Aranatha

Aranatha
Aranatha
18th Jain Tirthankara, 7th Chakravartin, 13th Kamadeva
	Shri Arnatha bhagwan, Amritsar,Punjab.
Venerated in	Jainism
Predecessor	Kunthunatha
Successor	Mallinatha
Symbol	Fish
Height	30 Bows (90 Metres)
Age	84,000+
Color	Golden
Personal information
Born	Hastinapur
Died	Sammed ShikharJi
Parents	King Sudarshan (father); Queen Devi(Mitra) (mother);

Aranath(Arnath) was the eighteenth Jain Tirthankar of the present half cycle of time (Avasarpini). He was also the eighth Chakravartin and thirteenth Kamadeva. According to Jain beliefs, he was born around 16,585,000 BCE. He became a siddha i.e. a liberated soul which has destroyed all of its karmas. Aranath was born to King Sudarshana and Queen Devi (Mitra) at Hastinapur in the Ikshvaku dynasty. His birth date was the tenth day of the Migsar Krishna month of the Indian calendar.

Life

Like all other Chakravartin, 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 (liberation) on Mount Shikharji.

Worship

Svayambhūstotra by Acarya Samantabhadra is the adoration of twenty-four tirthankaras. Twenty slokas (aphorisms) of Svayambhūstotra are dedicated to Tirthankar Aranath. One such sloka is:

O Passionless Lord Aranatha! Your physical form which is free from all vestiges of ornaments, clothes and weapons, and the embodiment of unalloyed knowledge, control of the senses, and benevolence, is a clear indication that you have vanquished all blemishes.

— Svayambhustotra (18-2-12)

As a historical figure

At Mathura, 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 that the stupa was erected for Suparśvanātha.