Avasarpini (also called Avasarpiṇī) is the descending half of the Jain cosmic time cycle. It is the period during which dharma progressively declines and people’s spiritual understanding and conduct diminish over many ages.

Key points about Avsarpiṇī:

• It runs after the previous half-cycle’s culminating phase and continues until the next Utsarpini (the ascending half) begins.
• In each half-cycle, there are 24 Tirthankaras who appear in successive ages to revive dharma. In Avsarpiṇī, the 24th Tirthankara is Mahavira (the 24th Tirthankara in the current half-cycle for both Digambara and Śvetāmbara traditions).
• The spiritual height of society declines as time passes in Avsarpiṇī, with people becoming less virtuous and the external world becoming more turbulent. This decline is contrasted with Utsarpini, the ascending half-cycle, where dharma rises again.

Tradition-specific nuances:

• Digambaras and Śvetāmbaras agree on the broad framework of Avsarpiṇī (the descending half-cycle and the sequence of Tirthankaras), but there can be differences in the exact chronologies, ages, and names assigned to certain periods or figures in detailed cosmology.
• The emphasis in both traditions is on the cycle as a whole: the soul’s potential for liberation is present in every era, but the societal conditions and the ease or difficulty of practicing renunciation and ethical conduct vary across the ages.

If you’d like, I can outline:

• the list of the 24 Tirthankaras in Avsarpiṇī (and where Mahavira fits in),
• a simple, year-by-year sketch of the four broad phases or ages within Avsarpiṇī (in very concise terms),
• and a brief note on how Digambara vs. Śvetāmbara texts describe any differences.