banāras, the other being the seventh of the present world age, Supārśvanātha. According to the eighth-century Uttarapurāṇa of the Digambara monk Guṇabhadra, Pārśvanātha was physically attractive, with an eternally youthful appearance and a body marked by auspicious signs, foreshadowing his future as either a great emperor (cakravartin) or religious ascetic. Guṇabhadra gives his height as nine ratnis (cubits), which translates roughly to 13½ ft. Pārśvanātha renounced the world at age 30, and his complete life span was 100 years. Along with 19 out of the 23 other Jain Tīrthaṅkaras of this world age, Pārśvanātha attained nirvāṇa (final liberation from the world of rebirth) on Mount Śikhar (also called Mount Sammeta) in the modern-day state of Jharkhand. Today, Mount Śikhar is a major pilgrimage site for both Digambara and Śvetāmbara Jains, though in recent years a dispute over control of the site has broken out between the two sects. Among modern-day Jains, Pārśvanātha is one of the most popular Tīrthaṅkaras in terms of being an object of worship and veneration. He is venerated as the Tīrthaṅkara who removes obstacles and is the most popular Tīrthaṅkara in terms of number of icons in temples throughout India. His attendant goddess, Padmāvatī, has also enjoyed popularity among Jain worshippers as being especially powerful and active in the world. This is especially true in Karnataka, where Padmāvatī has also come to be associated with Tīrthaṅkaras other than Pārśvanātha. Thought to be a curer of snakebites and a goddess of wealth and beauty, in Karnataka she is oftentimes worshipped independently on Fridays ([1], pp. 213–214). The Previous Lives of Pārśva Both the Uttarapurāṇa (The Later Tale) of Guṇabhadra and Hemacandra’s Triṣaṣṭiś alākāpuruṣacaritra (The Lives of Sixty-Three Illustrious Persons [2, 3]) give extensive accounts of Pārśvanātha and his nine previous lives before being born to Queen Vāma and King Aśvasena. In the first accounted birth, the eventual Tīrthaṅkara is born as a Brahman named Marubhūti in the Pārśvanātha (Jainism) court of the righteous King Aravinda. He has one brother, named Kamaṭha, and both young men marry beautiful women. Though accomplished in the various arts of a Brahman, Marubhūti decides to renounce the world and take up religious mendicancy. His wife is unable to bear the celibate lifestyle forced upon her by her husband’s renunciation, and she has an affair with her brother-in-law, Kamaṭha. When Marubhūti finds out about the affair, he informs the king, who then exiles Kamaṭha and parades him mockingly through the city riding an ass. Enraged, Kamaṭha goes to the forest and practices extreme asceticism. Marubhūti, now desirous of his brother’s forgiveness for the pain he has caused him, goes to Kamaṭha. But when Marubhūti, bowing in front of his brother, asks for forgiveness, Kamaṭha, still angry over the embarrassment his brother has caused him, hurls a rock at Marubhūti’s head, killing him. Marubhūti is then reborn as an elephant wandering the forest. King Aravinda, who since Marubhūti’s death has himself become a renunciant, eventually converts the elephant to the correct faith of Jainism, and the elephant becomes as devout a Jain layman as an elephant can be. Kamaṭha, upon dying, is reborn as a poisonous snake. Once, desirous of water from a nearby pond, the elephant Marubhūti becomes trapped in the thick mud on the bank. Kamaṭha, as the snake, is also by the pond and takes the opportunity to again kill his former brother, this time by biting him repeatedly with his extremely poisonous fangs. The elephant (again, who will eventually be born as Pārśva) is then reborn in one of the many Jain heavens, while the snake, upon his own death, is reborn in one of the many hells. Upon completion of his time in heaven, the future Pārśva is reborn in the land of Tilakā as a Vidyādhara (semidivine demigod) prince named Karaṇavega. In time, he again decides to take renunciation and religious wandering. At the same time, Kamaṭha is again reborn as a snake, though