Tirthankaras and the question of "gods"

When the English word “god” is used about Tirthankaras, it can mislead. The Jain texts themselves are clearer about what a Tirthankara is — and isn't. Here is what the granths say.

Yes — Jainism has devas

First, a clarification. Jain cosmology does include devas — celestial beings. The Tattvartha Sutra (Acharya Umaswami's foundational text accepted by both Digambara and Shvetambara traditions) classifies them in detail.1

Devas live in heavenly realms above the human world. They have powers, long lifespans, and beautiful bodies, gained through accumulated good karma. But — and this is the critical point — devas are still jivas like us. They are subject to rebirth. They are not creators. They cannot grant liberation. They themselves still have the spiritual work of moksha ahead of them.

So when someone says “Jainism has no gods,” that is not quite right. A more careful statement is: Jainism has no creator god, no salvific god, and the Tirthankaras are not deities in either of those senses.

What a Tirthankara is

A Tirthankara is a soul (jiva) born in the human realm who, in their final birth, attains kevala-jnana — omniscient knowledge — by destroying the four ghati karmas.2

After their physical death, they become Siddhas — fully liberated souls beyond rebirth, residing in Siddha-loka at the apex of the universe.3

Tirthankaras are not in the deva category at all. The cosmology of Tattvartha is explicit: devas are one classification of jivas (Chapter 4); kevalis and Siddhas are another (Chapter 10). They are different things.

What the Tirthankara cannot do for you

Acharya Kundakunda's Samayasara — one of the most influential philosophical texts in the Digambara tradition — is unambiguous: liberation is by the soul's own effort. The soul is its own doer (karta) and its own enjoyer (bhokta) of the fruits of its actions.4

Acharya Pujyapada's Sarvarthasiddhi, the foundational Digambara commentary on Tattvartha, makes the same point: the Tirthankara is the avalambana — the support, the example — not the agent who liberates the seeker.

The Tirthankara shows the path. The Tirthankara does not walk it for you.

Why they are venerated

Acharya Samantabhadra, in Ratnakaranda Shravakachara, defines the apta — the trustworthy one worthy of taking refuge in — by qualities: free of desire, free of flaws, possessing complete knowledge.5 The apta is the Tirthankara, defined by what they are, not by what they do for the devotee.

The Bhaktamara Stotra itself is a clear example. Across all 48 verses, Acharya Manatunga praises Adinath's qualities, recognizes his uniqueness — verse 22 says “Hundreds of women bear hundreds of sons, but no other mother has borne a son like you” — and notes that even Indra, king of the cosmological devas, bows to him.6

But Manatunga asks for nothing. The structure of the stotra is praise and recognition, not solicitation. This is the form bhakti takes in Jainism: appreciation of an exemplar, not petition to a deity.

A note on the word “deva”

To complicate things, traditional Jain liturgy does sometimes use the word deva for the Tirthankara — as in deva-puja, the daily veneration that is one of the six duties of a shravak. But the deva referred to here is the apta-deva or paramatma — defined by spiritual qualities — and is technically distinct from the cosmological devas of Tattvartha Chapter 4.

In other words: in Jain Sanskrit usage, the same word can mean different things depending on context. The cleanest English summary remains: Tirthankaras are not deities who answer prayers. They are exemplars whose qualities are venerated.

For a modern reader

For someone trained to be skeptical of religion's promises, this matters. Jainism does not promise what it cannot deliver. It does not say: pray and your wishes will be granted, fail to believe and be punished. It says: here is what is possible, here is what those who reached it did, the work is yours.

So when you bow before a Tirthankara murti, or recite the Bhaktamara, you are not asking. You are acknowledging. The path is open. The example exists. The walking is yours.