Suparshvanatha

Suparśvanātha (Sanskrit: सुपर्श्वनाथ Suparśvanātha) was the seventh tīrthankara of the present age in Jainism. According to Jain beliefs, he became a siddha, a liberated soul which has destroyed all of its karma. Suparśvanātha was born to King Pratistha and Queen Prithvi at Varanasi on 12 Jestha Shukla in the Ikshvaku clan.

Suparśvanātha as a historical figure

The Yajurveda is also said to have mentioned the name of Suparśvanātha but the meaning is different. It is an epithet of God which means "All-Pure Lord".

The Mahavagga book of the Khandhaka (1. 22. 13), a Buddhist text, mentions a temple of Suparśvanātha situated at Rajgir in the time of Gautama Buddha.

At Mathura, there is an old stupa with the inscription of 157 CE. This inscription records that an image of the tīrthankara Aranatha was set up at the stupa built by the gods. Jinaprabha Suri's Tīrthakalpa, a 14th century work based on ancient materials, mentions that Kubera built a stupa of gold to honor Suparśvanātha for Acharyas Dharmaruchi and Dharmaghosha. In the time of the 23rd tīrthankara, Pārśva, the golden stupa was enclosed in bricks and a stone temple was built outside. Somadeva, the author of the Yasastilaka who lived nearly four hundred years before Jinaprabha Suri, refers to it as built by gods.