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Arhat Pārsva Dharanendra Nexus
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M. A. Dhaky
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The volume embodies the papers read at the B. L. Institute of Indology on Arbat Pārśva and Dharanendra Nexus. As the background of the central theme are papers discussing Pārsva's history, teachings, doctrines, and monastic discipline of his sect. The plausible factors behind connection of the Dharanendra with Pārśva have been investigated. Also included are the surveys of the epigraphical as well as scriptural material related to Jina Pārsva.
ISBN: 81-208-1485-1
Rs. 400
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ARHAT PĀRSVA AND DHARANENDRA NEXUS
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B. L. Series No. 11
Arhat Pārsva
and Dharanendra Nexus
Editor M.A. Dhaky
सारभू
दरचे लोयाति
# BHOO
OF WOOLOGY
AL LEHEROI
INSTITUTE
LALBHAI DALPATBHAI INSTITUTE OF INDOLOGY
AHMEDABAD BHOGILAL LEHARCHAND INSTITUTE OF INDOLOGY
DELHI
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First Edition: Delhi, 1997
BHOGILAL LEHARCHAND INSTITUTE OF INDOLOGY, DELHI Clo Shree Atma Vallabh Jain Smarak Shikshana Nidhi 22nd Km., G.T. Karnal Road, P. O. Alipur, Delhi 110 036
LALBHAI DALPATBHAI INSTITUTE OF INDOLOGY Near Gujarat University, Ahmedabad 380 009 Phone : 079-6442463
ISBN: 81-208-1485-1
Distributed by MOTILAL BANARSIDASS 41 U.A. Bungalow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi 110 007 8 Mahalaxmi Chamber, Warden Road, Mumbai 400 026 120 Royapettah High Road, Mylapore, Chennai 600 004 Sanas Plaza, Subhash Nagar, Pune 411 002 16 St. Mark's Road, Bangalore 560 001 8 Camac Street, Calcutta 700 017 Ashok Rajpath, Patna 800 004 Chowk, Varanasi 221 001
B.L. INSTITUTE OF INDOLOGY Clo Shree Atma Vallabh Jain Smarak Shikshana Nidhi 22nd Km., G.T. Karnal Road, P.O. Alipur, Delhi 110 036
L.D. INSTITUTE OF INDOLOGY Near Gujarat University, Ahmedabad 380 009
PRINTED IN INDIA BY JAINENDRA PRAKASH JAIN AT SHRI JAINENDRA PRESS, A-15 NARAINA, PHASE I, NEW DELHI 110 028
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जैनभारती कांगड़ातीर्थोद्धारक श्री वल्लभस्मारकप्रणेता महत्तरा साध्वी
श्री मृगावती श्री जी महाराज
जन्मः ४-४-१९२६ सरधार (गुजरात) स्वर्गारोहणः १८-७-१९८६ श्री वल्लभ स्मारक दिल्ली
lain Education International
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DEDICATION
To The Sacred Memory
of Mahattarā Mșgāvatīšriji
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CONTENTS
ix
Foreword Prefatory
xi-xiv
1. Arhat Pārśva and Dharanendra Nexus:
An Introductory Estimation
M.A.Dhaky
1-14
2. The Teachings of Arhat Pārśva and
the Distinctness of His Sect
Sagarmal Jain 15-24 Dalsukh D. Malvaniya 25-28
3. Jina Pārsva in Jaina Canonical Literature
4. The Historical Origin and Ontological Interpretation
of Arhat Pārsva's Association with Dharanendra U.P. Shah
29-43
5. Arhat Pārśva with Dharanendra in
Hymnic Literature
45-67
M.A.Dhaky S.K. Rastogi
6. Pārsvanātha Images from Uttar Pradesh (Hindi)
69-77
7. Images and Temples of Pārsva in Central India
Amar Singh
79-94
8. Pārsvanātha Images in Orissa and Bengal
D.R. Das
95-105
9. Pārsvanātha Images in Ellorā
Maruti Nandan Prasad Tiwari
107-114
10. Jina Pārsva and His Temples in Inscriptions:
Southern India (c. 5th to 11th cent. A.D.) Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu
K.V. Ramesh
115-120
11. Jina Pārśva and His Temples in Inscriptions:
Southern India (Karnataka) (c.5th to 11th century A.D.)
Madhav N. Katti
121-126
A. Sundara
127-135
12. Pārsvanātha in Figural Art of Karnataka 13. The Tīrthas of Pārśvanātha in Rajasthan (Hindi) 14. The Tirthas of Pārsvanātha in Gujarat
Vinay Sagar
137-142
M.A.Dhaky
143-148
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FOREWORD
The present volume contains most of the papers read at the Seminar in 1987 organized by B.L. Institute of Indology in Delhi. It was convened by Prof. M.A. Dhaky. The pressready manuscript had been given over to us by Prof. Dhaky about two-and-a-half years ago. Its printing, regrettably, could not be taken in hand immediately owing to certain difficulties at our end. We crave the indulgence of the contributing scholars for the tardiness in giving them the volume in print.
The Seminar had been attended by such stalwarts like the ăgama-specialist Pt. Dalsukh Malvaniya, the doyen of Jaina iconography (late) Dr. U.P. Shah, the noted epigraphers like Dr. K.V. Ramesh and Shri Madhav N. Katti, and of course several archaeologists and students of Jaina art and history. The papers in this volume, we feel (and the scholars possibly will endorse), cast fresh light on the problem of the connection between Arhat Pärśva and Nāgarāja Dharanendra and thus push forward the frontiers of research on that score by some measure, besides adding information on several facets of research and issues related with the doctrine, sect, followers and representations of Arhat Pārsva. Hopefully, the purpose of organizing the seminar is to a large extent served.
My friend and colleague Shri N.P. Jain, in fact all of us associated with the B.L. Institute of Indology, wish to thank the scholars who participated in the Seminar, as also for their learned contributions by way of papers and by the discussions during deliberations. And we are specially beholden to Prof. Dhaky for competently convening the Seminar and for meticulously editing the volume.
Delhi, December 1996.
Jitendra B. Shah Vice-Chairman
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PREFATORY
When I was asked by the Bhogilal Leherchand Institute of Indology, Delhi, to convene a seminar on any Nirgranthist subject involving art, my initial reaction was politely to decline accepting this responsibility. My major pre-occupation for over two decades with the ongoing project of the American Institute of Indian Studies on the Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture at its Varanasi Center, left very little free time as well as surplus energies for getting involved into any other serious undertaking. However, the persuasive pressure by Pt. Dalsukh Malvaniya, Dr. U.P. Shah, and equally by my friend Shri Narendra Prakash Jain-one of the primal pillars of the BLI could not be set aside. In the field of Nirgranthist researches, for some years ago now, indeed since 1974, I was deeply engrossed with the problems concerning Arhat Pārsva, his teachings, and the Nirgrantha Church that eventually grew from his foundational creed; the relationships of his Church, its doctrines as well as the monastic discipline with those of the Church of Arhat Vardhamana alias Jina Mahavira and, together with it, its basic philosophy, tenets, and ascetic practices were some of the problems that had not been seriously investigated. It had always been taken for granted that Jina Vardhamana Mahavira reformed the old church of Jina Pārśva. However, this view, as is now increasingly becoming clear, represents an oversimplification of a highly complex phenomenon and has had neglected several vital aspects and significant details, and, as its consequence, the issues that arose therefrom. One other problem requiring attention was to find an explanation for the well-known association of Nägarāja Dharanendra with Jina Pārsvanätha. For this Jina remains distinguished from the other Jinas by the presence of this very special feature in his concrete representation, and hence this very specific connection needed explanation. Keeping this exigency in view, I suggested that, the main focus may be on "Arhat Pārsva and Dharanendra nexus" for the Seminar under contemplation. Around this thematic pivot may revolve the relevant investigatory papers. Accordingly, four papers providing an intimate background, discussing as they would do Pārsva's teachings and the sect which evolved after him, the agamic and narrative literary references that may clarify (or at least hint at) the origins of the legend behind the connection of the Jina with the Nägendra, the anthropological as well as ontological interpretation of this special nexus, and notices taken as well as the portrayal of this feature rendered in the elative hymnic compositions in praise of Pārsvanatha. The mythological, theological, liturgical, and socio
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Arhat Pārsva and Dharanendra Nexus anthropological aspects involved in the investigations would thus largely be taken care
xii
of.
This background, as was then rightly envisaged (and now substantiated), could in part also provide the historical and religious backdrop against which the image of Pārsva configures. However, as complimentary to this sketch, the archaeological facts and finds were needed to be brought in, particularly for filling in the colour and adding some realistic and corporeal dimensions to the overall perspective that would emerge. Keeping in view these twin axes of the approach, eminent Nirgranthologists on one side and the epigraphers and historians, and no less important the iconographers (specializing in Nirgrantha iconography) on the other side were invited to present their research papers at the Seminar. As a result, some papers covering the regionwisesurveys of the epigraphical data and sculptural material relating to Pārsvanatha by specialists in the field were read at the Seminar and now form part of this small volume. Regrettably, the scholars devoted to Nirgranthist studies are far too less in number than those working in the spheres of Brahmanical and Buddhist studies. Luckily, for our purpose, we could count on the cooperation of a small but competent band of some 16 scholars on the issues and subjects contemplated to be discussed in depth. However, seldom has a blueprint been executed without modifications, compromises, and, inevitably, the gaps due to the failings and shortcomings that the prevailing circumstances customarily generate. The publication, for instance, has to go without three important papers, the one on the "Epigraphical data on Parsva images and temples in Western India"; the second on the "Parsva images in Rajasthan", and the third concerning the "Pärsva images in Tamilnadu". Seemingly, the busy schedules (and, as in one case, indifferent health of the scholar concerned) worked against the materialization of these papers. When long waitings (coupled with reminders at intervals by the successive Directors of the BLI) for these vital papers produced no response, it was decided to send the papers on hand to the press even when we were painfully aware of the lacunae that will appear in the published version of the proceedings. One other factor which contributed to tardiness was the ignoring, by some contributors, of the style-sheet for the research papers that was earlier communicated to all scholars invited for the Seminar. Indeed, this eventuality made the task of editing still harder and I had, for want of time, to allow such unconformities and lay the responsibility at the doors of the contributors concerned. (In some papers, even the footnotes and bibliographical references were missing!) Despite these shortcomings, the overall outcome of the Seminar is fairly satisfactory. True, all problems (indicated in the preamble of the Seminar) could not be fully explored, and
.
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Prefatory
on some of the very dimly illuminated corners no fresh or further light could be cast. But a breakthrough has been made and the frontiers of the existing knowledge on this subject have been to an extent pushed forward. (After all, perfection in human endeavours and achievements is an impossible, and hence an unattainable, reality.)
If I feel grateful - and I most certainly do-to the scholars for their efforts and the thought-provoking contributions as also for their lively and evocative deliberations when the Seminar was on, the Management of the B.L. Institute of Indology, too, deserves full compliments not only for contemplating and supporting the Seminar but also for ideally carrying it out through all its stages and finally for making available the proceedings volume in print. (I must also admire their patience in seemingly interminable waiting for the edited version of the proceedings manuscript which was, for some of the reasons explained, delayed for so long at my end.) The zeal and active participation at the organizational level by Shri Narendra Prakash Jain, Shri Rajkumar Jain, Dr. Prem Singh, and Dr. Dhanesh Jain proved memorably effective. The staff of the B.L. Institute of Indology including its former member Ms. Aruna Anand wholeheartedly provided assistance at various levels for which the participants had nothing but admiration. And without the active and enthusiastic support of Shri Pratapbhai Bhogilal, the founder and Chairman of the B.L. Institute of Indology (who was present at the occasion of the inauguration of the Seminar), and its Advisory Committee, the Seminar could not have taken shape. Late Professor S.B. Deo, the former Director of BLI had lent substantial help in maintaining the liaison with the contributors.
xiii
The Seminar was held at the B.L. Institute from the 21st to 24th March 1987. The deliberations of the Seminar had begun with the blessings of Her Holiness, Āryä Śri Suvratăśriji, the chief disciple of the most revered late Mahattară Mrgāvatīśrīji. Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan had inaugurated this Seminar and her observations were indeed pertinent in the direction of the emphasis she laid on the "concept" side of the subject, and to the innate imperfection of our methodologies which often fail to lend insights in the underlying "Truth". I, for one, fully concede with this observation. In India, for long decades, the archaeological tradition of "material" investigations has dominated. The "idea" investigations done in the field of disciplines such as philosophy and linguistics and their highly perceptive and systematic procedures have been largely neglected in the field of Nirgranthist studies. However, "Truth" is a singularity which cannot be grasped in its totality by a mind which is not "omniscient". The only path that can be pursued is to lessen the degree of imperfection in knowledge fraction by fraction. And to that extent the Seminar can perhaps be said to have succeeded.
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xiv
Arbat Pārśva and Dharanendra Nexus
Lastly I must thank M/s Motilal Banarsidass for the care they bestowed in printing and production. Their chief proof-reader Shri S.K. Tyagi must be complimented for the very careful reading of the final proofs.
A profound shadow of gloom over the elation we may feel today is cast by the sudden passing away in late 1988 of our very dear and revered friend, an eminent senior Indologist and the front ranking specialist on Nirgrantha art and iconography, Dr. Umakant Premanand Shah, who had actively participated in the Seminar. He would have been most delighted to see this volume in print. His valuable paper, one of the last from his pen and indeed full of insights, is in the volume.
M.A. Dhaky
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ARHAT PĀRSVA AND DHARANENDRA NEXUS: AN
INTRODUCTORY ESTIMATION
M. A. Dhaky
As is well known, it was thanks mainly to the pioneering efforts and consequent findings of Hermann Jacobi that the originality, antiquity, and distinctness of the Nirgrantha religion vis-à-vis the Buddhist, and, together with it, the historicity of Arhat Pārsva—regarded in the tradition as the 23rd Jina in succession-was unequivocally established in Western scholarship. On the 22 Jinas who are believed to have preceded Pārsva, it was largely left to the Indian Nirgranthologists to search out data (which may have bearing upon their identification) in the early Brahmanical and Buddhist literature and speculate about their historicity and, as its consequence, make a few tentative suggestions. The concept of the 24 Jinas, however, does not appear in the earliest Nirgrantha āgmas which, alone of the two surviving major Nirgrantha sects, were inherited by and preserved in the Svetāmbara sect of the Northern tradition. With the sole exception of the Isibhāsiāiñ (compiled c. 2nd-1st cent. B.C.), 4 even Pārśva finds no mention in the earliest āgmas, such as the Acārānga and the Sūtrakrtānga, which doubtless had originated in, and embody the doctrines and monastic discipline adopted and advocated by the sect of the last Tīrthankara, Arhat Vardhamāna. Arya Syāma I (c. 1st cent. B.C.-A.D.) of the Northern Nirgrantha (probably alpacela) tradition, who is reported to have composed, along with three other works, a work on the biographies of the 24 Jinas (and other legendary and quasi-historical great personages), called the Prathamānuyoga, in which very probably for the first time the concept of the 24 Jinas apparently had figured. His second work, the Gandikānuyoga, is also said to have contained some account concerning the same subject. All subsequent accounts on the lives of the 24 Tirthankaras plausibly were based on these two primordial works that were, to all seeming, lost several centuries ago. The Sthānānga and the Samavāyānga, which in their present enlarged version presumably were finalized at the Mathura Synod (A.D. 363), possibly, indeed largely, had used Arya Syāma's works as sources for the biographical details, of course mostly mythical, of the Jinas including Pārsva.? The "Jinacaritra" section of the Paryusanākalpa (A.D. 503/516), in turn, may have depended on the above-cited two āgmas for some traditional notings on Pārsva, which in any case,
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historically speaking, is far from considerable as far as the record goes. The other agmas such as the Vyākhyāprajñapti(c. 1st-3rd cent. A.D.), the jñātādharmakathă(c. 3rd 4th cent. A.D.), and the Vrsnidaśā (c. 3rd 4th cent. A.D.) give a few more details; also, the Avaśyaka-niryukti (c. A.D. 525), the Avaśyaka-cūrni (c. A.D. 600-650), and the Tirthāvakālika-prakirnaka(c. A.D. 550) have recorded some interesting additional particulars about him and at least in one case about a few of his followers. There are likewise a few details recorded in the southern Nirgrantha surrogate āgama, the Trilokaprajñapti(c. A.D. 550 with many tenth century additions). The pre-medieval and medieval caritas of, and poems and hymns addressed to Pārśva (and the pre-medieval comprehensive purānic Digambara work such as the Uttarapurāna of Gunabhadra, C. A.D. 850), had largely depended on earlier sources. They add nothing more of significance except, of course, in some cases, a poetic description of the famous upasarga-episode of Pārsvanatha.
II
The original agama and āgamic works belonging to the sect of Arhat Pārsva, among them were what were called the 14 Pūrva texts, a few of which could have thrown clearer (and perhaps considerable) light on the Jina's biography, are largely lost, assumably for many, many centuries. We are today dependent on what scanty references to him are scattered through the agmas of the alpacela-Nirgrantha sect, in essence and in a small measure preserving also the books of the more ancient acela-Nirgrantha of Arhat Vardhamāna,' and now surviving within the fold of the sacred scripture of the sacela or the Svetambara sect;10 these have been mentioned in the foregoing passages along with some relevant āgamic commentarial works, the latter doubtless were the products legitimately of the Svetāmbara sect." According to all these sources, Pārsva was born in Ikşvāku/Ugra12 dynasty in Vārāṇasī; his parents were king Aśvasena and queen Vamā.13 His height was 10 ratnīs or hastas (c. 15 ft.?), a dimension for human stature which of course lay in the realm of improbability. He was of blue/black complexion.14 At the age 3015, he had renounced the world; had preached till he passed away at the ripe age of 100 on Sammeta (or preferably Sammeda)-saila.16
The Caturvidha-Sangha or the four-fold congregation of the sect of Pārsva, as was to be with Arhat Vardhamana, consisted of munis and äryās (friars and nuns) together with their ganadhara-apostles and the upāsakas or śrāvakas and upăsikās or śrāvikās, lay men and women followers. The Samvāyānga reports that Parsva had eight ganas or cohorts of friars and nuns with corresponding eight ganadharas: 17 the
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Arhat Pārsva and Dharanendra Nexus: An Introductory Estimation
ganadharas by name were Subha, Subhaghoșa, Vasistha, Brahmacārī, Soma, Sridhara, Virabhadra, and Yasa. (The names given in the Sthānănga are the same except for the last two which are Virya, and Bhadrayaśa). 18 The chief leader of the friars was Dinna, while the chief of the nuns or mother superior was Puspacūlā. 19 The principal man lay-votary was Suvrata20 while the corresponding position for the lady lay-follower was held by Sunandā. (The highly inflated figures given in the texts for the numbers of friars, omniscients, nuns, and the lay-votaries need not detain us).21
During his itineraries, Arhat Pārśva is said to have visited Ahicchatrā, Āmalakappā, Arakkhuri, Campā, Hastinapura, Kāmpilyapura, Kauśämbi, Mathurā, and Nāgapura; also Rājagrha, Sāketa and Srāvasti. Beyond these facts, what little is said, is all mythical. Even the date as to when he flourished is, to my sensing, doubtful. Indeed the separation of as many as 250 years envisaged between him and Arhat Vardhamāna22 which would place his date somewhere in the bracket B.C. 877-777 or 817-71723 does not seem to accord with some more tangible facts. For example:
(1) The way Keśi, a patriarch of the sect of Pārsva, is introduced in the opening statement of his dialogue with Gautama, the chief disciple and ganadhara-apostle of Nātaputta Vardhamāna,24 seems to indicate that not many years had elapsed between the two Jinas. Also, the manner in, and phraseology by which Vardhamana refers to Pārsva, which includes “Arahā purisādānīya Pāsa" indicates that he acknowledged Pārśva as senior to him but seemingly not too distant in time from him.
(2) The antiquity of Vārānasi where the Jina Pārsva was born does not go beyond eighth-seventh century B.C. Pārsva, therefore, could not have flourished in the nintheighth century B.C. Likewise, the antiquity of some of the cities he is said to have visited, like Campā, Mathurā, Rājagrha, etc. (if the information is correct), does not go beyond seventh-sixth century B.C. on archaeological evidence. Pārsva, therefore, could not have started his ascetic career before the beginning of the sixth century
B.C.
(3) The late medieval work, the Nābhinandana jinoddhāra-prabandha (A.D. 1337) of Kakka sūri of Ukeśa-gaccha, traces the gaccha's origin in the aforenoted Keśī of the Pārsva's sect, his hagiography given there is as follows:26
Arhat Pārsva
ganadhara Subhadatta
Kesi
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Although the notice is very late, it, too, curiously seems to fit in the present context. Since Pārsva is believed, as per ägamic records, to have lived for a century, it seems plausible that his disciple (or grand disciple?) Kesī must have been his contemporary, at least in the his middle and late years of career. On this showing, too, Päršva may have passed away only a few decades before Vardhamana had started his preaching career. (Kesi was contemporary of ganadhara Gautama and hence also of his preceptor Arhat Vardhamana.)
III
The next question is regarding the monastic discipline formulated by Pārsva and adhered by the votaries of his sect. A point of discussion in the dialogue between Kesi and Gautama (Uttaradhyayana-23) is a clear pointer to the fact that, in Pārsva's church, friars were allowed to wear garments. This is further supported by an endstatement figuring after the dialogue between the Pārsva's follower Käläsyavaiśyaputra and Arhat Vardhamana (as reported in the Vyakhyaprajñapti), when the former ultimately joins the order of Vardhamana: From it, it seems clear that in the church of Pārsva friars did put on a robe: Not only that: They did not remove their hair on the skullcap; also, they used to clean teeth, did not sleep on floor (or ground); they, moreover, used foot-ware as well as an umbrella." In Vardhamana's discipline these somewhat lineant practices were not permitted, and those who embraced his order had to accept a much sterner monastic conduct including the pañcamabavrata vows. Pārsva's discipline being not so strict and rigorous, came closer to the moderate asceticism of the Buddhists, and to some extent also to that of the existing Śvetämbara
sect.
As for the beliefs, doctrines, and dogmas of the Church of Pārsva, some information is available. Pārsva preached caturyama-dharma (called căturyāma samvara in the Buddhist canon), as perhaps was followed also by a few other contemporaneous sects. This fact is referred to in some of the agamas of the sect of Arhat Vardhamana. The most direct evidence of what his other doctrines and beliefs were is recorded in the Isibbasiain, an early and a very important work emanating from his sect.30 Two chapters - the second being an alternative and possibly a little later in date,31 in which Pārśva himself is involved - cast some light on the subject. Pārsva believed in gati or transmigration of soul, in the existence of loka or cosmos, also he spoke about the five primary verities (pañcastikāyas), the eight kinds of karmas and their connection with the gati of soul, and the relationship of gravity on the gati or motion of matter." And already in his sect there is mention of siddha
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Arhat Pārsva and Dharanendra Nexus: An Introductory Estimation
buddha which implies the inherent concept of the ultimate liberated souls.
The other agmas that may still survive from Pārsva's sect are the Süryaprajnapti and the Candraprajñapti, the texts embodying archaic (and now un-valid) astronomical concepts of the Nirgranthas (plausibly developed further in the long lost Lokānuyoga of Arya Syāma (c. 1st cent. B.C.-A.D.). The extant Jambūdvīpaprajñapti (c. 3rd cent. A.D.), the Duīpasāgaraprajñapti(incorporated in the fivābhigama-sūtra, c. 2nd 3rd cent. A.D.), and the Sthānānga's cosmographical information represent their elaborated form. While the 14 Pūrva texts (meaning "anterior" in relation to the texts developed in Vardhamāna's sect), plausibly by their archaic style, concise size, and undeveloped disposition became obsolete and hence for long time lost: their basic content, however, seems to have been preserved and apparently pervade through the fabric of the highly developed and detailed agmas of the Vardhamāna's Church. For example, the extremely difficult exposition involving complex classifications, the aspects of nature as well as the intricate mechanism of the operation of karma noticeable in the Karmaprakrti, the Sataka, and the Sattari of sivašarmā (c. 5th cent. A.D.) in the Svetāmbara tradition and the Șatkhandāgama of the Yāpaniya tradition (now in Digambara fold, c. late 5th or early 6th cent.) probably were based on a primordial shorter Pūrva text such as the Karma-prakrti-prābhrta. The Nirgrantha biological classification of the living beings, notable for its scientific approach, also may have its roots in the Pārsvāpatya sect.
The surviving early works (and the later developed texts based on his original teachings) would lead us to believe that Arhat Pārsva was an ascetic-scientist, a systematic and methodical thinker, though speaking through an archaic mould of style. Arhat Nātaputta, by contrast, was an ascetic-philosopher who, as his original words and phrases (resembling the Upanişadic genre) preserved in the Acārānga I reveal, cared more for contemplating on ātman or 'Self' and its absolute purification from kasāya-passions for making it free from the karma-latancies so as to attain total salvation. Indeed, he was not so much concerned about the scholastic complexities. These latter began to be cared for and developed in highly elaborate form in his sect only from the post-Mauryan times onwards when the need was felt to know the content of the Pūrvas which may by then have been further developed in the post-Pārsva times in his sect whose adherents were progressively absorbed in the Church of Vardhamāna. In the ultimate analysis, it is very likely that, much that the Nirgrantha religion for the past many centuries stands for and preaches is based on the original teachings of Pārsva. Even the well known Nirgrantha methodology of examining the idea or object from four-fold viewpoints, of dravya, ksetra, kāla,
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and bhāva, is also the gift of Pārsva. As a final note, by way of inference, it may be stated that the rite of sallekhanā also comes from him; for he had passed away on the Sammeda Hills, assumably by that rite which apparently had initiated that practice, known and followed till now.
IV
The upsarga-episode of Arhat Pārsva has been nowhere mentioned in the āgamas, not even in the agamic commentarial literature. The episode, of course, is much too well-known, indeed needing no detailed description in the present context.34 Briefly speaking, when Pārsva, after renunciation of worldly life was meditating (on the outskirts of Ahicchatrā35), his past enemy, the tāpasa-ascetic Kamatha, who after his death was reborn as a vyantara demi-god called Meghamālī, conjured up a cloud burst, the fiercely gathering waters were intended to drown the Jina. At this juncture Nāgendra Dharana, to whom Pārsva had shown compassion in the former's previous birth as snake, appeared on the scene, lifted up the Jina from the waters, and protectively spread his five-hooded head as a canopy over him. The myth, which is available in a few versions (differing in detail and intensity of phenomenon) in the pre-medieval and medieval Nirgrantha narrative literature as well as in the sculptural representations, believably had been created for explaining away, in a dramatic manner, the intriguing association of Dharanendra with Pārsva, concretely evidenced. as it is from at least the 1st century B.C.-A.D. The dynamic characters involved in the myth are Kamatha and Nāgendra; Pārsva, lost in deep contemplation, was a neutral figure. The selection of Ahicchatrā as a site of the event in some versions of the myth was of course for reinforcing the idea 'Ahi' or serpent and chhatrā' canopied (by the 'Ahi'). The medieval writers obviously were not aware that the real ancient appellation of the town was 'Adhicchatrā'. From its Prāksta form 'Ahicchattā', by back formation, it was rerendered in Sanskrit as 'Ahicchatrā' which altered the connotation.36
As for Kamatha, the earliest reference to him (without any allusion to the upsargaepisode) is in the Paryanta-ürādhana, 37 probably a pre-medieval Svetāmbara work incorporating several verses which formally, stylistically, and by content seem to be of the seventh-eighth century. The relevant verse says that, thanks to anaśanamaraņa (suspension of aliment unto death), Tāmali was reborn as Iśānendra, bālatapasvī Pūrana became Camara (Camarendra in the nether world), and Kamatha became Kamathāsura, probably a godling in the asura-kumāra or demon class of beings who are believed to be residing in the subterranean quarters. Since Kamathāsura has no other relevance except in the upsarga-episode, it may be
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Arbat Parsva and Dharanendra Nexus: An Introductory Estimation
inferred that the myth was already known to the Svetambaras at this date though nowhere expositioned in their known literature. The earliest Śvetämbara work clearly to refer to the upasarga-tormentation of Pärśva, indeed graphically, is the Caüpannamahāpurisa-cariya of Śīlācārya of Nivṛti kula, the work datable to A.D. 869.38 Kamatha in his incarnation as a demon, is, in this work, called 'Meghamālī' as has been found in some subsequent Svetambara works dwelling on this theme.
Dharanendra, of course, is known to the agamas as well as in the oldest agamic commentaries. His earliest reference figures among the comparisons instituted for Jina Mahāvīra in the "Mahavira-stava" (c. 2nd cent. B.C.) inside the Sutrakṛtānga 1.39 He is next mentioned in several agamas seemingly composed between the 1st-2nd and the 3rd-4th century A.D. in their available versions.40 In some of these works he is specified as the Lord of the Nāgakumāra class of gods. Dharana, obviously, is the Nirgrantha adoption of the Brahmanical 'Seṣa' who supports the globe of the earth on his polycephalous head.41
7
As far as Meghamālī is concerned, he seems to be the Nirgrantha adoption of the Vedic Parjanya or rain-god identified with Indra, particularly in the purāṇic period. The Svetambara version of narration apparently had borrowed a single element from the Kṛṣṇa-Govardhanadhara episode in which Indra inflicted the rain-upasarga on Kṛṣṇa and the inhabitants of the village Gokula.42 No Nagendra is involved there: but, for the Nirgranthas, they had to explain the presence of the nagachatra on Pārsva; hence the hill-motif was replaced by the Nagendra motif and, as a result, the other concerned details differed. Since the shower of rain cannot comfortably be suggested in sculpture, the Svetambara standing images of Parsva (which in any case are not many) do not show the upasarga event. The presence of nagachatra by itself signified here, as it were, the upasarga moments just as it also served to identify Pārśva and distinguish him from other Jinas. (Such images occur in very large number both in north and south India in the acela-Kṣapanaka and Digambara sects, a monumental example of it from Halebid is illustrated here on Plate 2.)
The southern Nirgrantha (Digambara) version is first hinted in the Trilokaprajñapti (c. A.D. 550 with several tenth century additions) and its fuller poetically treated account is first encountered in the Pārśvābhyudaya-kavya of Jinasena of the Pañcastupanvaya order, the work composed in the time of the Rāṣṭrakūta emperor Amoghavarṣa in C. A.D. 820-830 or so.43 Next it figures in Jinasena's disciple Gunabhadra's Uttarapurāna (c. A.D. 850). What is involved, besides the incessant rains, in this southern version, is the throwing of a rock or boulder at Parsva by Sambara, the vyantaradeva who was Kamatha in his previous existence. (While
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Arhat Pārśva and Dharanendra Nexus
Kamatha as tāpasa or Brahmanical ascetic when he was in human incarnation is known to both traditions, the Svetāmbara is unaware of 'Sambara' and the Digambara does not call him 'Meghamālī’.)
The powerful sculptural representations of the southern narrative is first encountered in the vithikā-forelobby of the rock-cut Nirgrantha temples at Aihole (Minabasadi) and Bädāmī (Cave IV), both stylistically datable to c. late sixth century, Afterwards, it was in Tamil Nadu in the ninth and tenth centuries that this representation is again met with as in the Pāndyan cave at Kaļagumalai (c. 9th cent.)--this being the most impressive portrayal of the episode 14—and as carved figural representation in relief on the large boulder faces at Tirakkolas and some other places. 46
A third version is described in the medieval Digambara author Padmakīrti's Pāsanābacariü (Apabhramśa: A.D. 1077) where the full-fledged fury of Kamatha/ Sambara is graphically projected. The demon here conjured up by his magical power a variety of phenomena, now to frighten, now to lure away Pārśva from his meditation, the narration doubtless is strongly reminiscent of the Māravijaya episode of Buddha.47 Sambara here virtually assumes the role of Māra unknown in the main Svetambara version and only partially appearing in the Digambara narratives as in the Puşpadanta's Uttarapurāņa (Apabhramsa: c. 10th cent.) and Vadirāja's Pārsvanātha-caritra (A.D. 1025). Padmakirti's version, however, finds a close correspondence, indeed strong anticipatory echoes, in several rock-cut sculptural representations in the halls' forelobbies in Ellora Nirgrantha caves (c. 9th cent. A.D.),49 in two similar looking steles in the Pārsvanatha temple in Humca of the śāntara period (c, 10th cent.) in Karnataka, 50 on an image from the collections of Indian Museum (Plate 1: c. late 9th cent.), 1 and a few examples from Eastern India. 52
The upasarga-narratives and corresponding representations doubtless are interesting even when they are somewhat imitative since they follow the paradigms, in one case of the earlier Brahmanical and in the other the Buddhist mythical narrative. In the Nirgrantha context they reflect later perceptions on, and closely corresponding verbal and graphic interpretations for clarifying the association of Pārsva with Dharanendra. Although earlier literary narrative on the upasarga-myth is today unavailable, its sculptural representations of late sixth century in Karnataka anticipate an earlier oral (and perhaps written) tradition. However, much before that, Pārsva images are met along with Dharanendra, but without the upasarga-details. What, in those early days must the motive/notion be of this association, remains unrevealed. Here U.P. Shah's guesses seem to best accord, or more likely, even are pertinent as explanations since more rational. As he has pointed out, the nāgachatra
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Arhat Pārsva and Dharanendra Nexus: An Introductory Estimation
may be a totemic symbol, and a signifier possibly of the links of Pārsva (his ancestors?) with the Nāga tribe.53 In any case, there exists plenty of archaeological evidence for the nāga worship in north India from the pre-Mauryan times through the early centuries of Christian Era, and in South, particularly in the Sātavāhana-Iksvāku periods when steles depicting polycephalous nāga figure were worshipped. The legend of the Mucalinda-Buddha in the Pāli canon and the missing (or unreported) early legend in the Pārsvanātha context in the Ardhamāgadhi canon may have derived from the common cultural millieu of the pre-Christian Era times. This, ultimately, is a problem on which perhaps a cultural anthropologist (equipped also with the knowledge of early Indian socio-religious conditions, history, literature, and archaeology) may be able to shed further light.
ANNOTATIONS
1. For discussion, see Walter Schubring, The Doctrine of the Jainas, reprint, Delhi 1978, pp. 28-31. 2. Cf. Pt. Kailashchandra, Jaina Sábitya kā Itihasa Purvapīthikā (Hindi), Vārāṇasi V.N. 2489 (A.D.
1962), pp. 107-83; and Pt. Dalsukh Malvaniya, "Prastāvanā", Jaina Sahitya kā Brbad Itihasa
(Hindi), pt. 1, Vārāṇasi 1966, pp. 21-27. 3. For example the Acāränga Book I (c. early 5th-3rd cent. B.C.), the Sūtrakstānga (c. 4th-2nd cent.
B.c.), the Daśavaikälika (c. 4th-2nd cent. B.c.), and the Uttarādhyayana (c. 3rd cent. B.C. to B.C.
1-2nd cent. A.D.). 4. Here I have used the Mahāvīra Jaina Vidyalaya edition, the text incorporated within the compi
lation Painnayasuttăim, pt. 1, Jain Agama Series No. 17, Bombay 1984, pp. 181-256. The text uses material, a larger portion of which pre-dates the compilation itself by a few centuries, and at least three chapters therein may even go to the times close to Pärśva, Vardhamāna, and the
Ajīvika Mankaliputra Gośālaka. 5. For detailed discussion, see Muni Punyavijaya, "Prathamānuyogasaśātra ane tenā Pranetā Sthavira
Arya Kalaka" (Gujarāti), Jnananjali, Bombay 1960, pp. 122-29. The other three works of Arya śyāma were the Gandikānuyoga, the Lokānuyoga, and a bunch of Sangrahanis. The well-known Caturvinsati-stava, one of the six āvasyakas incorporated, since c. fifth century A.D., into what is called the Avašyaka-sūtra, may have been the inaugural (nändi or mangala) hymn of the Prathamānuyoga on the analogy of a convention, though somewhat late, of the Caturvimšatistava figuring in the Nandi-sūtra of Deva Vacaka (c. A.D. 450), the Paümacariya of Vimala Suri (c. A.D. 473) as well as in its augmented Sanskrit version, the Padmacarita of the Yāpaniya author?) Ravişena (A.D. 677), the Harivamsapurāna of (the Yāpaniya?) Jinasena (A.D. 784) of Punnāta
Sangha, etc. 6. Punyavijaya 1960, pp. 124-25. 7. For details, see Pt. Dalsukh Malvaniya, Sthànănga-Samavāyānga (Gujaräti), Ahmedabad 1955,
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index, p. 945. My examination of the Sthānanga and the Samavāyānga texts has revealed that, stylistically speaking, only very small portions now survive therein, particularly in the Sthānanga, of the period of the Pāțaliputra Synod (c. 300 B.C. ). The rest largely embodies the highly developed material extracted from the āgamas and iso-āgamic works composed between the 1st cent.
