Article: Ajita
Contributed by Jasmine Kelly
Ajitanātha or Lord Ajita is the second of the 24 Jinas of the present cycle of time.
The word Jina means 'victor' in Sanskrit. A Jina is an enlightened human being who has triumphed over karma through practising extreme asceticism and teaches the way to achieve liberation. A Jina is also called a Tīrthaṃkara or 'ford-maker' in Sanskrit – that is, one who has founded a community after reaching omniscience.
This piece is a summary of the article "Ajita". The full article will be available soon.
Story and images
Elephant
Image by British Library © CC0 1.0 (Creative Commons Public Domain)
There is no historical evidence of Ajita's existence but traditional writings recount his life as following the usual career of a Jina. Tradition holds that he was born in Ayodhyā and achieved liberation on Mount Sammeta, also known as Pārasnātha Hill.
Ajita’s symbolic colour is gold and his emblem the elephant.
Like all Jinas, Ajita has a pair of spiritual attendants, often shown in art. His yakṣa is Mahāyakṣa. Digambaras call his yakṣī Rohinī while Śvetāmbaras call her Ajitā.
Related Manuscripts
Mahāvīra and 23 Jinas
British Library. Or. 13472. Unknown author. Perhaps 19th century
Birth of Mahāvīra
Victoria and Albert Museum. IM 8-1931. Unknown author. Second half of the 15th century
Related Manuscript Images
Hymn to Ajita
British Library. Or. 13623. Yaśo-vijaya. 1733
Fourfold community
Victoria and Albert Museum. IS 46-1959. Unknown author. Late 15th to 16th centuries
- A to Z Index
- Sitemap
- Pronunciation
- Accessibility
- Privacy
- Copyright
- © 2009–2017 Institute of JainologyInstitute of Jainology
Unless images are explicitly stated as either public domain or licensed under a Creative Commons licence, all images are copyrighted. See individual images for details of copyright.