Lord Shantinath, the 16th Tirthankara

 

Shantinath is the 16th Jain tirthankara of the present avasarpini time cycle. His complexion is golden and symbol is deer. The chaitya tree under which he got omniscience is Nandi.

Lord Shantinath is one of the five tirthankaras who attract the most devotional worship among the Jains. The other four tirthankaras are Rishavdev, Neminath, Parsvanath and Mahavir. Shantinath is believed to be an idea of peace and tranquility, hence he is prayed to avert calamities. Hymns of Shantinath are recited during the last rites.

Shantinath had 11 previous births prior to become a tirthankara. The first birth was as King Shrisena. The fourth birth was as king Amittej. His sixth birth was as Baldev Aparajit who later on became ardh Chakravarti. In the eighth birth, he was born as king Vajrayudh and became Chakravarti. He was born as king Meghrath in his tenth birth. His third, fifth, seventh, ninth and eleventh incarnation as God were spent in heaven.

In his twelfth incarnation, Shantinath was born in Hastinapur in Bharatavarsha, on the thirteenth day of the dark half of Jyestha, moon being in Bharani constellation. His father was king Viswasena and mother, queen Achira Devi. When he was in the mother’s womb, the atmosphere of the kingdom filled with happiness and peace; the epidemic of plague and other diseases vanished. Thus, his father decided his name to be Shantinath, shanti meaning peace. When he grew young, he got married to Yashomati. They had a son, named Chakrayudh. Chakrayudh was the soul of queen Abhinanda, who was the first wife of king Shrisena. In his tenth birth, Chakrayudh was born as Prince Dradhrath, the son of king Meghrath. This shows that Shantinath and Chakrayudh were very close in all the previous births and had a very strong bondage. King Viswasena when became old, handed over the throne to his son. Shantinath after becoming king increased his kingdom and ruled over a large empire. He attained fourteen ratnas to become the fifth Chakravarti, a great honour to achieve as king. In this way, Lord Shantinath became a Chakravarti and a tirthankara in the same birth. As he grew old, he was requested by the Lokantik Devas to renounce the throne and took initiation. So, he handed over the responsibilities of the kingdom to his son Chakrayudh and became ascetic.

Shantinath travelled from place to place for one year. During this period, he transformed himself by meditation and compassion towards the humans and animals around him. He practised to control over his senses (panch indriyas). After one year, he returned back to Hastinapur from where he started. On the ninth day of the bright half of the month of Paush, while meditating under a Nandi tree, Shantinath attained omniscience. After attaining keval gnan, the celestial beings made arrangements for his Samavasarana where his son Chakrayudh, mother, wife, people of Hastinapur and many people from all around came. In this Samavasarana, his first discourse was on the subject of disciplining our senses. It is the senses or the Indriyas which control our mind and activities and win over us. To win over the senses in not an easy task. It requires lots of practice under the guidance of a learned Guru. Only then one can win over the five karma indriyas and five gnan indriyas. The son Chakrayudh was very much influenced by this lecture and decided to take initiation and follow the path of his father.

After preaching religion for a long period, Lord Shantinath grew old and went to Sammet shikhar where he started meditation to shed the non-destructive karma, or whatever karma was bound with his soul. On the thirteenth day of the dark half of the month of Jyestha, Lord Shantinath attained Nirvana along with many of his disciples.

The male Sasandevata was Yaksa Garuda and female one was Nirvani who accompanied him always.