B.C. to early 4th cent. A.D. 8. A few centuries after Arhat Vardhamana, the friars, under some compulsions now not clearly
known, had started using (while walking in public?), a piece of cloth (colapattaka?) for concealing their private parts (as truthfully demonstrated by the figures of male ascetics carved on the pedestals of the Jina images from Mathurā of the Kuşăņa period); they also kept a small gocchakabroom and a single bowl to which sanction apparently had been accorded in the late Mauryan and post-Mauryan monastic rules of the Northern tradition. Thus had derived, from the original acela-Nirgrantha sect of Nātaputta Vardhamāna Jina, the alpacela-Nirgrantha sect. Most of the existing post-Mauryan to Saka-Kuşāna period ägamas apparently had originated within the fold
of this sect. 9. An earlier portion of the Acārānga Book I, the larger portion of the Sūtrakrtānga Book I, and
a little less than half the number of chapters in the Uttarādhyayana-sútra plausibly had belonged to the sect of Arhat Vardhamana. Other chapters in the above-noted agamas together with the larger portion (Chapters 3-10) of the Daśavaikālika-sútra are somewhat later, the composer of the sutra's surviving original portions was Arya Svayambhūva (For details see my paper, "The Earliest Portions of Daśavaikälika-Sūtra," Researches in Indian and Buddhist Philosophy (Essays
in Honour of Professor Alex Wayman), Delhi 1993, pp. 179-93.) 10. There are the Süryaprajñapti, the Candraprajñapti; the larger part of the Brhadkalpasūtra reflects
the rules consistent with the monastic discipline of Pārsva's sect. 11. The svetāmbara as svetapatta sect is first referred to in the Paümacariya of Vimala Súri and in
one of the copper-plate charters of the Kadamba king Mrgeśavarmā (c. last quarter of the fifth century AD) in Karnataka. From the alpacela-Nirgrantha, it was gradually taking shape since at least c. fourth century A.D. through the friars who had eventually turned abbatial monks (caityavāsisādhus) in Lāța (southern Gujarat) and Valabhi area in western Surastra. Whether this was due to the impact, in theory, of the monastic discipline of the surviving Pārsvāpatyiya or the monks of the sect of Pārsva, or was it thanks to the optional monastic rules which permitted wearing
clothes and small essential possessions given priority, needs further investigation. 12. "Ugra" in the southern tradition: (Cf. Trilokaprajnapti 4.) 13. For the details on the sources, see the entry "Pāsa" in the Agamic Index Vol.I Prakrit Proper
Names, pt. 1 (Comp. M. Mehta and K.R. Chandra), L.D. Series No. 28, Ahmedabad 1970, pp. 45253. (According to the southern sources, the name of Pārsva's mother was Brāhmi: Cf. Padmapurana 27 (A.D. 677); and Harivarśa-purāna 60 (A.D. 784); for further details, see Jinendra Varņi, Jainedra Siddhanta kośa, pt. 2, Bhāratiya Jñānapith, New Delhi 1992, p. 380) The explanation offered by the Āvašyaka-niryukti for the appellation "Pārsva" is doubtless unlikely. It states that the Jina's mother in a dream saw a crawling cobra close to (pārsva) her bed and hence the boy-prince, after his birth, was named "Pārsva." (In such an event the appellation "Pārsvanāga" would have
sounded more in accord!) 14. "Dark" in the southern tradition. "Blue" colouration for human skin is only imaginary; "dark",
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Arbat Parsva and Dharanendra Nexus: An Introductory Estimation
as stated in the southern sources, seems a more accurate description since realistic. 15. Vardhamana, too, in his dependable biographical records, is reported to have renounced the world at the age of 30. Curious coincidence!
16. The genuine or original Sammeda-sikhara (called in the Svetambara Sanskrit works 'Sammetasaila') is not the one identified with the famous Pārsvanatha Hill near Hazārībāg in Bihar but the hill known as Kuluva-pahaḍ near Gaya as attested by the remains of the medieval Jaina antiquities there including a fragmentary inscription mentioning "Sammeda .....". (The source from which I got this information is at the moment not handy for citation.)
17. See Malvaniya, Sthānāṁga-samaväyānga, p. 719. Some of these names could be genuine. 18. Ibid.
19. Puşpaculă has been referred to in a few other agamas as well. See Mehta, Agamic Index, Vol. I, pt. 1, p. 468 for references.
20. Ibid.
21. The Nirgrantha numerical conceptions as reflected in the writings, at least from the beginning of the Christian Era, in fact from the days of Arya Syama onwards, reflect megalomania and pampalomania (unbridled flair for antiquity). The limitlessly inflated computed figures shown in these writings often fall in the realm of superhuman and super-astronomical. 22. The Avasyaka-bhāṣya, 17 (c. mid 6th cent. A.D.) so records: (Mehta 1970, p. 453).
23. These alternative dates are due to two different ways of computing Vardhamana's date of nirvana, which, as firmly believed in the tradition, is 527 B.C.; but 477 B.c. as computed by Jacobi after removing the needlessly interpolated 60 years of Palaka's régime in the former figure and adding a decade more as a correction, seems more realistic.
24. See the chapter "Kesi Gautamiya," in the Uttaradhyayana-sutra (chapter 23): Eds. (Late) Muni Punyavijaya and Pt. A.M. Bhojak, Jaina-Agama Series No. 15, Bombay 1977, pp. 207-27.
11
जिने पासे त्ति नामेनं अरहा लोगपूजिते
संबुघप्पा य सव्वन्नू धम्मत्थिकरे जिने ॥ १ ॥
तस्स लोगप्पदीवस्स आसि सीसे महायसे ।
केसी कुमारसमने विजा-चरणपारगे ॥ २ ॥
Stylistically, the date of this versified narrative would lay in the first century A.D.; however, it seems to preserve the old authentic memory of an event of Vardhamäna's time. (It does not strike as a "mock fight"!)
25. Cf. The Vyakhyāprajñapti-sütra, ed. Pt. Bechardas J. Doshi, Jaina-Agama-Series No. 4 (Pt. 1), Bombay 1974, pp. 227, 228; Ibid., p. 447.
26. The Nabbinandanajinoddbåra-prabandba (2. 135, 136), ed. Pt. Bhagvandas Harakhchand, Ahmedabad V.S. 1985 (A.D. 1929), p. 38.
27. For the episode of the Parsvapatya Kālāsyavaiśyaputra's joining the church of Vardhamana and what procedure he then had followed, C the Vyakhyaprajñapti, pt. 1, Bombay 1974, p. 67.24. 28. The Svetambara friars, however, do not use shoes or umbrella; they, however, permit a few other
things including a variety of wooden containers based perhaps on the Vyavahāra-sūtra.
29. The reference to catujjame-nigganthe in the Parsva's chapter and elsewhere in the context of the statements by a few other Arhats in the Isibhāṣiyāiñ is a clear proof of it. (For the Isibhaṣiyāin text, I have used the text figuring in Painṇayasuttāyim, Bombay 1984, pp. 181-255. For the cātujjāme
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Arbat Pårśva and Dharanendra Nexus
nigganthe, see there the reference on p. 232. It is likely that both these chapters formed the Purva
related works.) 30. See Isibhāsiyāiñ, Bombay 1984, pp. 230-33. 31. As stated there, it is an extract from the Gati-vyakarana-grantha, a chapter concerning the
exposition of transmigrational motion. (For detailed discussion on Pārsva's monastic discipline
and some of his doctrines, see here the following Sagarmal Jain's paper.) 32. These are ākāśa (space), dharma (ether), adharma (gravity), pudgala (matter), and jīva (soul). 33.
उध्धगामी जीवा अधेगामी पोग्गला। कम्मप्पभवा जीवा,
परिणाम पभवा पोग्गला। (Isibhāsiyāin, Bombay 1984, pp. 231, 232.) That Isibbasiyāiñ is not the text of the sect of Vardhamana is clear from its relatively different and obviously earlier agamic style of exposition. Also, in the earliest agamas of the Church of Vardhamāna, Vardhamāna Jina is given a prominent position: He has been addressed there as Nātaputta, Kaśyapa, maharşi, muni, mahāmuni, vīra, etc. and finally a whole hymn is addressed to him in the Sütrakrtänga calling him for the first time 'Mahavira' and proclaiming him as omniscient (sarvjña-sarvadarši). Nothing of this sort is noticeable in the Isibbasiyāin. It is respectable to, and considerate of the views of many sages of other sects as in a few examples inside the Sütrakrtănga. Also, the material of the Pārśva chapters is quite archaic and impresses as authentic. Such intense awareness on Pärsva's teachings is nowhere noticeable in the agamas of the sect of Vardhamana. (On the subject of Pārsva, there is some useful additional material in Pt. Dalsukh Malvaniya's paper, "Mahavira Samayanā Pārsvāpatyo" (Gujarati), Jaina Prakāśa, Utthana Mahaviranka, V.S.
1990 (A.D. 1934). 34. For details extracted from the biography of Pārśva by different authors collected by M. Mody and
discussed on comparative basis, see U.P. Shah's paper in this volume. 35. Only a few texts mention this as a place of the incident. 36. Identified with Ramnagar in Bareily District, U.P. 37.
तामील ईसाणिंदो बालतपस्सी विपूरणो चमरो।
अणसणमरणपभावा कमढो कमढासुरो जाओ ॥ ८३१ ।। (In the Painnayasuttais, pt. 2, Eds. Punyavijaya Muni and Pt. A.M. Bhojak, Jaina-Agama-Series
No. 17 (Pt. II), Bombay 1984, p. 75.) 38. Ed. A.M. Bhojak, Prakrit Text Society Series No. 3, Ahmedabad-Vārāṇasi, 1961, pp. 266-68. 39.
जथा सयंभू उदधीन से? नागेसु या धरणिंद माहु सेढे खोतोदगे वा रसवेजयंते
तवोवधाने मुनिवेजयंते ॥२०॥ (Ed. Muni Jambūvijaya, Jaina-Agama-Series No. 2, Bombay 1978, chap. 6, p. 66.) 40. For example in the Vyākhyāprajñapti, the Jivábbigama-sūtra, the Prajnapana-sutra, the Sthänänga
sūtra, and the Jñätädharmakatha. Details about these references are not so relevant in the present context.
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Arhat Pārśva and Dharanendra Nexus: An Introductory Estimation
13
41. Since the earth is not spherical but discoidal in Nirgrantha concept, the central Jambūdvipa and
the surrounding ring-formed oceans alternating with ring-formed mega-continents in transfinite number take its place, a function such as of Seșa for Dharanendra has no place in Nirgrantha
cosmography 42. U.P. Shah as well as M.N. Tiwari have so suggested. See their respective papers in this volume. 43. It was believed that this poem by Jinasena, since admired in one of the Harivamšapurāna's verses
figuring there after the inaugural hymn, was composed before A.D. 784, the date of the selfsame purāna. Those verses, in reality, had been later interpolated. (For details see my paper in Hindi, "'Daksiņātya Paramparā ke kucha Grantho ki Aitihāsika Samaśyāyen", Sandhāna, Vol. V, Varanasi
1992, pp. 15-29.) 44. It has appeared in several publications, the most complete and the best reproduced is in C.
Sivaramamurti, Panorama of Jain Art, Bombay 1983, frontispiece. 45. Cf. K.R. Srinivasan, "South India", Jaina Art and Architecture, ed. A. Ghosh, Bharatiya Jnanpith,
New Delhi 1975, plate 133. It is of the Pallava period, plausibly ninth century. 46. Cf. Sivaramamurti, Panorama, Kiļakuyilkudi (Pāndya, 9th cent.), Fig. 85; Citral (c. 9th cent.), Fig.
94, etc. 47. For details, see here U.P. Shah. 48. Vädirāja involves Padmavati also in his narration. See again U.P. Shah. 49. See here M.N. Tiwari's paper. 50. See my paper, "śāntara Sculpture", Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art, New Series, Vol.
IV, (1971-72), plates XVII-XX. 51. This image has been variously dated by different scholars between the Gupta period and the tenth
century. I have tentatively suggested late 9th century but it could be somewhat early. Again, about its provenance, there is no unanimity. While it is believed to be originating from Bihar, Amar Singh places it in Madhya Pradesh. It could as well be from Uttar Pradesh. The image has been
published in several different publications by different authors. 52. See here D.R. Das's paper. 53. Vide here U.P. Shah's remarks in his paper here.
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Arhat Pārśva and Dharanendra Nexus
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Plate 1 Plate 2
Upasanga of Pārsvanātha, Indian Museum, Calcutta, c. late 9th century A.D. Halebid (Bastihalli), Pārsvanātha temple, mülanayaka image of Pārsvanātha, A.D. 1133. (Founder dandanayaka Boppadēva, son of Gangarāja, prime minister of Hoysaļa Vişnuvardhana.)
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THE TEACHINGS OF ARHAT PĀRÁVA AND THE
DISTINCTNESS OF HIS SECT
Sagarmal Jain
Among the Nirgrantha Tirthankaras, the historicity of Arhat Pārsva as well as of Jina Vardhamana Mahāvīra has been fully established. Inscriptional and literary evidence play an important role in establishing the historicity of a person. The earliest inscription relating to Pārsva, of the 2nd or 3rd century A.D.,' has been found from the Kankāli Țilā, Mathurā. It is inscribed on an image of Pārsva which was installed by Ghosaka, a disciple of Gani Aggahiniya of the Sthāniya-kula of the Kottiya-gana, a sub-order of friars and nuns also noticed in the hagiological list (earlier part, c. A.D. 100) of the Paryusaņā-kalpa (compiled c. A.D. 503/516). Though uninscribed, a more than life size sculpture of Pārsva (upper part mutilated)3 and a tiny figure of Pārśva as the central focus of an āyāgapatta, both stylistically datable to the period of the saka king Sodas (c. early 2nd cent. A.D.)," prove that Arhat Pārsva was venerated in, and arguably before, that period. A metal image of Pārśva in the Prince of Wales Museum, variously dated between the 2nd-1st cent. B.C. to c. 2nd cent. A.D., is one more early piece in evidence.
The inscriptional as well as the literary references to the Nirgranthas, however, are met with from c. third century B.C. The term "Niggantha" is mentioned in the inscription of Maurya Aśoka and is fairly frequently met with in the Pāli Tripitaka (usually, of course, in hateful and denegatory terms) though this cannot be taken as a conclusive evidence for the earlier church of Pärśva because the term Niggantha by then also had included the sect of Mahāvīra. In point of fact, the Pāli canon confounded a few views and teachings of these two historical Tirthankaras. As demonstrated in the early days of the Nirgranthic researches by Jacobi,8 in the Tripitaka it is said that Niggantha Nātaputta (Mahāvīra) preached căturyama-samvara, while in point of fact the preacher of the căturyāma-dharma was Arhat Pārsva and not Mahāvīra according to the Ardhamāgadhi canon of the Nirgranthas themselves.' Mahāvīra preached five-fold great vows (pañca-mahāvratas) and not the căturyāmasaṁvara.
What we today can know about the teachings of Arhat Părśva and the distinctness of his sect from that of Jina Vardhamāna is only through the available Ardhamāgadhi
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canon preserved in the Northern Church of Mahāvīra, because the ancient church of Parsva was later progressively absorbed in the former and the records and texts relating to its hagiology and history are long lost.
Nirgranthologists like Pt. Sukhlal Sanghvi and others were of the opinion that the Purva literature (so often mentioned in the canonical literature from the late Kuṣāṇa period onward) had belonged to Pārsva's tradition." At present, however, no texts of that category or specification exists. Today, insofar as our knowledge of Pārsva's teachings and traditions goes, we are dependent on the canonical literature of Mahāvīra's tradition, and, to a very small extent, on the Pali canon of the Buddhists as well.
16
In the Ardhamägadhi canon, the Istbbästyäin (Rsibbaṣitani)" the Acaranga, the second book the Sutrakṛtānga," the Vyakhya-prajñapti," the Jñātādharma-katha,15 the Uttaradhyayanal and the Raja-Pradesiya," the Narakavalika," and the Sthānanga" reveal some significant references to Pārśva, his teachings as well as traditions. In the Uttaradhyayana," the Samavayanga," the Avasyaka-niryukti,22 the Višeṣāvasyaka-bhāṣya of Jinabhadra gaṇi kṣamāśramaņa," the Avasyaka-cūrṇī” and in the Paryuṣaṇā-kalpa2 as well as in the Mülacăra of the Yapaniya Church there are references to some distinctive (and hence distinguishing) features of the sects of Pārsva and Mahāvīra.
On Pärsva's life and the history of his times and of his sect, scanty material is traceable in these works; yet it is significant that they contain sufficient material pertaining to the ethical teachings and philosophical doctrines of Pärśva. They also firmly point toward the distinctness of Pārsva's sectarial tradition from that of Vardhamana.27
The Teachings of Pārsva in Isibbasiyāin
The earliest and authentic version of Parsva's philosophy and teachings is encountered in the Isibhästyäin (Rṣibhāṣitāni), a text compiled c. 1st cent. B.C. but often containing material that goes back to c. 4th century B.C., some even perhaps earlier. In a separate article,29 I had suggested that the Isibhāsiyāiñ, in terms of some of its content, is earlier than the whole of Pali as well as the Ardhamāgadhi canonical literature excepting of course the first book of the Acaränga. M.A. Dhaky opines that this text belongs to Pārsva's tradition. I, however, hold a different view. In my opinion the text, in earlier times, might have been composed in Pārsva's tradition as an independent text, but later on it was assimilated in the Prašnavyākaraṇasūtra which is considered to be one of the ten Dasa texts as well as the tenth work among
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the 11 Anga-books of Mahāvīra's tradition.
The Isibhāsiyāiñ has an independent chapter on Pārsva's doctrines and teachings.30 The authenticity of the Pārsva's view presented in this chapter cannot be doubted for various reasons. First, the Isibhāsiyāiñ contains the teachings not only of Pārsva but also of Arhat Vardhamāna of the Nirgrantha Church, Mankhali Gośāla of the Ajīvaka sect; Vajjiyaputta, Mahākassapa, Indranāga and Sāriputta of the Buddhist Church, and Yājñavalkya, Asita-Devala, and Uddālaka-Aruņi of the Vedic tradition. When we compare the views of the aforesaid saints mentioned in the Isibhāsiyāiñ with the texts of their own traditions, we notice general similarity between them, which by and large proves the authenticity of the content of the Isibhāsiyāiñ. If the author of the work in presenting had remained faithful to the original teachings of the ysis or teachers of the other sects, we must conclude that he also was faithfully presenting the views of Pārsva. Second, we find that the teachings of Pārsva presented in the Isibhāsiyāiñ corresponds to that which is stated of Pārsva's church in other canonical works like the Sūtrakrtānga, the Uttarādhyayana, and the Vyākhyā-prajñapti. Third, the authenticity as well as high antiquity of the Pārsvachapter in the Isibhāsiyāiñ can also be supported on the ground that this chapter is represented by its two separate versions. It is said that the second version of this book originally was found in the text named Gati-vyākarana i.e. the Praśnavyākaraņa. The reference thus runs:
गतिवागरणगंथाओ पमिति जाव सामित्तं इमं अज्झयणं ताव इमो बीओ पाढो दिस्सति
The views of these two versions of the same chapter fully correspond to each other with slight difference in content and to an extent in language, a few details figuring more in one than in the other. Thus, at a very early date, two versions (vācanās) of the same subject had existed. This chapter contains philosophical as well as ethical views of Arhat Pārsva. First of all, in this text, the views of Pārsva about the nature of the world are stated. To explain the nature of the world the following five questions were raised:
(1) What is the nature of the world (loka)? (2) What are the different planes of the world? (3) To whom the world belongs? (4) What does one mean by (the term) "world"? (5) What is the meaning of the term loka?
Answering these five questions Arhat Pārsva said:
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(1) The world consists of the animate beings and the inanimate objects. (2) There are four different planes of the world:
(i) Material (dravya) (ii) Spatial (kşetra) (iii) Temporal (kāla)
(iv) Existential (bhava) (3) World inheres in selfhood. It exists by itself. In the perspective of comman
deering position the world belongs to animate beings but in the perspective of its constitution, it belongs to both animate and the inanimate. As for the existence of the world, it is eternal, with neither the beginning nor the end but is ever changing and (thus) dynamic in nature. While explaining the meaning of the term loka, it is said that this world is called loka, because, it is known or experienced or recognized. (The Sanskrit term lokāyata means to be known or to be recognized.) To explain the nature of motion the following four questions have been raised: (a) What is motion or gati? (b) Who meets this motion? (c) What are the different forms of motion?
(d) Why is it called gati, motion? Answering these questions about the motion Arhat Pārsva said: (a) Any motion or change in existence in animate and in the inanimate
beings is called gati. (b) Animate and inanimate (substances) encounter motion or change. This
change is of four types: substantial, spatial, temporal and existential. (c) The existence of movement or change is also perennial with no begin
ning or end. (d) It is called gati because it has motion. About the karma philosophy and the moral teachings of Arhat Pārsva, it is thus recorded: 1. The animate beings possess an upward motion by their inherent (abstract)
nature, while the matter has a downward motion by its intrinsic nature (inertia). The animate beings reap the fruits of their deeds according to their good or bad) karmas or activities, while the changes in inanimate substances take place due to their dynamic nature.
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19
The animate beings are activity-oriented, the inanimate substances are changeoriented or dynamic in nature.
The animate beings have two types of experience, of pain and pleasure. Only those who can get rid of violence and other evils including wrong viewpoint will have the feeling of bliss. A Nirgrantha, who eats only inanimate things, will meet emancipation and thus will end the transmigratory cycle,
In the second version of this chapter the following additional concepts are also mentioned: (1) The motion is of two types: (i) self-motivated and (ii) generated by external
factors. (2) Whatsoever a person experiences, it is due to his own, and not due to other's
deeds. (3) Those who observe the cãturyāma (the fourfold ethical code beginning with
non-violence and ending with non-possession) will be free from the eight-fold
karmas and will not be reborn in the four yonis or generic categories. The essence of the doctrines and ethical teachings of Pārsva as embodied and expositioned in the Isibhāsiyāiñ may be thus summarized:
(i) The world is eternal with no creator behind it. (ii) Permanence in change is the essential nature of the world. World is
dynamic in disposition. It consists of the five astikāyas, existentialities. (iii) Substances are of two kinds, animate and inanimate. (iv) The animate possesses an upward motion; the inanimate (by law of
gravity), downward motion. (v) The motion is of two kinds: (a) self-motivated and (b) directed by
external factors. (vi) The gati or transmigratory motion of animate beings is due to their own
karmas, while the motion of matter is due to its own dynamic nature
and inertia. (vii) The karmas are of eight types. (viii) Evil and non-restraint activities consequence in pain and in the cycle
of births and deaths. (ix) Those who indulge in passions and violence cannot achieve the eternal
peace and bliss. (x) Liberation can be achieved through the observance of four yāmas, self
restraints.
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Teachings of Pārśva in other Canonical Works
In the Sūtrakrtānga, the Uttarādhyayana, and the Vyākhyā-prajñapti, we find some explanation of, or minute observations on, what is broadly stated in the Isibhāsiyāiñ. In these texts the views of Pārsva are presented by the followers of Pārsva and not by Parsva himself. It is in the Isibhāsiyain alone that the original version of Pārsva's teachings is directly and implicitly present. Elsewhere we meet with Pārsva's views by proxy, through the discussions between the followers of Pārśva and that of Mahāvīra or in a few instances by Mahāvīra himself.
In the Sūtrakrtānga,31 for instance, is incorporated a conversation between Gautama and Udaka-Pedhālaputra, the follower of Pārsva, on the nature and language of the pratyākhyāna-vow of non-violence. In this long discussion Udaka-Pedhālaputra stressed on a technical point that, while taking the vow of non-violence, one must frame it in the language that "I shall not kill the being, who is presently in mobileform (trasa-bhūta) instead of saying 'I shall not kill any mobile being". Similarly, in the Vyākhyāprajñapt82 some observations relating to the difference in minutiae about the nature and meaning of the terms sāmayika, the pratyākhyāna, the samvara, the viveka and the vyutsarga have been made during the discussion of Kālāsyavaisyaputra, the follower of Pārsva and some sthaviras of the Mahāvīra's following.
In the VyākhyāprajñaptP3 we come across a very interesting and pinpointed discussion between the lay-followers of Mahāvīra and the śramanas of Pārśva's tradition on the outcome of restraint and penance. It had been questioned: If the outcome of restraint is to stop the influx of fresh karmas and of penance to liberate the soul from the kārmic bondage, then why the souls are born as devas in the celestial regions? To this question different answers were given by the śramanas of the Pārsva's church. At last Kaśyapa said it is due to the adherence to pious deeds such as penance and restraint that the souls are born as devas in celestial quarters. In the Uttaradhyayana?4 we also come across an interesting dialogue between Gautama and Keśī on aspects relating to the monastic disciplines and spiritual practices; as a result, some distinctive features of Pārsva's teachings surface.
Distinctness of Pārsva's Sect Pārśva as well as Mahāvīra belonged to the Nirgrantha section of the śramanic traditions which had several similarities in doctrines, philosophy, and religious practices. So far as the philosophical aspect of their teachings is concerned, the traditions of Parsva and Mahāvīra have much in common. Scholars of Nirgranthology like Pt. Sukhlal Sanghvi and others are of the opinion that the Mahavira's sect has
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considerably borrowed from that of Parsva in the field of metaphysics and karma philosophy." The concepts such as the world is eternal as well as dynamic, that it exists by itself and has no creator are common to both traditions. The concept. of permanence in change as the nature of Reality, which is the foundational tenet of the later Nirgrantha doctrine of anekantavada or non-absolutism is also met with in its embryonic form in, and in point of fact is central to, the teachings of Pārsva as well as Mahavira. Similarly, the concept of the five astikayas and the eight-fold karmas are found in the philosophy of Pärśva as well as Mahavira. We encounter brief references to these concepts in the Pärśva-chapter of the Isibhätyäin and more detailed ones in the standard canonical works of Mahavira's tradition.
21
Similarly, the concepts of åsrava, samvara, nirjarà, sämayika, pratyakhyāna and pausadha are also common to both traditions, though there were some differences in the minutiae of these concepts and observances. The difference in opinion about the nature of pratyakhyāna between Gautama and Udaka Pedhälaputra in the Sutrakṛtānga has been earlier noticed. Similarly, the differences in terms of detail on the practices are noticed in the relevant dialogues in the Vyakhyaprajnapti and in the Uttaradhyayana also. However, these differences were related mostly to the code of conduct and not to the doctrines, philosophy, and principles of ethics as such. The distinctness of Pärsva's sect lies in its code of conduct, and not in dogma or philosophy, since it somewhat differed from that of Mahavira. We shall notice and discuss at this point the distinctive features of the Pärśva's tradition.
(1) Pārsva propounded câturyama-dharma, while Mahavira preached the pañcayama-dharma or the five mahavratas. According to the Ardhamägadhi canon, Mahavira added celibacy as an independent vow to the caturyama-dharma of Pārsva. The Sutrakṛtänga mentions that Mahavira prohibited having woman, and eating during night hours.37
The question arises: Why did Mahāvīra add celibacy as an independent vow? The answer to this question can be read in the Sutrakṛtänga. In the times of Pārsva, woman was considered a property or possession and it was taken for granted that prohibition of possession implied the prohibition of sexual relationship, for no one can enjoy the woman without having her. But, as the Sutrakṛtānga informs, in the time of Mahavira, there were some påsatthà (wayward) śramanas, who believed that the prohibition of possession did not imply (or include) the prohibition of sexual enjoyment. "If any woman invited or offered herself for enjoyment to a sramana, than the fulfillment of her sexual desire was no sin, just as the squeezing of a blister or boil (causes relief) for some time (and has no dangerous conse
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quences); so it is with (the enjoyment of) attractive (woman). How could, then, there be sin due to that ?"38
From this stanza it follows that some śramanas were interpreting the concept of non-possession in their own way. It only meant that, for the one who takes the vow of non-possession, cannot have a wife or woman. So it became necessary for Mahavira explicitly to add celibacy as an independent vow and to lay considerable stress on the observance of this vow.
If we contemplate this question historically, we notice that the ancient Vedic rşis used to marry and had had progenies. After that state in life, on the one hand is followed the concept of vānaprastha, in which a rşi did have a wife but observed celibacy; on the other hand, as informed by the Nirgrantha canonical literature, there were śramanas who were of the view that to enjoy a woman without possessing or getting her married was no sin: which is why Mahāvīra included in the fold a separate, clear, definite and uncompromising vow of celibacy.
In Pārsva's tradition, repentance was not accepted as an essential daily duty. Only when a monk committed sin or transgression of his vows may he repent. But Mahāvīra made repentance an obligatory daily-duty. A monk must repent every morning and evening whether he committed a sin and violated his vows or not. In the Sūtrakrtānga39 and in the Vyākhyāprajñapti40 as well as in other canonical works of Mahāvīra's discipline it is known as pratikramana-dharma.
One more difference in monastic practice was that Pārśva did not lay stress on nudity; he rather allowed one or two apparels for his monks (who thus were sacelaka), while Mahavira stressed on nudity and so Mahāvira's tradition was known as acela-dharma. Though the medieval commentator of the Uttarădhyayana holds that Pārsva allowed his śramaņas to wear expensive or coloured robe,“ we possess no early textual support for such an assumption.
These three were the main features distinguishing the monastic code of conduct of Pārśva and that of Mahāvīra. Along with these three major differences, there also were some minor differences which are found in the concepts of the ten kalpas or planes of asceticism.2 For instance, in Pārsva's tradition a monk could accept the invitation for food and also could take food prepared for him; but Mahāvīra forbade this practice. Pārsva allowed his monks to accept the meals prepared for the king; Mahāvīra prohibited it. In Mahāvīra's tradition it was vital for a friar (or nun) to move from one place to another, except during the rainy season: Also, an ascetic, he had said, must not stay at one place for more than a month. But, according to Pārsva's tradition, a friar could stay at one place as long as he wished. In short, to
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keep on wandering was essential in Mahāvīra's but was optional in Pārsva's disciplinary code. Again, Mahāvīra had stressed that an ascetic must stay on at one place during the four months of the rainy season; in Pārsva's tradition this practice was also optional.
According to Mahāvīra an aspirant to friarhood must be initiated probationally. After this testing period, if he is proven eligible, then he may be allowed to be ordinated second time and his seniority was fixed accordingly in the Order or Samgha.
These are some of the distinctive features of Pārsva's philosophy, teachings, and monastic discipline as can be traced out from the early literature. The belief that all Jinas teach the same code of conduct, and that the ascetics of the Pārsva's Order had become wayward by Mahāvīra's time receives no support from the evidence locked in the earlier canonical books.
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1. See Epigrapbia Indica, Vol. X. Appendix. A list of Brāhmi Inscriptions S.N. 110, p. 20. 2. Kalpasūtra 216. In the various inscriptions of Kankāli Țilā, Mathurā, we have two readings about
this kula of the Kottiya-gaņa: (1) Thāniya-kula (2) Sthāniya-kula. While in the Kalpasūtra we have
a third reading, Vāņijja-kula. 3. Preserved in the Government Museum, Lucknow. 4. This date is after the recent researches by Gritli v. Mitterwallner. 5. Cf. U.P. Shah, Studies in Jaina Art, Varanasi 1955, plate 1, fig. 3. 6. Me Kate ime viyāpata hobonti ti niganțbesu Pi — Inscription No. 7, line 16, Delhi-Topara
Inscription 7. See G.P. Malalasekere, Dictionary of Pali-Proper names, Vol. II, London 1974, pp. 61-65. 8. Hermann Jacobi, Jaina Sutras, Part II, (S.B.E. Vol. XLV), Introduction, p. xxi. 9. (A) Caüfjñame niyanthe - Isibhâsiyāiñ, 31.
(B) Cauijāmo ya jo dhammo jo imo pamcasikkio - Uttaradhyayana 23/12. 10. See Pt. Sukhalal, Cara Tirtharkara (Hindi), (sec. edn.), Varanasi 1989, pp. 141-43. See also
"Introduction", the Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XXII, p. xliv. 11. Isibhāsiyāin, 31. 12. Acaranga II, 15/25. 13. Sūtrakrtānga II. 7/8. 14. Vyākhyāprajñapti 1/9/21-24; 2/5/95; 5/9/254-255. 15. Jñātādharma-kathā 2/3/1-6. 16. Uttarādhyayana 23. 17. Rajapradesiya 2/3.
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18. Narakāvalikā (Niryāvaliya-sutra) 3/1. 19. Sthānanga 9/61. 20. Uttarādhyayana 23/12-13; see also commentary of Santyācārya for these verses. 21. Samavāyānga 8/8, 9/4, 16/4, 38/1, 100/4. 22. Avaśyaka-niryukti 238 and 1241-1243. 23. Višeşāvašyaka-bhāşya. 24. Avašyaka-cūrni. 25. Paryūṣanā-kalpa (Kalpa-sutra) 148-156. 26. Mülācāra. 27. See Arbat Pārsva. 28. Isibbasiyāiñ, 31. 29. See Sagarmal Jain, Rishibhasit: A Study, Jaipur 1988. 30. Isibbasiyāiñ, 31. 31. Sūtrakrtānga II, chapter 7th. 32. Vyākhyāprajñapti 10.9. 33. Ibid., 2.5. 34. Uttaradhyayana 23. 35. See Cara Tirthankara for detailed discussion. 36. Uttarādhyayana 23/12. 37. Se vāriyā ithi saraibhattam-Sūtrakstānga 1/6/28. 38. Ibid., 1/3/4/9-10. 39. Ibid., 2/7/81. 40. Vyākhyāprajñapti 1/9/123. See also Avašyaka-niryukti 1241. 41. Uttarădhyayana 23/12. See also śāntācārya's ţikā on the above verses. 42. See (a) Avasyaka-niryukti, 1241-1243.
(b) Brhat-Kalpa sūtra-bhäsya, 6359-6366.
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JINA PĀRÁVA IN JAINA CANONICAL LITERATURE
Dalsukh D. Malvaniya
After surveying the available Nirgrantha canonical literature, I am convinced that the biography of Jina Pārsva was in a continuous process of growth and consequently reflects stages of development. In the earliest canonical work like the Acāra Book I (c. 5th-3rd century B.c.) and the Sūtrakrta Book I (c. 3rd-1st century B.C.), no reference to Jina Pārśva is noticeable. Only in the Vyākhyāprajñapti (c. 2nd-3rd century A.D.) do we find a reference to him as a "respected person (arabā, arbat)" designating him also as winsome (puruşādānīya)'. Therein his view on the cosmos or universe (loka) is reported to be shared by Jina Mahāvīra.? Earlier, in the Rsibhāṣitāni (compiled c. 2nd-1st century B.C. from earlier sources), Pārsva is included among the 45 rsis. Correspondingly in the text are 45 brief chapters on these rşis's sayings and aphorisms, hailing as these holymen are from the Vedic, the Buddhist, the Ajivika and the Nirgrantha traditions. Pārsva here is included, alongside Vardhamana (Jina Mahāvīra), as an arbat. In the later notices concerning the Rşibhāṣitāni, these teachers are recognized, several of course wrongly, as Pratyeka-Buddhas for Pārsva, Mahāvīra, and Gośāla were a little later recognized as tirthankaras or Founders of Church, the last two also noted that way in the Buddhist literature. Moreover, most of them are designated as arabă or arhat, a Vedic term which originally was commonly applied to all great men and was not the sole prerogative of the Nirgranthas (or for that matter Buddhists either) as it lately had become.
