Balabhadra

This article is about illustrious person in Jainism. For Hindu deity, see Balarama.

In Jainism, Balabhadra or Baladeva are among the sixty-three illustrious beings called śalākāpuruṣas that are said to grace every half cycle of time. According to Jain cosmology, śalākāpuruṣa are born on this earth in every Dukhama-sukhamā ara. They comprise twenty-four tīrthaṅkaras, twelve chakravartins, nine balabhadra, nine narayana, and nine pratinarayana.^[1] Their life stories are said to be most inspiring.^[2] According to the Jain puranas, the Balabhadras lead an ideal Jain life.^[3]

Rama and Lakshmana are the eighth set of Baladeva and Vasudeva according to the Jain universal history

Nine Balabhadras

According to the Digambaras nine Balabhadras of the present half cycle of time (avasarpini) are:^[4]

Acala	Bhadra	Balarama
Nandimitra	Nandisena	Rāma
Sudarśana	Suprabha	Vijaya