Tirthankara

Tirthankara (literally ford-maker); the one who builds a ford across the ocean of birth and death (samsara). Tirthankara are the founder of Jainism. They are omniscient Teaching God; a synonym for Jina.

Four And Twenty
There is a special fascination in the number four and twenty; the Hindus have twenty-four avataras (incarnations) of their favourite god, Vishnu; there were twenty-four counsellor gods of the ancient Babylonians; the Buddhists posit four and twenty previous Buddhas, that is teaching gods. The Zoroastrians also have twenty-four Ahuras who are regarded as ''the mightiest to advance desire and Dominion of blessings !"