In Pārsva's sayings in the Rşibhāṣitāni (Ch. 31), the theories about the cosmos (loka) and the transmigration (gati) are discussed where it is clearly mentioned that the conscious beings (sīvas) and non-living verities (ajīvas) constitute the loka. Loka is without the beginning or the end, and is subject to change or modification (pārināmi). Loka is amenable to viewing from four standpoints or aspects: substance (dravya), region (kşetra), phenomenic time (kāla) and sentience-reaction (bhāva). The conscious beings, jīvas, are abstract in form. Jivas are mentioned as sublimatory (urdhvagāmi), and matter (pudgala) as being gravity-bound (adhaḥgāmi). It is also noted that the present state of the jivas or beings depend on karma and that of the pudgalas on consequential change, pariņāma.
The Nirgrantha is mentioned as madāi or eating things that possess no life, and is a person who is without the next birth. Pārsva also refers to the eight types of
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karmas (without naming them) and the five universal verities (pañcāstikāyas, also without further elucidation). The well-known principal doctrines of the Nirgranthadarśana are thus rooted in the teachings of Pārśva as deducible from the notices in the Rşibbāșitāni. However, nothing here is said about his life.
In the Sūtrakrta Book II (c. 3rd century B.C.-1st century A.D..), the Vyākhyāprajñapti, the Rājaprasenīya (c. 1st century-3rd century A.D.), the jñātädharmakathā (c. 2nd3rd century A.D.) and the Acara Book II (c. 1st century A.D.) refer to the followers of Pārsva; since I have discussed the concerned particulars elsewhere, I here shall omit enlarging upon this subject.
Mention of some of the particulars of Pārsva's life story is first found in the "Jinacaritra" section of the famous Paryusaņā kalpa (compiled c. A.D. 503/516); but, there too, we do not find the biographical narrative as such but only the reckoning of a few basic personal particulars. In point of fact, in the Paryuşaņā-kalpa, the chapter concerning the lives of the 24 Tirthařkaras were added later, the time by which the concept of the 24 Tirthankaras was a settled fact, (The Paryusaņā kalpa, which actually is an elaboration of a small section of the Daśāśruta-skandha olim Acaraprakalpa, is traditionally held to have been written by Arya Bhadrabahu, 170 years after the Nirvana of Mahāvīra (about 300 B.C.). In the Paryusaņā-kalpa the following facts about Pārsva are noted: 1. For his five kalyānakasauspicious occasions such as cyavana (transmigra
tion for taking the new birth), janma (birth), niskramana (renunciation), kevala (omniscience), and nirvana (liberation) — Viśākhā is noted as the constellation for each of the kalyānaka-occasion. The following dates are given for the above-mentioned five Kalyānakas: (1) Cyavana - Caitra Krsna 4 in the womb of Vāmā, the consort of Aśvasena, king of Vārāṇasī; (2) Janma — Pausa Kysna 10; (3) Diksă - after 30 years in Pausa, Kysna 11 with 300 other persons; (4) Kevala – Caitra Krsna , 4; and (5) Nirvana -- at the age of 100 years on Śrāvana sukla 8. According to non-āgamic notices, Pārśva endured the upasargas or sufferings but whether through mortal or divine agency is not mentioned though on the basis of the pre-medieval and medieval narrative literature it may be inferred that the tormentations inflicted by Kamatha probably were implied. Names of his eight ganadharas or chief apostles have been mentioned. The number of his disciples - friars and nuns — is mentioned. Some 1230 years had passed since his nirvana when the "Jina-caritra" was codified. (This would correspond to 813 B.C. according to the tradition of 527
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B.C. for the date of the nirvana of Mahavira, or 753 B.c. if the Vira-nirvana took place in 477 B.C. as Jacobi had reckoned.)
An attempt at the reconciliation of the Church of Mahāvīra with the Church of Pārsva is recorded in the Uttaradhyayana-sutra. (This chapter [23], in my opinion, is anterior to the formulation of the conception of 24 Tirthankaras).
The belief about the sequence of the 24 Tirtharkaras is first met with in the Caturvimśati-stava (c. 1st century A.D.) - one of the six āvaśyakas- and next in the Samavāyanga (24) (present version c. A.D. 363). There, Pārśva finds mention before Mahāvīra as last but one Tirthankara. Some more information about Pārsva (along with that of the other Jinas) is also found there as well as in the Sthănānga (likewise enlarged c. A.D. 363). (For detailed information inside these two agamas, one may refer to my Sthānanga-Samavāyānga, 696-745).? Here I must add that some of this information in the Sthānănga and the Samavāyānga possibly may have been extracted from an earlier source like the Prathamānuyoga of Arya Syāma I (c. last quarter of the 1st century B.c.). And the Paryusaņā kalpa may have used the same source or the Sthānanga and the Samavāyānga, or perhaps all the three.
The jñātādharma-kathā II (c. 3rd 4th century A.D.) deals with the female disciples of Pārśva but, from the description, they happen to be of lax character (vis-à-vis, of course, the stern and strict practices enjoined in the Church of Arbat Vardhamāna Mahāvīra.)
Though the Paryusanā-kalpa does not mention, the earlier source Ācārānga II.15.25 (Bhāvanā) mentions that the parents of Mahāvīra were the follower of Pārsva (Pāsāvaccijjā, Pārsvapatya). It must, however, be noted that the Avaśyakacūrņi (c. A.D. 600-650), which treats the life of Jina Vardhamāna Mahāvīra at some length, does not so report.
In the Païņņaga or the Prakīrņaka list of the Samavāyānga (p. 943) are quoted some sangrahani-gāthās in which the personal appellations in the previous births of the 24 Tirtharkaras are mentioned and in that Sudamsaņa (Sudarśana) is the name of Pārsva's in his penultimate birth. Seemingly, this païnnaga part had been somewhat lately added to the Samavāyānga.
The first attempt to give some general information on the 24 Tirthankaras is found in the Avaśyaka-niryukti (198, C. A.D. 525; see also the Višeşāvasyaka-bhäsya, 1636). About five decades earlier, it had been noted in the Paümacariya (c. A.D. 473) as well.
Here we are concerned with the narrative on Pārsva's life, and as far as my knowledge goes, Jinasena's Pārsvābhyudaya-kavya (c. A.D. 825 or after A.D. 815)
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is the earliest to have been written on this subject, the next being the Uttarapurāņa of Gunabhadra (c. A.D. 850). These two Southern Nirgrantha works apparently are the source for most of the later narrative works in South on the legendary life of Pārsva.
From all these references it is clear that a direct mention of Dharanendra's nexus with Pārsva is first met with only in the Nirgrantha-Digambara purānas and not in the Northern Nirgrantha canonical works nor in their exegetical literature. 10 The only Northern work which says that Pārśva and Mahāvīra alone of the Tirthankaras had to encounter the upasarga-tormentations. This is the Sattari-saya-thāna (Saptatisata-sthāna); and it is a medieval work, indeed fairly posterior to Southern Nirgrantha notices.
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1. Bhagavatī-sūtra (Angasuttāni, Vol. II), 5.255; 9.122, Ladnun V.S. 2031 (1975). 2. Ibid., 5. 255. 3. Isibbasiyāin, ch. 31, L.D.S. No. 45, Ahmedabad 1974. 4. See Intro. to Isibhāsiyāiñ, 1. 5. "Mahāvīra Samayanā Pārsvāpatyo", (Gujarāti), Jaina Prakāśa, Utthāna Mahāvīranka, V.S. 1990
(1934 A.D.), 46. 6. Kalpasutra, 148-160, 4th edn., ed. Devendra Shastri, Udaipur 1985. 7. Published in the Arga Suttani, Vol.I, Delhi V.S. 2031/A.D. 1975. See note 1. 8. Included in the Viseșāvasyaka-bhāsya, Vol.II, L.D. Series Vol.14, Ahmedabad 1968. 9. Cf. Madhusudan Dhanky (M.A. Dhaky), "Dakṣiṇātya Nirgrantha Paramparā ke Kucha Granthon
ki Aitihāsika Samasyāyen", Sandbana, V (1992), 15-19. 10. See the word 'Dharana" in Mohanlal Mehta, Prakrit proper names (L.D. Series No. 28), Ahmedabad
1970; and "Dharaṇendra” in the Jainendra Siddhanta Kośa (Bharatiya Jñāna Pītha), New Delhi 1992.
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THE HISTORICAL ORIGIN AND ONTOLOGICAL
INTERPRETATION OF ARHAT PĀRSVA'S ASSOCIATION WITH DHARANENDRA
U.P. Shah
Arhat Pārsva-Jina Pārsvanātha-is reported in the "Jina-caritra” of the Paryusanakalpa (PK) (C. A.D. 503/516) to have flourished 250 years before the nirvana of Mahāvīra. He is reported there to have spent his first 30 years as a layman and after that led the life of an ascetic for 70 years and attained nirvāṇa on Mt. Sammeta. According to the PK (149 ff), Pārsva was born as a prince, as son of king Aśvasena and queen Vāmādevi in the city of Vārāṇasi. No explanation is given there for the appellation Pārsva, nor there is any mention of a snake by the side of the queen mother in her dream or in waking state as recorded in the medieval works of the Northern Nirgrantha tradition which purport to deal with his (mostly legendary) biography. Nor Pārsva's association with Dharanendra is referred to in the PK. According to the PK (159), “The bhagavān (Arhat Pārsva) passed 83 day-nights in meditation on Self on the way to liberation ...... on the 84th day-night, ..... under the dhätakı-tree, ....... while in meditation, he attained the total cognition and conation, kevala." The austerities practiced and the hardships suffered by Mahāvīra and Pārśva are described in almost identical terms and there is nothing in the PK account indicative of the episode of Kamatha who had attempted to obstruct Pārśva in meditation. (Pārśva's austerities before his attaining Kevalajñāna are of course mentioned therein, vide 157-159.)
Pārśva was an historical personage; but, as Schubring puts it, “what else we are told of him in Jinac. 149 f. is merely a copy of Mahāvīra's biography with the exception that Pāsa is said to have been born in Benares and to have died on Sammeya mountain in Bihar. Nor do we learn anything of importance of Pāsa's role from Nayādb. II.1, and Puppha. 1.3. (What in Isibhās. 31 is given as his utterance has no individual character). But he is attested as a historic personality by other passages in rendering his teaching and reporting on his followers. Mahāvīra's parents are said to have belonged to Pāsa's lay-followers (Pasāvaccijjā samanovāsagā, Ayara., II.15.16.) and in his life-time — as is confirmed by the SammaññaphalaSutta of the Digha-Nikāya - there have been teachers (P. ijā therā bhagavanto, Viy. 134b., 247b.) and monks (anagāra, Viy. 99a, 439a) in accordance with Pāsa's
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intentions ..... Pāsa was obviously of a winsome nature, for he bears the constant title of purişādānīya which seems to be the oldest precursor of the modern occasional title of Lokamānya, Deśabandhu, Mahātman etc...." (The term purişādānīya is often translated as the "beloved one", or as the "celebrated one".)
Pārsva and his disciples are noticed in some agamas and āgamic commentaries. For instance the Āvaśyaka-cūrņi incidentally mentions several ascetics of the Pārsva sect, who were there during the course of Mahāvīra's wanderings as an ascetic. Uppala was a Pāsāvacciijā (disciple of Pārsva), who, after giving up the monastic order, had entered the house-holder's life and lived in Atthiyagāma. His two sisters, Somā and Jayanti, had joined the Order of Pārsva, but, being unable to live the stern ascetic life of his Order, became Parivrājikās of the Brahmanical Order.2 Municandra, a follower of Pārsva, dwelt in a potter's shop in Kumārāya-sanniveśa in company of his disciples. Asked by Gosāla (as to who they were), Municandra had replied that they were Samaņa Nigganthas. Mahāvīra told Gośāla that they were the followers of Pārsva. Vijayand Pagabbhā (Pragalbha ?), two female disciples of Pārsva (passāntevāsino) rescued Mahāvīra and Gośāla during their predicament in Kuvīyasanniveśa.
Pārsvanātha is said to have visited a number of cities, prominent among which were Adhicchatrā,5 Amalakappa , Srāvasti, Hastinapura, Kampilyapura, Sāketa," Rājagļha and Kaušāmbī.' Buddhist texts refer to the existence of a large number of Niganthas who followed căturyāma samvara.' The Vyākhyāprajñaptı10 records a discussion that took place between Mahāvīra and Sramana Gāngeya, a follower of Pārsva in Vānijyagrāma. Gāngeya gave up the catujjāma-dhamma and embraced the Pañcamabāvrata disciplinary vow of Mahāvīra. Kālāsyavaiśyaputra, also a follower of Pārsva, became a follower of Mahāvīra. The Jñātādharmakatha refers to Pundarīka who plucked out his hair and accepted the four vows. The city of Tungiya is stated to have been the centre of theras (sthaviras) who were followers of Pārśva and who moved in a congregation of 500 monks. Names of some of these theras mentioned are Kaliyaputta, Mehila, Anandarakṣita, and Kāśyapa. 12 The Sūtrakstāngal3 mentions Udaya Pedhālaputta, a Nirgrantha follower of Pārsva, of the Meyañña (Maitreya) gotra. Gautama Indrabhūti had discussions with him after which Gautama took him to Mahāvīra where he gave up the doctrine of four restraints (of Pārsva) and took to five great vows as ordained by Mahāvīra. The Rāja-Praseniyali refers to a kumāraśramana Keśī who was a pontiff or patriarch of the Pārsva's Church and knew 14 Pūrvas. Keśī visited the town of Srāvasti in a congregation of 500 monks. Later Kesi visited svetāmbi where a discussion took place between him and king Pradeśī who
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afterwards became a follower of the (Nirgrantha) śramana. Possibly he is the same Kesi who had had the historical meeting with Gautama, the ganadhara of Mahavira, in Śrävasti, as reported in the Uttaradhyayanasūtra (23).15
In none of these references to Pärśva, to his teachings, and to his followers do we find any reference to the upasarga of Kamatha to Pāršva, nor do we meet with any specific reference to, and explanation of Pārsva's association with Dharana, the lord of the Nägas. This association is first met with in the images of Pārsva from Mathură (c. 1st or 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D.); also in an early much corroded bronze from Causa hoard (c. 2nd-3rd cent. A.D.), and in an early metal image of Parsva in the Prince of Wales Museum which I have assigned to c. 2nd-1st century B.C. But there is no evidence that the images of Parsva or any other Tirthankaras existed in the age of Mahävira and his ganadharas. No mention of a worship of, or to the temples of Jinas is found in the older strata of the available Nirgrantha canon.
In the Nirgrantha canonical literature, we for the first time come across references to the previous births of each of the 24 Tirthankaras in the Samavāyānga-sūtra (157/11-14). Accordingly, in the previous birth, the soul of Pärśva was called Sudarsana. PK does not refer to any previous birth of Pārsva and only says that Pārsva descended into his mother's womb from the Pränata Kalpa (heaven). The Digambara cosmographical work, the Trilokaprajñapti (c. mid-6th cent. A.D.), too, follows this tradition. According to Ravişena, the author of the Padmacarita (A.D. 676) (20.35), Pārsva descended from Vaijayanta heaven. In his previous birth he was called Ananda, son of Vitasoka Damara of Saketa. Modi in his Introduction to his edition of the Digambara Padmakirti's Pāsanabacariü (S.S. 999/A.D. 1077) has given an interesting Table (on pp. 33-36) giving comparisons of the main details of the nine previous existences of Pärśva from the Uttarapurana of Gunabhadra (c. mid9th cent. A.D.), the Apabhramsa Mahapuraṇa of Puspadanta (c. 865-874.), SriPārsvanatha-carita of Vädirājā (A.D. 1025), and Siri-Pasanabacariü of Padmakirti (A.D. 1077) Digambara authors all -next Siri-Päsanabacariya of Devabhadra Süri (Sve. A.D. 1111), Hemacandra's Trişaşṭisalākāpuruşacarita (Sve., 3rd quarter of the 12th century), Pasacariya of Kavi Raidhů (Dig., 15th cent. A.D.) and Pārsvanathacaritra of Hemavijaya Gani (Śve., 17th cent. A.D.). The differences among them are only on a few points and are mainly about the names of the parents of Pärsva's previous births or about the heavens from which Pärśva descended in different births and the names of Parsva in some of his earlier births. Modi has given an analysis of the various details in the life of Pärsvanätha as reported in the above texts. The study shows that there are two different traditions concerning the life of
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Pārsvanatha and of his previous births, the Southern or Digambara (also perhaps Yapaniya) and the Northern or Svetämbara. Whereas the Svetämbara accounts mainly follow the tradition of Devabhadra, the Digambara accounts often follow Gunabhadra. But there are some differences in the tradition of the Uttarapurana and of the Padmacarita of Ravişeņa as well. (I omit giving details; those have been already given by Modi.) Modi's study brings out one salient fact: Detailed accounts of the life of Pārsvanatha and his previous existences have originated possibly after c. 4th century A.D. These perhaps were based on some earlier traditions not yet traceable. But there is at present no explanation for the absence of the account of Kamatha even in the relatively later strata of the Northern canonical texts.
Both Digambara puranas and the Svetämbara caritas give elaborate descriptions of the upasargas caused to Parsva in meditation by a demi-god who in his previous existence was the soul of Kamatha, the younger brother of Marubhūti, who was the soul of Parsva in the earlier existence of Pärśvanätha. According to the Uttarapurāṇa, the Mahapuraṇa of Puspadanta, and the Pasacariya of Raidhu, this demi-god was called Sambara. Vädirāja has called him Bhūtānanda. In the Svetambara tradition, in the Pasanabacariya of Devabhadra, the demi-god is Meghamālin. The Digambara Padmakirti, too, in his Pāsanabacariu calls him Meghamālī, an "Asurendra".
32
It is indeed difficult to say when this tradition of the upasarga caused by the demigod had started. The total absence of the depiction of this episode in the sculptures from the Kankali Ţilä, Mathura, probably suggests that the belief came into currency some time after the Kuṣāņa period, perhaps not long after the fourth century A.D. An elaborate sculpture depicting this episode preserved in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, supposed to have originated in U.P. or Bihar, is often assigned to the Gupta age on account of the carving reminiscent of Gupta art. But the figure of the snakequeen holding the umbrella is clearly post-Gupta in character, reminding as it also does one of the Buddhist representations of the attack of Mära. As the material evidence goes to indicate, it cannot be earlier than the later part of the sixth century A.D. (For illustration see Panorama of Jain Art, figs. 38-3916 and the frontispiece of my recent book, the Jaina Rūpa-Mandana, Vol. 1)." Elsewhere I have published various sculptures depicting this episode of Kamatha's attack, from both northern and southern India in a paper entitled "A Pārsvanatha Sculpture in Celeveland Museum".18 Dhaky has published two beautiful and elaborate sculptures from Karnataka in his article on the Santara sculptures. 19 I need not go in the details of these sculptures since some of the participants in this Seminar have discussed them region-wise. A study of almost all sculptures depicting this incident shows that the
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earliest datable are: (1) the Indian Museum sculpture referred to above and assigned to c. late sixth century; (2) the relief panel in the Aihole cave assignable to c. A.D. 60020 and (3) the large panel in the Jaina cave (No. IV) at Bādāmi assignable to the end of the late sixth century A.D.21
Kamatha (also called Katha)-tāpasa who was reborn as Saṁvara or Sambara (Dig.), or Meghamāli (Šve.), tried hard to shake Pārsva from his trance. For seven days he poured heavy rains, made terrifying sounds and hurled rocks at him. To frighten Pārśva he conjured up lions, scorpions, terrific Vetāla-genii and ghouls who spit fire from their mouths. But the great sage, unaffected by these harassments (upasargas), remained steadfast in meditation. Dharaņa, the Indra of the Nāgakumāra gods, remembering the good turn done by Pārsva in his previous āśrama, came to his rescue. Standing behind the Jina, the Nāgendra held a canopy of his seven hoods over the Jina's head in order to protect the Lord from rains, bombardment of rocks, etc. Dharana's chief queens (four) staged dance with music before the meditating sage but the great sage was equally unmindful of the pleasure of music and dance and of the pain inflicted by Sambara or Meghamālī. His villany going fruitless, the lord of the demons relented, and bowing down before the Lord, seeking as he did the Jina's forgiveness, returned with remorse to his celestial abode. It is said that Meghamālī had so much flooded the area that the water level rose up to the tip of the nose of Pārsva and that Dharanendra, wrapping his coils all around the body of Pārsva and holding the hoods as a canopy over the sage's head, had lifted up the body of Pārśva above water.
According to both sects, the Jina Pārsvanātha was dark-blue in complexion and had the snake as his cognizance, lāñchana. Hemacandrācārya as well as Ašādhara (c. 2nd quarter of the 13th cent. A.D.) have made it clear that the lāñchanas are (the symbols on) the dhvajas of the Jinas. Thus the snake was originally the heraldic sign of Pārsvanātha. Does it suggest Pārsvanātha's intimate association with the race or tribe that had the Nāga as its totem or symbol? Or, did Pārsva himself belong to the Nāga race or tribe? According to the Svetāmbara tradition, the Jina was called Pārsva because his mother had seen, in dream, a cobra by her side (Pārsva) during the period of confinement.22
When Pārsva grew up, he once saw an ascetic (tāpasa), variously called Katha, Kadha, or Kamatha, practicing penance called pañcāgni-tapa, by burning logs of wood in four groups in four directions around him and the fifth fire being the scorching sun above. In one of the logs was a pair of snakes which was being burnt alive. Pārśva rescued the snakes and remonstrated the ascetic who was no other
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than Kamatha, the soul of the younger brother of Pārśva in his previous existence as Marubhūti. The snake couple, half burnt, died immediately after prince Pārsva chanted before them the Namaskāra-mangala and were reborn as Dharanendra (Indra of the Nāgakumāra class of Bhavanavāsī gods) and his queen (called Padmavati in medieval texts). In the Pāsanābacariya (3, p. 167), Devabhadrācārya speaks of only one snake, and he was reborn as Dharanendra after death. The Digambara texts speak of a pair of snakes. However, in the Pāsanābacariü, 13.11. pp. 111-12, Padmakirti speaks of only a single snake saved by Pārsva.
Both sects agree in stipulating cobra as the dbvaja or lañchana of Pārsvanātha and generally represent five or seven snake-hoods as a canopy over the Jina's head. In the images of Pārsvanātha the snake cognizance is shown on the pedestal and often the coils of the snake's body are shown behind the body of Pārsva either standing or sitting in meditation. The snake-hoods as well as the coils suggest Nāgendra Dharana protecting the body of Pārsvanātha.
It may be recalled that Supārsvanātha, the seventh Tirtharkara, is also said to have a canopy of snake, but having either one, three, or nine hoods over his head. But no known account explains the presence of cobra-hoods over Supārsvanātha's head. The difference in the number of hoods help differentiating the images of Pārśva from those of Supārsva. But no canonical allusion in this matter is known. Amongst the earliest known images, all known heads of sculptures with snakehoods are identified as Pārsva because of seven snake-hoods shown. This would show that the late medieval written tradition and modern belief that the stupa of Kankāli Țilā was of Supārsva seems unreliable. In all likelihood that was the stūpa of Pārsvanātha.
However, as I have shown in the Jaina Rupa-Mandana, the reliefs of Pārsva at Aihole and Bādāmī show five snake hoods and not seven. Technically speaking, all Jina figures with snake-hoods overhead, with coils of a snake behind the body and below the seat of the Jina (as in a sculpture at Rājgir), should certainly be identified as representing Pārsvanātha on account of the legend of Dharaṇendra protecting Pārsvanātha from rains etc. during Kamatha's attacks.
Another way of differentiating images of Pārsva from those of Supārsva is to take help of the cognizance wherever it is shown, because the cognizance of Supārsva is the symbol Svastika and not the snake. This further lends doubt about the original association of snake with Supārsva.
The much corroded early bronze of Pārsva from Causā hoard (now in Patna Museum)23 seems hardly later than the first century A.D. This figure has seven snake
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hoods. The standing Pārsvanātha bronze in the Prince of Wales Museum (which I still maintain that it is not later than c. first century B.C. against the views of Moti Chandra and Sadashiv Gorakshakar),24 has the snake-hoods partly mutilated but they suggest that the figure had a canopy of five snake-hoods. Since the body of the Dharana Nāga is shown at the back of this figure there is no doubt that the image represents Pārsvanātha.
From all that has hitherto been said, it is obvious that there is no early literary or archaeological evidence before c. A.D. 400 to support the prevalence of the belief in the upasarga by Kamatha. However, as is clear from the earliest available examples, the association of the Näga with Pārśva is definitely older and possibly has some historical or an early mythological basis of which we as yet know nothing.
But even here we have some interesting comparable material from the Brahmanical and Buddhist sources. I have earlier shown close correspondence between the representations of Kamatha's upasargas and those of the assault of Māra on the Buddha.25 At the end of the attacks both Buddha as well as Pārsva got enlightenment, the supreme wisdom. Both themes have been popular in Indian Art,26 but as yet we have not been able to discover any representation of Kamatha's attack which is earlier than, or even contemporary with, the known earliest Buddhist representations concerning the assault of Māra. Both Svetāmbara as well as the Digambara pre-medieval and medieval literary sources give graphic accounts of the upasarga by Kamasha. For a comparison with Buddhist accounts the following few passages may be noted:
(1) TeilrechEmath HETZIEHYGRYTI
व्यधात् तथैव सप्ताहान्यन्याँश्च विविधान्विधीः । महोपसर्गात्शैलोपनिपातानिवान्तकाः ॥ तद्ज्ञात्वावधिबोधेन धरणीशो विनिर्गत्तः । धरण्याः प्रस्फुरद्रत्नफणामंडपमंडितः ।। भर्तारमस्थादावृत्य तत्पत्नी च फणाततेः । उपर्युच्चैस्समुद्रधृत्य स्थिता वज्रातपच्छदम् ।
-JIRYTUT, 73.137.41.
(2) Also see, Pārsvanāthacarita of Vădirāja, X1.57-87. (3) The upasarga, by Dharanendra (soul of Kamatha) is very elaborately described
in Padmakirti's Päsanābacariü, sandbi 14, pp. 117-32.
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बहु-विह-वण्ण पओहर पवर-मणोहर गयण-मम्मि थिर णिम्मिय ? जक्ख-रक्ख सुर णरवर गह-गण विसहर जोयवि णह-यले विभिय 1॥ पच्चंड-गरुअ-दूसह-रवेण णवि झाणहां चांलिंड मारुवेण । तें तकखणि पहरण कोडि-लक्ख किय कर-चलि भासुर दुण्णिरिक्ख । सर झसर सत्ति सव्वल विसाल मुग्गर भुसुंढि पट्टिस कराल । रेवंमि फरिस घण कणय चक्क पजलंत जिणिंदहो सयल मुक्क । जिणवरहो चित्तु अविचलु णिएवि सुर-विलय-रुड असुरे मुरवि । दक्खवि हुआसणी धम-धमंतु चउ-दिसिहिँ असेसु वित्तरु उहंतु । हुववहु णहे पसरंतउ दाहु करंतउ रत्त-वण्णु-दुप्पेच्छउ । जिणवर-सलिल-पवाहें अविचल-भावें भाविउ तुहिण सरिच्छउ ॥ उवसमिउ हुवासणु ज रउदु असुरेण पयासिउ चं समुदु । छुडु छुडु जिण-चलणाहिँ उवहि पत्तु आवंतु महंतु जवेण मुत्तु । तव-किरणहिँ डवहि खणंतरेण सोसिड असेसु जिण-दिणरयेण । मच्झत्यु णिराउहु गय-कसाउ जं चलिउ ण जाणहो वीय-राउ । तं असुरु विरुध्दड किलि-किलंतु कोहाणल जालहिं पञ्जलंतु । उध्दाविउ सावय दक्खवंतु बहु-विविह-सद्दु भीसणु लवंतु । सद्दूल-सीह-णंगूल पवर खग साण रिछ उम्मिण्ण-णहर । अहि अजयर सूअर महिस चंडे दीहर-कर मयगल महिस संड । पेक्खनि परमेसंरु भद-विमुकु सावय-रउद्द-उवसग्गु चुक् । असरिदे दारुण दुह-विसावू आढत्त पण वि उवसग्ग-जाल । वेयाल-भूय-जंभय पिसाय पेयाहिव विंतर गरुव-काय । डाइणि गह पण्णय गरुड जकख कुंभंड वाण दक्खिय असंख
(4)
And Vadiraja:
पापाचारस्य दुश्चेष्टामुद्वीउच चरिचक्षुषा । पद्मावत्या समं देवमुपंतस्थौ फणीश्वर ॥ तस्य विस्तारयामास स धैर्यस्तवपूर्वकम् । स्फुरन्मिणिरुचिस्फास्फुटामंडलमंडपम् ॥ आविर्बभूव देवस्य तत्अणादेव केवलम् । अनन्यशरणास्तदा प्रभुमुपेत्य बध्दाञ्जलिर्जिनेन्द्र जगतांपते जय जयाभिरक्षति माम् । ननाम मुकुटोल्लसन्मणिभिरुल्लिख
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नुर्वरां जगन्दगुरूं रिपुर्विबोधलक्ष्मीनिधिम् ॥
At Aihole, Bādāmī, Kalugumalai, Tirakkol, and Ellorā, we find Kamatha repenting and kneeling before Pārśvanātha, the sculptures range in date from the late sixth to the late 9th century A.D.
(४) श्रीपार्श्वनाथमुद्रोतुं भेत्तुमद्रिमिव द्विषः ।
समाययौ अमर्षान्धो मेघमाली सुराधमः ॥ दंष्ट्राकच भीमास्यान श्रृण्याकारनखांकुरान् । शार्दूलांन्पिंगलदृशो विचक्रे तत्र सोऽमरः ॥ पुच्छैराच्छोटयामासुर्भूपीठं ते मुहुर्मुहुः । चक्रुर्बत्कारमुच्चैश्च मृत्योर्मन्त्राक्षरोपम् ॥ विकृतास्येन चापेतुर्गर्जन्तो मदवर्षिणः । उत्कराः करिणस्तुभाः पर्वता इव जंगमाः ॥ हिक्कानादापूर्णदिक्का भल्लूका: शूकवर्जिताः । अनेकराश्चित्रकाश्च क्रूरा चमवसूजिभाः ॥ शिला अपि स्फोटयन्तः कंटकाग्रेण वृश्चिकाः । तरूनपि निर्दहन्तो दृष्टया दृष्टिविषा अपि ॥ वेतालान्कर्त्रिकाहस्तान्स विधुतईवाम्बुदात् । उच्चैः किलाकिलारावानुद्दंष्ट्रान् व्यकरोत्वत्तः ॥ प्रलम्बजिह्वशिशनास्ते सविसर्पा इव द्रुमाः । दीर्घजंघाङ्मयस्तालद्रुमारूढा इवोच्चकैः । प्रभुस्तैरपि नाक्ष्युभल्लीनो ध्यानसुधाहृदे ॥ विशेषेण ततः क्रुद्धो मेघमाल्यसुरः स्वयम् । मेघान्विचक्रे नभसि कालरात्रिसहोदरान् ॥ स्वानी रत्नशिलास्तम्भ इवांभस्यपि निश्चलः । नासाग्रन्यस्तदृग्ध्यानान्मनागपि चचाल न ॥ आनासाग्र भावदंभः श्रीपार्श्वस्वाभिनोऽभवत् । धरणस्योरगेन्द्रस्यासनं तावदकम्पयत् ॥ धरणः स्वामिनं नत्वाऽधस्तात्तत्पादयोर्न्यधात्? उन्नालमंबुजं तुंगं केवल्यासनंसन्निभम् ॥ पृष्ठपावर: पिदधे स स्वभोगेन योगिराट् । फणैश्चसप्तभिच्छत्रं चकार शिरसि प्रभोः ॥ धरणेन्द्रमहिष्योऽपि श्रीपार्श्वस्वामिनः पुरः ।
37
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विदधुर्मीतनृत्यादि भक्तिभावितचेतसः ॥ ध्यानलीनः प्रभुश्चास्थानिर्विरोषो द्वयोरपि । नागाधिराजे धरणे मेघमालिनि चासुरे ॥ तत्र प्रभोः गर्भस्थे सति शयनीयस्था माता पार्श्वे सर्पन्तं कृष्णसर्प दर्श ततः पार्थेति नामकृतिः । स्पृशति ज्ञानेन सर्वभावानिति पार्श्वः । तथा गर्भस्थे जनन्दा निशि सर्पो दृष्टः इति गर्भानुभावोयमिति मत्वा पश्वतीति निरुक्तत्वात्पार्श्वः । पार्थोऽस्य वैयावृत्यकरः यक्षः तस्य नाथः पार्श्वनाथः ।
-farafetersilahlym afa, IX. 3. 249-81. The above references demonstrate the role of Dharanendra Nāga in the life of Pārsvanātha. The association of Nāga with him probably dates from very early times. It is, then, reasonable to concede to Pārsva's early connection with the Nāga cult (serpent-worship) and/or with the Nāga tribe. Mathurā, where we find so many figures of Pārsva (either singly or in the Caumukha representations) is known from the Brahmanical sources as a haunt of the Nāgas (compare the account of Kālīyadamana and Krsna); the recovery of the icons of Dadhikarņa Nāga, also of Balarama who, too, is associated with Nāga and who is regarded as an incarnation of Śeşa— his earliest known image (c. 2nd cent. B.c.) has been found in the Mathura areais one more significant point. Also, recent excavations at Sonkh near Mathurā have revealed the existence of a Nāga-shrine and of a beautiful long stone panel with a Nāga king enthroned in the centre. 27
The association of Pārsva with the Nāga cult and the fact that he lived in the seventh or sixth century B.C. should suggest a further line of investigation into the origin of his sect. It is said that the ancient city of Ahicchatrā was so-called because, at this place, as mentioned by Devabhadra 28 Dharanendra came to worship Pārsva standing in meditation and in order to protect the Jina from the heat of the tropical sun the snake-king (abi) held his expanded hoods as an umbrella (chatra) over the head of the Jina engaged in meditation. Since then, the place, formerly known as Sivapurī, came to be called Ahicchatrã.29 (The true appellation is of course Adhicchatrā. The conversion of the Sanskrit dha" into "ha" in Mahārāștri Prāksta and its subsequent retention in Sanskrit gave scope for the formulation of this explanatory myth.)
Pārsva, as all writers agree, hailed from Vārāṇasī and is reported to have widely travelled in the eastern parts of India as far as Kalinga. Both Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were known to have been inhabited by Nāga tribe and by followers of the Nāga cult from ancient times. In the Vasudevabindi of Sanghadāsa Gani (c. mid-6th century A.D.), it is said that, when Bhagiratha brought the Gangā to the plains,
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abodes of the Nāgas were swept away in the swift and forceful current of the divine river.
Buddha is also associated with snake; Mucalinda Nāga protected him during a storm. Images of Buddha with cobra-hoods over the head are known from sites like Nāgārjunikonda, Amarāvati, etc. At Bhārhut, the scene of Elāpatra Nāgarāja's visit to the Buddha is represented; at first Elāpatra is here shown in his serpent form and next in the anthropomorphic form with of course the snake-hoods attached behind his head.
