The animal symbol of the third Tirthankara Sambhavanatha is the horse.
Sambhavanatha is the third Tirthankara in the Jain tradition’s list of twenty-four Tirthankaras. His lanchhana, or emblem, is a horse, which appears in iconographic representations beneath or near an image of the Tirthankara. These emblems are especially important because Tirthankaras are often portrayed in similar meditative poses and can otherwise be difficult to identify.
Jain accounts say that Sambhavanatha was born at Shravasti to King Jitari and Queen Susena, within the Ikshvaku dynasty. His name is connected with auspiciousness and spiritual significance. Tradition describes him as possessing three forms of knowledge from birth, an indication of his exceptional status in Jain sacred biography. He is associated with the sala tree and with the yaksha Trimukha.
The horse should not be confused with Ajitanatha’s elephant, the emblem immediately before it in the traditional sequence. The next Tirthankara, Abhinandananatha, is associated with the monkey. Sambhavanatha is traditionally said to have attained liberation at Sammed Shikhar, a major Jain pilgrimage site.