Answer

In Jain tradition, Parshwanath ji is not the first Tirthankar.

• The 1st Tirthankar is Rishabhdev Bhagwan / Adinath Bhagwan.
• Parshwanath Bhagwan is the 23rd Tirthankar of the present time-cycle, called Avasarpini Kaal.

Parshwanath Bhagwan existed in the 4th ara of Avasarpini Kaal, known as Dushama-Sushama ara.

Explanation

According to Jain cosmology, time moves in cycles:

• Utsarpini – ascending half-cycle
• Avasarpini – descending half-cycle

Each half-cycle has six aras, or eras. The 24 Tirthankars of our present cycle appeared in the Avasarpini Kaal.

Parshwanath Bhagwan, the 23rd Tirthankar, lived before Mahavir Swami. Jain tradition places him about 250 years before Mahavir Swami.

Spiritual Understanding

Parshwanath Bhagwan is especially remembered for teaching the fourfold restraint:

• Ahimsa — non-violence
• Satya — truthfulness
• Asteya — non-stealing
• Aparigraha — non-possessiveness

Mahavir Swami later emphasized the five great vows by adding Brahmacharya as a separate vow.

Takeaway

Parshwanath Bhagwan was the 23rd Tirthankar, not the first, and he existed in the 4th ara — Dushama-Sushama era — of the present Avasarpini Kaal.