The story about Mucalinda Nāga30 has some interesting parallels with the account concerning Dharana protecting Pārsvanātha. It is related at the starting portion of the Vinaya-pitaka that the Lord Buddha, after achieving enlightenment, once betook himself to the Mucalinda-tree, and sat cross-legged at the foot of that tree for seven days enjoying the bliss of enlightenment. At that time a huge cloud appeared out of season, and for seven days the cloudy weather prevailed as it also was with rain and a cold wind. The Mucilinda (Mucalinda), the serpent king, issued from his abode, and enveloping the body of the Blessed One seven times with his coils, kept his large hood spread over the Master's head, thinking to himself, "May no cold touch the Blessed One ........ no wind or heat come near the Blessed one." Now, at the end of seven days, the serpent king Mucilinda, seeing the sky clear and free from clouds, loosened his coils from the body of the Lord, and changing his own appearance into that of a brāhmaṇa youth, stood before the Blessed One, raising his joined hands and did reverence to him. The story of Mucilinda is also given later in the Nidānakathā 31 The Sanskrit text Lalitavistara (c. 4th-5th cent. A.D.)32 gives a slightly differing and indeed later version of the myth. Here the Buddha is protected not only by Mucilinda but also by a number of other Nagarājas who have come from the four directions. They all enveloped the Buddha with their coils and formed a canopy over his head with their crests. Also in the Mahāvastu the story is briefly related. 33
The story of the Buddha subduing the fiery dragon of Uruvilva is found in the Mahāvagga, i. 15; Vinaya Pitaka, Vol. I, pp. 24ff. S.B.E. Vol. XIII, pp. 118ff. (This miracle is also narrated in the Mahāvastu, Vol. III. pp. 428 ff.) The victory of the Buddha over the wicked Näga in the fire-hut is represented in a well-known basrelief on the eastern gateway at Sāñci. The Mucalinda story is also represented in a piece of sculpture from Sāñci, now in the local museum, and perhaps came from the southern gateway according to Vogel.
While the subduing of the fiery snake manifests the malefic, the Mucilinda in
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cident demonstrates the benefic aspect of the Nāga. We find both these aspects of the Nāga cult also in the Nirgrantha legends. The story of Mahāvīra subduing CandaKausika34 refers to the malefic aspect of the Nāga; while the Dharanendra demonstrates the benefic aspect. When the Vedic Aryans came in contact with the native tribes and/or autochthonous races and their beliefs and cults as also what we may call folk deities and their cults, the first reaction obviously was to treat the deities of these tribes as malefic. Gradually, with the closer associations with these tribes, such cults and deities came to be regarded as benefic. The Yakşas, the Nāgas, etc. were worshipped by the masses. Bhandarkar had cited an interesting reference from the Niddesa-commentary which referred to several peoples worshipping different deities and following different cults. "The deity of the lay followers of the Ajivakas is the Ajivakas, of those of Nigganțhas is the Nigganhas, of those of the Jaţilas is the Jațilas, of those of the Paribbājakas is the Paribbājakas, of those of the Avaruddhakas is the Avaruddhakas, and the deity of those who are devoted to an elephant, a horse, a cow, a dog, a crow, Vāsudeva, Baladeva, Puņņabhadda, Māņibhadda, Aggi, Nāgas, Supaņņas, Yakkhas, Asuras, Gandhabbas, Mahārājas, Canda, Suriya, Indra, Brahmā, Deva, Diśā, is the elephant, the horse, the crow, Vasudeva, Baladeva, Puņņabhadda, Māņibhadda etc. in order."35
The trampling of the serpent Käliya by Krsna reflects belief in the malefic nature of the Nāgas, but in the life of Vasudeva-Krsna we also find that a large snake sheltered the newly-born babe Krşņa when he was carried in a basket through the Yamunā in flood with torrential rains. Thus in Brahmanism, Buddhism as well as in Nirgranthism we find the Krsna, the Buddha and the Jina given protection from rains by a Nāga.
The iconic representations of cult objects such as those referred to in the Niddesacommentary (and probably referring to the existence of such worship in the time of Buddha), "were probably the direct outcome of the gradual incorporation of most or all of the lower divinities in the ever expanding Brahmanic pantheon and their association with, and absorption into, different cults. The Kālīya-damana episode in the mythology of the Vāsudeva cult can also be compared in this connection."36
Marshall refers to two seals found at Mohenjo-Daro, which bear figures of a god seated in yoga posture, on whose either side kneels a half-human, half-animal form of a Nāga with hands uplifted in prayer (M.I.C., Vol. III. CXVI, 29 and CXVIII, 11).37 Do these seals suggest the origin of later adoption of the idea of Nāgas adoring and protecting the Buddha, the Jina, or Vasudeva (regarded as incarnation of Vişnu)? Śiva is also associated with snakes. Vişnu rests on the coils of the seșa-Nāga whose
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thousand heads are shown as a canopy over Visņu. In the vithika (forelobby) of the Bädämi Cave III (A.D. 578) is the famous figure of Vişņu sitting on the coils of the Naga Ananta spreading his heads as a canopy over the Lord.
During the Vedic period we have the famous battle between Indra and Vṛtra. Here Vitra figures as a malevolent being, like Kaliya of Yamuna river or the Canda-Naga subdued by the Buddha or the Canda-Kausika brought to saneness by Mahāvīra. There is an ever-existing contest between the forces of light and of darkness, good and evil, gods and demons, life and death. Kṛṣṇa-Vişņu, Siva, Buddha, Pāršva, and Mahavira represent powers of good, light, and life; Vṛtra, Kälīya, Mära, Kamatha, Canda and Canda-Kausika represent the opposite, the powers of darkness and death.
Näga with his thousand snake-heads possibly represents "human mind" with its innumerable evil instincts, attitudes, feelings, tempers and thoughts. When subdued, reformed and sublimated, the same mind is transformed from a malevolent to at benevolent force. Mythology of the Buddha, Pärśvanatha, or Kṛṣṇa-Vişņu plausibly represents an advancement upon the earlier Vedic conception of Indra-Vṛtra fight. In later conceptions, it is recognised that the mind which is a bondage and an obstacle can be transformed into a protector, friend or benefactor. So says the Gita mana eva manuṣyāṇāṁ bandba-mokṣayoḥ.
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1. Walther Schubring, The Doctrine of the Jainas, Delhi 1962, p. 28.
2. The Avasyaka-cūrṇi, pp. 273, 286.
3. The Avatyaka-cůrni, pp. 285, 291; Brbat-Kalpa-Bhasya, I. 1328-57.
4. The Avasyaka-cūrṇi, p. 291.
5. The Avasyaka-niryukti, 335.
6. The Nayadhammakabão, II, p. 222.
7. Ibid., p. 229.
8. Ibid., p. 230.
9. Idha Mahārāja Nigantho Näthaputto caturyāmasamvara samvuto hoti /-Digha-nikaya, I. 57 (Samaññaphala-sutta)
10. The Vyakhya-prajñapti, 9.32.
11. The Nayadhammakbão, 19.
41
12. The Vyakhya-prajñapti, 2.5. 13. The Sutrakṛtänga, 2.7.
14. The Rayapaseniya-sútta, 147 f
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15. Also see, Jagdishchandra Jain, Life in Ancient India as depicted in Jaina Canon and commentaries,
sec. edn., New Delhi 1984, pp. 20-21; also Padmanabha Jaini, The Jaina Path of Purification, Delhi 1979, pp. 14-20 for some remarks on this meeting and the meaning of cäturyāma samvara. For a new interpretation by P.K. Modi, see his "Introduction", Pāsanābacariü of Padmakirti, Prāksta Texts Series, Vol. VIII, Vārāṇasi 1965. Also see W. Schubring, The Doctrine., pp. 28-31;
and Muni Nāgaraja, Āgama aur Tripitaka eka Anušilana, (Hindi), Vol. I, 213, 411, 428, 454-55. 16. The fuller reference is C. Sivaramamurti, Panorama of Jain Art, New Delhi 1983. 17. Published in Delhi 1987. 18. The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, December 1970, pp. 303-11. 19. M.A. Dhaky, "Sāntara Sculpture", Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art, New Series, Vol.
IX, 1971-1972, plates XVIII (9) and XIX. 20. Sivaramamurti, Panorama., p. 91, plate 121. 21. For illustration, see here Dhaky's Introductory essay and the relevent plate thereof. 22. तत्र प्रभोः गर्भस्थे सति शयनीस्था मात पार्श्वे सर्पन्तं कृष्णसर्प ददर्श ततः पार्श्वेति नामकृतिः।
- Kalpa-sūtra-Subodhikā, p. 128. स्पृशति ज्ञानेन सर्वभावानिति पार्श्वः। तथा गर्भस्थे जनन्या निशि सर्पो दृष्टः इति गर्भानुभावोऽयगिति मत्वा पश्यतीति निरुक्तत्वत्वार्श्वः पार्थोऽस्य वैयावृत्याकरः यक्षः तस्य नाथः पार्श्वनाथः
Commentary on Abhidhāna Cintamani, I, 26 ff. Also see, the Avašyaka-niryukti gātha 1091; SiriPāsanābacariya, “prastāva" 3, p. 152. The Uttarapurāna, 73, 92, says that the name Pārśva was
given to this Jina by Indra. 23. Umakant P. Shah, Akota Bronzes, Bombay 1959, plate 1b; also the author's Jaina-Rupa-Mandana,
plate V (Fig. 8). 24. Shah, ibid., plate III (Fig. 3). 25. Cf. "A Pārsvanātha Sculpture.", BCMA, Dec. 1970, p. 305. 26. For some Buddhist representations, cf. Benjamin Rowland, Jr., Gandhara Sculptures from Paki
stan Museums, New York 1960, p. 32, showing a sculpture from Peshawar Museum and pl. on p.55 showing hosts of Māra, from Central Museum, Lahore. Also Harold Ingholt, Gandbaran Art in Pakistan, New York 1957, figs. 61-6; and N.P. Joshi, Mathura Sculptures, Mathura1966, pl.
86. 27. Herbert Hartel, “Some Results of the Excavations at Sonkh: A Preliminary Report", The Excavations
at Sonkb: An Exhibition at the National Museum, New Delhi 1976, fig. 44. 28. Siri-Päsanāba-cariyam, "prastāva" 3, 1-7, pp. 187 f. 29. Ahicchatrā is modern Ramnagar in Bareilly district, U.P. For Ahicchatrā, with Adi Nāga as its
presiding deity and for Näga-worship in India from Vedic times, see, The Age of Imperial Unity (Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's History and Culture of the Indian People Volume II), Bombay 1960, pp. 471 ff.; also James Fergusson, Tree and Serpent Worship in India, Vārāṇasi 1971; and Vogel,
J. Ph., Indian Serpent-Lore or the Nāgas in Hindu legend and Art, Vārāṇasi 1972. 30. Mabāvagga, i.3. Vinaya-pitakam (ed. Oldenberg), Vol. I, p. 3; S.B.E., Vol. XIII, p. 80; Vogel,
Indian Serpent Lore, pp. 102 ff. 31. Jätaka (ed. Fausboll), Vol. I, p. 80. Rhys Davids, Buddhist Birth Stories, p. 109. 32. Lalitavistāra, Vol. I, pp. 379 f.
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33. Mabävastu (ed. Senart), Vol. III, pp. 300 f. cf. Buddhacarita, xv. 49-53. The Buddha is also said
to have subdued Canda-Nāga, see Muni Nāgarāja, Agama aur Tripitaka., Vol. I, pp. 179-81. 34. Mahāvīra, while he was proceeding to Svetāmbikā, met the deadly cobra Canda-Kausika who is
described as āśivisa. Poisonous breath of the serpent, however, had no effect on Mahāvīra. CandaKausika even encircled the body of Mahāvira who still remained unperturbed in meditation. See Avaśyaka-niryukti with Malayagiri's Vrtti, gātbās 466-67, pp. 273-74 and the Trişastišalākāpurusa
caritra., X. 3. 35. R.G. Bhandarkar, Vaisnavism, Saivism, and Minor Religious Systems., Delhi 1965, p.3; and J.N.
Banerjea, The Development of Hindu Iconography, (sec. edn. 1956), Calcutta 1956, pp. 76-77. 36. Banerjea., ibid., p. 102. 37. About these seals, Banerjea (ibid., p. 161) adds: “It is not quite clear, however, from these two
seal devices whether the snake-body is attached to the back of the kneeling human votaries of the god; in the early Kushana and subsequent representations of the Nāgas at Mathurā and other sites, the whole serpent-body and sometimes only its one or many hoods (five or seven) are invariably attached behind the human body (the latter mode is also adopted in the Sunga art of Central India). But on these seals, the technique of showing the Nägas might have been somewhat similar to the one followed by the Bharhut artist in his presentation of the scene of Elāpatra Nāgarāja's visit to the Buddha; at first Elāpatra is shown in his serpent form, then he is given the human shape with the snake-hoods attached behind his head. On these Indus-valley seals, the snakes appear on the far sides while the kneeling human figurines, without any snake-hood,
on the near sides of the god." 38. "The Vedas not only knew of the serpent (abt) but also of its harmful nature (Vţtra being
conceived as such) as well as its beneficent character (Ahirbudhnya being a beneficent agent)." The Age of Imperial Unity, pp. 471 f. The emergence of the Nāga as a cult object has been traced back to the Mohenjo Daro age in the two seals referred to above, where the Nāga appears in an attitude of devotion to a figure in yogic posture. "That Siva and serpents should simultaneously get recognition as important cultobjects in the Yajurveda when both are absent as objects of veneration in the Rgveda, may not be a mere accident. The region in which the Yajurveda was followed included the land of the Pāñcalas, whose later capital Ahicchatrā...with Adi-Nāga as the presiding deity, may not unreasonably be associated with the cult of serpents...... In the Atharvaveda and the later Samhitās serpents (sarpāh) appear as semi-divine beings, and in the Gphya-sútras, Nāgas, called for the first time by this term, and supposed to belong to earth, sky and heaven, as also to the quarter receive adoration and worship." — Age of Imperial Unity, p. 472. The Nirgrantha canonical works refer to Indramaha, Skandamaha, Yakşamaha, Nāgamaha, Bhūtamaha, etc. The worship of Naga (Nägajanna) is specially mentioned. "In the north-east of Sāgeya there lay a Näga shrine (Nägaghara) with an image of a serpent. The festival of Nāga (nāgajatta) was celebrated with great pomp and ceremony by the queen Paümavai .... a flowerhouse was made near the shrine where a beautiful garland was suspended .... the queen .... bathed in the lake and with still moist robe plucked the lotuses and with various flowers, fruits and the incense pot in her hand, entered the temple, where she cleaned the image with a brush, burnt incense and worshipped the deity." (Naya, 8). (J.C. Jain, Life in Ancient India., pp. 219-20).
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ARHAT PĀRSVA WITH DHARANENDRA IN
HYMNIC LITERATURE
M. A. Dhaky
The earliest known Nirgrantha psalms and hymns figure in the books of the first two phases of the sacred śruta literature in Ardhamāgadhi and of the northern tradition. Among these the theme of the Mahāvīra-stava (c. 2nd cent. B.c.) inside the Sūtrakrtānga Book I is exclusively “Nātaputta" (jñātņputra, Jina Mahāvīra). Of slightly lesser antiquity is the Namostu-stava (the so-called Sakra-stava)? in the Dandaka form, incorporated in at least five āgamas—four of the middle phase and the fifth belonging to the latest: it possesses phrases which may possibly hark back to the early literature of the sect of Jina Pārśva. However, there is in this hymn no reference to Pārsva since it is addressed aggregationally to all "venerable Arhats as well as Tirthankaras". The composition thus belongs to a psalmic category known as the "sarva-sādbārana-Jina-stava". The third ancient hymn is the famous Caturvimśati-stava which figures among the six brief texts known as the ȘadAvaśyakas. From the later decades of the fifth century A.D., the Şad-Āvaśyakas formed the main mass of the Avaśyaka-sūtra. The stava, as its theme indicates, must have been composed only after the conception of the 24 Tirtharkaras was crystallized and this must have been before the formation of the Acela-kşapaņaka sect which separated from the main, Alpacela, northern Nirgrantha stream around A.D. 200. This stava, of course, includes Pāsa—Pārśva as the 23rd Jina in the series of 24—but has no reference to Nagendra's association with him.
The next phase of the hymnic (and a little later also litanic) formulations begins from the fifth century A.D., and thus after a hiatus of almost four centuries. The earliest known is an invocatory composition in Prakrta for the 24 Jinas which occurs amid the inaugural verses of the Nandisūtra of Deva Vācaka (c. mid 5th century); it, however, makes no allusion to Dharanendra in association with Pārsva. From the Gupta period onward, Sanskrit began to be employed alongside Prāksta and eventually dominated the field. The first writer in Sanskrit, Vācaka Umāsvāti (c. mid 4th century A.D.), did resort to metrical compositions, very largely in Aryā meter, which, however, are doctrinal, didactic, and essentially non-hymnic; and his inaugural
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kärikäs of the Tattvärthadhigama-sutra invokes Siddhartha-nandana (Arhat Vardhamana Mahāvīra) but makes no allusion to Pārsva. And from among the extant 21 (out of the original 32) dvātriṁšikā-compositions of the great dialectician and epistemologist, Siddhasena Diväkara of the northern Nirgrantha stream (active C. A.D. 400-444), six alone are genuinely hymnic; among these the first five (numbered 1 to 5) are addressed to Jina Vīra, and the sixth (numbered the 21st), the Paratma-dvātrimšikā, is a "sadbāraṇa-Jina-stotra" even when in its verse 31 it mentions Mahāvīra as netā or leading figure (of the Nirgrantha religion). (The rest of his duȧtrimšika's are topical compositions, prakaraṇas.) It is then clear that none of the available hymnal compositions of Siddhasena refers to Pārsva.
The first reference to the association of Arhat Parsva with the Nāgarāja shining with gems atop his hoods is in a Prākṛta work, the Paümacariya of Vimala Sūri of Nagendra-kula (c. A.D. 473), figuring as it does in the inaugural hymn to the Caturviṁsati-Jinas in the initial chapter of this work: Nami Nemi taba ya Pasaṁ uraga-mahapbani-manisu pajjaliyam (1.6). Next, Svämi Samantabhadra (active c. A.D. 550-600)" of the southern Nirgrantha tradition, of a stature and fame equal to Siddhasena (but employing more sophisticated and much more ornate form of poetry), in his well-known hymn in Sanskrit, the Svayambhu-stotra, addressed his prayer to the 24 Jinas where the upasarga of Parsva together with the manifestation of Dharanendra finds a clear mention in association with Jina Pärśva." The concerned two verses are replete with power and are symptomatic of the true poetic calibre of this brilliant "chief among the debaters (vādi-mukhya)" and an ace epistemologist:
46
तमाल-नीलैः सधनुस्तडिद्गुणैः
प्रकीर्ण - भीमाऽशनि वायु वृष्टिभिः । बलाहकैर्वैरि-वशैरुपद्रुतो
महामना यो न चचाल योगतः ॥ १ ॥ बृहत्फणा-मण्डल - मण्डपेन यं स्फुरत्तडित्पिङ्ग रुचोपसर्गिणम् । जुगूह नागो धरणो धराधरं
विराग-संध्या- तडिदम्बुदो यथा ॥ २ ॥
-
-
श्रीबृद्दह्स्वयंभू स्तोत्र
Returning to northern Nirgrantha tradition, one notices that the second phase of Prākṛta compositions continues further in time. To begin with, the famous church
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Arbat Parsva with Dharanendra in Hymnic Literature
litany, the Ajita-Santi-stava of Nandişena (c. late 5th or early 6th cent. A.D.), as the title of the hymn implies, is devoted exclusively to two Jinas, the second Tirthankara Ajitanatha and to the 16th Jina Santinātha." The next hymnist, Mänatunga Sūri (c. late 6th-early 7th cent. A.D.), the author of the very famous Sanskrit hymn, the Bhaktamara-stotra, a "rayer addressed to Jina Ṛsabha, had also composed a Präkṛta litany in praise of Jina Parsva whose very name he extols as "dispeller of calamities". It, regrettably, fails to take cognizance of Dharanendra. The very popular Uvasaggabara-thotta regarded as the composition of Arya Bhadrabahu (active C. B.C. 310-290 BC.) or his namesake, the so-called Bhadrabähu II (the supposed brother of Varahamihira: c. early 6th century AD.) in the northern, but of Mänatunga Sûri in the southern tradition,14 is in reality a quasi-magical hymn in Präkṛta, of the ninth or better still of tenth century, composed by some unknown northern caityavāsi or abbatial monk, revolving around Jina Pārsva; it, to all seeming and according to its commentator Pärsvadeva of the 12th century, notices Jina's attendant Pārsva Yakṣa (but does not allude to Nägendra Dharana"). Similarly, the Vairotya-stava (c. 9th or 10th cent. A.D.) (wrongly ascribed to Arya Nandila of the Kuşăņa period), praises Vidyadevi Vairotyä (who had been come to be looked upon, again of course wrongly, as the consort of Dharanendra from pre-medieval times on), likewise fails to invoke the Lord of the Nägas or Jina Pārsva either.
Turning once again to the hymnal compositions in Sanskrit, in the StutiCaturvinsatikā (c. A.D. 775-800) of Bhadrakirtti alias Bappahatți Sūri, an extensive hymn which uses the ornament pädänta-yamaka in each stanza and is addressed to the 24 Jinas, a reference to Nägaraja Dharanendra in context of Arhat Pārsva is likewise missing. Bhagavaj-Jinasena of Pañcastüpänvaya, a luminary of the southern Church, on the other hand, does portray and indeed graphically, the famous PārsvaSambara-Dharanendra episode in his elegant as well as powerfully rendered composition, the Parśvābhyudaya-kavya (probably some time before A.D. 839)." Sambara's (Kamatha's) tyranny unleashed on the meditating Pärśva and the consequent epiphenic manifestation of Nāgarāja Dharanendra for the Arhat's protection have been graphically described there in 11 verses (4.48-58). But the Pärsväbhyudayakavya is a legendary-biographical, and not a hymnical work. This is also true of the Pārsvanatha-caritra (A.D. 1025) of Vädiraja of Dravida Sangha, one other great figure of the southern church which does describe in brief the upasarga-episode but contains no hymn which describes the figure of Pārsva canopied by Dharaṇendra even when he alludes to his appearing on the scene at the right moment along with Padmavati, 18
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Arhat Pārśva and Dharanendra Nexus
Among the composers of hymns after Sāmantabhadra, neither the dialectician Pätrakesari (early 7th cent. A.D.) nor for that matter Pujyapada Devanandi (active c. A.D. 635-680), nor does the poet Dhanañjaya — three other great figures of the southern Nirgrantha Church — refer to Pārsva or Dharanendra since the first and the third composer's hymns fall in the category of the "sādhārana-Jina-stava"; and those severally known as the Ten Bhakti-compositions that have been attributed by the commentator Prabhācandra (active c. A.D. 1025-1060) to Pūjyapāda Devanandi, have among them only one which stylistically can be ascribed to that great grammarian and commentator and none of them refers to Pārsva.19 Next in time, Gunabhadra, the disciple of Bhagavaj-Jinasena in his Uttarapurāna (c. mid-9th cent. A.D.), and śīlācārya of Nivrtti-kula of the abbatial Svetāmbara branch of the northern Church in his “Pāsasāmi cariya" inside the Caupanna-mabāpurisa-cariya (A.D. 869), graphically portray the upasarga-tormentations inflicted by Sambara (called Meghamāli by Sīlācārya and in all subsequent Svetāmbara writings) and the consequent appearance on the scene of Dharana for the protection of Pārśva lost in meditation, However, these works do not fall in the hymnal category of compositions and hence out of consideration. After Guņabhadra, the epistemologist Vidyānanda (c. first half of the tenth century A.D.)20 in his Śrīpura-Pārsvanātha-stotra, a hymn structured largely in epistemological terms, for certain includes a couple of feelingfully composed verses; but Dharanendra finds no allusion there. And even when a devotional hymn on Pārsvanātha was composed in the medieval southern India, such as the famous Kalyānamandira-stotra of Kumudacandra (c. first quarter of the 12th century A.D.), it does not hint at Dharanendra's connection with the Jina,
II
The medieval and late medieval Nirgrantha devotional compositions, which overwhelmingly are of the western Indian and of Svetāmbara persuasion, on the other hand, abound in hymns devoted to Pārsva which contain very telling verses pertaining to the images of the Jina canopied by the jewel-crested hoods of the polycephalous Lord of the Nāgas, Dharana. Also, during this period, two peculiar trends lending powerful impetus to the promotion of the worship of Pārsva comes to the fore. The first is the favoured position accorded to Pārśva in the tāntric worship, due mainly to his special attendants—Nāgendra Dharana and Yakși Padmāvati -- who appeared in southern India in association with the Pārsva imagery from at least the late sixth century onward (Bādāmī Cave IV, Aihole Jaina Cave).21 Of the two, Padmavati was adopted in the religious art of the northern tradition
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49
(eventually replacing Vairotyā) from the time perhaps not before the later part of the tenth century.22 As a result, several tantric hymns invoking Padmăvati (and also in a few cases Dharanendra sometimes with, but generally without Pārsva) were composed in this period. The second trend may be sought in the prevalence of the belief in the miraculous power of the images of Pārsvanātha enshrined in the temples of certain specific sites. For some of these at least we know through the medieval anecdotes and legends that the original images were interred in relatively remoter past, under the compulsion presumably of some political exigency or adverse socio-religious circumstances, that accidentally came to light in the medieval times. Most of these relate to the western Nirgrantha or Svetāmbara Church. Foremost among them were the Stambhana-Pārsvanātha, the Sankhapura-Pārsvanātha, and the Pārsvanātha images of Cārūpa, Jirāpalli, Godi, Phalavarddhi, Karahetaka, Ajāharā and Ghoghā; one at least at Kalikuņda on the Kaligiri in Magadha and likewise a single isolated example of the pre-medieval Karnataka empire, the Antariksa Pārsvanātha of Śrīpura. Special hymns, in honour of some of these tirthas, in some cases also in Prāksta (and at least one in Apabhramsa) were composed, some tantric, some normal and innocuous, that range in date from about the beginning of the 11th to about the middle of the 18th century.
We shall begin with the citations from the Dharnoraga-stotra, a tāntric hymn addressed to the Pārsvanātha of Kalikunda by the lay-follower Sivanāga (c. A.D. 10001010), a contemporary of Virācārya of the northern (western) Nirgrantha (Svetāmbara) Church:23 It invokes Pārsvanātha as worshipped by Lord of Nāgas; it also alludes to the upasarga caused by the Daitya (Kamatha):
सकलभुनाभिवन्दित ! गरुडस्त्वं पन्नगेन्द्रकृतपूज ! । विषमविषानलशमनो जलद इव जलप्लुतालोकः ॥ १२॥ दैत्योपसर्गभीषणजलधरधरा विधौतकर्मकल ! । HOT! Frafaa ! Hafaye1401! P II 3.11
- श्री धरणोरगस्तोत्र
The illustrious agamic commentator Abhayadeva Sūri of Candra-kula, in his hymn in Apabhraíśa addressed to the Pārsvanātha of Stambhana (said to be consecrated by him in c. A.D. 1054 but may be later by some years), a highly emotive portrayal of Pārsva with the figure of Dharanendra with his full splendour occurs:24
फणिफणफारफुरंतरयणकररंजियनहयल, फलिणीकंदलदलतमालीलुप्पलसामल ।
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कमठासुरउवसग्गवग्गसंसग्गअगंजिय, जय पच्चक्खजिणेस पास थंभणयपुरठ्ठिय ॥ १७॥
- श्री जयतिहुअण थोत्त (संस्कृत छाया) फणिफणस्फारस्फुरद्रलकररजितनभस्तले, फलिनीकन्दलदलतमालनीलोत्पलश्यामल । कमठासुरोपसर्गवर्गसंसर्गाऽगञ्जित, जय प्रत्यक्षजिनेश पार्श्व स्तम्भनकपुरस्थित ॥ १७॥
- श्री जयत्रिभुवनस्तोत्र
Next in time is the Pārsvanātbūstaka by Mahākavi Bilhaņa, the famous Kāśmiri brahmana poet who was in Anahillapātaka, capital of Gujarat, with the NirgranthaSvetambara Dandanāyaka Santu or Santuka as his patron, some time between c. A.D. 1065-75. His praise and portrayal of the splendour of the visionary image of Pārsvanātha protectively canopied by Dharaņa (whom he variously addresses as bhujagarāja, pannagasvāmi, and phanipati) is, for its vibrancy, cadence, and sonorousness perhaps unexcelled in the entire lore of the medieval Nirgrantha Sanskrit hymnic compositions addressed to that Jina:25
जयति भुजगराजप्राज्यफुल्लत्फणालीमणिकिरणकदम्बाडम्बरी पार्श्वनाथः । भुवनभवनर्मादभ्रमोहन्धकार- . च्छिदुरतरुणदीपोद्दीपने कौतुकीव ॥१॥ कमपि कमठदैत्याकालकालम्बुवाहव्यतिकरविधुरेऽपि श्रीविशेषं दधानः । मदनमदविकारम्भोरुहम्लानिहेतुजनयति स जिन्नदुर्युष्मदाशा प्रकाशम् ॥ ३॥ जयति भवदवाग्निव्याप्तिनिर्दह्यमानत्रिभुवनवनरक्षादेशकः पार्श्वनाथः । घनमयवि देहं पन्नगश्यामचूडामणिविरचितचञ्चन्नाकिचापं दधानः ॥४॥ फणिपतिफणरत्नोद्योतविद्योनित श्रीदिशुतु शिवगति वः पार्श्वनाथस्य मूर्तिः ।
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रणरणकविशेषक्षोभवन्मोक्षलक्ष्मीसरभसपरिरम्भात् कुङ्कुमेनारुणेव ॥ ८ ॥
-
श्री पार्श्वनाथाष्टकम्
The stanza 8 of the hymn refers to the image of Pärśvanatha and the luminescence cast by the gems on the hoods of phanipati or Nāgarāja Dharana. It likewise alludes to the deluge created by Daitya Kamatha.
