The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c18.31

v1.c18.31

This is what we learn from the Kalpasūtra concerning Mahāvīra's pedigree; and there is no reason to doubt this information. But the birth of great men—and especially religious teachers—has often afterwards been made a theme for the most fanciful and supernatural legends. And so the Kalpasūtra tells us that Mahāvīra, when he descended from the heavenly palace of Pushpottara where he had led his previous existence, was at first conceived in the womb of Devānandā, wife of the Brāhman Ṛishabhadatta. This couple, too, lived in the suburb of Kuṇḍagrāma. However, it had never happened in the innumerable cycles of previous world-periods that a prophet had been born in a Brāhman family; and consequently the god Çakra (Indra) had the embryo removed from the womb of Devānandā to that of Triçalā. We must observe, however, that this tale is only believed by the Çvetāmbaras, and constitutes one of the four main points rejected by the Digambaras, who seem here to hold the more sensible opinion.