Lord Suvidhinath or Pushpdanta, the 9th Tirthankar

 Suvidhinath or Pushpadanta is the ninth Jain tirthankara of the present avasarpini time cycle. His complexion is white and symbol is crocodile. The chaitya tree under which he got omniscience is shala.

In his previous incarnation, he was king Mahapadma of the town Puspkalavati Vijay in East Videha within Bharatvarsha. He purified his soul by deep spiritual practices and devotion to Arhats. In the present birth, he was born as son of king Sugriv of Kalakandi and queen Rama Devi in the Southern part of Bharatvarsha. He was born on the fifth day of the dark half of moon in mula constellation. During pregnancy, queen Rama Devi tried to carry out her duties for four months with perfection which astonished everybody.  After the son was born, Guru Shri Yashobhadraji decided his name to be Suvidhi meaning maker of correct process. During teething period, the child had craving for flowers. Also, the shape of his teeth looked like petals of flower. This changed his name to Pushpdanta from Suvidhinath and hence he is known as Tirthankar Pushpdanta. When he became grown up, he got married and later on became the king when his father accepted renunciation. After ruling for many years, he followed the footsteps of his father and took initiation. He became an ascetic and indulged in rigorous penance and spiritual practices for four months after which he achieved omniscience under Shala tree. In his first Samavasaran, Mahapandit Varah came and asked many questions which he answered with clarity. Varah was very much impressed with his prudence and surrendered himself in the feet of the tirthankara and took initiation. His last discourse was at Mt. Sammed Shikhar where on the ninth day of the dark half of the moon in the month of Kartik, he shed away all the remaining karmas and attained nirvana.

Ajita was the male messenger deity and Sutara was the lord’s female messenger deity. They originated in the congregation after omniscience and always remained in the vicinity of the lord as attendants.