1. Rishabha, the first Tirthankaras, was the founder of Jainism. |
2. There were 24 Tirthankaras. |
3. The 24th and the last Tirthankaras was Vardhamana Mahavira. He was born at Kundagram near Vaishali of Bihar in 599 BC. |
4. Mahavira was born to King Siddharth and Queen Trishala who was sister of a Lichchhavi prince Chetaka of Vaisali whose daughter was wedded to Bimbisara of Magadha. |
5. Mahavira belonged to the Jnatrika Kshatriya clan. |
6. Mahavira was married to Yashoda and had a daughter named Priyadarsena. |
7. At the age of 30 he left his home in pursuit of spiritual awakening (Diksha). |
8. In the 13th year of his asceticism he attained enlightenment/supreme knowledge i.e. Kaivalya on the bank of river Rijupalika. |
9. Mahavira gave his first sermon at Vipulachala mountain at Rajgriha. His first sermon is called Divya Dhwani. |
10. He died at Pava near Patna in 527 BC. |
11. The two main sects of Jainism was Shwetambar and Digambar. |
12. Religious book of Jainism is Agam in Pali language. |
13. The Kalpa Sutra is a Jain text containing the biographies of the Jain Tirthankaras, mainly Parshvanath and Mahavira. |
14. Parsavanath was the 23rd Tirthankara. |
15. First disciple of Mahavira was Jamali. |