Neminatha

Neminath
Neminath
22nd Tirthankar
Member of Tirthankar, Salakapurusha, Arihant and Siddha
	Idol of Neminath at Girnar Hill, Gujarat
Other names	Nemi, Nem
Venerated in	Jainism
Predecessor	Naminath
Successor	Parshvanath
Symbol	Shankha (conch)
Height	10 bows – 98 feet (30 m)
Age	1000
Color	Black
Gender	Male
Personal information
Born	Ariṣṭanemi; Śaurīpura
Died	Girnar
Parents	Samudravijaya (father); Śivādevī (mother);
Dynasty	Yadu clan

Nemināth (Devanagari: नेमिनाथ) (Sanskrit: नेमिनाथः), also known as Nemi and Ariṣṭanemi (Devanagari: अरिष्टनेमि), is the twenty-second tirthankara of Jainism in the present age (Avasarpini). Neminath lived 81,000 years before the 23rd Tirthankar Parshvanath. According to traditional accounts, he was born to King Samudravijaya and Queen Shivadevi of the Yadu dynasty in the north Indian city of Sauripura. His birth date was the fifth day of Shravan Shukla of the Jain calendar. Krishna, who was the 9th and last Jain Vasudev, was his first cousin.

Neminath, when heard the cries of animals being killed for his marriage feast, freed the animals and renounced his worldly life and became a Jain ascetic. The representatives of this event are popular in Jain art. He had attained moksha on Girnar Hills near Junagadh, and became a siddha, a liberated soul which has destroyed all of its karma.

Along with Mahavira, Parshvanatha and Rishabhanatha, Neminath is one of the twenty-four Tirthankars who attract the most devotional worship among the Jains. His icons include the eponymous deer as his emblem, the Mahavenu tree, Sarvanha (Digambara) or Gomedha (Śhvētāmbara) Yaksha, and Ambika Yakshi.

^ Tandon 2002, p. 45.
^ Sarasvati 1970, p. 444.
^ von Glasenapp 1925, p. 317.
^ Doniger 1993, p. 225.

[FOOTNOTETandon200245-1] Tandon 2002, p. 45.

[FOOTNOTESarasvati1970444-2] Sarasvati 1970, p. 444.

[FOOTNOTEvon_Glasenapp1925317-3] von Glasenapp 1925, p. 317.

[FOOTNOTEDoniger1993225-4] Doniger 1993, p. 225.

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