Parshvanatha in the context of "Tīrthaṅkara"

Bihar (pronounced [bɪˈɦaːr] ), also spelled Behar in colonial documents, is a state in Eastern India. It is the second largest state by population, the 12th largest by area, and the 14th largest by GDP in 2024. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Bengal to the east, and Jharkhand to the south. Bihar is split by the river Ganges, which flows from west to east. On 15 November 2000, a large chunk of southern Bihar was ceded to form the new state of Jharkhand. Around 11.27% of Bihar's population live in urban areas as per a 2020 report. Additionally, almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, giving Bihar the highest proportion of young people of any Indian state. The official language is Hindi, which shares official status alongside that of Urdu. The main native languages are Maithili, Magahi and Bhojpuri, but there are several other languages being spoken at smaller levels.

In Ancient and Classical India, the area that is now Bihar was considered the centre of political and cultural power and as a haven of learning. Parshvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankar led the shramana order in this region in 9th century BCE. Jainism was revived and re-organised by Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankar in 6th century BCE. From Magadha arose India's first empire, the Maurya empire, as well as one of the world's most widely adhered-to religions: Buddhism. Magadha empires, notably under the Maurya and Gupta dynasties, unified large parts of South Asia under a central rule. Another region of Bihar, Mithila, was an early centre of learning and the centre of the Videha kingdom.

In Jainism, a Tirthankara (IAST: tīrthaṅkara; lit. 'ford-maker') is a saviour and supreme preacher of the dharma (righteous path). The word tirthankara signifies the founder of a tirtha, a fordable passage across saṃsāra, the sea of interminable birth and death. According to Jains, tirthankaras are the supreme preachers of dharma, who have conquered saṃsāra on their own and made a path for others to follow. After understanding the true nature of the self or soul, the Tīrthaṅkara attains kevala jnana (omniscience). A Tirthankara provides a bridge for others to follow them from saṃsāra to moksha (liberation).

In Jain cosmology, the wheel of time is divided into two halves, Utsarpiṇī, the ascending time cycle, and avasarpiṇī, the descending time cycle (said to be current now). In each half of the cycle, exactly 24 tirthankaras grace this part of the universe. There have been infinitely many tirthankaras in the past. The first tirthankara in the present cycle (Hunda Avsarpini) was Rishabhanatha, who is credited with formulating and organising humans to live in a society harmoniously. The 24th and last tirthankara of the present half-cycle was Mahavira (599 BC–527 BC). History records the existence of Mahavira and his predecessor, Parshvanatha, the 23rd tirthankara.

Jainism is an ancient Indian religion belonging to the Śramaṇa tradition. Jains trace their history through a lineage of twenty-four tirthankaras (ford-makers), revering Rishabhanatha as the first in the present time-cycle. While tradition considers the dharma eternal, scholarly consensus places its verifiable historical roots in the 9th–8th century BCE, with the last two tirthankaras, Parshvanatha (c. 9th-8th c. BCE) and Mahavira (c. 6th c. BCE), widely accepted as historical figures. Mahavira is viewed by scholars not as a founder, but as a reformer of the pre-existing community established by Parshvanatha.

Following Mahavira's nirvana (c. 527 BCE, the start of the Vira Nirvana Samvat era), Jainism spread across India. Early epigraphic evidence, like the Hathigumpha inscription, attests to royal patronage under figures like King Kharavela of Kalinga (c. 2nd-1st c. BCE). Traditional accounts, primarily from the 12th-century Parishishtaparvan, describe Chandragupta Maurya embracing Jainism , while Mauryan emperors like Ashoka and Samprati are mentioned in edicts and Jain texts respectively. Archaeological finds at Kankali Tila (Mathura) confirm a thriving community with temples, stupas, and a sophisticated artistic tradition under the Kushanas (c. 1st-3rd c. CE), while inscriptions and temples at Udayagiri Caves (Madhya Pradesh) and Deogarh (Uttar Pradesh) show continued prosperity under the Guptas (c. 4th-6th c. CE).

Mahavira (Mahāvīra), also known by his birth name Vardhamana (Vardhamāna), was an Indian religious reformer and spiritual leader who is considered by Jains to be the 24th and final Tirthankara (Supreme Preacher) of this age in Jainism. He is believed by historians to have lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE, reviving and reforming an earlier Jain or proto-Jain community which had likely been led by Pārśvanātha, whom Jains consider to be Mahavira's predecessor. Although the dates of Mahavira's life are uncertain and historically reliable information is scarce, and traditional accounts vary by sectarian traditions, the historicity of Mahavira is well-established and not in dispute among scholars.

According to traditional legends and hagiographies, Mahavira was born in 599 BCE to a ruling royal kshatriya Jain family of the Nāya tribe in what is now Bihar in India. According to traditional sources like the Ācārāṅga Sūtra, the Nāyas were followers of Parshvanatha, Mahavira's predecessor. Mahavira abandoned all worldly possessions at the age of about 30 and left home in pursuit of spiritual awakening, becoming an ascetic. Mahavira practiced intense meditation and severe austerities for twelve and a half years, after which he attained Kevala Jnana (omniscience). He preached for 30 years and attained moksha (liberation) when he died.

The Śvetāmbara (/ʃwɛˈtʌmbərə/; also spelled Shwetambara, Shvetambara, Svetambara or Swetambara) is one of the two main branches of Jainism, the other being the Digambara. Śvetāmbara in Sanskrit means "white-clad", and refers to its ascetics' practice of wearing white clothes, which sets it apart from the Digambara or "sky-clad" Jains whose ascetic practitioners go nude. Śvetāmbaras do not believe that ascetics must practice nudity.

The Śvetāmbara and Digambara traditions have had historical differences ranging from their dress code, their temples and iconography, attitude towards Jain nuns, their legends and the texts they consider as important. Śvetāmbara Jain communities are currently found mainly in Gujarat, Rajasthan and coastal regions of Maharashtra. According to Jeffery D. Long, a scholar of Hindu and Jain studies, about four-fifths of all Jains in India are Śvetāmbaras.

Parasnath Hill (also Sammet Shikhar) is a mountain peak in the Parasnath hill range. It is located towards the eastern end of the Chota Nagpur Plateau in the Giridih district (Hazaribagh district in British India) of the Indian state of Jharkhand. The hill is named after Parshvanatha, the 23rd Jain Tirthankara, who attained liberation here in 8th century BCE. In this connection, there is the holiest Jain pilgrimage, Shikharji on the top of hill. The hill is also known as Sammet Shikhar (lit. 'great mountain', the supreme deity) by other autochthonous of the region in religious contexts.

The Kalpa Sūtra (Sanskrit: कल्पसूत्र) is an important Jain scripture containing the biographies of the Tirthankaras, notably Parshvanatha and Mahavira. Ascribed to Acharya Bhadrabahu, which would place it in the 4th century BCE, it states that it was written down 980 or 993 years after the Nirvana (Moksha) of Mahavira or 1230 years after the Nirvana of Tirthankar Parswanath.