Abhinandannath

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Abhinandannatha or Abhinandan Swami was the fourth Tirthankar of the present age (Avasarpini). According to Jain beliefs, he became a siddha, a liberated soul which has destroyed all of its karma.

Abhinandannath was born to King Sanvara Raja and Queen Sidharta Rani at Ayodhya in the Ikshvaku clan. His birth date was the second day of the Magh shukla month of the Hindu calendar. Mahabal was the king of Ratnasanchay/Mangalavati town in Purvavideh. Although a king, he was a simple and humble person. When people praised him, he thought that why people praised him even in absence of any virtues? When someone criticized him he would humbly say, "You are my true well-wisher and a friend who helps my progress by pointing out my faults." when a feeling of detachment grew in him, he found and opportune moment and took Diksha from Vimal Suri. Due to his simplicity and humility he became a very popular and ideal Sharman in his group. It is said that as a result of this rare disposition and deep mediational practices he purified his soul to an extant that he acquired the Tirthankar-nam-and-gotra-karma. Completing his age, he reincarnated as a god in the Vijay dimension.

When the being that was Mahaval left the Vijay dimension, he descended into the womb of queen Siddharth, wife of king Samvar of Ayodhya. As a result of the simplicity of attitude inherited from the earlier birth, the soul in the womb of the queen had a soothing and pacifying influence on the outer world. The people of the kingdom were suddenly filled with the feelings of humility and fraternity. Irrespective of age, caste, creed and status every one started greeting and honoring others. Politeness and polished manners became the thing in vogue. The augurs and other scholars confirmed that as the aura of a pious soul influences all the people around, the effusion of politeness was caused by the soul in the womb.

The queen gave birth to the future Tirthankar on the second day of the bright half of the month of Magh. As the influence of this soul was evident in the overt mutual greetings, the king named his son as Abhinandan (greeting).

As time passed Abhinandan lead normal mundane life with least indulgence. He ascended the throne when his father became an ascetic. After a long and peaceful reign, he became an ascetic and indulged in rigorous penance and lofty spiritual practices. He attained omniscience on the fourteenth day of the dark half of the month of Paush. For a long period Bhagavan Abhinandan moved around to show the right path to millions of beings. On the eighth day of the bright half of the month of Vaishakah he attained Nirvana at Sammetshikhar.

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