Among the western Indian medieval Nirgrantha hymnists, Jinavallabha Sūri of Kharatara Gaccha (active c. A.D. 1060-1110) was perhaps the greatest. He, too, graphically describes Jina Pārśva, protected by the polycephalous Nagendra in the PārsvaJina-Stotra he composed in Sanskrit: 26
पायात् पार्श्वः पयोदद्युतिरुपरि फणिस्फारफुल्लत्फणालीं बिभ्रद विस्फूर्जदूर्जस्वलमणिकिरणआसूत्रितेन्द्रायुधां वः । संरूढप्रौढकर्मद्रुमवनगहनल्लोषपुष्यद्विशुद्धध्यानाग्निज्वालमालानुकृतिसकृतया सप्तधा प्रोल्लसन्ती ॥ १ ॥ श्रीमान् यः पापतापप्रशमहिमरुचिः सप्तभिः पन्नगेन्द्रस्फारोत्फुल्लूस्फटाभिः स्फुटफलितमणिप्रांशुरश्मिच्छटाभिः । भाति भ्रान्तिच्छिदायै जगति सुनयसत्तत्त्वसत्सप्तभङ्गीसङ्ख्याव्याख्यानबद्धक्षण इव स जिनः श्रागनिष्टं पिनष्टु ॥ ४ ॥
Also, in his Prākṛta hymn to Pārsva he displays equal mastery on the power of description: Indeed he is soulfully expressive on this favourite theme in his PāsaJina-thavana7:
फारुप्फुल्लं तुह उवरि फणिफणासत्तयं फुरंतं मे । कयसत्ततत्तसंखा वक्खाणखणं व पडिहाइ ॥ ६ ॥ उवरि परिफुरियफणिवइचूडामणिकिरणरइयसुरचावं । अइभीसणभवदवतवियभवियवणपसमणसमत्थं ॥ ७ ॥ गुरुको वफारफुक्कारभासुरो फणिवई वि फुल्लफणो । चित्तंमि तुमं जेसिं तेसिं कीडु व्व होइ फुडं ॥ ११॥
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श्री पार्श्वजिनस्तोत्रम्
सिरि पासजिणथवणं
Next notable among the ecclesiastical composers was the great dialectician Dharma
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Suri of Raja-gaccha (c. 2nd-3rd quarter of the 12th century A.D.): Two verses from his Pārsva-Jina-stavana pertinent to the present discussion may be cited:28
स्वामिन् ! दुर्जयमोहराजविजयप्रापविण्यभाजस्तव स्तोत्रं किं कमठोरुदर्पदलने श्रीपार्श्व ! विश्वप्रभो ! । तिग्मांशोर्यदि वा स्फुरद्ग्रहमहःसन्दोरहोहद्रुहः खद्योतद्युतिसंहृतिश्रुतिपदे वर्तेत किं कोविदः ॥ ७॥ सश्रीकान् तव वक्त्रदुग्धजलयेरुद्भूतमत्यद्भुतं मोहोच्छेदकतत्त्वसप्तकवच: पीयूषमित्याद्दतः । विश्वेभ्यः फणभृद्विभुः फणिमणिब्याजात् प्रफुल्लत्फणापात्रीभिः पृथुभिर्विभाति परितः स्वामिन् ! प्रयच्छन्निव ॥ ८॥
- श्री पार्श्वजिनस्तवनम्
It was perhaps Ācārya Jinavallabha's grand disciple Jinapati Sūri (active c. latter half of the 12th century A.D.), if not some other and later composer, who had addressed a hymn to the Antariksa-Pārsvanātha of Śrīpura; a pertinent verse therefrom is quoted below:29
प्रस्फूर्जत्फणमण्डलीचलमणिश्रेणीसमाविर्भवच्चञ्चच्चन्द्रमरीचिसञ्चयपरित्रस्यत्तमोमण्डलः । उन्मीलनवनीलनीरजदलश्यामाभिरामधुतिः श्रेयःश्रेणिमनुत्तरां प्रथय नः श्रीपार्श्व ! विश्वप्रभो ! ॥९॥
- श्री अन्तरिक्षपार्श्वनाथस्तवनम्
In the opening decades of the 13th century, the most notable hymnist to meet with was the blind poet Muni Ramacandra of Bịhad-gaccha. Among the several hymns he composed, at least six are in praise of the Jina Pārsvanātha of Jābālipura or Jālor in the surroundings of which he was perhaps permanently residing. (The temple to this Jina was founded on Jābālipura's Kāñcanagiri Hill by the Solanki emperor Kumarapala in A.D. 1166 and was given over by him to the monks of the Bịhad-gaccha). Rāmacandra interweaves the sabdālankāras and the arthālankaras, the two classes of grace-ornaments with considerable skill, with equal attention to prasāda and oja qualities. The configurations he creates of Jina Pārśva and Dharņoraga are almost as evocative as of his predecessors who portrayed Pārsva and Nagarāja Dharanendra in their hymnical compositions, indeed with considerable force. His
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53 style is based on the classical Sanskrit poetry and the flow of his portray is quietly elegant:30
इदं न फुल्लत्फणभृत्फणामणीमहस्तवोच्चैः शमिनामधीश्वर ! । समुल्लसद्ध्यानसुधाभयात् त्वहेर्विषार्चिरेतन्मिषतः पलायतिम् ॥ १६॥
- श्री अपहृतिद्वात्रिंशिका मौलिमण्डलविलासमण्डनं दर्शयन् शतिफणीशमुत्फणम् । सन्तनोत्यहिभयज्वरक्षयं चित्रमेव चरितं महात्मनाम् ॥ १६॥
- श्री अर्थान्तरन्यासद्वात्रिंशिका प्रमदयन्नमृतेन कृताञ्जलीन् गततृषः शिखरिश्रियमावहन् । अकलुषः कमठाम्बुदवृष्टिभिस्त्वभिनवः किल यः कमलाकरः ॥ १५॥ प्रकटयन्नवनस्थितिपाटवं भुवि कलां कलयन्निह हारिणीम् । सकलकामसमुद्भवसौहृदः श्रयति यो नवकेसरिणः श्रियम् ॥ १६ ॥ दधदहो विबुधाश्रितपादतां भुजगराजिविराजितमौलिताम् । किमपि यः स्वगुणैर्भुवनाद्भुतैर्दिविषदामचलादतिरिच्यते ॥ १७ ॥
- श्री व्यतिरेकद्वात्रिंशिका पुन्नागभङ्गिसुभगालिविनीलमूर्तिरुतुङ्गभूरिशिखरश्रियमादधानः । भूयादशोकतरुभूषितभूमिभागः श्रीमान् वसन्त इव सम्भृतसिद्धिरागः ॥ व्याक्रोशमेचककुशेशयकाननश्रीर्वामाङ्गभूर्जिनपतिर्जगती पुनातु । उन्मीलदुत्पलदलद्युतिमेति यस्मिन्नालायितस्ववपुषः फणिनः फणाली ॥ १८॥ वैरायमाणकमठोल्बणदृष्टिसृष्टौ छत्रीभवद्भूजगराजफणासमाजः । शालस्तमाल इव बालदलप्ररोहचेतोहरस्थितिररोचत् यः स वोऽव्यात् ॥ २८॥ त्रैलोक्यमाङ्गलिकभूप इवेन्द्रनीलप्रोन्मीलदंशुचयमेचकितः स पार्श्वः । चूलावलम्बिसहकारलतानुकारप्रोत्फुल्लपनगफणः फलतु श्रियं वः ॥ २९ ॥
- श्री पार्श्वजिनस्तुतिद्वत्रिंशिका मौलो तवाऽयं शमधातुवादिनः फुल्लत्फणास्फारमणीरुचारुणः । विश्वस्य कल्याणकृते प्रकल्पते स्यानागरङ्गो हिमार्थसिद्धिकृत ॥ २४॥
- श्रीदृष्टान्तगर्भस्तुतिद्वात्रिंशिका सर्पद्दोत्फणमभिसरनागलोकाधिराजस्फूर्जच्चूडाभरणधरणस्याज्ञयेव स्थिरात्मा । कालव्यालः स्थलकुलयोल्लासलीलामुपैति
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Arhat Pārsva and Dharanendra Nexus
श्रीमत्पार्श्व ! त्रिभुवनपते ! त्वत्पदाम्भोजभाजाम् ॥ २०॥
___ - श्री प्रसादद्वात्रिंशिका
Some time in the middle of the 13th century, Alhadana, a Nirgrantha-Svetambara minister of the Gallaka community at the court of the Vāghelā monarch Visaladeva of Gujarat, had composed a serene and quiet hymn in praise of Pārsvanātha in which he invokes the Jina Pārsva of Sankheśvara and of Serisaka (Serisā), both tirtha's situated in north Gujarat:31
अम्भोदरूपिणि रुषा कमठे हठेन वृष्ट्या विकुर्वति भवन्तमवन्तमूर्वीम् । लीलातपत्रधरणे धरणेन्द्रनागस्त्वत्पर्युपासिषु विभो ! परमार्गमाप ॥ ९॥
- श्री पार्श्वजिनस्तवनम्
Next in sequence and significance may come the Pārsvanātha-stavana of the eminent scholiast and hymnist, Dharmakīrti alias Dharmaghoșa Sūri of Tapāgaccha (latter half of the 13th cent. A.D.). The particular verse is addressed to the Jina Pārsva of Sirisa-nagara (Serisa), the tirtha referred to in the foregoing discussion:32
भोगिस्कन्धनिद्धपादयुगलं स्फूर्जत्फणाडम्बरं कायोत्सर्गजुषं शिरीषनगरप्रासादलब्धोदयम् । ध्यानस्थं कमठोपसर्गविगमे कैवल्यलक्ष्मीयुतं श्रीपार्श्व जगतां विदारितरुजं पश्यन्ति धन्या जनाः ॥ ६॥
- श्रीपार्श्वनाथस्तवनम्
In his Stuti-Caturviņśatikā, Dharmaghosa Sūri once more attempted the portrayal of Parsva with Dharanaraja:33
अहिपतिवृतपार्श्व, छिन्नसमोहपार्श्व, दुरितहरणपाषवं सन्नमद्यक्षपार्श्वम् । असुभतम् उ पार्श्व, न्यकृतामं सुपार्श्व, वृजिनविपिनपार्श्व, श्रीजिनं नौमि पार्श्वम् ॥ २३ ॥
- श्री स्तुतिचतुर्विंशतिका
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55
A composition in the Dandaka form addressed to Pārsvanātha by an unknown author, possibly of the 13th century, refers to the Arhat with Dharanendra in the first stanza and describes Dharanendra in its last or the fourth stanza:34
विपुलविमलकलसकलकमलदलनयनयुगलवरममितकलं, रुचिर-रुचिर-करकमनतुहिनकर-सुरगज-समगुण-गणममलम् । फणिफण-पृथुमणि-गुरुतर-शुचि-रुचि-मतिशय-विलसन-महिमधरं, विकसित सरसिजवदन-विजितविधुमभिमतमभिनुत जिनपगुरुम् ॥ १॥ सुरवरपरदृढसुदृढगगनचरशुमकर-परिकर-परिकलिता, सुघटित-जटित मुकुट मणिकरभर-निरुपमलवणिम-गरिमयुता । अगणितमदशठकमठकमठहठघनघनरिपुजनकदनपरा, जयति जगति जय-सुविनयनययुतसधरधरणिधर युवतिवरा ॥ ४॥
- श्री पार्श्वनाथदण्डकमयस्तुति
In the late medieval period also, the learned pontiffs and friars of the Kharataragaccha, the Añcala-gaccha, and of the Tapā-gaccha had produced considerable hymnic literature. The 14th century, with which begins the late medieval epoch, introduces several hymns which contain brief but memorable portrayals of Dharana and Jina Pārsva. The references from this time onward often pertain to the images of Pārsva of the haloed tirtha-sanctuaries, some of these celebrated for their miraculous powers. Among the famous composers of this period, the seniormost was Jinaprabha Sūri of Kharatara-gaccha (active c. A.D. 1290-1245), celebrated both as an āgamic scholar but also as an historian of Jaina tirthas and a most prolific producer of hymns, some of which are indeed of high quality, such as a verse from his Parsvanātha-stava symptomatically illustrates:35
संसाराम्भोधिवेला निविडजडमतिध्वान्तविध्वंसहंसः श्यामाश्यामाङ्गधाना (?) शठकमठतपोधर्मनिर्माथपाथः । स्फारस्फूर्जत्फणीन्द्रः प्रगुणफणमणिज्योतिरुद्दयोतिताशाचक्रश्चकिध्वज त्वं जय जिन विजितद्रव्यभावारिवार ॥२॥
- श्री पार्श्वनाथस्तव
Also in his Yamakamaya Pārsva-Jina-stavana he refers to that episode:36
फुल्लत्फणिफणारत्नरुचिराजितविग्रहे । त्वयि प्रीतिः स्फुरतु मे रुचिरा जितविग्रहे ॥ ८॥
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Arbat Parsva and Dharanendra Nexus A caturvimsati - Jina- stuti, ascribed to Jinaprabha Sūri, 37 also contains a telling description of Parsva with Dharaṇendra and Pārśva Yakṣa:
स्फारस्फुत्फणिफणामणि- दीप्त-दीप्तिचित्रीयित - त्रिजगतीजनचित्तवृत्तिः । श्री अश्वसेनतनयः श्रितयक्षपार्श्वः, पार्श्वः श्रिये भवतु वः सुरसेव्यपार्श्वः ॥ २३॥
Surprisingly, the compositions in Präkṛta in this age went side by side with those in Sanskrit, though in diminishing number. A verse from one Kamalaprabha Sūri's Pārsva-prabhu-stavana (c. early 14th century A.D.) may be cited as an example:38
जस्स फणिंदफणोहो सोहइ सोसम्भि पणयमणुयाणं । मणिदित्तिहिं दलणो दुरियतमं जगपईवु व्व ॥ १ ॥ वज्जसारिक्खन हे सरणागयवज्जपंजरब्भहियं । तं झाएमितिसंझं पासजिणं परमभत्तीए ॥ २॥ - सिरि- पासपहु-थवणं
Next is the pontiff Bhāvadeva Sūri of Khandilla-gaccha who, in a hymn to Jina Pārśva in his Pārśvanātha-caritra (A.D. 1356), refers to the Jina with Dharanendra in eloquent terms:39
प्रभोः फणिमणिज्योतिः, प्लुष्टाऽन्तर्वैरिभूरुहाम् ।
तत्पल्लवनिभाः पुंसां, अये सन्त्येव नाऽरयः ॥ ७ ॥
श्रीपार्श्वनाथस्तवनम्
-
Immediately next in time is Mahendraprabha Sūri of Añcala-gaccha (c. last quarter of the 14th cent. A.D.) whose stava in honour of the Pārsvanatha of Jirapalli has the following verses relevant to the present discussion. The stotra, not particularly striking for the quality of style, is notable for its reference to Pārsva's famous upasarga-episode at the Kali Hill (in Magadha): 40
कलौ नाम शैले सरः कुण्डमस्ति स्वयम्भूर्भवांस्तत्तटे स्माविरस्ति । तदासन्नभूपालभक्त्येति चित्रं पवित्रं च तद् वेद कस्ते चरित्रम् ? ॥ २५ ॥ तडित्पातघातस्फुटच्चैलशृङ्गास्तरत्तूलनीला लुठद्ग्रावश्शृङ्गाः 1 अदभ्राभ्रगर्जहृतप्राणिताशाः स्फुरद्दुर्द्दिनासाररुद्वाखिलाशाः ॥ २६ ॥
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57
तबांहोमठाः कामठा वारिवाहा न निर्वापयामासुरापूर्णबाहाः । स्वचेतोऽभ्रकागारगं ध्यानदीपं भजन्तं चिदानन्दसौख्यं समीपम् ॥ २७ ॥ यदूर्ध्वं फणाः सप्त नागाधिराजः स्फुरद्रत्नचूडा बभुर्भक्तिभाजः । विजित्येवतानारकान् दुर्गमारीन् सदीपा ध्वजा उच्छ्रिता दुर्गमारीन् ॥ २७॥ विद्योर्येन्महो यच्च वा चण्डभानोर्मणीनां तु यच्चाविरासीत् कृशानोः । यन्महो ज्योतिषां विश्वभर्तः ! स सर्वोऽपि ते ज्ञानतेजोविवर्तः ॥ २९॥
- श्री जीरापल्ली-पार्श्वनाथ-स्तवनम्
The contemporary pontiff Devasundara Suri of Tapā-gaccha (latter half of the 14th century A.D.) had composed a beautiful hymn addressed to the StambhanaPārsvanātha. The initial invocative verse from this hymn may be cited in the present context:41
स्फुरत्केवलज्ञानचारुप्रकाशं फणामण्डपाडम्बरोद्योतिताशम् । महाकर्मपतौद्यनाशे दिनेशं स्तुवे स्तम्भनाधीशपार्श्व जिनेशम् ॥ १॥
A composition in Prākrta by an unknown author of this period, refers to the same miraculous phenomenon in the description of Pārśva in his Caturviṁsati-Jina-stuti: 42
अससेणनरेसमहागुणवं, सेवियदेवियवामभिहा । तस पुत्तु सुहावउ सफणातुफणा, फणिधारणु तारणु पासजिणो ॥ २४ ॥
We are now in the early 15th century. From the compositions of Devasundara Sūri's most famous disciple, one of the greatest ācārya's of Tapa-gaccha, namely Somasundara Sūri, the following citation from his Navakhandā Pārsvanātha of Ghoghā on the east coast of Saurāṣtra, which vividly portray Dharanendra and Pārsva, is relevant in the present context:45
स्फूर्जनागफणामणीगणसुद्भूतप्रभूतप्रभाभारोद्भासितभूमिण्डलमहं मन्दोऽपि मोहोदयात् । स्वामिंस्त्वां नवखण्डपिण्डिततनुं श्रीपार्श्व ! विश्वेश्वरं, घोघासन्नगरप्रधानवसुधालङ्कारभूतं स्तुवे ॥ १॥
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Also remarkable is the verse relating to Pārsva (with Supārsva) from his PārsvaSupārśva-stuti:44
58
पार्श्वसुपार्श्वाभिख्यौफणमणिघृणिगणविभासिताकाशो स्तोष्ये ऋभुक्षिमुख्यस्तुपदपद्मौ जिनौ भक्तया ॥ १॥
Among Somasundara Suri's worthy disciples, the foremost was Munisundara Sūri: from among his many hymnic compositions, a few are addressed to, or include, Jina Pārsva; the notable stanzas from his Caturviṁśati-stava and from his hymns addressed to the Pārsvanātha of Nāgahṛda (Nāgadā) and of Phalavarddhi (Phalodi) - the three hymns figuring in his Jinastotraratnakosa — are cited below:45
वितरतु भवतं श्रीपार्श्वनाथः स मुक्तिं फणिपतिफणमाश्लिष्टपादारविन्दः । कमठहठविमुक्ताऽवारवारिप्रवाहै
रपि सपदि यदीयो दिद्युते ध्यानवह्निः ॥ २४॥ श्री चतुर्विंशतिस्तव
जय श्रीमन्नागहदपुरवरालङ्कृतिमणे ! जिनेन्द्र ! श्रीपार्श्व ! त्रिभुवननुतानन्तमहिमन् ! । तव स्तोत्रं कुर्वे फणिफणमणीद्योतितपद !
प्रभो ! पद्मावत्यर्चित ! शिवफलं प्राप्तुममलम् ॥ १ ॥ श्री नागहृदपार्श्वनाथ स्तुति
धत्ते कल्पलताः स्वमूर्तिशिरसि प्रोद्यन्मणीपल्लवाः सप्ताहीन्द्रफणाच्छलात्रिजगतीभीती: क्षिपन् सप्तधा । सप्तद्वीपसमियुदङ्गिनिकराभीष्टार्थदानाय यः
संसाराम्बुधिसेतवेऽस्तु विभवे पार्श्वाय तस्मै नमः ॥ २२ ॥ श्री फलवर्धीपार्श्वनाथस्तुति
—
One other learned disciple of Somasundara Sūri, namely Bhuvanasundara Sūri, had produced notable hymns his firāpalli - Pārśvanātha-stavana (c. 2nd quarter of the 15th century) has a fine verse relevant in the present context.
46
सदा पुन्नग श्रीः प्रभवति विभो ! दुर्भगतमा लभन्ते सौभाग्यं प्रसरति हिमाली जनततौ ।
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जनः प्रौढज्योति:पटलपरिपेवी स्फुटतमानुभावाद्यस्यासौ त्वमसि गुरुहेमन्तविभवः ॥ १५॥
- श्रीजीरापल्ली पार्श्वनाथस्तवनम्
The glory of the Pārsvanātha of Carūpa has been sung by Ratnasekhara Sūri (c. 2nd-3rd quarter of the 15th cent. A.D.), one other famous disciple of Somasundara Suri, in his Carupa-mandana-Parsvanātha-stavana. Therein, at least six verses are as pertinent as are good instances of the evocative description of Pārśva with Dharanendra:47
श्रीचारूपपुरप्रधानवसुधालङ्कारचूडामणिप्रायं स्फारफणामणिद्युतिभरैराभासिताशामुखम् । कल्पक्षोगिरुहातिशैशववयः पत्रालिवित्रासकृत्कायच्चायमहं स्तवोमि मुदितः श्रीपार्श्वविश्वेश्वरम् ॥ १॥ फणाग्रजाग्रन्मणिराजिराजमानेन्द्रनीलामलनीलकायः ।। सत्पुष्पभृत् पत्रलहेमपुष्पमहीरुहौपम्यमशिश्रियस्त्वम् ॥ ८॥ विभिद्य माद्यदुरपोहमोहमहान्धकारं प्रकटानि कुर्युः । सप्तापि तत्त्वानि विभो ! फणाग्रजाग्रत्तमास्ते मणिदीप्रदीपाः ॥ ९॥ स्फुरन्मणिस्फारफणान् दधान अपि प्रदस्तिव देव ! सर्पाः । हर्ष प्रवर्षन्ति जनय द्दष्टाः स्पृष्टाश्च सङ्गो हि सतां शमाय ॥ १५॥ श्रिताः फणास्त्वां मणिराजिभाजौ रेजुः कृतार्थीकृतभव्यसार्थ ! । अतुल्यवल्लयः कुसुमाभिरामाः कल्पद्रुमं नन्वधिरूढवत्यः ॥ १६ ॥ अतुल्यकल्याणमहानिधानं लभ्यं लसदभाग्यभरोदयेन।। प्रभो ! भजन्ते भुजगा भवन्तं युक्तं मणीमण्डितमौलिमध्याः ॥ १७॥ स्फारस्फूर्जत्फणानामनणुमणिगणोद्योतविद्योतिताशाचक्र चारूपनामप्रवरपुरमहीमण्डनं पार्श्वनाथम् । यः स्तौत्येवं तमालद्रुमदलपटलस्फर्द्धमानामलाङ्गज्योतिर्जालं स शर्माण्यनुभवति भवाम्भोधिपारस्थितात्मा ॥ १८ ॥
- श्रीचारूपमंडनपार्श्वनाथस्तवनम् The same Sūri's Tribhāṣā-Pārsva-Jina-stava also has a fine verse:48
फणिगुरुफणमालालम्बिचूडामहीयोमणिगणकिरणालीसङ्गरगावगाढम् ।
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अरिहमुरुमहेलासिद्धिसम्पन्नरागारुणमिव गुणगेयं चित्तधेयं धरेयम् ॥ २३ ॥
- श्रीत्रिभाषामयपार्श्वनाथस्तुति
Ratnasekhara Sūri's unnamed disciple was no less able in delineating the glory of the combined imagery-Parsva-Dharanendra-as amply evidenced by the verses in his hymn on the Pārsvanātha of Mahiśānaka (Mehsānā) in north Gujarat:49
सप्तस्फूर्जत्फणमणिलसल्लोचनोद्यल्ललामव्याजात् प्रामृत्यकृत किमिह स्वस्वमेकैकरत्नम् । दिक्पालौघो दशहरिदधीशस्य यस्य प्रसत्यै शैवं शर्म प्रदिशतु सतामाश्वसेनिर्जिनोऽसौ ॥ ९॥ श्रीवामेयः प्रथयतु ममामेयमाहात्म्यगेयः प्रेयः श्रेयस्तिलकनयानाद्यत्फणारत्नदम्भात् । धत्ते दातुं दश सुरमणीन् भास्वरांस्तुल्यकालं चेतोऽभीष्टान्यधिदशहरित्तस्थुषां नेमुषां यः ॥ १० ॥ पोपोषीति स्वयमविरतं पोषयेच्चापरैर्न: स्वामी विश्वेऽप्ययमिति मुदा किन्त्वमान्तो यदङ्गे । एतेऽभूवन् बहिरनिभृताः साधुधर्मप्रकाराः प्रेडत्पुण्ड्रेक्षणफणमणिव्याजतः पातु सोऽर्हन् ॥ ११॥ अष्टार्ना यः शुभमृगद्दशांकेलये सिद्धिनाम्नां धत्ते रात्नान् प्रवरमुकुरान् स्वेन पाणौ कृतानाम् । प्रोद्यत्पुण्ड्रस्फुटमणितनूनुनमन्यूनऋद्धयै भूयाद् भृतोऽतिशयभवनं वः स वामाङ्गजोऽर्हन् ॥ १२ ॥ एकाग्रोऽष्टौ प्रवचनमताः पालयेद् यः किलाम्बाः । स स्यान्मद्वत् परमपदसम्प्राप्तिमात्रं किमेतत । ज्ञीप्सुय॑स्ताः स्वशिरसि सतां दर्शयेद् यः सफुटास्ताः प्रोद्यत्पुण्ड्रस्फुटमणिनिभाद् भूतय स्तात् स पार्श्वेः ॥ १३॥ नन्द्याद् विद्याधरनरसुरारब्धपादाब्जसेवः पार्थो देवः फणमणिलसत्पुण्ड्रसङ्कान्तियोगात् । दघे मूर्ती व हितमनाः किं नु सत्वादितत्त्वान्याख्यातुं यः कृतिजनततेर्विस्तरेणैककालम् ॥
- श्रीमहीशानकमंडन-पार्श्वनाथस्तवनम्
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A hymn by Somasundara Sūri, which I lately came across, is addressed to Jina Pārsvanātha; it consists of stanzas composed in six different languages. Two verses one in Maharastri-Prakrta, and the second in Sauraseni-Prakrta-are useful in the present context:50
फणिफणमणिमाला रेहए जस्स सीसे तमतिमिरपणासे दीवपंतिव्व दिव्वा । परममहिमवासो पावराई व राई घणतमहिमवासो देउ सुक्खं स पासो ॥ २॥ वोलिज्जंत कुलाचलाहि पयलं भोदप्पभाहिं तदा वुट्ठीहिं कमठासुरस्स भरिदब्वंभंडभांडाहिवि । जस्स ज्झाणहुदासणो पजलिदो सित्तोविही माणहे सामी पासजिणो स भोदु भगवं तेलुक्कमुक्खप्पदो ॥ ३॥
- श्री पार्श्वनाथस्तवनम्
Acārya Devasundara's great grand disciple Jinasoma (c. 3rd quarter of the 15th cent.), too, had composed a hymn to Parsvanātha, in this instance of Stambhana. The opening verse elegantly refers to Dharanendra with Pārsva:51
श्रीस्तम्भनं पार्श्वजिनं निरञ्जनं स्तुमः समग्रातिशयाश्रयं वयम् । फणीश्वरस्फारफणागणोल्लसन्मणिप्रभाडम्बरमण्डिताम्बरम् ॥ १॥
- श्री स्तम्भन-पार्श्वनाथस्तवनम्
And plausibly some time late in that century, Muni Laksmīlābha, perhaps of the Tapā-gaccha, had addressed a hymn adoring the Navapallava Pārsvanātha of Mangalapura, Mangarol, at the west coast of Saurastra:52
उद्यत्फणामुकुटभूषितमस्तकान्त ! त्रैलोक्यलोकनयनामृतपूर्णचन्द्र ! । विख्यातमङ्गलपुरस्थित ! वीतराग ! मां पाहि पाहि नवपल्लवपार्श्वनाथ ! ॥ १॥
- श्री नवपल्लव-पार्श्वनाथस्तुति
Next in sequence comes Hemahamsa Gani, disciple of Jayacandra Sūri of Tapagaccha (c. last quarter of the 15th century A.D.), who was a prolific producer of hymns, some notable for their simple but elegant expressiveness, such as his Caturvimśati-Jina-stava from which a verse that concerns with Pārsva is cited below:53
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एकस्य दत्तां पदवीमुदीक्ष्य किं, तदर्थिनोऽष्टौ फणभृत्-कुलाग्रिमाः । भजन्त्यमी यं फणलांछनच्छलात्, पार्श्वप्रभुः रातु स वांछितानि वः ॥ २४ ॥
- श्री चतुर्विंशतिजिनस्तव
Contemporaneous pontiffs of the Kharatara-gaccha did not lag behind in composing hymns to Pārsva, the one by Jinasamudra Súri (c. mid 15th century) addressed to the Parsvanātha of Jaisalmer (founded in A.D.1417), has a fine verse pertinent to the present survey of Pārśva hymns. 54
यत्ते व्याधायि कमठेन कठोरघोरधाराकरालजलवृष्टिरिहोपरिष्टात् । तेनैष केवलमवीवृधदात्मनो वै दुःकर्मवल्लिवनमेव चिरप्ररूढम् ॥ ४॥ स्फूर्जत्फणामणिधरं धरणं भजन्तं यच्चापि पातकमळं कमळं द्विषन्तम् । त्वं मन्यसे सदृशमीदृशमीश ! लोको नीरागताविलसितं लसितं तवैव ॥ ५॥
- श्री जैसलमेरुमंडन-पार्श्वनाथ स्तुति
The Sūri was equally at home, even in that late age, with Prāksta as is clear from the Stuti-caturvimśitikā in which he refers to Päráva with Dharanendra:55
पायडियसत्ततत्तो, धरणिंदसरीरफणकडप्पेणं । तुट्टभववासपासो, पासो मह मगलं देउ ॥ २३॥
- सिरि थुतिचउविसी That reminds us of the references to Pārsvanātha and Phanindra in two other Prāksta compositions by unknown authors and possibly of this general age - the second definitely was composed between A.D. 1437 and 1459 - both possessing poetic pretensions: 56
देही वत्तविवन्नपन्नगफणा-छत्तेण छन्नंबरो, सामासामसरीरओ रयतमोमुक्को समुक्कोसओ । वामाए विसुओऽसुरामरनई-नीहारसेलोवमो, सो पासो भववासपासयसमं सज्जो पसाहिज्ज मे ॥ २३॥
- श्री स्तुतिचतुर्विंशतिका
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कमठ दाणव दलि-अमाहप्प, फणमंडविमंडिउ भुवणज्झिमहिमाहि गज्झइ, पउमावइ वयरुट्ट जुअ धरणराय जस पाय पुज्जइ, थंभण सामीसर हसया जइ इच्छह भवपार, दुक्खभार चूरइ सयल भविअहं मंगलकार ॥८॥
___- श्री बहुतीर्थस्तुति
Next may be quoted a relevant verse from the Mantrādbirāja-kalpa of Sāgaracandra, an author of an unknown gaccha and date (but probably of the 15th century if not of earlier times):57
अन्त:स्फुरद्रुचिरसञ्चितसप्तत्त्वकोटोपतिर्जिनपतिः प्रकटध्वजोऽस्तु । वामासुतः फणमिषात् फणिपस्य विश्वविश्वार्तिसंहतिहरो व्यवहारिवद् यः ॥ ४॥
- श्रीमन्त्राधिराजकल्प
In the 17th century, too, there are a few instances of good hymnical compositions: Upādhyāya Yaśovijaya (A.D. 1622-1689), the last of the Nirgrantha luminary in the field of epistemology, had also composed some hymns; of these the one on the Sankheśvara-Pārsvanātha is brilliantly eloquent. From this hymn some six resonant verses may be cited as illustration: 58
फणामणीनं घृणिभिर्भुवीश ! मूर्तिस्तवाभति विनीलकान्तिः । उद्भिनरक्ताभिनवप्रवालप्ररोहमिश्रेव कलिन्दकन्या ॥ ३१ ॥ तेवश ! मौलौ रुचिराः स्फुरन्ति फणाः फणीन्द्रप्रवरस्य सप्त । तमोभरं सप्तजगज्जनानां धृता निहन्तुं किमु सप्त दीपाः ॥ ३२॥ त्वन्मौलिविस्फारफणामणीनां भाभिर्विनिर्यत्तिमिरासु दिक्षु । स्वकान्तिकीर्तिप्रशमात् प्रदीपाः शिखामिषात् खेदमिवोगिरन्ति ॥ ३३ ॥ ध्यानानले सप्तभयेन्धनानि हुतानि तीव्राभयभावनाभिः । इतीव किं शंसितुमीश ! दधे मौलौ त्वया सप्तफणी जनेभ्यः ॥ ३४॥ अष्टापि सिद्धिर्युगपत् प्रदातुं किमष्ट मूर्तीस्त्वमिहानतानाम् । सप्तस्फुरद्दीप्तफणामणीनां क्रोडेषु सङ्क्रान्ततनुर्दधासि ॥ ३५॥
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Arhat Parsva and Dharanendra Nexus
स्फुरत्फणाडम्बरभीमकाय ः फूत्कारभारैरुदयद्विषायः । उल्लालयन् क्रूरकृतान्तदंष्ट्राद्वयाभजिह्वायुगलं प्रकोपात् ॥ १०० ॥
And finally a hymn addressed to Arhat Pārsva, although composed in times as late as the 18th century by a disciple of Gunavijaya of Tapā-gaccha, is replete with poetic grace and apparently recaptures the style of the previous centuries:59
कमठविहितज्जवालाजिह्वप्रतप्ततनुः फणिर्धरणपतितां यस्यालोकद्गतः परसंसृतौ । स्फुरति महिमा [ तत्रा ] ऽद्यापि प्रवृद्धकलौ युगे भवभयभिदो वामेयोऽसौ स एव भवे भवे ॥ ८ ॥
III
The above-cited portrayals of Arhat Pārsva canopied by the pentacephalous or septacepalous Dharanendra-in a few cases also noticing the upasarga of the demon Kamatha or Sambara or Meghamālī-are symptomatic of the authors' exalted visualization of the unshakable, dignified, and tranquilly awesome image of the Jina standing in deep trance, and its sharp reflection on their minds and consequently in their hymnal invocations, each of which is delineated in the personal style of the author concerned. If these medieval hymns succeed in conjuring up the highly emotive visions of Parśva, what the Nirgrantha poets of the Gupta-Vākāṭaka Age could have configured, if they had focused on this mythical episode, may be imagined. In default of such early compositions, in all fairness, let us pay tribute to and admire what the medieval and late medieval hymnists, with their profound devotion coupled with the poetic skills they commanded (which included sensitive control on the ornamental niceties in Sanskrit poetics) had created and is before us to see, sense, and feel. The sculptor-artists correspondingly had attempted, to represent concretely the resplendent imagery of Pārsva with Nāgarāja Dharaṇendra and in few cases in association with the upasarga-legend. They also occasionally, indeed faithfully as well as convincingly, captured the mythico-mystical vision of the hymnists as a tridimensional reality, following as they did the modular rules and employing the skills of their own sphere of craft: some of the extant examples, particularly of the postGupta and pre-medieval times, are witnesses that authenticate this conclusion.
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NOTES AND REFERENCES
1. I have discussed, with Jitendra Shah, the subject of early Nirgrantha hymnology in the "Introduc
tion" in Gujarati of Sri Byhad-Nirgrantha-stuti-mani-mañjusā (BNSMM) currently in press. 2. In the "Jinacaritra" inside the Paryusana-kalpa (c. A.D. 503/516), Indra is shown as praying Jina
Vira with this stava; hence it is sometimes called the sakra-stava. 3. The Rāja-Pasenīya Book II (c. 2nd-3rd cent. A.D.) in the context of Suryabha-deva and the
Aupapātika (c. 3rd cent. A.D.) in the context of king Kuņika of Magadha, the two references are
more important. The stava also figures in the Jnātādharmakathā (c. 3rd cent. A.D.). 4. The above-mentioned Paryuşanā-kalpa. 5. I have traced the end-phrases of the Caturvimśati-stava of the Avaśyaka-sūtra (with slight var
iations in the text) at several places in the Isibbasiyāin (compiled c. 2nd-1st cent. B.C.), a work
for certain belonging to the sect of Pārsva. (The details of these have been noted in BNSMM.) 6. Up to the period of the autocommentary on the Tattvārtādhigama-sūtra of Vācaka Umāsvāti
(c. A.D. 350-400), and the Șadāvaśyakas, though enumerated in serial formation, originally were independent works. From the period of the Anuyogadvāra-sūtra (c. late 5th cent. A.D.) and more decisively from before the time of the Avaśyaka niryukti (c. A.D. 525), the Avašyaka-sūtra had come into existence. The Yāpaniya sect, however, even in later times (c. 8th-9th cent. A.D.), apparently looked upon the Șadāvasayakas as serially ordered but not forming a single book,
the Avasyaka-sútra. 7. I had discussed, with Pt. Sagarmal Jain, the origin of the Yāpaniya sect (the better term would
have been acela-kşapanaka rather than Yāpaniya in the northern Indian context I now realize) in the Aspects of Jainology, Vol. III (Pt. Dalsukhbhai Malvaniya Felicitation Volume I), Varanasi 1991. A Sauraseni version of this stava is known from the Digambara sect. (Its source understand
ably may have been Yapaniya.) 8. For example the 31 Sambandha kārikās at the end of Umāsvāti's Sabhāsya Tattvärtbadhigama
sūtra and his Prašamarati-prakarana which consists of as many as 304 verses. The style of the two is close enough and indeed is archaic compared to that of Pujyapada Devanandi (c. A.D. 635-680), Svāmi Samantabhadra (C. A.D. 550-600), and even when compared to that of Siddhasena Divākara who is supposed to be contemporary of the Gupta emperor Candragupta II (A.D. 378
414). 9. I have examined the problem of the date of Siddhasena Divākara and have reached the conclusion
that he flourished after Umāsvāti and before Diññāga. On certain historical hints and the synchronisms involved, his life-span can be confidently placed some time between A.D. 360-450. He nowhere refers to Päráva as such, though his allusions to Mahāvīra are very clear and done
directly in Jina's name. 10. Paümacariya, pt.1, sec. edn., Ed. Muni Shri Punyavijayaji, Varanasi 1962, p. 1. 11. I have discussed the date of this great southern luminary in my article in Gujarati, "Svāmi
Samantabhadra-no Samaya," to appear shortly in the second issue of the Nirgrantha, Ahmedabad,
in 1997 12. Ed. Jugal Kishor Mukhtar, Virasevamandira-granthamālā, Vol. 7, Sarsava 1951. 13. For detailed discussion on this stava, see my article, “The Date of the Ajita-Sänti-stava of Nandisena",
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Arhat Pārsva and Dharanendra Nexus
Pathways to Literature, Art, and Archaeology: Pt. Gopal Narayan Babura Felicitation Volume,
Jaipur 1991. 14. Unlike the Bhaktamara-stotra as well as the Bhayahara-stotra, there is no inclusion of the nomen
Mänatunga in the end-verse or anywhere inside this stotra. The style of composition is also
definitely later than the Bhayaharastotra which, like the Uvassagahara, is in Prakrta. 15. The inclusion of the Pārsva Yaksa along with Jina Pārśva would suggest a date not earlier than
the late ninth century for this stotra. Several years ago, I had pointed out this fact when the subject of the so-called Bhadrabāhu II was discussed with Pt. Dalsukh Malvania in Varanasi when Pt.
Sagarmal Jain was also present. 16. The date and authorship of this stava are being discussed in the "Introduction" of the first part
of the BNSMM. 17. For discussion on the probable date of this work, see my article "Dākṣiṇātya Nirgrantha Paramparā
ke kucha Granthon ki Aitihăsika Samasyāen", Sandhāna, Vol. V, Varanasi 1992, 15-19. 18. TERRY Gelegen aan
पद्मावत्या समं देवमुपतस्थौ फणीश्वरः ॥ ७७॥ तस्य विस्तारयामास सधैर्यस्तवपूर्वकम् । स्फुरन्मणिरुचिस्फारस्फुटामंडलमंडपम् ॥ ७८॥
- श्रीपार्श्वनाथचरित्रम् 19. My studies on these important compositions will appear in print elsewhere, in part also in the
Introduction to BNSMM earlier alluded. 20. Vidyānanda has been by past scholars assigned to early 9th century, a date not upheld by facts.
Some five years ago, I had discussed the date of this great scholiast in my article, "The Date of Vidyānanda and Epigraphical Evidence", to be published in Dr. H.V. Trivedi Felicitation Volume,
Bhopal. Its revised version will figure in the Nirgrantha 2, Ahmedabad, in 1997. 21. An epigraphical reference to Padmavatyalaya at Kallili in the inscription of the Kadamba Ravivarmā
(c. early 6th century) from Gudanapura is even earlier in time. (See in this volume A. Sundara's
paper.) 22. The available archaeological evidence is for late tenth century as at the Mahavira temple at Ahad
near Udepur (Mevád) in Rajasthan. The Śvetāmbara literature is totally silent on Padmavati till we come to early 11th century. Clearly, the Svetāmbara Church (which essentially is western Indian) had adopted Padmavati from the southern Church where she meets with considerable
frequency and where the antiquity of her worship and depiction goes back to the sixth century. 23. Jainastotrasandoba, pt. 2 (Mantradhiraja Cintamant) (JSS2), Ed. Muni Caturvijaya, Ahmedabad
1936, pp. 75-76. 24. Sri Lalitastotrasandoha, Ed. Hrinkāravijaya Gani, Bangalore 1962, p. 103; also Panca Pratikramana,
Ed. Pt. Sukhalalji, Agra 1921, "Parisista," p.45. 25. Jainastotrasangraha, pt. 1 (JSS nl), Varanasi V.N.S. 2432/A.D. 1912, pp. 116-118; also JSS2, pp.
194-195, 26. Jainastotrasandoha, pt. 1 (JSS1), Ed. Muni Caturavijaya, Ahmedabad 1932, pp. 195, 196. 27. Ibid., p. 94. 28. Ibid., p. 204.
