In Jain iconography, Shrivatsa often marks the chest of the Tirthankara image.[6] It is one of the Ashtamangala (eight auspicious symbols) found in Jainism. The canonical texts such as Hemchandra's Trīṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra and Mahapurana mentions it as one of the Ashtamangalas.[7]
Acharya Dinakara explains in his medieval work that the highest knowledge emerged from the heart of Tirthankaras in the form of Shrivatsa so they are marked as such.[8] In North Indian Jain sculptures of the early centuries, it is marked in the centre of the chest.[3]
In Jainism, a Tirthankara (Sanskrit: tīrthaṅkara; English: literally a 'ford-maker') is a saviour and spiritual teacher of the dharma (righteous path).[1] The word tirthankara signifies the founder of a tirtha,[2] which is a fordable passage across the sea of interminable births and deaths, the saṃsāra.
A Tirthankara is an individual who has conquered the saṃsāra, the cycle of death and rebirth, on their own, and made a path for others to follow.After understanding the true nature of the self or soul, the Tīrthaṅkara attains Kevala Jnana (omniscience). Tirthankara provides a bridge for others to follow the new teacher from saṃsāra to moksha (liberation).