Taran Svami
| Taran Svami | |
|---|---|
| Religion | Jainism |
| Sect |
Digambara Taran Panth |
| Personal | |
| Born | c. 15th century CE Central India |
| Died | c. 16th century CE Central India |
Taran Svami was a Jain religious teacher and founder of the Taran Panth, a sect of Digambara Jainism. He lived in the 15th century central India. The traditional biographies places him within the Digambara mystic tradition. They also consider him as a ritual reformer for rejecting the authority of Bhattarakas and his emphasis on aniconism and inner realization. He is credited for writing fourteen texts.
There is no scholarly biography of Taran Svami available.
Digambara Terapanthi scholar Pandit Phulcandra Siddhanta Shastri wrote a biography in 1933 based on his studies but is not accepted as scholarly biography.
Phulcandra has argued that the full name of Taran Svami, as used in the texts attributed to him, was Jin Taran Taran, literally "Jina Deliverer Deliverance." He also argued that the name indicates that he had liberated himself and can liberate others. The Thikanesara ("The essence of what is authentic") texts address him as Svamiji, "Reverend Master." He is commonly referred to as Taran Svami. There are no record of his birth name.
The Chadmastha Vani, a composition attributed to Taran Svami, records that he died on 7th Dark Half of Jyeshtha month in Vikram Samvat 1572 which corresponds to 5 May 1515 CE. Based on various manuscripts of Thikanesara and Nirvana Hundi (copied in late 19th and early 20th century), Phulcandra calculated that he was born on 7th Bright Half of Agahan month in Vikram Samvat 1505 which corresponds to 2 December 1448. Based on these texts, it is learned that Virasiri/Virashri was his mother and Garha Saha/Gudha Sahu was his father. He was born in Pushpavati village and into the Parvar caste, in the Vasalla gotra (clan) and Gaha mur (lineage). The village is identified with Bilhari near Katni in Jabalpur district, Madhya Pradesh, India by the followers and most authors.
An obscure passage of Chadmastha Vani is interpreted by Phulcandra, as accepted by the followers, which states that he started his studies when he was 11 years old and continued for ten years. He spent next nine years in spiritual practises and took vrata (lay vows) and became a celibate (Brahmachari) when he was 30 years old. He became a monk when he was sixty and died when sixty-six and half years old.
...
Wikipedia