Simandhar

Simandhar
Tīrthaṅkara
Idol of Simandhar at Shri Bibrod Adinath Jain Shwetamber Tirth, Bibdod, Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, India
Other names	Helds being saint (Sanyam ni sima ne dhāran karnār)
Predecessor	himself 1st
Successor	Yugmandhar
Mantra	Aum hrīṃ śrīṃ arham śrī sīmaṃdharasvāmine namaḥ hrīṃ svāhā[1][2]
Symbol	Bull
Height	500 Dhanush
Age	84 lac purv
Color	Gold
Genealogy
Parents	Shreyans (father) Satyaki (mother)
Spouse	Rukamani

Simandhar or Simandhara^[3] is a Tīrthaṅkara, an arihant, who is said to be currently living in another world in the Jain cosmological universe.

Residence in Jain cosmology

Simandhar resides at Mahavideh Kshetra, another land within the Jain cosmological universe (see Jain cosmology).^[4][5][6]

The five lands of the Bharat Kshetra are currently in the fifth Ara (a degraded time-cycle in which Tirthankaras do not take birth).^[7][8] The most recent Tirthankara present on Bharata Kshetra (present world) was Vardhamana Mahavira, whom historians estimate lived between 599 and 527 BCE, the last in a cycle of 24 Tirthankaras.^[9][10]

On Mahavideh Kshetra, the fourth Ara like (a spiritually elevated time-cycle) exists continuously. There, Tirthankaras perpetually are born.^[11][7] There are 5 Mahavideh Kshetras, each being a separate land. At present, there are 4 Tirthankaras residing in each Mahavideh Kshetra. Thus there are a total of 20 Tirthankaras residing there, Simandhar being one among them.^[5]

Biography per Jain tradition

Simandhar is a living Tirthankara, an Arihant, who is said to be currently present on another world in the Jain cosmological universe.^[12][13] The Arihant Simandhar is believed to be currently 150,000 earth years old and has a remaining lifespan of 125,000 earth years. He lives in the city of Pundarikgiri, the capital of Pushpakalavati, one of 32 geographical divisions on Mahavideh Kshetra.^[5][14] Pundarikgiri is ruled by King Shreyans, who is Simandhar's father. His mother is Satyaki. While pregnant with Simandhar, Satyaki had a sequence of auspicious dreams indicating that she would give birth to a Tirthankara.^[15][16] Simandhar was born with three complete aspects of jnana, or self-knowledge:

• Mati Jnana (see Jain epistemology), knowledge of the 5-sense realm
• Shruta Jnana (see Jain epistemology), knowledge of all forms of communication
• Avadhi Jnana (see Jain epistemology), clairvoyant knowledge^[17]

As a young adult, he married Rukamani and then, later in life, took diksha, renunciation from worldly life.^[15]

Simandhar's height is 500 dhanushya, approximately 1,500 feet, which is considered an average height for the people of Mahavideh Kshetra.^[5]

Worship

Iconography

Simandhara is usually depicted in a sitting or standing meditative posture with the symbol of a bull beneath him.^[18] Every Tīrthankara has a distinguishing emblem that allows worshippers to distinguish similar-looking idols of the Tirthankaras.^[19][20][21]

• 
  Idol of Simandhar at Shri Bibrod Adinath Jain Shwetamber Tirth, Bibdod, Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, India
• 
  Simandhara in Digambar Jain temple, Ujjain
• 
  Simandhar Swamiat Simandhar Jain Temple, Mehsana

Main temples

• Shree Simandhar swami Śvetāmbara Jain Temple,Katargam,Surat

• 
  Simandhara Swami Derasar at Parel, Mumbai

See also

• Shantinatha
• Kunthunatha

Notes

1. "Search, Seek, and Discover Jain Literature".
2. "Search, Seek, and Discover Jain Literature".
3. Cort, John (21 January 2010). Framing the Jina: Narratives of Icons and Idols in Jain History. Oxford University Press. p. 185. ISBN 978-0-19-045257-5.
4. Natubhai Shah 2004.
5. University, Jain, Mahavideh Kshetra(PDF), Jain University, archived from the original(PDF) on 16 May 2012
6. Darshan, Jain. "Mahavideh Kshetra"(PDF). Jain Darshan. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
7. Jainism, My. "Kaal Chakra"(PDF). My Jainism. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2 December 2013.
8. Jaini 1998, pp. 30–32.
9. "Jain Meditation". Archived from the original on 27 April 2012.
10. Jaini 1998, pp. 1–41.
11. Tirthankaras, Jain. "24 Tirthankaras". Jain Tirthankaras.
12. Pravin K Shah, pp. 1–3.
13. Umich. "Arihants". Umich.edu.
14. Gyan, Jain. "Mahavideh Kshetra". Jain Gyan. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
15. "Simandhar Swami". Jain World. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
16. Dalal, Deepika, Arihant Simandhar Swami(PDF), JAINA, p. 3
17. Jaini 1998, p. 3.
18. Shah 1987, p. 101.
19. Encyclopædia Britannica.
20. Krishna 2014, p. 34.
21. Zimmer 1953, p. 225.

References

• Dundas, Paul (2002) [1992], The Jains (Second ed.), London and New York: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-26605-X
• Humphrey and Laidlaw (1994). The archetypal actions of ritual: a theory of ritual illustrated by the Jain rite of worship. Indiana University: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0198279477.
• Jaini, Padmanabh S. (1998) [1979], The Jaina Path of Purification, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-1578-5
• King; Brockington (2005), Intimate Other, The Love Divine in Indic Religions, Orient Blackswan, ISBN 978-81-250-2801-7
• Shah, Natubhai (2004) [First published in 1998], Jainism: The World of Conquerors, vol. I, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-1938-1
• Shah, Pravin K (2002), Jain Philosophy and Practice 1(PDF), JAINA Education Committee, ISBN 8185568014
• Zimmer, Heinrich (1953) [April 1952], Campbell, Joseph (ed.), Philosophies Of India, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, ISBN 978-81-208-0739-6
• Britannica Tirthankar Definition, Encyclopædia Britannica
• Krishna, Nanditha (2014), Sacred Animals of India, Penguin UK, ISBN 9788184751826
• Shah, Umakant Premanand (1987), Jaina-rūpa-maṇḍana: (Jaina iconography), vol. 1, Abhinav Publications, ISBN 9788170172086