this time a giant python. Again, Kamaṭha is responsible for the death of his former brother, this time by swallowing him whole while the prince is meditating. The Vidyādhara prince is then once again reborn in heaven, while the Pārśvanātha (Jainism) python, which later burns to death in a forest fire, is again reborn in hell. At the end of his life in heaven, the future Pārśva descends and is reborn as Vajranābha, the son of King Vajravīrya. Again, Vajranābha rejects worldly pleasures and takes up a life of asceticism, wandering the Jvalana Mountain. Kamaṭha is also reborn on that mountain as a hunter named Kuraṅgaka. One day, Kuraṅgaka, dressed in tiger skins, stumbles upon Vajranābha practicing contemplation and, because of his enmity from previous births, shoots Vajranābha, killing him with a single arrow. Vajranābha is reborn as a god in the Graiveyika heaven, while Kuraṅgaka is reborn in the seventh level of hell. In his eighth birth, Vajranābha falls from the Graiveyika heaven and enters into the womb of Sudarśanā, the wife of King Kuliśabāhu of Purāṇapura. Upon his birth, he is given the name Suvarṇabāhu among great joy and festivities. He eventually meets the Tīrthaṅkara Jagannātha, who convinces him to renounce the world. Again, Suvarṇabāhu finally meets his end while dedicated to asceticism at the hands (or literally paws) of his former brother, who has since been reborn as a vicious lion. In his penultimate round of rebirth, the future Pārśva is again reborn in the tenth level of heaven, while the lion Kamaṭha again descends into hell. The Life of Pārśva As mentioned before, Lord Pārśvanātha was born to King Aśvasena and his wife, Queen Vāma. Like all the Tīrthaṅkaras, Pārśvanātha was born into a Kṣatriya, or kingly caste, family. His name, “Pārśva,” which literally means, “to the side,” was given to him after his mother once saw a snake creeping at her side one night while she was still pregnant. As is the case with all Tīrthaṅkaras, Pārśva’s mother saw a series of 14 dreams during her pregnancy that revealed the birth of either a great emperor (cakravartin) or a great ascetic. Though the specific dreams differ between Digambaras and Śvetāmbaras, one common list, in order, is as follows: an elephant, a bull, 869 a lion, the goddess Śrī, a garland, the moon, the sun, a flag or banner, a water pot, a lotus lake, an ocean of milk, a divine palace, a heap of jewels, and a fire. Pārśva was born on the tenth day of the dark fortnight of the month of Pauṣ (midDecember to mid-January). Fifty-six goddesses helped Queen Vāma with the birth, and soon afterward the Kings of the Gods (Indras) brought the child to the top of Mount Meru for his postpartum bath and ablution (abhiṣeka). In time, Pārśva grew to become a magnificent child, handsome and adept at the martial arts. In adulthood, he defeated in battle King Yavana of Kaliṅga and married the princess Prabhāvatī. According to Hemacandra’s Triṣaṣṭiś alākāpuruṣacaritra, Pārśva once saved a snake from a five-fire sacrifice being performed by Kaṭha, who was in fact Pārśva’s former brother Kamaṭha [2, vol. 5, 392]. Upon his death, Kaṭha was reborn a demon named Meghamālin, while the snake whom Pārśva saved became a divine snake king named Dharaṇendra. According to Guṇabhadra’s Uttarapurāṇa, Pārśva actually saved two snakes, a male and a female, from being cut by Kaṭha as he was unconsciously chopping wood for his fire sacrifice ([3], p. 22, verse 103). Pārśva lived the life of a prince until age 30, when he was inspired to take renunciation upon seeing an image of his predecessor, Neminātha. As a wandering mendicant, Pārśva practiced extreme asceticism and fasting. Once, in an attempt to disrupt Pārśva from his meditation, the demon Meghamālin created a terrible storm that rained down upon the renunciant. Pārśva, unmoved, continued his practice. In the meantime, Dharaṇendra, the serpent king whom Pārśva had saved in his previous life, came to Pārśva’s aid, shielding him from the onslaught with his seven hoods. Dharaṇendra then rebuked