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Arhat Pārsva with Dharanendra in Hymnic Literature
29. JSS2, p. 189. 30. JSS1, pp. 125, 128, 132, 142, 143, 146, and 161. 31. JSS2, p. 193 32. JSS1, p. 244. 33. Stutitarangini (Sanskrit, pt. 2) (St. 2), Ed. Vijayabhadrankara Sūri, Madras V.S. 2043 (A.D. 1987),
p. 117. 34. Stutitarangini, pt. 3 (St 3), Ed. Vijayabhadrankara Suri, V.S. 2039 (A.D. 1983), p. 139. 35. Kävyamala, pt. VII, Ed. Mm. Pt. Durgāprasada and V.L. Śastri Pansikar, Bombay 1926, p. 107 36. JSS2, p. 176. 37. St. 3. p. 307. 38. JSS2, p. 147. 39. Sri Svādhyāya-dohanam, Ed. Vijaya Kanakachandrasūri, Patan 1986, p. 161. 40. JSS2, p. 147. 41. Ibid., p. 95. 42. St. 3, p. 239 43. Ibid., p. 13. 44. JSS n1, p. 5. 45. Sri Jaina Stotrasangraba, pt. 2, sec. edn., Varanasi V.S. 2439/A.D. 1883, pp. 46, 80 and 87. 46. JSS2, p. 155. 47. JSS2, pp. 108, 109. 48. Stotrasamuccaya, (SS), Ed. Muni Caturavijaya, Bombay 1928, pp. 112, 113. 49. JSS2, pp. 104-106. 50. SS. 104 51. JSS2, p. 98. 52. Ibid., p. 186. 53. St. 3, p. 270 54. JSS2, p. 177. 55. JSS1, p. 86. 56. St. 3, p. 373; and St. 3, p. 385. 57. JSS2, p. 227. 58. JSSI, p. 383, 384, and 390. 59. SS., p. 43
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पार्श्वनाथ प्रतिमाएं
: उत्तर प्रदेश से पूर्व कुणाल काल से लेकर बारहवीं सदी तक :
शैलेन्द्र कुमार रस्तोगी
जैन शासनधर्म का मूल तो अर्हत् चिन्तन ही है। वह भी उनसे किसी प्रतिफल की इच्छा से नहीं अपितु अपने अन्दर उनके गुणों को लाना है । अर्हतों को अतीत उत्सर्पिणी और अनागत उत्सर्पिणी में हुये और होने वाले २४, २४ तीर्थंकरों की सूची जैन ग्रन्थों में मिलती है। वर्तमान अवसर्पिणी के २४ तीर्थंकरों को जोड़कर ७२ तीर्थंकर (पार कराने वाला) होते हैं। प्रथम तीर्थंकर ऋषभनाथ और अंतिम महावीर है। किन्तु २३वें तीर्थंकर भगवान् पार्श्वनाथ हैं।
पार्श्व का अर्थ समीपे सप्पंसयणे जणणी, तं पासइतमसि तेण पास जिणों. १०६९ । पश्यति सर्वभावानितति निरूक्रात्पार्श्वः । तथा गर्भस्थे भगवति जनन्या निशि शयनीयस्य पार्श्वे अन्धकारे सपों दृष्टं इति गर्भानुभावोऽयमिति पश्यतीति पार्श्वः । अस्यामवसर्पिण्यां भरतक्षेत्रे त्रयोविंशे तीर्थंकरे
तीर्थंकर पार्श्व : ईसा० पू० ८७७, ७७७ को ऐतिहासिक पुरुष माना जाता है।
भगवान् पार्श्वनाथ काशी के राजा अश्वसेन के पुत्र थे उनकी माता का नाम वामा था । इन्होंने तप की तुष्टि के अर्थ राजकीय विलासी जीवन को त्याग दिया था। इनकी चित्तवृत्ति आरंभ से ही वैराग्य की ओर विशेष थी । विवाह का प्रस्ताव हँसकर टाल दिया। एक बार ये वाराणसी में गंगा किनारे घूम रहे थे । वहाँ पर कुछ तापसी व माता-पिता विहीन ब्राह्मण कुमार कमठ आग जलाकर तपस्या कर रहे थे। ये इनके पास जाकर बोले " इन लक्कड़ों को जलाकर क्यों जीव हिंसा करते हो ।" कुमार की बात सुनकर तापसी बड़े झल्लाये और बोले "कहाँ है जीव ।" तब कुमार ने तापसी के पास से कुल्हाड़ी उठाकर ज्यों ही जलती हुई लकड़ी को चीरा तो उसमें से नाग-नागिन का जलता हुआ जोड़ा निकला। कुमार ने उन्हें मरणोन्मुख जानकर उनके कान में मूलमंत्र दिया और दुःखी होकर चले गये। इस घटना से कुमार उदास रहने लगे और राजसुख को तिलांजलि देकर प्रव्रजित हो गये। एक बार ये अहिक्षेत्र के वन में ध्यानस्थ थे। ऊपर से उनके पूर्व जन्म का वैरी कमठ कहीं जा रहा था। देखते ही उसका पूर्व संचित वैरभाव भड़क उठा। वह उनके ऊपर ईंट और पत्थरों की वर्षा करने लगा। जब उससे भी उसने भगवान् के ध्यान में विघ्न पड़ता न देखा तो मूसलाधार वर्षा करने लगा। आकाश में मेघों ने भयानक रूप धारण कर लिया, उनके गर्जन- तर्जन से दिल दहलने लगा। पृथ्वी पर चारों ओर पानी ही पानी उमड़ पड़ा। ऐसे घोर उपसर्ग के समय नाग-नागिन मर पाताल लोक में धरणेन्द्र और पद्मावती हुए थे, वे अपने उपकारी के ऊपर उपसर्ग हुआ जानकर तुरन्त आए । धरणेन्द्र ने सहस्रफण वाले सर्प का रूप धारण करके भगवान् के ऊपर अपना फण फैला दिया और इस तरह उपद्रव से उनकी रक्षा की। सुप्रभात स्तोत्र में इन्हें "घोर उपसर्ग विजयिन, जिन पार्श्वनाथ" कहा गया है। इसी समय पार्श्वनाथ को केवलज्ञान की प्राप्ति हुई और उस वैरीदेव ने उनके चरणों में सीस नवाकर उनसे क्षमा मांगी। इनकी जो मूर्तियां पाई जाती हैं, उनमें उक्त घटना की स्मृति
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70
Arhat Pārśva and Dharanendra Nexus में सर पर सर्पफण बना हुआ होता है। जैनेतर जनता में इनकी विशेष ख्याति है। कहीं-कहीं तो जैनों का मतलब ही पार्श्वनाथ का पूजक समझा जाता है। __ भगवान् पार्श्वनाथ की मूर्तियां सम्पूर्ण भारत में प्रस्तर, धातु एवं बहुमूल्य रत्नों आदि पर बनी पर्याप्त संख्या में उपलब्ध होती हैं। भारत का हृदय उत्तर प्रदेश है और इस उत्तर प्रदेश से जैन धर्म का बहुत ही निकट का संबंध है। क्योंकि ये भूमि कितने ही तीर्थंकरों के गर्भ, जन्म, तप, ज्ञान एवं निर्वाण कल्याणकों से पवित्र हुई है । प्रस्तुत निबंध में इसी भूमि से उपलब्ध प्रस्तर की पूर्व-कुषाण काल से लेकर १२वीं सदी तक की मूर्तियों को मात्र समाहित करने का प्रयास किया गया है। इनमें अधिकांश प्रतिमाएं लेखरहित और कुछ लेखयुक्त, बैठी, खड़ी, सर्वतोभद्र पर, मानस्तम्भों आदि पर पाई जाती हैं।
पार्श्व का आयागपट्ट पर सर्व प्राचीन निदर्शन जैन धर्म में पूजा के निमित्त चौकोर पट्ट बनाये जाते थे जिन्हें मंदिरों के भीतर, चौराहों पर लोगों को पूजा करने के निमित्त उन्हें स्थापित किया जाता था इसलिये इन्हें आर्यकपट्ट या आयागपट्ट कहते थे। ऐसे आयागपट्ट ईसा पूर्व कंकाली टीला मथुरा से प्राप्त हुए हैं। कुछ आयागपट्ट कौशाम्बी से भी पाए जाते हैं।।
राज्य संग्रहालय, लखनऊ को एक ही आयागपट्ट कंकाली टीला मथुरा से प्राप्त हुआ है जिस पर अंकित रचे हुए अक्षरों की लिपि के आधार पर लगभग सोडास शकक्षत्रप के द्वितीय शती का चतुर्थांश अर्थात् पूर्व कुषाण काल का है। इस पर लेख नमो अर्हतान ..... शिवधोःषसकाः ...... भर्याय .... आयाग प ....। अर्थात् शिवघोषा की पत्नी ने इसे स्थापित करवाया था। इस पट्ट के चारों ओर कमल, व अंगूर की बेलों
कोनों को ईहामृगों व श्रीवत्स चिह्न से सजाया गया है। बीज में चार नन्दीपदों के मध्य तीन सोपानों वाली चौकी पर भगवान् पार्श्वनाथ को ध्यानस्थ दर्शाया गया है। इनके सिर पर सात सर्पफण का छत्र बनाया गया है। फणों के ऊपर स्तम्भ में लगी पताका फहरा रही है। भगवान् पार्श्व के दायें-बायें नमस्कार मुद्रा में एक-एक दिगम्बर मुनि खड़े हुए हैं।
पार्श्व अंकित चरण-चौकी : संग्रह में यह पार्श्व भगवान् की बैठी मूर्ति की चरण-चौकी बड़ी रोचक है। मूल मूर्ति दुर्भाग्य से प्राप्त नहीं है। इस पर लेख इस प्रकार है : .....स्थ निकियेकुलेगनिस्थ उगहिनियशिषो, वाचको घोषको
अर्हतोपश्वस्य प्रतिमा अस्तु, अर्हन्त पार्श्व की प्रतिमा से सुस्पष्ट है। लिपि के आधार पर जब हम अन्य प्रतिमा लेखों के अक्षरों से तुलना करते हैं तो ५८ कनिष्क प्रथम से पूर्व हुविष्क अर्थात् हुविष्क से पूर्व की यह चरण-चौकी स्वयंसिद्ध हो जाती है।
पार्श्व मस्तक : संग्रह में खंडित फणों से नीचे मुंडित मस्तकयुत पार्श्व का मस्तक है। इसकी आंखें गोल व आधी खुली हैं तथा माथे पर बिन्दी है। यह मस्तक हविष्क व वासदेव के शासन काल के मध्य बनाया गया प्रतीत होता है।
लखनऊ के संग्रह में तीन अन्य पार्श्व मस्तक हैं इन मस्तकों पर प्रायः मांगलिक यथा चक्र, नन्दीपाद, त्रिरत्न, पुष्पगुच्छ व घट आदि का अंकन पाते हैं। इनमें एक में सप्तफण के छत्र के नीचे पार्श्वमुख सुरक्षित पाते हैं किन्तु शेष दो के नीचे पार्श्वमुख का अभाव है। मथुरा संग्रहालय में एक सर्पफण के नीचे पार्श्वमस्तक का अंकन है और सर्पफणों पर स्वस्तिक, सरावसम्पुट, श्रीवत्स, त्रिरत्न, पूर्णघट व मत्स्य युग्म बने हैं।
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Pārsvanātha Pratimäen
71
कुषाणकाल की पार्श्वनाथ की बैठी मूर्तियाँ : भगवान् पार्श्व की एक बैठी प्रतिमा कंकाली टीला मथुरा से कुषाणकाल पाई गई है। पहले प्रतिमा सिरहीन पाई गई थी बाद में उसके मस्तक को ढूंढ़कर उस पर लगा दिया गया। चरण चौकी पर हुविष्क संवत् सरे अष्टापन ....अंकित पाते हैं। इसे हुविष्क व वासुदेव के वर्ष ५८ से सम्बद्ध किया गया है। सर्पफण के भीतर की ओर बाईं ओर हवा में उड़ते एक देव का अंकन है तथा पीछे अशोक वृक्ष का मनोहारी अंकन है। लेख में अष्ठापन अर्थात् ५८ अंकों में न लिखकर शब्दों में लिखे गये हैं। मूर्ति के मस्तक पर धुंघराले बाल हैं।
स्तूप के साथ पार्श्व२ : संग्रह में एक पार्श्व का अंकन भी स्तूप के साथ बड़ा ही महत्वपूर्ण है। पटिया पर ऊपर की ओर दाईं ओर छूट गया है मूल पृष्ठ ४ देखें । दो स्तूप हैं। बाईं ओर के अंतिम तीर्थंकर के पूर्व सप्तफणों के छत्र के नीचे पार्श्वनाथ शोभायमान हैं । इस पर लेख ९९ वर्ष नहीं है जो कि वासुदेव के समय का बैठता है।
कुषाणकाल की एक अन्य बैठी मूर्ति ३ : पार्श्वनाथ सर्पफणों के नीचे विराजमान हैं। इनका सर मुंडित है। नीचे की चरण-चौकी पूरी घिस चुकी है और सर्पफणों पर स्वस्तिक, त्रिरत्न, चक्र व पुष्पगुच्छ अंकित हैं। यह हुविष्क वासुदेव के समय की प्रतीत होती है।
कुषाणकालीन सर्वतोभद्र प्रतिमाएं१४ : संग्रह में पांच कुषाणयुगीन सर्वतोभद्र प्रतिमाओं पर तीर्थंकर पार्श्वनाथ को अंकित पाते हैं। इनमें जे० २३० प्रतिमा उल्लेखनीय है जो
कित पाते हैं। इनमें जे० २३० प्रतिमा उल्लेखनीय है जो कि कनिष्क द्वितीय के समय की अर्थात् २५७ ई० की प्रतीत होती है। इस पर सन् १५ अंकित है। दाईं ओर अधपालक का भी अंकन है जिसका मुँह खंडित है और दूसरी अन्य प्रतिमा पर भी पार्श्व कायोत्सर्ग मुद्रा में खड़े हुए हैं। मथुरा संग्रहालय में भी ऐसी पांच तीर्थंकर प्रतिमाएँ हैं। ये सभी लाल चित्तीदार बलुए पत्थर की हैं।
संक्रान्तिकाल की पार्श्व प्रतिमा'६ : संकलन में पार्श्व की एक ऐसी कायोत्सर्ग मुद्रा में मूर्ति उपलब्ध होती है जो कि ढलते कुषाणकाल व उगते गुप्तकाल की प्रतीत होती है क्योंकि तीर्थंकर की शरीर रचना व उनके उपासक का मुकुट व बाईं ओर खड़ी स्त्री मूर्ति जिसके ऊपर सर्पफण का आभास मिलता है। पद्मावती प्रतीत होती हैं। मूल मूर्ति का मुँह, हाथ व पैर खंडित हो चुके हैं। सर्पफण भी घिस चुके हैं। एक फण पर चक्र बचा है।
गुप्तकाल : पार्श्व प्रतिमा : संग्रह में मात्र एक लगभग पाँचवीं शती की पार्श्व प्रतिमा है। इसकी शारीरिक गठन, तलुओं की मांसलता, श्रीवत्स की संरचना आदि के आधार पर इसे पाँचवीं शताब्दी का माना जा सकता है। मथुरा संग्रहालय से कोई भी गुप्तकाल की पार्श्व प्रतिमा का उल्लेख उपलब्ध नहीं होता है। मध्यकाल में इस मूर्ति के मस्तक पर तिलक बनाना व आँखों को बड़ा व नाक को खंडित किया गया
शैल स्तम्भ, गुप्तकाल कहायूं, देवरिया८ : गुप्तकाल में पार्श्व प्रतिमाएँ कम मिलती हैं जिसका कारण कछ भी रहा हो किन्तु इसी काल का अभिलिखित गुप्त संवत् १४१+३१९ = ४६० ई० का कहाऊं ग्राम जनपद देवरिया का सम्राट स्कन्दगुप्त के पाँचवें राज्य वर्ष का अपना ही महत्व है। इसके विषय में सर्वप्रथम १९वीं सदी में आरम्भ में बुचानन ने ध्यान इस ओर दिलवाया था। १८३९ में लिस्टननेहस स्थान का परिचय प्रकाशित किया और १८६१-६२ मे कनिघम ने सर्वेक्षण कर इसका पूरा लेख प्रकाशित किया। लेख से विदित होता है कि मद्र ने : आदिकर्तृन : ऋषभ, शान्ति, नेमि, महावीर व पार्श्व की प्रतिमाएँ इस स्तम्भ पर नव उत्कीर्ण करवाई। चार तीर्थंकरों की खडी प्रतिमाएँ व पार्श्व की बैठी प्रतिमा है।
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72
Arhat Pārśva and Dharanendra Nexus
मध्यकालीन पार्श्व प्रतिमा : मथुरा संग्रहालय में चार बैठी प्रतिमाएँ हैं। प्रथम प्रतिमा में सर्पफणों के नीचे गद्दी पर पार्श्व भगवान् ध्यानस्थ बैठे हैं। सिंहों द्वारा सिंहासन उठाया हुआ है। दूसरी प्रतिमा की चरणचौकी पर धर्म-चक्र बना है। पार्श्व सर्पफणों के नीचे ध्यानस्थ हैं। यह प्रतिमा नन्दी आनंदी बलदेव से आई थी। तथा पूर्व मध्यकाल की है। दूसरी प्रतिमा पार्श्वनाथ के मध्यकाल की है। इसमें एक मालाधारी विद्याधर सुरक्षित बचा है। इस प्रतिमा को कोसीकलां मथुरा से पाया गया था। इसके अतिरिक्त आगरे के कगरूल नामक स्थान से भी एक बैठी प्रतिमा संग्रह में है।
खड़ी मूर्तियां : एक मूर्ति काले पत्थर की खड़ी सप्तफणों के नीचे पार्श्व की कहाऊं देवरिया में है। लखनऊ संग्रहालय में राजघाट वाराणसी से एक अति ही मोहक प्रतिमा आई है यह सुरमई रंग की त्रितीर्थी है। मूलनायक पार्श्व के मस्तक पर सप्त सर्पफण चरण चौकी के दोनों ओर एक-एक सिंह तथा मध्य में धर्म-चक्र बना है। बाईं ओर वंदन मुद्रा में उपासिका तथा इसी ओर एक सर्पफण वेष्टित दोभुजी पद्मावती का अंकन है और दाईं ओर एक सर्पमंडित धरणेन्द्र खड़े हैं। मूल प्रतिमा के दाएं-बाएं एक-एक तीर्थंकर कमल की सजावटयुत गद्दी पर ध्यानस्थ बैठे हैं। सर्प को पार्श्व के पैरों के पीछे की ओर से बनाया गया है। इसकी कुंडली दिखलाई देती है। सर्पफण सात हैं, इनमें एक टूटा है। दोनों ओर मालाधारी विद्याधर तथा मध्य में सर्पफणों पर त्रिछत्र के ऊपर देवदुंदुभिवादक का अंकन है।२२ ।
मध्यकालीन चौमुखी प्रतिमाएं२३ : मथुरा संग्रहालय में मध्ययुगीन बैठी हुई सर्वतोभद्र प्रतिमा है जिस पर सप्तफणों के नीचे भगवान् पार्श्वनाथ बैठे हुये हैं। लखनऊ के संग्रहालय में इस काल की तीन प्रतिमाएँ हैं। एक मटीले पत्थर की शौरीपुर : बटेश्वर : आगरा२४ और दूसरी अतिसुन्दर नवीं सदी की भूरे पत्थर की सराय अघत एटा जनपद की है (चित्र ४)। जिसमें पार्श्वनाथ दोहरे कमल की गद्दी पर खड़े हुए हैं और नीचे चारों तरफ चौमुखी के दो-दो ग्रह अर्थात् सूर्य, चन्द्र, मंगल, बुध, बृहस्पति, शुक्र, शनि व राहु आदि बने हुए हैं। तीसरी लगभग दसवीं सदी की फैजाबाद की है६ | यह घुटनों के नीचे से टूटी है। सर्पफण खंडित है किन्तु चौमुखी के ऊपर कमल-दल का अलंकरण बना हुआ है। - मानस्तम्भ पर पार्श्वनाथ का अंकन : संग्रह में एक भूरे रंग का मानस्तंभ है जिस पर आठ जिनेन्द्रों
का अंकन है। यह स्तम्भ इलाहाबाद से आज से लगभग ६४ वर्ष पूर्व लाया गया था। स्तम्भ पर चार तीर्थंकर नीचे बैठे हैं और चार ऊपर कायोत्सर्ग मुद्रा में दिखाए गये हैं उनमें नीचे की ओर भगवान पार्श्व को दो
द्वारा बने लघु मंदिर के भीतर में बैठे ध्यानस्थ दर्शाया गया है। इनके ऊपर सप्तफण का छत्र है तथा सांप की दुम दाईं ओर चरण-चौकी पर सुस्पष्ट है।
मध्यकालीन खड़ा पार्श्व-आवक्ष८ : भूरे रंग के पत्थर का सप्तसर्पफणों के छत्र के नीचे पार्श्व मूर्ति का आवक्ष है। यह मूर्ति काफी घिस चुकी है और श्रावस्ती की है। __ पंच तीर्थी२९ : एक अन्य पंचतीर्थी भी संग्रह में है (चित्र ३)। सिंहासन के दोनों ओर एक-एक सिंह तथा मध्य में एक चक्र बना है। तदुपरान्त अलंकृत आसन पर पद्मासन में ध्यान लगाए पार्श्व भगवान् बैठे हैं। इन पर सप्तसर्पफणों का छत्र बना है। सर्प की कुंडली दोनों ओर बनी है। घुटनों के पास दोनों तरफ एक-एक चंवरधारी तथा दोनों ओर दो-दो ध्यानस्थ चार तीर्थंकर बने हैं । इनके ऊपर विद्याधर दम्पत्ति बने थे जो अब घिस चुके हैं। यह मूर्ति लेखरहित है किन्तु शैली के आधार पर लगभग दसवीं शती की है । ये जैन-पंचतीर्थी श्रावस्ती से आई थी और प्रथम बार प्रकाशन में आ रही है।
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Pārsvanātha Pratimäen
73
दीर्घकाय बैठी श्वेताम्बर संघ की पार्श्व प्रतिमा : एक गहरे कलछऊ पत्थर की पार्श्व प्रतिमा भी बड़ी रोचक है। तीर्थंकर ध्यानस्थ बैठे हैं। उनकी दोनों बगलों के बीच में सर्प की कुंडली सुस्पष्ट है। चरणचौकी पर सिंह नहीं बने हैं बल्कि आसन को पाँच फूलों से सजाया गया है। तीन फूल बीच में हैं जो पूर्ण है और दाएं-बाएं के फूल आधे-आधे हैं। मस्तक पर धुंघराले बाल व उष्णीष बनी है, गर्दन में रेखाएं हैं। वक्षस्थल पर गोल चक्र जैसा श्रीवत्स है तथा दोनों ओर बगलों के भीतर से सर्प की कुंडली दिखलाई देती है भगवान् पार्श्व का यह अति मनोज्ञ अंकन है। इस पर अंकित लेख में इसे 'देवविनिर्मित' कहा गया है जो ठीक ही प्रतीत होता है। इस प्रतिमा की चरण-चौकी पर लेख इस प्रकार है :
संवत् १०३६ कार्तिक शुक्ल एकादस्यां श्री श्वेताम्बर मूल संघेन पंचिभ चतु : स्थी : कायां श्री देव विनिर्मित प्रतिमा प्रतिष्ठापिता। । अर्थात् इसे संवत १०३६-५७ = ९७९ ई० में "श्री श्वेताम्बर मूल संघ" ने कार्तिक शुक्ल एकादशी को स्थापित कराया था। यह कंकाली टीला मथुरा से प्राप्त हुई है । (पार्श्वनाथ की श्रावस्ती से मिली सं० ११३४/ ई० १०७७ की प्रतिमा चित्र ५ में निदर्शित है ।)
पद्मावती व धरणेन्द्र सहित पार्श्व : संग्रह की अति रोचक मूर्ति भूरे पत्थर की पार्श्व प्रतिमा है। यहाँ पार्श्व की प्रतिमा अति सजीव है। ये सिंहासन पर ध्यानस्थ हैं। बाईं ओर यक्षी पद्मावती खड़ी है। इन पर तीन फणों का छत्र है और दाईं ओर धरणेन्द्र चंवर लिये खड़े हैं और उन पर सर्प के तीन फणों वाला छत्र बना है। सप्तसर्पफणों के छत्र के नीचे भगवान् पार्श्व विराजमान हैं सर्पछत्र के ऊपर त्रिछल बना है और उसके ऊपर देवदुंदुभिवादक बना है तथा दाएं-बाए हवा में उड़ते माला लिये एक-एक आकाशचारी देव बने हुए हैं। चरण-चौकी के बाईं ओर नीचे कोने की ओर पीछी लिए मुनि तथा दायीं ओर उपासक दम्पत्ति बने हैं। यह प्रतिमा लगभग ११-१२वीं सदी की है। इस मूर्ति को देखते हुए कुमुदचन्द्र के कल्याण मंदिर स्त्रोत्र का श्लोक स्मरण हो आता है
तदबिम्ब निर्मल मुखाम्बुज बद्धलक्ष्या, ये संस्तवंतव विभोरचयन्ति भव्या:॥४३२॥
यह मूर्ति महोबा से आई है।
मध्यकाल की पार्श्व की खड़ी प्रतिमा : यह श्वेत संगमरमर पर बनी दिगम्बर पार्श्व प्रतिमा भी बड़ी रोचक है। पार्श्व भगवान् की नासाग्र दृष्टि है और चरण-चौकी पर बने कमल पर खड़े हैं। बाएं-दाएं क्रमशः उपासिका-उपासक हैं। तदुपरान्त चंवरधारी दोनों ओर बने हैं। सर्प को पार्श्व के पैर से ही पीछे की ओर बनाया गया है जिसकी कुंडली उनके दोनों ओर दीख पड़ती है। सर्पफण नहीं बनाए गए हैं। इस प्रतिमा की एक अपनी ही विशेषता है कि जरा-सा भी थपकी देने पर झंकृत हो उठती है। इस विषय में प्रतिष्ठा सारोद्धार में उल्लेख है कि प्रतिमा बनाने के लिए शिला का चयन करते समय वही शिला उत्तम है जो चिकनी सुगन्ध, सुस्वर, और कठिन हो। यह प्रतिमा १२वीं या ११वीं शती की शैली के आधार पर लगती है। यह मूर्ति महोबा हमीरपुर जनपद की है (चित्र ६) ।
पद्मावती व धरणेन्द्र के साथ खड़ी पार्श्व मूर्ति" : भगवान् पार्श्व की कायोत्सर्ग मुद्रा में सर्प के सप्तफणों
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74
Arhat Pāršva and Dharanendra Nexus के छत्र के नीचे वाली भूरे पत्थर की है। नीचे चरण-चौकी में दो खम्भों के मंदिर के भीतर सर्प के सप्तफणों के छत्र के नीचे चतुर्भुजी पद्मावती बैठी हैं। उसके ऊपर १/२ चौड़ी पट्टी है और उसके ऊपर भगवान् पार्श्व कायोत्सर्ग खड़े हैं। इनके सर्पफण टूटे हैं। मुँह भी टूटा है। ऊपर त्रिछत्र के नीचे उपासक व उपासिका व चंवरधारी बने हैं। आगे बाईं ओर सर्पफणों के नीचे धरणेन्द्र चतुर्भुजी तथा ऊपर चतुर्भुजी यक्षी परन्तु पता नहीं क्यों और किस हेतु बनाये गए हैं। इसके ऊपर ईहामृग अलंकृत है । प्रतिमा शौरीपुर : बटेश्वर : आगरे की है।
धरणेन्द्र व पद्मावती रहित बैठी पार्श्व मूर्ति३५ : संग्रह में भूरे रंग के पत्थर की एक अति ही सजीव बैठी सुपार्श्वनाथ की मूर्ति है। चरण-चौकी पर दोनों ओर सिंह हैं। बीच में चक्र तथा दाएं-बाएं उपासकउपासिकाएं बनी हैं। आसन के ऊपर वस्त्र बिछा है जिसका कोना सामने को लटका हुआ है। इसके ऊपर ध्यानस्थ तीर्थंकर पार्श्व बैठे हैं । संयोग से यह मूर्ति पूर्ण पाई गई है : पार्श्व के वक्षस्थल पर सकरपारे के आकार का श्रीवत्स उभरा बना है तथा कान इसके काफी लम्बे हैं। धुंघराले बालों के ऊपर छोटीसी उष्णीष भी दीख पड़ती है। जो निःसंदेह बौद्ध प्रभाव प्रतीत होता है। पार्श्व के बाएं-दाएं एक-एक चंवरधारी खड़े हैं उनके ऊपर दोनों ओर हवा में उड़ते देवदम्पत्ति बने हैं। दोनों के ही बाएं देवियाँ बनी हैं जो क्रमशः बांसुरी व वीणा लिये हैं। तत्पश्चात् दोनों ओर एक-एक हाथी : ऐरावत : बने हैं और इनमें बाईं ओर हाथी के ऊपर बैठा सवार भी सौभाग्य से बच गया है दोनों हाथियों के बीच में व सर्पफण के मध्य में त्रिछत्र व आमलक बना है। इस मूर्ति पर लेख है। इसके अनुसार संवत् ११२० (ईस्वी १०६४) में इसको बनाया गया था। यह मूर्ति श्रावस्ती बहराइच जनपद की देन है।
पद्मावती के मस्तक पर पार्श्व का अंकन२६ : पद्मावती की बड़ी ही मनोज्ञ मूर्ति है। ये अर्द्धपर्यंकासन में बैठी हैं। देवी के आसन को कमल की पंखुड़ियों से सजाया गया है। दायां घुटना कुछ टूटा है। दोनों
ओर एक-एक उपासक व चंवरधारिण कमल पर खड़ी बनी है। देवी का नाम एक चरण-कमल पर रखा है। देवी चतुर्भुजी हैं। इनके ऊपर सर्प के सप्तफणों का छत्र बना है जिसके दो फणों को छोड़कर सभी टूट चुके हैं। सर्पफण के ठीक ऊपर आसन पर पार्श्वनाथ ध्यानासीन हैं। इनके दाएं-बाएं चंवरधारी तथा
-बाएं देवदम्पत्ति माला लिये हए दिखलाए गए हैं। यह मर्ति महोबा कलातीर्थ की देन है।
इनके अतिरिक्त जनपद ललितपुर स्थित देवगढ३७ प्रतिमाओं का उल्लेख भी समीचीन रहेगा। यहाँ के मंदिरों में पार्श्वनाथ की मूर्तियाँ सुशोभित हैं। इनका समय लगभग ९वीं से १२वीं शती तक का बैठता है। यहाँ के कुल सात चित्र लिए गए हैं। इनमें एक मूर्ति देवगढ़ के मंदिर संख्या २ के परकोटे पर बनी है जिसकी चरण-चौकी पर गरुड या चकवा भी बना है। यह मुर्ति १२वीं शती की है। पार्श्व प्रतिमाएँ । सर्प के सप्तफणों के छत्र के नीचे बनाई जाती हैं किन्तु कुछ प्रतिमाओं में इनकी संख्या तीन, नौ या ११ भी पाते हैं। कहीं-कहीं प्रतिमाओं पर सर्पफण नहीं पाते हैं किन्तु पीछे देह के उनकी सर्पकुंडली दिखलाई देती है या चरण-चौकी पर सर्प का लांछन या पार्श्व का नामोल्लेख भी पाते हैं।२९
जैन-साहित्य में कमठ के पार्श्व पर उत्सर्ग का वर्णन तो पाते हैं किन्तु इस कथानक को अभिव्यक्त करने वाली कोई भी प्रस्तर की मूर्ति उत्तर प्रदेश में उपलब्ध नहीं होती है किन्तु दक्षिण में एलौरा की गुफा संख्या ३२ व तिरुकोळानाथ आर्कट से ऐसी मूर्तियां मिलती हैं। पार्श्व भगवान के जन्म, तप एवं उपदेशों से पूत उत्तर प्रदेश की पावन धरती से प्राप्त ईसा पूर्व से १२वीं
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Pārsvanātha Pratimäen
15
शती तक के उनके अकाट्य अभिलेखीय साक्ष्यों एवं सुललित बिम्बों के प्रति
नरेन्द्रंफणीन्द्रं सुरेन्द्रं अधीशं शतेन्द्रं सुपूजे भजेनायशीशं। मुनीन्द्रं गणेन्द्र नमोजोडिहाथं नमो देवदेवं सदा पार्श्वनाथं ।।।
नमन करते हुए इस निबंध को यहीं विश्राम देने की अनुमति चाहूंगा। शुभमऽस्तु ।
कृतज्ञताज्ञापन
इस निबन्ध के तैयार करते समय तिथि के सम्बन्ध में लेखक जर्मन विदुषी प्राध्यापिका जी० बी० मिटरवारनर, म्युनिख यूनिवर्सिटी का हार्दिक आभार व्यक्त करता है।
श्री लाल चंद जैन, श्री अजीत प्रसाद जैन, मंत्री, तीर्थंकर महावीर स्मृति केन्द्र, शोध पुस्तकालय, चारबाग, लखनऊ का भी हार्दिक आभार व्यक्त करता है।
संदर्भ-सूची
१. तिलोयपण्णाती महाधिकार ४, प्रवचन सारोद्धार, सात गाथा २९०.९२, २९५, ९७ तथा अन्य ग्रन्थ, बालचन्द्र जैन, प्रतिमा
विज्ञान पृ० ३२, जबलपुर १९७४ । २. अभिधान राजेन्द्र पृ० ८९६ पंचमोभाग, आवश्यक चूर्णि । रतलाम् १९२१ । ३. भगवान् महावीर स्मृति ग्रन्थ, सं० ज्योतिप्रसाद जैन, पृ० ३८ खन्ड ६, लखनऊ १९७५ । ४. कैलाशचन्द्र शास्त्री, जैन धर्म पृ० १७, १८ वाराणसी १९७६ । ५. राज्य संग्रहालय संख्यक जे० २५३, आकार ८६, ९२, १० से० मी० लाल चित्तीदार पत्थर १. U.P. Shab, Studies in
Jaina An, p. 12, वाराणसी १९५५ Vincent Smith, Jaina Stupa at Matbura, ५, Plate8, व V.S. Agrawal,
Guide to Lucknow Museum, p. 4. ५. राज्य संग्रहालय, लखनऊ, सं० जे० ६७ आकार ३८, ५५ से० मी० लाल चित्तीदार पत्थर । ७. रा० सं० ल० सं० जे० ११४ आ० ४४ ६५ से. मी सफेद-रंग भूरे रंग का बलुआ पत्थर । ८. रा० सं० ल० संख्या जे० ७७, आ० १,२०,८७ से० मी० लाल पत्थर जे० ९०,८०, ३० से० मी०. लाल चित्तीदार पत्थर'
व जे० ९६, आ० ४५, ३० से० मी० लाल चित्तीदार पत्थर । ९. रा० सं० मथुरा बी० ६२, R.C. Sharma, Mathura Museum and An, p. 37, Matbura, १९७६, ५६० वी०
एस० अग्रवाल यू० पी० हिस्टोरिकल सोसायटी २३, पार्ट १.२, पृ० ६२ । १०. जे० २५ व जे० ११३ आ० ८६ से० मी० देह भाग हैं और ४० से. मी० शिर । ११. उद्गच्छता तव शिति दुति मंडलेन लुप्तच्छुदच्छविशशकैकेतरुबभूव ॥२४॥ श्लो २४ कल्याणमंदिर स्तोत्र, ज्ञानपीठ
पूजाञ्जलि, दिल्ली १९८२, पृ० ४९६ से ५०४ तक । १२. रा० सं० सं० जे० ६२३ आ० ५६, ४८ से. मी० । १३. रा० सं० सं० जे० ३९ आ० १. ०४ से ५७ से० मी० लाल चित्तीदार पत्थर । १४. , जे० २३० आ ६०, १९, जे० २३४, आ० ७६, २९ से० मी०
, जे० २३५ आ ५४, २३, जे० २३७, आ ६० २४ से० मी०
जे० २४४ आ० ६१, २७
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76
Arhat Pārsva and Dharanendra Nexus
१५. राज संग्र० मथुरा बी० ६७ आ० २ फु० १० इंच, बी० ७९, आ १ फु० ११ इंच, बी० ७०, बी ७१, बी० ७२, १ फुट
३ इंच। तीर्थंकर मूर्तियाँ, U.P. Historical Society of Uttar Pradesh, Vol. 23. भाग १, २, पृ० ६३, ६४, १९५० । १६. रा० सं० ल० सं० जे० १०० आ० ४५, २८ से० मी० लाल चित्तीदार पत्थर । १७. , जे० ७७ आ १.२० से० मी, ६७ से० मी० ।। १८. २४ फुट ऊँचा स्तम्भ १.१० वर्गाकार स्तम्भ के नीचे चौपहलमध्य अठपहल और ऊपर से १६ पहल आकार है। पश्चिम
दिशा में सतह से २.६ भगवान् पार्श्व की २.३ ऊँची बैठी प्रतिमा बनी है। १९. १. रा०सं० म० सं०बी० २६ आ० १"८" रमेशचन्द्र शर्मा, Mathura Museum and Archaeology |
२. , २५१ आ० ३-०V.S. Agarwal, JUPH.S,. Vol. 23, pts. 1-2, पृ० ६३, लखनऊ १९५० । ३. तीर्थकर मूर्तियाँ मध्यकाल की पृ०६३ आ० तीन फुट। ४. रा० सं० म० सं० १५०५ वही, पृ० ६४, २.७ इंच। ५. ,, ,, सं० ४०. २८७४ । २ बी० एन० श्रीवास्तव व शिवाधार मिश्र Inventory of Mathura Museum from1939
to date, Museum Archaeologial Bulletin सं० ११.१२, पृ० ९८ । २०. मेरे पास चित्र है। २१. रां० सं० सं० ४८, १८२ Annual Report of Provincial Museum, Lucknow, १९५०, p. 11 । २२. एतनिन्वेदतिदेव जगतत्रयाय, मन्ये नद ननभनमः सुरदुन्दुभिस्तै कल्याण मन्दिरस्तोत्र श्लोक संख्या २५ । २३. बी ६५, आकार २.१० इंच आर०सी० शर्मा Matbura., पृ० ? २४. जे० ८१३, आ० २५, २६ से० मी० । २५. जे० १४१, आ० ५८, ३० से० मी०, भूरा पत्थर । २६. छ ५२.७४ ए, आ० ८०, ३५ से० मी० भूरा पत्थर । २७. ओ०७२, आ०- ५"x१-८", चौड़ा. ४ चौकोर देखिए मेरा लेख, "जिन बिम्बों से सुशोभित राज्य संग्रहालय का एक
विशिष्ट मानस्तम्भ" पृ० ६५ खण्ड-२ भग० महा० जय० स्मा० जयपुर १९७२ । २८. जे० ८७७ आ० ३०, ३१ से० मी० भूरा पत्थर । २९. रा० सं० ल० सं० जे० ८५९, आ० ५७, ४४ से० मी०, भूरा रंग का रेतीला पत्थर । ३०. रा० सं० ल० जे० १४३ आ० १.७० से. मी, १.३३ से. मी० ७७ से० मी० मेरा लेख "श्वेताम्बर कलारत्न कंकालीर्क
मणिभद्र" पृ० ३७ जयपुर १९८० । ३१. रा० सं० ल० जी० ३१० आ० ४३, २५ से० मी० । मेरः लेख"महोबा की जैन मूर्तियाँ", कैलाश चन्द्र शास्त्री अभिनंदन
ग्रन्थ, पृ० ३३ रीवां १९८०। ३२. कल्याण मंदिर स्तोत्र सं० ४३ ज्ञानपीठ पुजांजलि, दिल्ली १९८२ । ३३. जे०, ३१३ आकार ७८.२, २७ से० मी० । वही प्रतिष्ठा सरोद्धार आ० ३ श्लोक ७८ । ३४. रा० सं० ल० सं० जे० ७९४ आ० ६९, २४ से० मी० काले गहरे भूरे रंग का पत्थर । ३५. रा० सं० ल० सं० जे० ८७९ आ० ६४, ३३ से० मी० मटीला सफेद पत्थर । ३६. रा० सं० ल० सं० जी० ३१६ आ०६०, ३६ से० मी० भूरा पत्थर । ३७. Klaus Bruhn, Jaina Images of Devagadh Vana, Leiden 1969, चित्र सं० १९८, २०४, १२६, ४०४, व २३१
अर्थात् मंदिर संख्या ३, ४, १७ व २० तथा दीवाल में । ३८. मंदिर सं० २ के परकोटे की दीवाल पर मेरे संग्रह का चित्र । ३९. ज्योदि प्रसाद जैन, रूहेलखंड कूमायूं और जैन धर्म, पृ० १३.१४ लखनऊ १९७० व पद्मानन्द महाकाव्य १।२६
तथा बी० सी० भट्टाचार्य Jaina Iconography I ४०. C. Sivaramamurti, Panorama of Jaina An, नई दिल्ली १९८३, चित्र ५४६ व १४२ । ४१. कवि वृन्दावनदास-पार्श्वस्तुति ।
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Pārsvanatha Pratimäen
चित्र-सूची
३. श्रावस्ती की पंचतीर्थी प्रतिमा : प्राय: १०वीं शताब्दी । ४. एटा की चतुर्मुख मूर्ति में पार्श्वनाथ प्राय: ९वीं शती ।
५. श्रावस्ती से प्राप्त सं० १९३४ ई० १९३४ की पार्श्व प्रतिमा ।
६. महोबा की १२वीं (या ११वीं) शती की पार्श्वनाथ की खड्गासन मूर्ति ।
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IMAGES AND TEMPLES OF PĀRŠVA IN CENTRAL INDIA
Amar Singh
Pārsvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankara, whose historicity has been fully established, is regarded by many modern writers of history as the real founder of Jainism. In this paper I intend to deal with the studies of images and temples of Parsva in Central India (Madhya Pradesh and Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh), which were built in the territories where Gupta, post-Gupta, Pratihära, Cedi, Ca della, Kacchapaghata and Paramara dynasties had ruled within their temporal brackets from c. fourth century A.D. to c. 13th century A.D. In ancient and medieval periods, several temples for Pärsvanatha had been built. The buildings in course of time had disappeared leaving only stray remains; so the still standing temples for the Jina are somewhat rare to meet with while loose images abound in number.
