Lord Abhinandannatha

Lord Abhinandannatha or Abhinandan Swami was the fourth Tirthankara of the present age, Avasarpini. According to Jain philosophy, he became a siddha, an enlightened soul. Abhinandannath was born in Ayodhya in the Ikshvaku dynasty to Emperor Sanvara Raja and Queen Sidharta Rani. His birth date was the second day of the Magh shukla month of the Hindu calendar. Mahabal was the Emperor of Ratnasanchay or Mangalavati town in Purvavideh. Though he was an Emperor, he was a very simple and humble person. When someone criticized him he would humbly say that he was his true well-wisher and a friend and wasted to help him to progress by pointing out his faults.

Gradually a feeling of detachment grew in him and finally finding an appropriate moment he took Diksha or vow from Vimal Suri. Because of his simplicity and humility he became a famous and ideal Sharman in his group. It is said that as a consequence of this rare disposition and profound meditational practices he purified his soul to an extent that he acquired the Tirthankar-nam-and-gotra-karma. It is believed that after completing his age, he reincarnated as a God in the Vijay dimension.

Resurrection of Lord Abhinandannatha
When Mahaval left the Vijay dimension, he descended into the womb of queen Siddharth, wife of Emperor Samvar of Ayodhya. Because of his simplicity of attitude inherited from the earlier birth, the soul in the womb of the queen had a soothing and pacifying influence on the people of the outer world. The people of the kingdom were filled with the feelings of modesty, love and fraternity. They began honouring and greeting each other irrespective of age, caste, creed and status. People became politeness and behaved in a polished way. The augurs and other scholars were of the opinion that as the aura of a pious soul influences all the people around, the effusion of politeness was the result of the soul in the womb.

The queen gave birth to the future Tirthankara, Lord Abhinandannath on the second day of the bright half of the month of Magh. The king named his son Abhinandan meaning greeting as his influence was evident in the overt mutual greetings among the people.

Abhinandan right from his childhood days lead a very simple, normal and ordinary life with least indulgence in materialistic wants. When his father became an ascetic he ascended the throne. After a long and successful reign, he became an ascetic and indulged in rigorous penance and lofty divine practices. He achieved nirvana on the fourteenth day of the dark half of the month of Paush. Lord Abhinandan moved around for many years to illustrate the right path to millions of beings. On the eighth day of the bright half of the month of Vaishakah he achieved Nirvana at Sammetshikhar.