Meghamālin (who, again, is Kamaṭha) and finally convinced him to give up his wicked ways and take shelter with Lord Pārśva. It is because of this story that Pārśva icons always consist of him meditating underneath a seven-hooded snake parasol, making Pārśva icons instantly recognizable. In Guṇabhadra’s version of the tale, both Dharaṇendra and his wife Padmāvatī help to P 870 shield Pārśva. They, in turn, are Pārśva’s two assistant deities ([3], p. 28, verse 140). Pārśva attained omniscience while seated under a dhataki tree in the city of his birth, Banāras, on the fourth day of the dark half of the month of Chaitra (March/April). He had, in total, spent 83 days as an ascetic before achieving omniscience and spent the next 69 years and 9 months preaching widely. According to the Kalpa Sūtra, at the time of his death, Pārśva had accrued a following of 164,000 male lay householders, 327,000 female lay disciples, 16,000 fellow ascetic monks, and 38,000 ascetic nuns ([4], p. 28). Both of his parents took initiation into his renunciant order. As mentioned previously, Pārśva attained final liberation from the world of rebirth on Mount Śikar at the age of 100. He died 83,750 years after his predecessor, Neminātha. The Relationship of Pārśva and Mahāvīra Pārśva lived approximately 250 years before his successor Mahāvīra, and the renunciant order founded by Pārśva was still active during Mahāvīra’s time. Coupled with the fact that the Ācārāṅga Sūtra explains Mahāvīra’s parents as being lay disciples of Pārśva, scholars agree that Mahāvīra probably originally renounced the world within Pārśva’s ascetic lineage ([1], p. 30). In this light, Mahāvīra can be seen as a type of reformer within an older Jain religious tradition. This being the case, there is one major difference between the teachings of Pārśva and those of Mahāvīra. Pārśva taught a fourfold doctrine of asceticism which included abstention from violence, lying, stealing, and possession. Mahāvīra accepted these four vows and to them added one more: the vow of sexual abstinence (brahmacārya). Jain sources have attempted to reconcile this discrepancy between the teachings of Pārśva and Mahāvīra, as Jain dharma is considered to be eternal and universal. Tīrthaṅkaras are not considered to be formulators of Jain religious teachings, but rather messengers of its eternal, unchanging truth. If this is the case, then it is problematic that two Tīrthaṅkaras would teach different doctrines. One way of dealing with this Pārśvanātha (Jainism) problem has been to explain that sexual abstinence was included in Pārśva’s teaching of nonpossession. Because Mahāvīra preached during a more morally delinquent time than did Pārśva, it was necessary for him to include for his followers an additional, specific vow prohibiting inappropriate sexual behavior. Followers of Pārśva, though, because of their moral uprightness, would have implicitly understood avoidance of sexual activity as a natural part of the vow of nonpossession. It is interesting to note that Ādinātha (also called Ṛṣabhadeva), the first of the 24 Tīrthaṅkaras, like Mahāvīra also preached a fivefold system of vows. This is because he was preaching the dharma to followers for the first time, and it was therefore difficult for them to understand and an explicit fifth vow was necessary to insure proper religious practice ([4], pp. 34–35). The intervening 22 Tīrthaṅkaras, though, between Ādinātha and Mahāvīra, all preached a fourfold religious doctrine. One other difference between Pārśva and Mahāvīra concerns monks’ attire in their respective lineages. Monks in Mahāvīra’s lineage wandered naked, while those belonging to Pārśva’s ascetic order wore clothes. Indeed, similar to the issue discussed above, Mahāvīra is directly linked with the first Tīrthaṅkara of this world age, Ādinātha, the monks of whose lineage were also said to renounce even basic clothing. Pārśva is included in the group of the 22 intervening Tīrthaṅkaras, in whose lineages the monks are all believed to have worn clothing. Teasing