The earliest images of Pärśvanätha are reported from Mathura (U.P.); but no image of the Jina of comparable antiquity has so far been found in Central India. In point of fact, it does not appear there before the fifth century A.D. In the Gupta, but more frequently from post-Gupta and Pratihära periods, Pärsvanätha's images are met with in fair abundance. These have been reported from Udaigiri, Vidisă, Nacana-Kuthärä, Gyâraspura, Gwalior, Amrol, Deogarh, Sira-Pahārī, Kundalpur, Badoh-Pathāri, Tu-Main and the neighbouring regions of Jabalpur and Tevar (ancient Tripuri).
Gupta and post-Gupta Periods
The Udaigiri cave 20 (Plate 7) near Vidiśä, excavated according to the inscription in the Gupta year 106 (A.D. 425-426) and hence in the reign of Kumaragupta 1, was meant for an image of Pārsvanätha. However, the loose image now present in the cave is of a much later date. A badly mutilated relief of a seated Pārśva in dhyanamudra, which, as suggested by U.P. Shah, is the image referred to in the inscription.2
One other, and an excellently fashioned image of Pārsvanatha which was originally enshrined in a Jaina temple at Gyäraspur near Bhilsä (Vidišä), currently in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, shows Părśvanatha seated below the Dhataki
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Arbat Parsva and Dharanendra Nexus tree practising the "exposure to all weathers" austerity when Meghamali attacked him by creating a terrible storm. The serpent-king Dharanendra spreads his hoods above the head of the Jina and his companion Padmavati holds an umbrella over him. On either side of the cobra-hoods are the mälädbara-celestials hovering in the sky and at the top are shown hands beating the dumdubbi-drum. The base in front shows a gana-dwarf holding cakra in his hands. The image can be dated to c. seventh century AD."
In a sandstone sarvatobbadrikä image from Vidišă (Vidisha State Museum No. 357/1295), Pārsśvanatha (Plate 8) is seated on the coils of a snake in dhyana-mudră with a seven-hooded canopy over his head. On the face of the simbasana, the dbarmacakra is shown between the two lions and the camara-bearers. Above the serpent-hoods, on either side, celestial beings carrying garlands glide in air and flank the devadumdubbi; the trichatra also is depicted atop the Nagaraja Dharanendra. Stylistically, this image may also be assigned to c. seventh century.
Another sarvatobhadrika image (Plate 9), reported from Karaitalai (Jabalpur District), currently in the Mahant Ghasidas Memorial Museum, has on one of its faces a seated Pärŝvanätha with a seven-hooded canopy over his head. Two lions are depicted on the pedestal sitting back to back with a dharmacakra in the centre, flanked by two standing camara-bearers. A part of the plain carpet decorated with a beaded border is shown suspended from the seat. The serpent-canopy is flanked by two flying garland-bearers, the Jina's head below shows closed meditative eyes, elongated ears, combed-back hair with central uşnişa, and the posture of the hands making a triangle with the body are features favouring a date in the sixth-seventh century.
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In an image reported from Nacanã-Kuthärä (District Panna) (Plate 10) and now preserved in the Tulsi Ashram Sangrahalaya at Ramban in District Satna, Pärsvanatha is shown seated on the coils of a snake in the dhyana-mudra, protected by a sevenhooded canopy over his head. He is flanked by Indra and Upendra, standing in tribhanga-posture, each carrying a camara in his hand. Well-proportioned body, half-closed eyes in trance, and an effulgence of subtle mystical luminescence on the face of the image show the characteristics of the classical art of the Gupta period still continuing, thus suggesting a date not later than the seventh century.
A group of Jaina sculptures from Siră Pahārī, a hill near Nacană, Panna District, has an image of Pärsvanatha of about the seventh-eighth century A.D. It stands in the kayotsarga-mudra without any drapery and has a huge serpent coiled behind the whole figure making a canopy of seven hoods over the Jina's head.
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A very interesting image (Plate 11) of Pārsvanātha in the Indian Museum Calcutta (No. A 2541) and originally from some site possibly in Madhya Pradesh, is remarkable in that it portrays, with due elaboration, the upasanga of Sambara or Meghamālī. The central figure of Pārsvanātha in kāyotsargā-mudrā is being attacked by the demon Meghamāli from both sides with the help of the bhūtas, vetālas and other evil spirits, while Dharanendra is shown protecting the Jina, adjusting as he does his coiled body from the back and seven-hooded canopy over his head. On the right side of the Pārsva, Yakși Padmavatī, the companion in this context of Dharanendra, is standing on a snake with a serpent canopy over her head and holding a chatra-parasol in her hands. On stylistic grounds, the date of the image has been fixed to c. sixth or early seventh century A.D. but possibly it is later.
Gopagiri-Maurya According to the medieval Svetāmbara (quasi-historical) biographical narratives on Bhadrakīrtti alias Bappabhatti Sūri (active c. A.D. 770-839), a king Ama, the son and successor of Maurya Yaśovarma of Kanauj (A.D. 725-752), is said to have built temples to Jinas at Gopagiri and Känyakubja under the influence of the Sūri. Thus, during the late eighth and early ninth century, Jainism had some weight in the Gwalior territory.
Gwalior Fort, famous for the rock-cut Jaina images of the Tomara period, has also a remarkable early sculpture of Pārsvanātha (Plate 12) now set up at the northeastern corner on the gate of the open theatre of Scindia School in the Fort. The head of the Jina bears the character of earlier art; the elongated eyes, however, mark the beginnings of the medieval period. Above the serpent-hood, nāgas in halfhuman form bearing water-pots in their hands, pour libations over the deity. Two garland-bearing vidyadharas float in the air at the top-flanks. Taking in anatomical features, hair style, ekāvali of the celestial beings and the form of the nāgas — all these reflecting the persistence of some of the classical characteristics of the Gupta art. Meister dates the image to c. eighth century.
An image of Pārsva (Plate 13). from Amrol (a village south-east of Gwalior), assign-able to ninth century, shows a seven-hooded nāga protecting the Jina and also has an umbrella above. Two elephants standing on lotus flowers are also shown pouring water from pots by way of abhiseka to the Jina. Below this, on either side, the nägīs sitting on lotus flowers pass water up from their positions to the elephants above for the lustration of the Jina. Garand-bearers are also present on either side of the näga hood.?
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Pratībāra-Period
An image of Pārsvanatha from Vidiśā (Vidisha State Museum) (Plate 14), standing in kayotsarga-posture, depicts a large serpent coiled behind the Jina's body and making a canopy of hoods over his head. The nägis, interestingly, are depicted on both sides of the Jina with folded hands. The simbasana-front shows a male and a female figure, each seated on a lotus flower and holding lotuses in their hands. and flanking an unidentified object. Nägarāja Dharanendra and Yakşi Padmavati having three-hooded serpent canopy over their heads are present, standing as they do on either side of the Lord. The image may be assigned to c. ninth century.
A mutilated image of Pärśvanätha belonging to c. ninth century from BadohPathāri (Vidisha District) is at present in a bad state of preservation. Its head and legs are broken. Pärśvanätha is shown seated on a lotus seat in dhyana-mudra. Padmavati holding the rod-umbrella in her hands is depicted on the right side of the Jina. The serpent-coils are also seen covering the entire back side of the Lord.
In an image reported from Tu-Main in District Gunä, Madhya Pradesh, now in the Sagar University H.G. Museum (No. 72.1), Pärśvanatha is shown seated in dhyanamudra with a seven-hooded canopy over his head. The dharmacakra is shown in the centre of the lion-throne. Elephants standing on the lotus flowers and grasping stalked lotuses in their trunks are present on both sides of the Jina whose chest is marked by Srivatsa. Half closed eyes, serene face, elongated ears, curly hair, and well built broad chest of the Tirthankara bears the characteristics of the classical age of Gupta period and may be dated to c. ninth century.
In a sarvatobbadrikä image (Plate 15) from Cirainti village (District Sahdol), Pārsvanatha is shown seated cross-legged in the dhyana-mudra on a masûrakacushion placed upon a carpet decorated with lotus petals motif. The simhasana shows a four-armed sitting Padmavati in the centre. On both sides of the throne, also come to view a seated and a standing attendant. The head of the Jina is covered with a seven-hooded canopy. The representation of the triple umbrella flanked by flying garland-bearers and devadumdubbi (two hands grasping a drum) above the umbrella is likewise noteworthy. On the chest of the Jina is the Srivatsa mark. Curly hairs with a short usniṣa, elongated ears touching broad shoulders of the Jina, and bow-shaped eye-brows show progression towards the medieval idiom, suggesting thus the date of the image in c. ninth century.
In three other images (Plates 16-18) from two temples, No. 12 and 15, in the Jaina group at Deogarh (District Lalitpur, U.P.), Pârśvanatha is shown seated in dhyana
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Images and Temples of Parsva in Central India
mudră on a simbåsana and with the seven-hooded serpent-canopy over his head. A dharmacakra is present between the lions of the throne. Above the seat a decorated carpet is also seen suspended. In the first image (Plate 16) Pärśvanätha is seated. on a decorated masûraka placed on the carpet. In the second image (Plate 17) he is seated on the serpent coils with a horizontal lay on the carpet and in the third image (Plate 18) he is shown simply seated on a decorated carpet. In all the three examples he is flanked by a pair of camara-bearers. Above the serpent-hoods is the chatratraya flanked by celestial beings carrying garlands. On stylistic grounds these images may be dated to the c. ninth century.
Mention may also be made of some Pārsvanatha images belonging to the ninth century standing in the kayotsarga-mudra with a seven-hooded serpent canopy over their heads, embedded as they are in the western compound wall of the temple No. 12 and as part of the sarvatobhadrikā images housed in the Sahu Jain Sangrahalaya, both in Deogarh.
In Central India, after the Pratihāras, the Cedis or Kalacuris ruled over the eastern part (Dahala and Mahäkośala), the Candelläs over the northern part (Jejakabhukti, currently Bundelakhand) and the Paramāras over the western part (Mālavadesa, Mälva); while the central part was ruled over for some time by the Kacchapaghātas.
Kalacuri
Territory
The Cedis or Kalacûris extended their liberal patronage to the Nirgrantha religion as evident by several images of Parsvanatha, dating from the 10th to the 12th century, found in District Jabalpur and the site of Tevar (Tripuri), the ancient Cedi capital. Pārsvanatha sculptures are also known from Sirpur, Singhanpur, Sähḍol, Garha and many other places in the former Rewa State in Baghelkhand region where the art developed under the patronage of Kalacūris had prevailed.
Käritaläi (District Jabalpur) was an important centre of the medieval Nirgranthism during the Kalacuri period. The five images of Pārsvanatha in the Mahant Ghasidas Memorial Museum at Raipur are from Käritaläi and belong to the tenth and the 11th century. Of these two are in point of fact caturviṁsati-pattas with Pārsvanatha as the mulanayaka. The first image (Plate 19) shows him seated in padmasana in dhyana-mudra on a serpent which is shown in the act of canopying Pārsvanatha with his seven hoods. The image has miniature representations of nine other Tirthankaras to the right and eight to the left, the remaining six originally represented on the top row above the chatra are now missing. The pedestal of the image.
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Arhat Pārsva and Dharanendra Nexus
has miniature representations of seated Dharanendra and Padmăvati. On the pedestal, the carpet is decorated with kirttimukha and the cushion with three lotus flowers. Indra and Upendra are presented in the tribharga-posture at the flanks of Pārsva, turning as they do toward the Lord. Elephants flanking the trichatra and the devadumdubhi as usual figure in the top section.
The other two, but partly mutilated images, betray almost the same characteristics, the tail here shown hanging on the carpet through the cushion. The remaining two images are badly damaged.
In one other image housed in the Rani Durgavati Museum, Jabalpur, Pārsvanātha (Plate 20) is shown seated in dhyāna-mudrā protected by a serpent-hood canopy and flanked by Indra and Upendra standing in the tribhanga-posture. Above, the usual garland bearers, the two elephants, and the triple umbrella are depicted. On both sides of the pedestal, seated figures of Dharanendra and Padmāvati with serpent hoods over their heads are shown. The simbāsana shows the ärādhakas (devotees) in the centre. Serpent tail as a lāñchana of the Jina is presented on the carpet, hanging as it does from the seat, and above it, the nava-grabas beginning with Aditya are shown sitting in a panel. The image belongs to c. 11th century A.D.
A Pārsvanātha sculpture from Sirpur housed in the Mahant Ghasidas Memorial Museum at Raipur, too, represents the art of the Cedis. The Jina is seated in padmāsana under the seven-hooded canopy of the serpent king Dharana whose body is rendered into a couple of parallel coils and seemingly serves as a cushion at the back of the Tirtharkara. At the extremities, makaras forming the back-seat of the Jina are also discernible. The face, hands, and knees of the figure are damaged. The Jina has the śrīvatsa mark at the centre of his chest and the cakra mark is impressed on the palm. His curly hair is adorned with usnīsa in the centre. The pedestal of the image is much mutilated.
In an image from Singhanpur in Sähdol District (Plate 21), Pārsvanātha is shown standing on a conventional lotus placed upon the tail of a serpent coiled behind the Jina, covering his head with hooded canopy flanked by celestial beings. Above the canopy the chatratraya is shown with elephants standing on lotuses. By the sides of the legs of the standing Jina, Indra and Upendra are presented semi-profile-wise looking towards the Jina. (Almost the same type of image, reported from Sāhdol belonging to the 10th-11th century, was kept at Collector's bungalow in the year 1968.)
In another image (Plate 22) from Pañcamath temple, Singhanpur, (Sāhadol District), Pārsvanātha is seen seated in dhyāna-mudrā with a seven-hooded serpent canopy over his head. He is flanked by the customary camara-bearers standing in tribhanga
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posture and looking toward the Jina. The simbăsana is topped by a lotus seat and a carpet with decorated fringes is seen partly hanging down. The tail of the serpent is also presented on the carpet. Celestial beings carrying offerings in their hands and elephants as usual are depicted on both sides of the triple umbrella. The curls of Jina's hair are schematically rendered, usnīşa is low and compressed, ears are elongated, and the face bears a smile. The image may be dated to c. 10th century.
On a sarvatobhadrikā image belonging to the 10th century from Sāhadol, lying besides the Durgā temple (in 1968), Pārsva is shown sitting on a lotus-seat in turn placed upon a simbāsana that has the dharmacakra in the centre. Pārsvanātha is flanked by two cămara bearers.
The images of Pārsvanātha in the collection of the State Museum in Dhubela Palace near Nowgong (District Chatarpur) in the style of the Kalacūri region were collected from various places in the former Rewa State in Baghelkhand. Among them are two seated and three standing representations. One of them is shown in dhyāna-mudrā (with a serpent-canopy over his head), on a simhāsana flanked by Indra and Upendra, and the usual garland-bearers, elephants and the chatratraya on the top. On the pedestal, devotees are shown (Plate 23). Another image represents Pārsvanātha seated in padmāsana, the śrīvatsa symbol, however, is absent in this image.
The three standing images of Pārsvanātha are of red sandstone, while two show miniature representations of the four seated Jinas besides the main image of Pārsvanātha in kāyotsarga-posture.
In a standing image from Garhā, Rewa District, and housed in the Tulsi Sangrahalaya, Ramban, Pārsvanātha is shown with a serpent canopy over his head, a camaradhara and a mālādhara on the Jina's right flank. The portion on the left side of the image is broken. Śrīvatsa-mark is present on the chest. The image may be assigned to c. 11th century A.D.
Candella Territory
In the Bundelkhand or Jejäkabhukti region of the Candelläs, Khajurāho, Mahobā, Deogarh, Banpur, Canderi, Budhi-Canderi, Siron, Khurd, Candpur, Dudhai, and Madanpur were important sites of Jaina art and architecture.
At least 20 images of Pārsvanātha are reported from Khajurāho (District Chatarpur) alone, ranging in date from the tenth to the 12th century A.D. They are either shown sitting in dhyāna-mudrā or standing in kayotsarga-mudrā.
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A remarkable Pārsvanātha image reported from a field near the Ghantãi temple at Khajurāho is now in the Jaina collection. The tail of the serpent, the lāñchana of the Jina, dangles over the carpet of throne. Its coils form the seat of Pārsvanātha and hoods form the canopy over his head. Dharanendra in human form and Padmavati, both crowned over by snake-hood canopies, are shown seated in padmāsana on Pārsvanātha's main seat, on either side of which is an Indra with lotus in one hand and flywhisk in the other. The parikara is decorated with elephants, vyālas and makaras, etc. On either side of the canopy, above the yaksas, are elephants; whereas the parasol is flanked by gandharvas and vidyādbaras with musical instruments and garlands. The limbs of the Tirthankara are in good proportion. The head shows usnīşa.'
An important Pārsvanātha image in the Khajuraho Museum (No. 1654), in the standing-posture, is with the usual attendant Yaksa and Yaksi. The depiction of the nine grahas in this image is remarkable.10
In another Pārsvanātha image from Khajuraho (Plate 24), housed in the selfsame Museum (No. 1618), he is shown seated in dhyāna-mudrā flanked by the cámaraholding Indra and Upendra. The siṁhāsana has the dharmacakra in the centre but with rim shown frontwise. On the corners of the pedestal are the seated pair of Yaksa and Yaksi with the snake-canopy over their heads. A carpet decorated with fringes is seen suspended from the seat and above the seat is a decorated cushion. On both sides of the Pārsva's head, two seated mini-Jina figures are depicted. The cobra-canopy is flanked by elephants, also two standing tiny figures of Jinas and the vidyādhara couples holding garlands. Vyālas and makaras are also shown in the parikara. Śrīvatsa mark is present on the chest. Curly hair are shown with usnīşa. The image may be assigned to c. tenth century.
Deogarh, District Lalitpur, U.P., has a group of Jaina temples and sculptures on the eastern sector of the fort dating from the ninth to the 12h century. About 30 standing or seated images of Pārsvanātha are reported from this site, kept either in the temples or in the open area in the fort. In the early images, of the ninth century, Pārsvanātha is flanked by Dharanendra with cămara and Padmāvati holding a large umbrella in her hands, as already mentioned above.
In other Pārsvanātha images represented on the temples Nos. 1, 4, 6, 9 and 12 and belonging to the 10th and 11th century A.D., he is simply shown seated in dhyāna-mudrā or standing in khadgāsana, the back fully covered by the coils of the snake. He is generally flanked by cămara-bearers shown front-wise. Sometimes seated or standing smaller figures of Tirthankaras are also depicted on both sides.
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Above the serpent-hoods, a chatratraya is flanked by garland-bearers and elephants are also present with devadumdubbi on the top.
On the western wall of temple No. 1, there are two Pārsvanātha images standing in kāyotsarga-posture flanked by câmara-bearers, Indra and Upendra. By the sides of the feet, two worshippers are shown with folded hands. Dharmacakra is depicted between the two seated lions on the pedestal. Above, the serpent-canopy and the chatratraya are flanked by mālādhara-vidyādharas and on the top the devadumdubbi is represented.
In temple No. 4, Pārsvanātha (Plate 25) is shown standing as usual but the pedestal is flanked by seated Yaksa and Yaksi with triple-hooded canopy over their heads. On both sides of Pārsva are shown four standing tiny Jina figures. Garland-bearers and elephants flanking the umbrella are also depicted as usual with devaduṁdubbi on the top.
In another image, fixed on the boundary wall of temple No. 12, Pārsvanātha is standing as usual but here his lāñchana, the snake, is present on the carpet of the seat, while at the other place kukuta is shown on the carpet as his lāñchana.
Eight Pārsvanātha images (six standing and two seated) from Siron, District Lalitpur in U.P., are housed in the sculpture-shed of the Jaina group of modern temples. In the standing images Pārsvanātha (Plate 26) is generally shown in khadgāsana on a siṁhāsana flanked by cămara-bearers standing in dvibhanga-posture facing front side and two seated worshippers with folded hands. A snake is coiled behind the Jina covering the whole of his back, while seven-hooded canopy is present over Pārsva's head. The trichatra is flanked by garland-bearers and elephants. Devaduṁdubhi is also seen on the top. Excepting for one image, the Śrīvatsa mark is generally present on the chest. Curly hair with usnīşa as usual is present. In the two images the Lord is flanked by four seated miniature Jinas and in one case by such six seated Jinas. Generally, the Yaksas and Yaksīs are shown facing front. The lāñchana is not depicted. Usually, the Jina stands on a lotus seat. In one example he is flanked by the standing Dharanendra holding cămara and Yaksi Padmāvati carrying the parasol; both have five-hooded canopy over the head. In this image the pedestal as well as Indra and Upendra are absent.
An image similar to a standing image from Siron-Khurd of the 10th century, is housed in the State Museum, Lucknow (J. 882) and another image, of about the 11th century from the same place, is in the collection of Jhansi Museum (No. 80.24).
In the seated images from Siron, Pārsvanātha (Plate 27) is shown on a decorated cushion in dhyāna-mudrā under a seven-hooded serpent canopy flanked by cămara
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bearers facing front. Above the hoods on both sides of the trichatra and the devaduṁdubhi, four seated miniature Jinas, mālādhāri vidyadhara couples, and elephants are depicted. On the pedestal a carpet decorated with kirttimukba is seen suspended between the two lions flanked by seated Yaksa and Yaksi at the corners. Śrīvatsa-mark is present on the chest. The image may be dated to 11th century. In another seated image from the same place, Pārsvanātha is flanked by two standing and two seated mini Jinas.
Two standing Pārsvanātha images belonging to c. 11th century have been reported from Dudhai, District Lalitpur, where he is shown on a simbāsana flanked by Indra and Upendra bearing cămaras. His back is fully covered by the coils of the cobra whose seven hoods are above the head of the Jina. Trichatra and devaduṁdubhi are flanked by elephants. On one side of the Pärśva ten miniature Jinas are also depicted, thus resulting in the caturvinsati-patta as a slab.
Two images of Pārsvanātha reported from Mahobā (District Hamirpur), U.P., and of the 12th century, are housed in the Jhansi Museum (Nos. 80.18 and 80.83). In one image he is standing in the kāyotsarga-posture on a pedestal with sevenhooded canopy above his head. A cámara-bearer attendant is flanked on either side of the Jina. On the pedestal donors are incised with folded hands. The lāñchana of the Pārsva—two coiled snakes—is also depicted. It has a two-line inscription on the pedestal bearing the date samvat 1253 (A.D. 1196). In another image of about the 12th century, Pārsvanātha is shown standing with Dharanendra of the same dimensions bearing the camara on the right side of the Jina."
Kacchapagbāta Territory Pārsvanātha images are also met with in the territory ruled by the Kacchapaghātas in and around Gwalior and Padhāvali. Two sculptures of about the tenth-11th century are housed in the Central Archaeological Museum, Gwalior. They were acquired from Padhavali and Gwalior Fort. The Padhāvali image represents Pārsvanātha seated in padmāsana. He has a śrīvatsa-mark on his chest. Behind his head, the prabhamandala-halo is also depicted. Above the head of the Jina, trichatra flanked by the elephants and the devaduṁdubbi are, as in most examples, present on the top. The attendant Nāgendras flanking the Tirthankura are shown standing on elephants and with serpent-hoods on their heads. The pedestal shows a dharmacakra and the devotees have been assigned a place between the two lions.
The second image of Pārsvanātha from Gwalior Fort is inscribed and can be attributed to the 11th century. The small figures of the Jinas in the parikara suggest
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that the image was meant to be of caturviņšati specification. A small figure of ksetrapāla with his vāhana, dog, is also seen on the pedestal.
In two sarvatobhadrikā images from the Gwalior Fort, one housed in the Central Archaeological Museum, Gwalior, and another in a private collection of Mr. H.N. Dwivedi from Murar (Gwalior), are of the period about the tenth century. Pārsvanātha is depicted simply standing on a lotus seat with a serpent-canopy over his head. Mention may also be made of a sarvatobhadrikā from Amrol, in District Gwalior where a mutilated Pārsvanātha image is present on a pedestal. On the Fort wall at Gwalior between the Lakşmaņa Gate and the Hāthiā Gate, there is a relief showing Mother and Child in a rectangular niche. It shows a mutilated lady figure in reclining posture with a child by her side, accompanied by attendants and a meditating Tirthankara seated above the niche. This panel seems the representation of a Jina's mother, assignable to c. 10th century (as was also agreed by Dr. N.P. Joshi in a Seminar on the Art of Khajuraho). Above the head of Mother there is a standing male figure having seven-hooded canopy over his head, though not in kāyotsargaposture. If we identify this image with Yaksa Dharanendra, then this would lead to the conclusion that the panel depicts the birth of Pārsvanātha.
Paramāra Territory The Paramāras of Mālvadeśa were perhaps even more liberal patrons of Jainism than the Candellās. While the extant Nirgrantha temples in this region are not considerable, Jina images are found scattered almost everywhere. However, mention may be made of a Pārsvanātha temple at Dhār, where the Digambara Jaina author Devasena wrote the Darśanasāra in a.d. 933: And Prabhācandra wrote his several commentaries on earlier Digambara Jaina works as also composed two works on darśana, namely the Prameya-kamala-mărtanda and the Nyāyakumudacandra. Besides these, many Pārsvanātha images, either individually or in groups, are reported from this region.
In an image (Plate 28) from Hingalājagarh (District Mandasore), now housed in Bhānpura State Museum (No. 290), Pārsvanātha is shown seated in dhyāna-mudrā on a decorated cushion over the simbāsana with the dharmacakra having the rim facing and flanked by Dharanendra and Padmavati. The carpet above the pedestal is decorated, as oftener, with kirttimukha. The back of the Jina is fully covered with the coils of Nagendra whose hoods are now in broken state. Two seated attendants standing on stalked lotuses are also seen on both the sides of Pārsva. Śrīvatsa mark is present on the chest. His half closed eyes, elongated ears, serene face, broad
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shoulders, and the beaded necklace (ekāvali) of the attendants suggest the date of the image c. tenth century.
A seated tenth-century image of Pārsvanātha flanked by attendants with mutilated pedestal, head and serpent-hoods from Bujgadh (Mandasore District) is housed in Bhānpur State Museum (No. 36).
A head of Pārsvanātha, protected by seven-hooded cobra, hailing from Hingalājagarh, is in the collection of the Central Museum, Indore. His curly hair, smiling face, elongated ears, suppressed uşnīşa and attentiveness of the cobra-god are remarkable. The image may be dated to the 10th century.
In one other image from Bujgarh, (Bhanapur State Museum No. 42), standing and of about the tenth-century, though in a very bad state of preservation, Pārsvanātha is shown on a lotus seat fully backed by the serpent coils flanked by Indra and Upendra. Padmavati is on Jina's left side, the portion on the right side is broken.
Another tenth century image from Hingalājgarh in the Indore Central Museum (Pārsva standing) (Plate 29) is shown on a lotus seat flanked by Indra and Upendra holding cāmaras. The serpent coils are shown behind the back of the Jina and a canopy of seven hoods over his head.
In one more image from the same place and in the same Museum, Pārsva is depicted simply with a seven-hooded canopy over his head.
Gandharvapuri (District Dewas) has yielded a colossal standing Pārsvanātha with a seven-hooded canopy over his head flanked by Indra and Upendra as cámarabearers, the vidyādhara couples hold garlands, four seated Jinas, the trichatra and the devadumdubbi figure above the canopy. Śrīvatsa mark and usnīşa are present. The image may be assigned to the 11th century. It is housed in the State Museum, Gandharvapuri (No. GOP 81).
In another seated image from the same place and housed in the same Museum (No. 230.89), Pārsvanātha is shown with Indra and Upendra. His back is shown fully covered with coils of the snake making canopy of seven hoods over his head. Vidyadhara couples, triple umbrella, elephants and devaduṁdubbi are shown as usual. The image is mutilated and may be dated to c. tenth century.
On the north wall of a modern śāntinātha temple at Burhi Canderī (District Guna), M.P., a Pārsvanātha image assignable to the tenth century A.D. is shown to be flanked by Yaksa and Yaksī standing on a simbāsana.
A remarkable seated image of Pārsvanātha (Plate 30) from Bhojpur (Raisen District) is enshrined in the garbhagrha of the śāntinātha temple, dated c. 11th century. Here the pedestal is absent. Pārsvanātha is shown seated on the serpent coils on a
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decorated cushion. He is flanked by the Yakṣa and the Yakṣi with five-hooded canopy over their heads. Four seated Jinas are depicted flanking the chatra above the canopy. A seated Jina in a rathikā is also shown on the top above the devaduṁdubhi. A standing image of Pārsva from the same place dated c. 11th century is also noteworthy. Another standing image bearing the usual features is also reported from Rajendra Udyan in Pannā District, datable to c. 10th century,
In an interesting image of Pārsvanātha from Guna in the collection of Jaina Archaeological Museum, Ujjain, the Jina is shown seated in padmāsana under the canopy of a seven-hooded serpent. Yaksa Dharaṇendra and Yakși Padmāvatī are present on his left and right.
A standing image of Pārsvanātha, dated c. tenth-11th century, housed in the Vidisha State Museum (No. 349/1287) is fully covered at the back with the serpent coils and is flanked by the seated devotees, Indra and Upendra, and two standing and two seated Jinas. Above the canopy on both sides of the trichatra and devadumdubbi, mālādhārividyādharas and elephants are present. Śrīvatsa mark is also present on the chest.
In Bare Bābā, Kundalpur, District Damoh, which is not far from Vidiśā, there are a large number of loose sculptures representing Tirthankaras as well as the Yaksīs. In one image, Pārsvanātha is shown standing in kāyotsarga on a simbāsana flanked by the camara-bearing Indra and Upendra facing front. The full back of the Jina is covered with the coils of a serpent whose seven-hooded canopy is shown over his head and the tail passes on the carpet spread over the simbāsana. Above the serpent-hoods, the ubiquitous trichatra, devaduṁdubbi, and mālādhārī-vidyadharas occur. The features, regrettably, are rather heavy and inelegant for the tenth century bracket.12
Inside the Udaigiri cave 20, near Vidiśā, a loose image of Pārsvanātha is shown seated (Plate 31) on a decorated cushion with a seven-hooded canopy over his head. He is flanked by the cauri-bearing Indra and Upendra standing on elephants. Above the canopy on both sides of the trichatra and devaduṁdubbi, mālādbārividyadhara couples, elephants and four miniature Jinas are depicted. On the pedestal a dharmacakra between the two lions facing front is flanked by seated Yaksa and Yaksi on the corners. Śrīvatsa mark on the chest of the Jina is also present. The date of the image may be c. 11th century.
Pārsvanātha is also represented in an image reported from Ahmedpur (Vidiśā) dated about the 11th century and now housed in the Central Archaeological Museum, Gwalior. In this image he is simply shown standing in kāyotsarga-pose protected by a serpent-canopy over his head.
