Mallinatha

Mallinatha is the 19th Tirthankara, and the only one whose tradition is significantly disputed between the two major Jain sub-traditions.

In Digambara tradition — followed by this library — Mallinatha is a male Tirthankara, born to King Kumbha and Queen Prabhavati of Mithila. The Digambara position holds that final mokṣa requires the male body and the complete digambara state, so Mallinatha must necessarily have been male. He renounced the world as a young prince and attained kevala-jnana at Mithila.

In Shvetambara tradition, Mallinatha is female — uniquely so among the 24 Tirthankaras. The Shvetambara Mallī Charitra tells the story of a princess so beautiful that several kings sought her hand in marriage simultaneously, leading her to renounce. The Shvetambara tradition holds that women can attain mokṣa directly, so Mallinatha being female poses no doctrinal problem.

This is the most-cited example of the gender-and-mokṣa doctrinal difference between the two traditions, discussed in Foundation 09 (“The tradition has hard questions”). The disagreement is genuinely ancient and remains unresolved.

Both traditions agree on the lanchhana (pitcher / kalaśa), the parentage, and that Mallinatha attained mokṣa at Mt. Sammed Shikhar.