out the exact relationship between Pārśva and Mahāvīra is an extremely difficult, if not impossible task. Biographies of Mahāvīra, for example, problematize the discussion above about Mahāvīra joining Pārśva’s already extant ascetic lineage by asserting that he in fact renounced the world alone, accompanied only by gods. There is no information about his joining an already established lineage of monks. The Viyāhapaṇṇatti, the fifth Aṅga of the Jain canon, explains that while Mahāvīra spoke well of Pārśva, he acquired followers by converting monks from Pārśva’s lineage, a conversion that included abandoning Pārśva’s fourfold system of vows and formally adopting Mahāvīra’s fivefold Pārśvanātha (Jainism) system ([1], p. 32). The history, then, of the relationship between the penultimate and final Tīrthaṅkaras of this world age is still a murky one, but what is undoubtedly true is that in the minds of most modern Jains, there exists a belief of some kind of link between the two men, who are both among the most popular of the 24 Tīrthaṅkaras. Pārśvanātha Icons and Temples Icons of the various Tīrthaṅkaras are usually identical, identifiable only through by the emblem usually carved into the base of the statue or by the individualized guardian deities associated with each Tīrthaṅkara. Icons of Pārśvanātha, though, are immediately recognizable from the seven-hooded cobra parasol that shields him. Only one other Tīrthaṅkara has enjoyed such individualized iconography: some early icons of Ādinātha are identifiable by shoulder-length hair. Though exact dating is difficult, there is evidence for very early Pārśvanātha icons. One, a standing bronze icon of Pārśvanātha that was found as part of a larger hoard of bronze statues in 1931 in Chausa, Bihar, has been dated by Shah to between the first century B.C.E. and the first century C.E. This date has been challenged, though, with other scholars assigning a date between the late third and early fourth centuries C.E. to the statues. Another Pārśvanātha statue, a 9-in. bronze that is currently featured as part of the collection at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Museum in Bombay, has also been dated to between 100 B.C.E. and the second century C.E. ([5], pp. 42–45). Temples dedicated to Pārśvanātha are among the most popular and famous Jain temples in India, and indeed, geographically associated Pārśvanātha icons and temples play a major role in community and religious identity formation. One such example is the Śankheśvar Pārśvanātha Temple in the town of Śankheśvar, in northern Gujarat. The mythological story of the image in the temple begins in a previous time cycle, when the eighth Jina Dāmodara was asked by a Jain layman how he would attain salvation from the world. Dāmodara explained to the man, named 871 Ashadhi, that he would be a pupil of Pārśvanātha during the next time cycle and would then attain liberation. At this point, a divine image of Śankheśvar Pārśvanātha appeared to Ashadhi, and he worshipped it for the rest of his life. Upon his death, Ashadhi ascended to heaven, along with the icon. The icon was also worshipped by Dharaṇendra and Padmāvatī, the king and queen of divine serpents. Later, during the present time cycle and the life of the 22nd Tīrthaṅkara, Neminātha, his cousin Krishna (famous as an avatar of Vishnu in Hindu traditions) fought a battle near Śankheśvar with Jarāsandha. At one point, Jarāsandha cast a spell that immobilized Krishna’s army; to counteract the spell, Krishna performed a 3-day fast and worshipped Dharaṇendra. Pleased, Dharaṇendra gave the image of Śankheśvar Pārśvanātha to Krishna, who bathed the image and used to bathing water to sprinkle over his soldiers, in doing so curing their paralysis. Krishna went on to defeat Jarāsandha in battle and later installed the divine image in a temple. In more recent history, the Śankheśvar Pārśvanātha icon can be traced back to the year 1099 C.E., when a man named Sajjana Shah, encouraged by a mendicant, built a Pārśvanātha temple in the