Parsva
Parsva South and Central AsiaThe twenty-third Jaina tirthankara, Parsva, or Parsvanatha, is reputed to have lived in the eighth century BC, some 84,000 years after the death of his saintly predecessor, Neminatha. According to legend, he dwelt on earth for a century, having quit his family at the age of thirty to become an ascetic. Parsva was an incarnation of Indra, a handsome and noble man whose relations accepted only as a last resort his determination to take the vow of world-renunciation known as sannyasa. His father. King Asvasena of Benares, had been informed through the pre-natal dreams of his queen that their son would be either a world monarch or a world-saviour.
The encounter between the eight-year-old Parsva and his maternal grandfather Mahipala appears to have been something of a turning point in his development. Parsva was riding an elephant in the jungle when he chanced upon Mahipala, an ascetic since the death of Parsva's grand-mother...
[The entire page is 402 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Oxford University Press Titles
