Neminatha

Neminatha (Devanagari: नेमिनाथ) was the twenty-second tirthankara (ford-maker) of the present descending cycle (avsarpani). According to Jain beliefs, he lived 84,000 years before the 23rd Tirthankara, Parshvanatha. His full name was Aristanemi which is an epithet of the sun-chariot. He was the youngest son of King Samudravijaya and Queen Shivadevi, and the cousin brother of Krishna. He was born at Sauripura (Dvaraka) in the Harivamsa clan. His birth date is the 5th day of Shravana Shukla in the Indian calendar. He became a Siddha, a liberated soul which has destroyed all of its karma.

Historicity

Secular scholars accept the existence of Jainism as far back before BCE, but for Jains the story goes back much further than Parshvanatha. Jain texts mention the names of twenty-one Tirthankaras before him. Neminatha, the 22nd Tirthankara, was the son of Samudravijaya and grandson of Andhakavrishni. Jains and some Hindus consider Neminatha to be the cousin of Krishna - the son of Samudravijaya, brother of Krishna's father Vasudeva.