Aranath was the eighteenth

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

Tirthankar of the present half cycle of time ( Avasarpini). He was also the eighth

Chakravartin A ''chakravarti'' ( sa, चक्रवर्तिन्, ''cakravartin''; pi, cakkavatti; zh, 轉輪王, ''Zhuǎnlúnwáng'', "Wheel-Turning King"; , ''Zhuǎnlún Shèngwáng'', "Wheel-Turning Sacred King"; ja, 転輪王, ''Tenrin'ō'' ...

and thirteenth

Kamadeva Kama ( sa, काम, ), also known as Kamadeva and Manmatha, is the Hindu god of love and desire, often portrayed alongside his consort, Rati. The Atharva Veda regards Kamadeva as the wielder of the creative power of the universe, also descri ...

. According to Jain beliefs, he was born around 16,585,000 BCE. He became a

siddha ''Siddha'' (Sanskrit: '; "perfected one") is a term that is used widely in Indian religions and culture. It means "one who is accomplished." It refers to perfected masters who have achieved a high degree of physical as well as spiritual ...

i.e. a liberated soul which has destroyed all of its

karma Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...

s. Aranath was born to King Sudarshana and Queen Devi (Mitra) at

Hastinapur Hastinapur is a city in the Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ''Hastinapura'', described in Hindu texts such as the ''Mahabharata'' and the Puranas as the capital of the Kuru Kingdom, is also mentioned in ancient Jain texts ...

in the Ikshvaku dynasty. His birth date was the tenth day of the Migsar Krishna month of the Indian calendar. There were 50,000 monks with arnath.

Life

Like all other

, he also conquered all the lands and went to write his name on the foothills of mountains. Seeing the names of other Chakravartin already there, he saw his ambitions dwarfed. He then renounced his throne and became an ascetic for penance. At an age over 84,000 years he and attained

Moksha ''Moksha'' (; sa, मोक्ष, '), also called ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'' and ''mukti'', is a term in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, enlightenment, liberation, and release. In its soteriologic ...

(liberation) on Mount

Shikharji Shri Sammet Shikharji () is a pilgrimage site in Giridih district, Jharkhand, India. It is located on Parasnath hill, the highest mountain in the state of Jharkhand. It is the most important Jain Tirtha (pilgrimage site) by both Digambara and ...

Worship

''Svayambhūstotra'' by '' Acarya Samantabhadra'' is the adoration of twenty-four tirthankaras. Twenty slokas (

aphorism An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by ...

s) of ''Svayambhūstotra'' are dedicated to ''Tirthankar Aranath''. One such ''sloka'' is:

As a historical figure

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

, there is an old stupa with the inscription of 157 CE. This inscription records that an image of the tīrthankara Aranath was set up at the ''stupa'' built by the gods. However, Somadeva Suri stated in Yashstilaka and Jinaprabha Suri in

Vividha Tirtha Kalpa ''Vividha Tirtha Kalpa'' is a widely cited Jain text composed by Jinaprabha Suri in the 14th century CE. It is a compilation of about 60 Kalpas (sections), most of them give the accounts of major Jain Tirthas. ''Vividha Tirtha Kalpa'' is an ex ...

that the stupa was erected for

Suparśvanātha Suparshvanatha ( sa, सुपार्श्वनाथ ), also known as Suparśva, was the seventh Jain '' Tīrthankara'' of the present age ('' avasarpini''). He was born to King Pratistha and Queen ''Prithvi'' at Varanasi on 12 Jestha Sh ...

Temples

Navagarh Tirth Navagarh is a Jain Tirth (pilgrimage site for Jainism) in India. It is located at the Nabai village near Sojna in central India in Uttar Pradesh, just across the border from Madhya Pradesh. It is 65 km east from Lalitpur and 110 km nor ...

* Chaturmukha Basadi is a famous

Jain temple A Jain temple, Derasar (Gujarati: દેરાસર) or Basadi (Kannada: ಬಸದಿ) is the place of worship for Jains, the followers of Jainism. Jain architecture is essentially restricted to temples and monasteries, and Jain buildings gen ...

located at

Karkala ''Karkala'' also known as Karla in Tulu language, is a town and the headquarters of Karkala taluk in the Udupi district of Karnataka, India. Located about 60 km from Mangalore in the Tulu Nadu region of the state,it lies near the foothill ...

in the Indian state of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. The temple is dedicated to ''Tirthankara'' Aranatha,

Mallinath Mallinatha (Prakrit ''Mallinātha'', "Lord of jasmine or seat") was the 19th tīrthaṅkara "ford-maker" of the present ''avasarpiṇī'' age in Jainism. Jain texts indicate Mālliṇātha was born at Mithila into the Ikshvaku dynasty to ...

and

Munisuvratnath Munisuvrata () was the twentieth ''tirthankara'' of the present half time cycle (''avasarpini'') in Jain cosmology. He became a siddha, a liberated soul which has destroyed all of his karma. Events of the Jaina version of Ramayana are placed ...

. * Prachin Bada Mandir,

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

File:Chaturmukha_Basadi.jpg, Chaturmukha basadi (Karnataka) dedicated to ''Tirthankara Aranath'' Aranath Temple, Madhuban.jpg,

dedicated to ''Tirthankar Aranath'' Vishal-singh-dwaar-big.jpg, Prachin Bada Mandir, Hastinapur Footprint at Aranath Tonk, Shikharji.jpg, Footprints at Aranath Tonk, Shikhar Ji

References

Sources