As the Jinas possessed the supreme knowledge, they are called the
Kevali-Jinas, i.e. the Jinas who attained the Kevala-jnana, that is, the
infinite knowledge. These Kevali- Jinas are also of two kinds, viz.,
samanya-kevali and Tirthankara-kevali. While the samanya-kevalis are those
Jinas who are mainly concerned with their own salvation, the
Tirthankara-kevalis are the Jinas who after the attainment of Kevala-jnana,
i.e. the infinite knowledge are not only concerned with their own
salvation but are also concerned with showing the path of liberation to
all. These Tirthankara-kevalis are generally known as Tirthankaras,
because they are builders of the ford which leads human beings across the
great ocean of existence. The term Tirthankara literally means: Tarati
samsara- maharnavam yena nimittena tat Tirtham-Tirtham karoti iti
Tirthankarah.
That is, the contrivance which helps us to cross the great ocean of
worldly life is known as Tirtha and the person who makes the Tirtha is
termed as a Tirthankara. Hence the Tirthankaras are the personages who
delineate the path of final liberation or emancipation of all living
beings from a succession of births and deaths.
As per Jaina tradition there were 24 such Tirthankaras, i.e. Great Guides,
in the past age, there have been 24 in the present age, and there will be
24 in the future age. In this tradition the names of 24 Tirthankaras, i.e.
Great Preachers, of the present age are:
Rsabhanath or Adinath
Ajitnath
Sambhavanath
Abhinandananath
Sumatinath
Padmaprabh
Suparsvanath
Chandraprabh
Puspadanta or Suvidhinatha
Sitalanath
Sreyamsanath
Vasupujya
Vimalanath
Anantanath
Dharmanath
Santinath
Kunthunath
Aranath
Mallinath
Munisuvratanath
Naminath
Neminath
Parsvanath
Mahavir, Vardhaman or Sanmati
Thus the tradition of Tirthankaras in the present age begins with Rsabha,
the first Tirthankara, and ends with Mahavira, the twenty-fourth
Tirthankara. Naturally, there is a continuous link among these twenty-four
Tirthankaras who flourished in different periods of history in India. It,
therefore, means that the religion first preached by Rsabha in the remote
past was preached in succession by the remaining twenty-three Tirthankaras
during their life-time for the benefit of living begins.
As seen above Mahavira is the twenty-fourth Tirthankara in this line of
Tirthankaras. As Mahavira happens to be the last Tirthankara he is
regarded by the common people as the founder of Jaina Religion. Obviously
this is a misconception. Now the historians have come to accept the fact
that Mahavira did not found Jaina religion but he preached the religion
which was in existence from the remote past.
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