town of Śankheśvar. Over the centuries the temple underwent numerous renovations but was eventually destroyed by the invading Muslim emperor Allauddin Khilji. The Pārśvanātha icon of the temple was saved from destruction but later lost. It was not until the seventeenth century that the icon was recovered. According to local history, a monk led a search for the image. Over a period of days, the monk saw a particular cow empty its udder of milk in the same spot every day. Digging up the spot revealed the icon! A new temple was built to house the icon in 1606 C.E., though it too was later destroyed, either by natural calamity or by military campaign. Finally, another temple, this one still standing, was built in 1704 C.E., and later renovated in 1910 C.E. The Śankheśvar Pārśvanātha temple is an especially efficacious pilgrimage site to perform the aththam tap, the 3-day fast that Krishna performed in order to defeat Jarāsandha. Pilgrims have P 872 explained that while even a 1-day fast is difficult to perform in other places, the 3-day fast is easy at Śankheśvar because of the power of the icon. Pauṣ Tenth, the holiday celebrating the birth of Lord Pārśvanātha, is an especially popular time to come and fast. The temple is also famous for its especially efficacious shrine to Padmāvatī, Pārśvanātha’s attendant goddess. While Tīrthaṅkaras are believed to be completely liberated from the world and unable to interact directly with human disciples, subsidiary deities like Padmāvatī are not liberated, and can therefore interact with petitioners in the world. Padmāvatī’s shrine is oftentimes adorned with garlands of coconuts, a pan-Indian symbol for prosperity. Orthodox Jain teaching, though, is clear that no attendant god or goddess can be worshipped before the Tīrthaṅkara image. While Padmāvatī is therefore very popular among pilgrims, her worship is still secondary to that of Pārśvanātha ([6], pp. 65–68). The power of the Śankheśvar Pārśvanātha icon in Gujarat has led to replications of the icon being installed in temples throughout India, especially in areas where there is a sizeable Gujarati Jain presence. The Śankheśvar Pārśvanātha is just one example of a larger trend of “replication cults,” in which especially powerful, place-specific icons are replicated and distributed outside of their original geographic area. These replicated icons form a bridge between the diasporic community and the original image, allowing followers to tap into the power of the original icon ([5], p. 186). Indeed, many of these replication cults take as their main icon some form of Pārśvanātha, serving as another testament to Pārśvanātha’s popularity among the modern Jain laity. Parva ▶ Time (Jainism) ▶ Tīrthaṅkara (Jainism) ▶ Vārāṇasī (Buddhism) References 1. Dundas P (2002) The Jains, 2nd edn. Routledge, London/New York 2. Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra (1962) The lives of sixtythree illustrious persons, 6 vols (trans: Johnson HM). Oriental Institute, Baroda (specifically volume 5) 3. Bollee W (2008) Acarya Gunabhadra's Parsvacaritam: life of Parsva. Hindi Granth Karyalay, Mumbai 4. von Glasenapp H (1999) Jainism: an Indian religion of salvation (trans: Shrotri SB). Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi 5. Cort JE (2010) Framing the Jina: narratives of icons and idols in Jain history. Oxford University Press, New York 6. Cort JE (1988) Pilgrimage to Shankheshvar Pārśvanātha. Cent Study World Relig Bull 14(1):63–72, Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions, Cambridge Parva ▶ Uposatha Pasenadi K. T. S. Sarao Department of Buddhist Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi, India Synonyms Agnidatta Cross-References Definition ▶ Dharma (Jainism) ▶ Heaven (Jainism) ▶ Jina ▶ Mount Meru ▶ Omniscience ▶ Rebirth ▶ Renunciation ▶ Saṃsāra King of Kosala and a contemporary of the Buddha. Pasenadi was the king of Kosala and a contemporary of the Buddha. According to T. W. Rhys Davids, Pasenadi was his official title, and his personal name was Agnidatta ([7],