Chandraprabha

Traditional Jain accounts place Chandraprabha as the eighth Tīrthankara of the present avasarpini. He was born at Chandrapuri (at Varanasi) to King Mahasena and Queen Lakshmana Devi on the twelfth day of the Pausa (Pausha) month (traditional account). After a period as prince and ruler recorded in traditional chronologies he renounced the world, obtained Kevala Jnana while meditating under a Naga tree, and later attained nirvana at Sammed Shikharji on the seventh day of the bright half of the month of Faalgun. Chronological relations to other Tīrthankaras are given in Jain cosmological measures (for example, traditional sources state he was born 900 crore sagara after his predecessor Suparsvanatha, and that his successor Pushpadanta was born 90 crore sagara after him).

Sources describe Chandraprabha as having a complexion 'white as the moon' or 'bright as the rays of the moon' and as being of a traditional mythic height (given as 150 dhanusha). Iconographically he is usually depicted seated in lotus posture or in kayotsarga (standing meditation posture), bearing a crescent‑moon emblem as his distinguishing symbol beneath him, shown with a Shrivatsa mark and downcast eyes. Sculptural and monumental images (e.g., early fourth‑century sculptures, mulnayak images at Sonagiri, and a 21‑foot monolithic statue at Mandaragiri) follow these canonical features.

As a Tīrthankara Chandraprabha achieved Kevala Jnana (omniscience) and, in Jain doctrine, became a siddha (a liberated soul having destroyed all karma). Devotional texts (e.g., Svayambhūstotra and Chandraprabha‑charitra) praise his conquest of karmas and passions and present him as an object of worship and spiritual exemplar. The sources record no hostile or predatory behaviors; interactions documented are devotional, liturgical and cultic—images and hymns are used in temple worship and pilgrimage.