Parshvanatha

Also called: Parshva · Topic: Buddhism, Jainism and Heterodox Traditions · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Parshvanātha (also called Parshva) was the 23rd tīrthankara of Jainism. A tīrthankara is a teacher who shows people the way across the "river" of birth and rebirth. He was a teacher of Banaras, and Britannica dates him to about the 7th century BCE [1][2].

He matters because he is the first tīrthankara for whom there is historical evidence [1][2]. He shows that Jainism is older than Mahāvīra. His four vows were the base on which Mahāvīra built the five great vows [2][3].

Explanation

Background: a tradition older than Mahāvīra

• Jaina tradition says 23 teachers came before Mahāvīra. These teachers are called tīrthankaras.
• Tīrthankara means "those who guide men and women across the river of existence". You can think of a ford-maker, a person who shows the safe place to cross a river. Here the river is the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.
• Each cosmic age (a very long period of time in Jaina belief) has 24 tīrthankaras. In the present age, Parshvanātha is the 23rd and Mahāvīra is the 24th and last [1].
• The first 22 tīrthankaras are known only from tradition. Parshvanātha is the first one for whom there is historical evidence, but that evidence is mixed with legend [1][2].

His teaching: the four vows (fourfold restraint)

• Parshvanātha gave his followers a "fourfold restraint". Textbooks often call it chāturyāma (the four-part rule). It had four vows [2][3]:
• Do not take life (no killing).
• Do not steal.
• Do not lie.

• Do not own property.

• There was no separate vow of celibacy (no sexual relations) in his list.

How Mahāvīra changed it

• Mahāvīra added the vow of celibacy to Parshvanātha's four vows [2][3].
• This made the five mahāvratas (the five "great vows" that monks and nuns take when they give up the world) [2][3].

• So the first four mahāvratas come from Parshvanātha. Only the vow of celibacy is Mahāvīra's addition.

• Mahāvīra also systematised the older Jaina ideas about the universe, its myths and its structure. This means he put them into a clear order [3].

• Britannica calls Mahāvīra a reformer of the Jaina monastic community (the community of monks and nuns), not its founder [3].

Result: continuity in Jainism

• Parshvanātha's teaching shows that Jainism grew step by step over a long time.
• Mahāvīra built on Parshvanātha's teaching. He did not start a new religion from nothing [3].
• Many central Jaina ideas were part of the tradition Mahāvīra received from earlier teachers like Parshvanātha. Two examples are non-violence and non-possession (not owning things).

Time, place and evidence

• Period: Britannica dates him to about the 7th century BCE [1][2]. Tradition says he lived about 250 years before Mahāvīra [1][2]. All these dates are approximate. They come partly from legend, so do not treat them as exact.
• Place: Banaras (Varanasi), in the middle Ganga valley [1][2].
• Later figure linked to him: Mahāvīra (born Prince Vardhamāna near Vaiśhālī in Bihar; traditional dates c. 599–527 BCE). Mahāvīra took over Parshvanātha's four vows and added a fifth [3].
• How we know about him:
• Mostly from Jaina tradition, which is later recorded in the scriptures of the Jaina canon (Agamas) [4].
• Scholars accept him as historical, but the evidence is mixed with legend [1][2].
• No inscription or archaeological find from his own lifetime is named in our sources.

Don't confuse with

• Mahāvīra: He was the 24th and last tīrthankara. Parshvanātha was the 23rd. Parshvanātha taught four vows; Mahāvīra added celibacy to make five [2][3].
• "Founder of Jainism": Neither Parshvanātha nor Mahāvīra founded Jainism. Jaina tradition counts 23 teachers before Mahāvīra. Parshvanātha is only the first tīrthankara with historical evidence [1][2].
• Mahāvratas (five vows) vs. the fourfold restraint: The four vows belong to Parshvanātha. The five mahāvratas belong to Mahāvīra. The one vow in the five that is not in the four is celibacy [2][3].
• Gautama Buddha: The Buddha also taught in the region around Banaras and was a heterodox teacher (one who rejected Vedic authority). But he founded Buddhism and taught the middle path. Parshvanātha was a Jaina tīrthankara who lived before both the Buddha and Mahāvīra.

Prelims Hooks

• Parshvanātha: the 23rd tīrthankara, of Banaras, dated to the 7th century BCE by Britannica [1][2].
• He is the first tīrthankara with historical evidence, though that evidence is mixed with legend [1][2].
• Tradition says he lived about 250 years before Mahāvīra [1][2].
• His four vows were: no killing, no stealing, no lying, no owning property. Mahāvīra added celibacy, which made the five mahāvratas [2][3].
• Trap: "Celibacy was one of Parshvanātha's vows". This is wrong. Celibacy was Mahāvīra's addition [2][3].
• Order: Parshvanātha (23rd) → Mahāvīra (24th and last) of the present cosmic age, which has 24 tīrthankaras [1].

Mains Points

• Jainism as a growing tradition, not a single founding:
• Parshvanātha's four vows existed before Mahāvīra [2].
• Mahāvīra added celibacy and systematised older ideas [3].

• So Jainism is better described as reformed than "founded" in the 6th century BCE. This is useful against the common exam mistake of calling Mahāvīra the "founder".

• Continuity in Indian ethical thought:

• The vows of non-violence and non-possession go back at least to Parshvanātha [2].
• They carried on into Mahāvīra's message of ahimsa (not harming any living being) and aparigraha (not owning things).

• NCERT says ahimsa "has left its mark on Indian thinking as a whole".

• History mixed with legend (a point on sources):

• Parshvanātha is accepted as a historical person, but his evidence is mixed with legend [1][2].
• His dates are given in two ways: "7th century BCE" (Britannica) and "250 years before Mahāvīra" (tradition) [1][2]. Both are only approximate.
• This is a good example for answers on why historians use religious traditions as sources only with care.

Related concepts

• Jainism
• Tirthankara
• Rishabhanatha
• Mahavira
• Kevala jnana
• Ahimsa
• Karma
• Five vows of Jainism
• Aparigraha
• Triratna of Jainism

Read more

• Mahāvīra and the message of the Jainas