[7][8] He was the first of twenty-four teachers in the present half-cycle of time in Jain cosmology and called a "ford maker" because his teachings helped one cross the sea of interminable rebirths and deaths.

[12] According to traditional accounts, he was born to king Nabhi and queen Marudevi in the north Indian city of Ayodhya, also called Vinita.

The sudden death of Nilanjana, one of the dancers sent by Indra in his courtroom, reminded him of the world's transitory nature, and he developed a desire for renunciation.

After his renunciation, the legends as described in major Jain texts such as Hemachandra's Trishashti-Shalakapurusha-Charitra and Adinathcharitra written by Acharya Vardhamansuri state Rishabhanatha travelled without food for 400 days.

His icons include the eponymous bull as his emblem, the Nyagrodha tree, Gomukha (bull-faced) Yaksha, and Chakreshvari Yakshi.

[10] Ādi purāṇa, a major Jain text records the life accounts of Rishabhanatha as well as ten previous incarnations according to the Digambara tradition.

[18] For Rishabhanatha's biography in accordance with the Śvetāmbara tradition is found in several texts such as Hemachandra's Trishashti-Shalakapurusha-Charitra and Adinathcharitra written by Acharya Vardhamansuri.

These include garbha (mother's pregnancy), janma (birth), diksha (initiation), kevalyagyana (omniscience) and moksha (liberation).

[1] Such descriptions of non-human heights and age are also found for the next 21 Tirthankaras in Jain texts and according to Kristi Wiley – a scholar at University of California Berkeley known for her publications on Jainism.

[1][26] However, among Jain writers and some Indian scholars, some of the first 22 Tirthankaras are considered to reflect historical figures, with a few conceding that the inflated biographical statistics are mythical.

[27] According to Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a professor of comparative religions and philosophy at Oxford who later became the second President of India, there is evidence to show that Rishabhdeva was being worshipped by the first century BCE.

[28] Rishabhanatha was born to Nabhi and Marudevi, the king and queen of Ayodhya, on the ninth day of the dark half of the month of Chaitra (caitra krişna navamĩ).

These were: (1) Asi (swordsmanship for protection), (2) Masi (writing skills), (3) Krishi (agriculture), (4) Vidya (knowledge), (5) Vanijya (trade and commerce) and (6) Shilp (crafts).

[39][40][41] In other words, he is credited with introducing karma-bhumi (the age of action) by founding arts and professions to enable householders to sustain themselves.

[21][42][43] Rishabhanatha is credited in Jainism to have invented and taught fire, cooking and all the skills needed for human beings to live.

[39] He is said to have established the three-fold varna system based on professions consisting of kshatriyas (warriors), vaishyas (merchants) and shudras (artisans).

[45] Jain legends talk about a dance of celestial dancers organised in Rishabhanatha's royal assembly hall by Indra, the heavenly-king of the first heaven.

[45][47][48] The sudden death of Nilanjana is said to have reminded Rishabhanatha of the world's transitory nature, triggering him to renounce his kingdom, family and material wealth.

[45][48] He is believed to have become a monk in Siddharta-garden, in the outskirts of Ayodhya, under Ashoka tree on the ninth day of the month of Chaitra Krishna (Hindu calendar).

[54][55] His great-grandson, Shreyansa, a king of Gajapura (now Hastinapur) after recalling his previous birth in which he had offered food to a Jain monk keeping in mind all the dietary restrictions and preparing it to be free from all faults, offered him sugarcane juice (ikshu-rasa) with required procedure to break 400-days-long fast.

[55][56] Jains celebrate the event as Akshaya tritiya every year on the third day of the bright fortnight of the month Vaishaka (usually April).

[21] Rishabhanatha is said to have spent a thousand years performing austerities before attaining kevala jnana (omniscience) under Akshayavata in the town of Purimatala[58] on the 11th day of falgun-krishna (a month in traditional calendar) after destroying all four of his ghati-karma.

His death is believed in Jainism to have occurred on Ashtapada (also known as Mount Kailash) on the fourteenth day of Magha Krishna (Hindu Calendar).

941 CE), written in Champu style, a mix of prose and verse and spread over sixteen cantos, deals with the ten lives of Rishabhanatha and his two sons.

[83] In Madhya Pradesh, there is the Bawangaja (meaning 52 yards (156 ft)) hill, near Barwani with a Gommateshvara figure covered on the top of it.

[88] Numerous monks are believed to have attained their liberation from cycles of rebirth there, and a large temple within the complex is dedicated to Rishabha commemorating his enlightenment in Ayodhya.

[88] In Jain texts, Kunti and the five Pandava brothers of the Hindu Epic Mahabharata came to the hill top to pay respects, and consecrated an icon of Rishabha at Shatrunjaya.