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Conclusion
From the foregoing discussion we may conclude that, from the ancient through premedieval to the medieval period, scores and scores of images of Jina Pārsva were carved and, inferably, many temples for that Jina had been built in Central India. While extant buildings in this vast province are rare to meet with, the images are found scattered all over the region. In Central India, these begin to appear from the fifth century.
The images of Pārsvanātha belonging to the Gupta, post-Gupta and Pratīhāra periods show that the generalities of the classical art of the Mathurā tradition were followed in Central India also. In these images the Jina is shown seated in dhyānamudrā or standing in the kāyotsarga-mudrā with seven-hooded canopy of Nāgarāja over his head. On the simbāsana is generally shown the dharmacakra between the two end-lions. Sometimes he is also depicted seated on the coils of the snake or on a decorated cushion kept upon an ornamented piece of cloth dangling downwards from the seat. He is customarily flanked by Dharanendra bearing the câmara and Padmăvati holding the umbrella in her hands. Above the snake-canopy, chatratraya, devaduṁdubhi flanked by elephants standing on lotus flowers, and garland-bearing vidyādbaras also began to appear. The śrīvatsa mark on the chest of the Pārsva is generally absent in the beginning, which was a common feature of the Mathurā Jina images in the Kuşāna and Gupta periods. The lāñchana of Pārsva is also not depicted up to the Pratīhāra period.
Pārsvanātha images of the tenth and 11th centuries represent a fully developed phase of the sculpture in almost whole of Central India. He is depicted in seated and standing postures of all sizes with simple and elaborate parikaras usually accompanied with demi-gods and sometimes with smaller figures of Tirthankaras and the surround adorned by vyālas, makaras, etc. He is oftener shown flanked by cămara-bearing Indra and Upendra. Dharanendra and Padmavati are depicted on the corners of the simbāsana. Śrīvatsa mark is usually present on the chest of the Jina but the distinguishing lāñchana and the prabhāmandala are not depicted excepting in a few cases. The later subsidiary images suffer from pronounced angularity, and stiffness is in evidence in the treatment of Jina's body. Also, the eyes are now elongated and eye-brows become bow-shaped. Moreover, the earlobes touch the shoulders, hair mostly curly with low and compressed uşnişa.
In the images from the Kalacūri territory, Pārsvanātha is usually shown seated on the coil or coils of the serpent whose tail is depicted hanging on the carpet through
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the cushion. The camara-bearers are generally shown standing in the tribhangaposture, turning and looking toward the Jina. In the images of the Paramara zone, Jina's back is shown fully covered with the coils of the snake and the camarabearing attendants are depicted looking frontwise. The images of the Candellä and the Kacchapaghata territory appear to be highly influenced by, or show the same details as in the Paramāra Art of the Mälava country.
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1. U.P. Shah, Studies in Jaina Art, Banaras 1955, pp. 77-78, plate IV, fig. 12.
2. Ibid., pp. 14-15.
3. B.N. Sharma, "Art-objects in Museums: Victoria and Albert Museum, London", Jaina Art and Architecture, Vol. III, New Delhi 1975, p. 544.
4. Niraj Jain, Anekanta (Hindi), Delhi, XV, 19, pp. 222-223; also U.P. Shah, Jaina Art, Vol. I, Bhartiya Jnanpith, New Delhi 1974, p. 129, plate 64.
5. R.C. Majumdar and A.D. Pusalkar, The Age of Imperial Kanauj (History and Culture of the Indian People 4), Bombay 1955, p. 289.
6. Michael W. Meister, "Ama, Amrol and Jainism in Gwalior Fort", Journal of the Oriental Institute, Baroda, XXII (No. 3, March 1973), pp. 354-58.
93
7. Ibid.
8. Marutinandan Prasad Tiwari, Khajuraho ka Jaina Puratattva (Hindi), Khajuraho 1987, p. 48. 9. Niraj Jain, "Chapter 38: Collections at Khajuraho", Jaina Art and Architecture, Vol. III, Bharatiya Jnanpith, New Delhi 1975, p. 594, plate 376 B.
10. Ibid., plate 377 A.
11. S.D. Trivedi, Sculptures in the Jhansi Museum, Jhansi 1983, p. 87, fig. 84.
12. Krishna Deva, "Chapter 16: Central India: Examples of Early Medieval Art in Central India", Jaina Art and Architecture, Vol. I, Bharatiya Jnanpith, New Delhi 1974, p. 168, plate 94 B.
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Plate 7 Plate 8
Plate 9 Plate 10 Plate 11 Plate 12 Plate 13 Plate 14 Plate 15 Plate 16 Plate 17 Plate 18 Plate 19 Plate 20 Plate 21 Plate 22 Plate 23 Plate 24 Plate 25 Plate 26 Plate 27 Plate 28 Plate 29 Plate 30 Plate 31
Udaigiri (Udayagiri), Cave 20, general view, C. A.D. 425-426. Vidiśā, Pārsvanātha-Sarvatobhadrikā image, c. 7th century A.D. Vidisha Museum No.357 1225. Kāritalãi, Pārsvanātha-Sarvatobhadrikā image, c. 7th century A.D. Raipur, M.G.M. Museum. Nachnā-Kuthārā, Pārsvanátha, seated, c. 6th century A.D. Ramban, Tulsi Sangrahalaya. Madhya Pradesh, Pārsvanátha, c. 6th-7th century A.D. Calcutta, Indian Museum, A25111. Gwalior Fort, Pārsvanātha, c. 9th century A.D. Amrol, Pārsvanātha, c. 9th century A.D. Vidiśā, Pārsvanātha, c. 9th century A.D. Vidisha State Museum. Cirainti village, Pārsvanātha, Sarvatobhadrikā, c. 9th century A.D. Deogarh, Pārsvanātha, c. 9th century A.D. Deogarh, Jain temple 15, garbhagļha, Pārsvanātha, c. 9th century A.D. Deogarh, Jaina temples 12 & 15, Pārsvanātha, c. 9th century AD. Käritalãi, Pārsvanátha, c. 10th century A.D. Raipur, M.G.M. Museum (35). Jabalpur, Pārsvanatha, c. 11th century A.D. Jabalpur, Rani Durgavati Museum. Singhanpur, Pañcamatha temple, Pārśvanātha, mid-10th century A.D. Singhanpur, Pañcamațha temple, Pārsvanátha, mid-10th century A.D. Madhya Pradesh, Pārśvanātha, Sarvatobhadrikā, c. 10th century A.D. Dhubela Museum. Khajuraho, Pārsvanātha, c. 10th century A.D. Khajurāho Archaeological Museum No.1618. Deogarh, Jaina temple 4, Pārsvanātha, 11th century A.D. Siron, Pārsvanátha, c. 10th century A.D. Siron, Pārsvanátha, c. 11th century A.D. Hingalājagarh, Pārsvanátha, c. 9th-10th century A.D. Bhānpur, State Museum No. 290. Hingalājagarh, Pārsvanātha, c. 10th cent. A.D. Indore, Central Museum. Bhojpur, Jaina temple, garbhagrha, Pārsvanātha, c. 11th cent. A.D. Udaigiri, Cave 20, Pārsvanātha, c. 10th-11th cent. A.D.
(All illustrations are published here by the courtesy and kindness, American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art & Archaeology, Ramnagar, Varanasi.)
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PĀRSVANATHA IMAGES IN ORISSA AND BENGAL
D.R. Das
Orissa and Bengal, the two contiguous states of Eastern India, witnessed a brisk activity of the Nirgrantha missionaries for long centuries. Interestingly, their activity was very intense in remoter and inaccessible areas. While the history of this activity in Orissa is known to us, albeit inadequately, our knowledge of the spread of Nirgranthism in Bengal, on the other hand, is not extensive.
I. ORISSA
A literary reference seems to suggest that the Nirgrantha religion had entered Orissa before the birth of Mahāvīra. According to a legend, recorded in the late Nirgrantha texts, Karakandu, the king of Kalinga, was a disciple of Pārsvanātha.' If this tradition has any historical value, Nirgrantha became the royal religion of Orissa through the influence of Pārsvanātha. Jainism continued to enjoy royal patronage even after Karakandu. Nandarāja of Magadha is reported in the Hāthigumphā inscription (c. 50-25 B.c.) at Udayagiri to have carried away a Jina image from Kalinga obviously after defeating its ruler. When Khāravela of the Mahāmeghavāhana family became the king of Kalinga, he not only recovered the said Jina image (Kalinga Jina' of the Hāthigumphā inscription) but also turned Bhubanesvar into a great centre of Nirgrantha religion. Archaeological exacavation has laid bare the foundation of an apsidal temple on the summit of the Udayagiri at the outskirts of Bhubanesvar. It is generally believed that this temple was built by Khāravela or one of his successors to house a Jaina divinity (Kalinga Jina?). After the fall of the Mahāmeghavāhanas, the history of Nirgranthism in Orissa becomes obscure. However, the Nirgrantha religion apparently had continued to flourish. Hiüen Tsang, during the second quarter of the 7th century, saw many Nirgranthas in Kalinga and more than ten thousand temples of Tirtharkaras in Kalinga." The Sailodbhavas, who at that time were ruling in Kongoda and its adjoining territories in southern Orissa, were known to have extended support to the Nirgrantha establishments in their kingdom. Since Nirgranthism alim Jainism never failed to enjoy patronage of different ruling houses of Orissa, a phenomenal growth, as a result, of that religion took place in this region and its centres sprouted in almost every part of that country. Simultaneously, there
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was a proliferation in the production of images of Jaina divinities and building of temples to house these images. Most of these images are now lying scattered around the ruins of their original places of worship.
Among the Tirtharkaras, images of Rşabha and Pārsva outnumber those of the other Jinas. Images of Pārsvanātha have been found in places like Martasol, Pundal, Ayodhyā (Plate 32) and Charampa in the Balasore District, Anandpur, Khiching, Bāripādā, Koisali and Khuntapāla in the Mayūrbhañj District, Vaidakhiā, Gadacandi, Podasingidi (Plate 33), and Sainkul in the Keonjhar District, and Cuttack, Byre, Pratapanagari (Plate 34) and Bhānpur in the Cuttack District; next Kakatpur, Sisupälgarh, Khandagiri (Cave Nos. 7, 8, 9 and 11) and Bāgalpur in the Puri District, and Bhairavasingpur, Jeypore, Cārmūlā, Nandapur and Jāmundā in the Korapūg District. In the Indian Museum, Calcutta, is preserved an image of Pārsvanātha (Plate 38) which was collected from the Circuit House, Purī. These images have been generally executed in stone and, occasionally, in bronze. From the bank of the river Kuakhai near Bhānpur, bronze images of several Jinas were recovered. (Of these images only that of Pārsvanātha escaped the hands of thieves.) Three Pārsvanātha images in metal have been found at Khuntapala and one each at Byre and Käkatpur. Also, one metal image of this Tirthankara from an unknown locality is preserved in the Orissa State Museum at Bhubanesvar.
The images of Pārsvanātha, discovered in Orissa, display certain common characteristics. In most cases, the Tirtharkara is represented as standing in kāyotsarga posture. His seated images are invariably in yogasana. With a few exceptions, a lotus seat on a lion throne is provided for the seated Jina. As his principal cognizance, a snake rises from behind him and spreads its seven hoods over his head. A canopy of three-tiered umbrella (chatratraya) is placed above the snake hood. Below the pedestal appears a nāga couple. Entwining their tails with each other, they are shown as ārādhakas or devotees of the Tirthankara. From the standpoint of the position assigned, they plausibly are Nāgarāja Dharanendra and his consort. Sometimes various offerings are depicted at the base of the pedestal. A constant attendant of Pārsvanātha is a cămara-bearer who stands on his either flank. The devadāru, the caitya-vrkṣa of the Tirthankara, is usually shown on the stele. Garland-bearing vidyadharas (mālādharas) occur on the two corners of the upper end of the stele. Presence of the gandharvas is indicated by two pairs of hands, one pair beating a drum and the other sounding cymbals. Thus, about five out of the eight mahāprātihāryas are shown in association with the Jina figures.
In addition to the above-mentioned characteristics, some images are endowed
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with certain individual iconographic traits. For instance, a snake is present on the pedestal of the Käkatpur bronze image. Beneath the lotus seat of the seated image of Pārsvanatha on the right wall of Cave No. 7 on the Khandagiri is carved a pot (Plate 35). On the pedestal of his other image in the same cave is shown a lotus (Plate 36). At Bhanpur, the image bears the śrīvatsa mark on the chest. In some cases, the Tirthankara was accompanied by eight planetary divinities. One such image was found at Pundal, one at Ayodhya (Plate 32), and Jeypore and two are preserved in the Chaudhuri Bazar Jaina temple at Cuttack. Excepting Rāhu, the personified planets are in yogasana. The attributes in their two hands are as follows:
Surya
Soma
Mangala
Budha
Brhaspati Sukra
Sani
two lotuses; staff and pitcher;
rosary and book;
rosary and club (?),
rosary and pitcher; bow and arrow;
rosary and pitcher
At Ayodhya, minute figures of demonic and animal-headed creatures, aggressively advancing from either side of the upper part of the stele towards Pārsvanatha, probably illustrate the famous upasarga-tormentation inflicted on the Jina by Kamatha and his retinue.
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Pārsvanatha, as mūlanāyaka, is shown on a caturviṁsati-patta or stele showing 24 Jinas from Gadacandi near Podasingiḍi. Also in Cave No. 8 on the Khandagiri, he occupies the position of mūlanāyaka among the group of 24 Tirthankaras. At Khiching he has on his either side three Tirthankaras standing one above another in a vertical row. An image, kept in the Chaudhuri Bazar Jaina temple at Cuttack, the Jina is accompanied by four Tirthankaras in yogasana who cannot be identified. His image from Puri (Plate 38) is flanked on the right by Santinätha and Rṣabhanatha and on the left by two unidentified Jinas, all seated in yogasana. An image of Pārsvanatha at Vaidakhia has on its left the standing figures of Säntinätha and Mahavira and on its right Candraprabha and Rṣabhanatha.
Pārsvanatha also appears on caumukha votive shrines. Thus a caumukha, in the Cuttack Caudhuri Bazar Jaina temple, has on its four faces Jina Rṣabha, Santinatha, Pārsvanatha, and Vardhamana.
In order to suggest an emaciated body, resulting from the severity of their ascetic life, deep concave indents were produced on the sculptured figures of the
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Tirtharkaras found at Chārampa. One of these Tirthankara images represent Pārsvanātha in yogāsana.
A feature of the iconography of Pārsvanātha images of Orissa is that the Tirthankara is seldom accompanied by Padmāvatī, his śāsanadevī. At Jāmundā, however, in his seated image, she is present under the lotus seat. Here the goddess is sitting in yogāsana under the canopy of a three-hooded serpent. She has four arms, the attributes of which are indistinct. On the left corner of the pedestal of the standing image of Pārsvanātha in the Khiching Museum, occurs a tiny figure of his sāsanadevi. She sits in yogasana under a five-hooded snake canopy. The attributes in her two hands are indistinct. In Cave No. 7 on the Khandagiri, Padmāvati appears under Pārsvanātha who is in yogasana (Plate 36). Sitting in lalitāsana on a lotus throne, the goddess is endowed with three eyes and two arms. Her right hand is held in varada while the left carries a lotus. Under her lotus seat is also carved a lotus flower. In Cave No. 8 on the same hill, Padmāvati is shown under the seated figure of Pārsvanātha (Plate 37). The goddess here is seated in lalitasana, under the canopy of a five-hooded snake. She has eight arms which, clockwise from the lower right hand, show the mudrā and attributes as follows: varada, arrow, sword, flower (disc), lotus, shield, bow, and lotus. Unlike the Jāmundä example, Pārsvanātha and Padmāvati in the Khandagiri caves are placed in two separate compartments. At Nandapur was found an independent image of Padmavati sitting in lalitāsana on a double-petalled lotus (Plate 39). Over her head were spread five hoods of a snake. Her four arms displayed clockwise from the lower right hand, the following: varada, flower, radish(?) and axe. A miniature figure of Pārsvanātha occurred on the crest of the stele while an elephant was carved on the pedestal.
From the foregoing discussion, it is evident that the images of Pārsvanātha were carved in Orissa in accordance with a set formula, which had remained unchanged. Iconography, therefore, is of very little help in establishing the chronological order of these images. In some instances, Pārsvanātha as well as his attendants are provided with bhāmandala. Such examples are found at Jāmundā, Bhairavsingpur and Pratāpanagarī (Plate 34). On the stele from Puri (Plate 38) haloed Tirthankaras occur on either side of Pārsvanātha. Again, the group of planets when represented on the stele, includes eight planets only. In Orissa, halo seems to have ceased to characterize the divine images from about the tenth century. Similarly, the number of planets was increased to nine with the inclusion of Ketu in their group towards the close of the ninth century. Therefore, the images of Pārsvanātha, associated with these two features, may be assigned to a period before the tenth century. His seated
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image at Podasingidi (Plate 33), which seems to belong to the eighth/ninth century on stylistic ground, is one of the earliest of Jina images discovered in Orissa. Most of the images of Pärsvanatha and those of other Jaina divinities, however, seem to have been produced during the Somavamsi period which began towards the close of the ninth century. Epigraphic evidence suggests that the Somavaṁšis encouraged the spread of the Nirgrantha religion in their kingdom. Some of the old Nirgrantha caves on the Khandagiri were converted into Jina shrines during this period." Apparently, Pārsvanatha and other images of the creed, carved on the walls of these caves, were the result of this conversion which in turn was due to a continual memory that the caves belonged to the Nirgrantha creed. Reference in this connection may be made to an inscription on the wall of Cave No. 11. It announces: "In the year 549, in the victorious reign of Sri Udyotakeśarī, the decayed wells and decayed tanks were shown (i.e. cleansed) for bathing and drinking and (the images of) 24 Tirthankaras were established (i.e., carved on the walls of the caves) on the auspicious Kumāra Parvata. If any heretic causes even damage (to them), such a cheat (will) by his act, excite the anger of Sri Pārsvanatha." The Nirgrantha religion lingered on in Orissa even after the fall of the Somavaṁsis towards the close of the 11th century. However, the Jagannatha cult, with its rising popularity since the beginning of the Ganga rule, was destined to overwhelm Orissa in the near future when the religion of the Buddha as well as of the Jina were to be obscured.
II. BENGAL
Association of Bengal with Nirgrantha religion seems to have begun from the time of its inception. Mahāvīra is reported to have travelled in the pathless countries of the Ladha (Radha in West Bengal), as narrated in the "Uvadhana-sutta" (c. third/ second cent. B.C.) inside the Acåränga Book I, before he attained enlightenment.10 According to a tradition, recorded in the Brbat-kathakosa of Harisena (A.D. 933), the patriarch Bhadrabähu, who was the preceptor of Candragupta Maurya, was born at Devikota (i.e. Kotivarsa, modern Bangarh in the West Dinajpur District, West Bengal)." The same source reports that he was initiated in the order of friars in Pundravardhana. According to the second section of the Sthaviravali (c. 100 AD) of the Paryusanä-kalpa (compiled c. A.D.503/516), from Godäsa, a disciple of Arya Bhadrabahu, emanated a branch of friars, Godäsa-gana, which had in course of time split into four branches, Kotivarṣiyä, Pundravardhaniya, Tämraliptikä and DäsiKharvatika." Of these four sub-orders, the first two represent the well-known places in north Bengal, the third in lower Bengal and the fourth probably in West Bengal,"
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It is thus evident that Nirgrantha was a popular religion in Bengal from a very early period. The discovery of the vestiges of the Nirgrantha establishments and divinities in different parts of Bengal, therefore, is not surprising. However, the abundance of such antiquities in the Chotā Nāgpur-plateau region of the three neighbouring districts of Midnapore, Bankura, and Purulia is significant. Deserted temples and mounds caused by ruined temples and scattered images in their vicinity and also at other places bear ample testimony to the fact that Nirgrantha creed or Jainism once became the religion of the masses and continued to be so for a long time in these three south-western districts of West Bengal. This is further evident from the place names of undoubted Jaina inspiration. Reference in this connection may be made to Pārsvanātha which is the appellation of a village on the river Kansai in the Bankura District, indicative as it is of the eminence of Pārsvanātha in this locality. The immense popularity of the 23rd Tirthankara is also suggested by the large number of his images found in Bengal. Obviously, these images were enshrined exclusively and, in certain instances, together with images of other Jinas and attendant divinities in temples. All these temples are either deserted or are in ruins. The remains of a temple, which definitely housed an image of Pārsvanātha, has been traced at Pāresnāth.14 Built in red sandstone, it was a structure of dry masonry. Iron dowels and cramps were used to keep the masonry blocks of the structure together. The foundation of another temple of Pārsvanātha was discovered at Kendua in the Bankurā District. Once a building of ashlar masonry, it consisted of a deula (prāsāda) and a mukhaśālā (mandapa). The deula was built on a triratha (dvi-anga) plan and oriented toward east. Another recognisable element of the structure is the khurā (khura) moulding in its pābhāga (kați). Pārsvanātha may once have been the presiding deity also of the two deserted temples, one at Harmaśra and the second at Deulbhirā, in the Bankurā District. Not far away from the temple at Harmaśrā, a partially damaged image of Pārsvanātha is lying. His image (Plate 40), discovered near the temple at Deulbhirā, was shifted to the Indian Museum, Calcutta. Both temples are of the rekhā (Latina) order and made of laterite. At Harmaśrā, the temple had a mukbaśālā (mukhamandapa) which has disappeared long since. Pañcaratha (tri-anga) on plan, bereft of any decorative embellishments and facing east, these two temples seem to belong to a period not earlier than the 12th century.
While it is difficult to locate or identify the buildings which enshrined Pārsvanātha, his images are encountered at many sites of Bengal. So far, such images have been discovered at Kantaberia, 16 Raidighi'? and Dakşiņa Barasāt18 in the South 24-Parganas District, Beharasai (Plates 41 and 42) Rajjpara, 19 and Ayodhyābād, Nepura Bandhar and Dumurtod20 in the Midnāpore District, Bahulārā (Plate 43), Kenduā, Pāresnāth,
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Harmaśrā, Deulbhira (Plate 40), Dharapat, Biharinath and Barjorā (Plate 51) and an unspecified locality (Plate 13)21 in the Bankurā District, Sat Deuliyā (Plate 52) in the Burdwan District, and Pakbirrā (Plates 14, 15, 16, and 18),22 Anai-Jambad (Plate 48), Charrā and Purulia (Plate 50)23 in the Purulia District.
Images of Pārsvanātha, found in Bengal, are known either as seated in yogasana or standing in kāyotsarga. In both versions, the Jina has a lotus placed above the simhāsana. On the pedestal occur a worshipful nāga couple whose coils are often entwined with each other. With rare exceptions, they rise on their tails to flank the legs of the Tirthankara. The nāga holds a jar with his hands and the nägi a stafflike object which may be a musical instrument. By the sides of the nāga couple stand two cămara-bearers on lotus pedestals. On the stele of the Indian Museum image (Plate 44), collected from somewhere in the Bānkurā District, the någa is kneeling but the nägi is standing. The cámara-bearers appear above them. Again, above the camara-bearers are placed two seated worshipful figures. As in other areas, a serpent, with its coils carved on the back-slab, spreads its seven hoods over the head of every specimen of Pārsvanātha image in Bengal. Above the serpent hood is a canopy of tri-linear chatra. On one side of the chatra is depicted a pair of hands beating a drum and on the other another pair sounding cymbals. The corners of the upper part of the stele are occupied by garland-bearing vidyādbaras. The stele is also marked with the caityadruma and flowers. Sometimes a halo is shown behind the head of the Jina as well as those of his attendants. His image (Plate 40), discovered at Deulbhirā, is shown in yogasana on a pedestal which has a lotus marked in its centre. Apart from the two cămara-bearers and the sevenhooded serpent, the Jina is not accompanied by anything else. An unusual image, found at Daksin Barasāt, shows four snakes issuing out of the left and right shoulders of Pārsvanātha. The Jina is further adorned with a vanamālā. At Pakbirrā, a standing image of Pārsvanātha has on its either side two standing Tirthankaras. Placed one above the other, the Tirtharkaras remain unidentified on account of their indistinct cognizances. Occasionally, the planetary divinities were shown on the stele. Reference in this connection may be made to the image-stele (Plate 43) in the Siddheśvara temple at Bahulārā. Two examples, one from Pakbirrā (Plate 47) and the other from Beharasai (Plate 41), also give indications of the presence of the planets at the sides of Pārsvanātha. Cauvisi-stelae with Pārsvanātha as the mülanāyaka were also produced in Bengal. On three such stelae, one at Anai-Jambad (Plate 48), the second at Suisā, and the third, lying in three fragments, at Pāresnāth, the miniature figures of the standing Tirthankaras are arranged in two parallel rows on either side of the
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mūlanāyaka. At Suisā, the image of Pārsvanātha has an elaborately carved stele. Some of the details of this badly abraded carving may have a connection with the upasarga-legend associated with Pārsvanātha. Apart from the representation either independently or as mūlanāyaka, Pārsvanātha also figures on several caumukha votive shrines. Such votive shrines have been noticed at Pakbirrā (Plate 49), Purulia (Plate 50), Charrā, Barjorā (Plate 51)24 and Sāt Deuliyā (Plate 52). Another votive shrine is kept in the Haripada Sahitya Mandir Museum at Puruliā (Plate 50). A caumukha as devacchandaka or gandha-kuti having the crowning śikhara of the Latina class at Pakbirrā, while showing Pārsvanātha, Candraprabha, Rşabhadeva, and Santinātha in kāyotsarga on its four sides, exhibits on every face of its spire five Jinas in three vertically aligned niches and thus completes the figure 24 of the Jinas. Caumukha shrines from Puruliā and Barjorā are also of this type. (Do they represent Aștāpada-prāsāda?)
On several pañcatirthika stele, Pārsvanātha appears as one of the four Jinas around the mulanāyaka. Thus at Pakbirrā, he occurs by the side of Candraprabha and Mahāvīra. In another interesting example, again from Pakbirrā, the seated images of Rşabhanātha, Pārsvanātha, Padmaprabha and two other unidentified Jinas are placed in a row above the standing figure of Ambikā.
Wide distribution and the occurrence of a large number of Pārsvanātha images indicate that the Jina enjoyed a position of considerable importance in Bengal. The sculptors, who had executed these images, seem to have sufficient familiarity with the rules of Nirgrantha iconography. Commonality in the general details of all the images of the Jina in different districts and decades in Bengal may suggest that the convention which guided the sculptors did not vary with the changes of time and locale. It is, therefore, not possible to arrange these images in a strict chronological order on the basis of their iconography. What is, however, certain is that most of these images should be dated after the ninth century since none of the Jaina temples, now extant in Bengal, can be assigned to a date prior to the tenth century.25 Gauda Samgha, to which Somadeva of the Yaśastilaka-campū (tenth century) belonged, apparently had originated in Bengal.
III. APPENDIX
In different parts of Bengal, images of a multi-armed male deity under a hooded snake-canopy have been found (Plate 53). Some of the emblems, held in the hands of the deity, assert his Vaişņava affiliation. As such the god is taken to be a representation of Vişnu. Over the snake-hood canopy is shown a tiny figure in yogasana.
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This tiny figure generally has been identified with Amitabha. Therefore, the most common view is that the images of this class suggest a syncretism between Vaisnavism and Buddhism and as such these images should be described as Vişnu-Lokeśvara 26 But this identification does not explain why the majority of these images hail from areas which were once strongholds of the Jainas. Sometimes images of Jaina divinities and the so-called Vişnu-Lokeśvara were found side by side. In view of this fact, the snake-hood canopy of the deity assumes some significance. As on the head of Pārsvanātha, here also the snake often spreads seven hoods. Moreover, crest-figure is not unknown to Nirgranthist iconography. Under the circumstances, the possibility of these images being the result of syncretism between the Nirgrantha and the Bhāgvat cults cannot be ignored.
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1. For legends relating to Karakandu, see Jagannath Patnaik, "Jainism in Orissa", in Sidelights on
History and Culture of Orissa, ed. M.N. Das, Cuttack 1978, p. 308 f. The story of Karakandu makes it not very unlikely that Pārsvanātha visited Orissa and played a definite role in the spread of the Nirgrantha-darśana in this region. This possibility notwithstanding, the reading in the panels of the upper storey of the Rānigumph, on the Udayagiri some episodes of the life of Pārsvanātha, related by the Pārsvanathacarita, is not justified (see R.P. Mohapatra, Jaina Monuments of Orissa,
Delhi 1984, p. 15f.). 2. D.C. Sircar, Select Inscriptions bearing on Indian History and Civilization, Vol. I, Calcutta 1965,
p. 213 ff. 3. Debala Mitra, Udayagiri and Khandagiri, New Delhi 1975, p. 43 f. 4. T. Watters, On Yuan Chwang's Travel in India, ed. F.W. Rhys Davids and S.W. Bushell, Vol. II,
London 1905, p. 196 ff. (The figure, of course, seems highly inflated.) 5. Sarat Chandra Behera, Rise and Fall of the Sailodbhavas, Calcutta 1982, p. 178. 6. For a discussion on Jaina antiquities of Orissa, see Mohapatra, Jaina Monuments., passim. 7. Debala Mitra, "Glimpses of Jaina Relics in Orissa", Orissa Review (Monumental Special), 1976,
p. 16. 8. Ibid. 9. K.C. Panigrahi, Chronology of the Bhauma-Karas and Somavaṁsis of Orissa, Bhopal 1961, p.
53. According to a different view, the inscription was engraved in the year 5 of Udyotakeśari's
reign (see Mitra, Udayagiri and Khandagiri, pp. 6 and 68). 10. History of Bengal, Vol. I, ed. R.C. Majumdar, Dacca 1943, p. 36. 11. Pramode Lal Paul, "Jainism in Bengal", Indian Culture, Vol. III (No. 3), 1937, p. 525. 12. R.C. Majumdar, "Jainism in Ancient Bengal", Jain Journal, Vol. XVIII (1984), p. 126 f. 13. Kotivarsa, Pundravardhana, and Tāmralipti have been identified respectively with Bangarh in
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West Dinajpur District (West Bengal), Mahästhängarh in the Bagura District (Bangladesh), and Tamluk in the Midnapore District (West Bengal).
14. Debala Mitra, "Some Jaina Antiquities from Bankura, West Bengal", Journal of the Asiatic Society, Vol. XXIX (1958), p. 133 f.
15. Ibid., p. 134.
16. Gaurisankar De, "The Jaina Background of 24 Parganas," Jain Journal, Vol. XVII (1983), p. 143. 17. Kalidas Dutt, "The Antiquities of Khari", Varendra Research Society Monograph, No. 3 (1929), p. 5 and fig. 3.
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18. Idem, "Antiquities of North-west Sundarbans", ibid., No. 4 (1930), p. 7 and fig.3.
19. D.K. Chakravarty, "A Survey of Jaina Antiquarian Remains in West Bengal", Jain Journal, Vol. XVIII (1984), p. 145.
20. Information regarding the last two sites in the Midnapore District was kindly supplied by Shri Gaurisankar De.
21. Find spot of this image is not mentioned in the Accession Register of the Indian Museum where it is now preserved. Its accession number is 72/6.
22. For an account of the sculptures found at Pakbirra, see Krishnajivan Bhattacharyya, Pratip Kumar
Mitra and Atul Chandra Bhowmick, "Jain Sculptures at Pakbirra", ibid., Vol. XX (1986), p. 127ff. 23. This piece of sculpture, collected from elsewhere, is now kept in the Haripada Sahitya Mandir Museum, Purulia.
24. This caumukha votive shrine is preserved in the Vangiya Sahitya Parishad Museum at Vishnupur. 25. Puran Chand Nahar (Jaina Inscriptions, Calcutta 1918, Pt. 1, p. 1) brings to our notice an epigraph
on the back of an image of Parsvanatha dated in Samvat 1100. The image is installed in a temple at Azimganj (Murshidabad District). Roma Chatterjee (Religion in Bengal, Calcutta 1985, p. 358) takes this epigraph as an evidence of the revival of Jainism in Bengal during the 12th century. Nahar, however, indicates that the image was brought from Chitor.
26. J.N. Banerjea, The Development of Hindu Iconography, New Delhi 1974, p. 554.
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Plate 32. Plate 33. Plate 34.
Plate 35. Plate 36.
Plate 37.
Plate 38.
Plate 39.
Plate 40.
Plate 41. Plate 42. Plate 43. Plate 44. Plate 45. Plate 46.
Plate 47.
Plate 48.
Plate 49. Plate 50. Plate 51. Plate 52. Plate 53.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Ayodhya, Pärsvanatha. (Courtesy: Archaeological Survey of India, Calcutta.) Podasingidi, seated Pārsvanatha. (Courtesy and kindness: R.P. Mohapatra.) Pratapanagari, Pärsvanatha. (Courtesy: Archaeological Survey of India, Calcutta.) Khandagiri, Cave 7, right wall, seated image of Pārsvanatha. Khandagiri, Cave 7, Padmavati under the seated Pärśvanätha. Khandagiri, Cave 8, Padmavati under the seated Pārsvanatha.
Puri, stele with haloed Tirthankaras flanking Pärśvanatha. (Courtesy: Indian Museum, Calcutta.)
Nandapur, Padmavati with Pārsvanatha above.
Deulbhira, perforated grille with figure of seated Pārsvanatha. (Courtesy: Indian Museum, Calcutta.)
Beharasai, Pārsvanatha, upper part of the image. (Courtesy and kindness: Tarapada Santra.) Beharasai, Pārsvanatha, lower part of the image. (Courtesy and kindness: Tarapada Santra.) Bahulärä, standing Pärsvanätha. (Courtesy: Archaeological Survey of India.) Bänkura, standing Pärśvanatha. (Courtesy: Indian Museum, Calcutta)
Pakbirra, seated Parsvanatha. (Courtesy and kindness: Krishnajivan Bhattacharyya.) Pakbirra, Parsvanatha, lower portion of the image. (Courtesy: Archaeological Survey of India, Calcutta.)
Pakbirra, Pārsvanatha, lower portion of the image. (Courtesy: Archaeological Survey of India, Calcutta.)
Anai-Jambad, standing Pārsvanatha.
Pakbirra, votive caumukha. (Courtesy: Archaeological Survey of India, Calcutta.) Purulia, votive caumukha. (Courtesy: Haripada Sahitya Mandir, Purulia.) Barjoră, votive caumukha. (Courtesy: Vangiya Sahitya Parishad, Vishnupur.) Sāt Deuliyă, votive caumukha. (Courtesy: Asutosh Museum, Calcutta.) Burdwan, Vişnu-Lokeśvara. (Courtesy: Asutosh Museum, Calcutta.)
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(The author wishes to thank all individuals and institutions for providing the illustrative material for this paper.)
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PĀRSVANATHA IMAGES IN ELLORA
Maruti Nandan Prasad Tiwari
Pārsvanatha, the 23rd Tirtharkara, was accorded a specially favoured position in visual representations at the Southern Nirgrantha or Digambara rock-cut shrines. The Northern Nirgrantha sites reveal that, in terms of popularity, Jina Pārsvanatha was next only to Rşabhanātha; while in the images from south India, Pārsvanātha and Mahāvīra enjoyed the position of veneration to the same degree. Of all the 24 Jinas, the chief distinguishing feature of Pārsvanātha in having the snake-canopy overhead first appeared in c. first or second century A.D.' Up to c. the sixth century A.D., Pārsvanātha was shown both with five as well as seven-hooded' snake-canopy. The Pārsvanātha images of the Nirgrantha-Svetāmbara sites usually show the astamahāprätihāryas in the parikara, as well as the figures of the Sāsanadevatās at the two extremities of the throne. Barring a few examples from Osiāñ, Kumbhāriā, and Delvādā (Mt. Abū), the Pārsvanātha images at the Svetāmbara sites invariably contain the figures of Sarvānubhūti and Ambikā as sāsanadevatās, in place of the conventional Dharanendra Yaksa and Yaksi Padmavati. Sarvänubhūti and Ambikā, the most popular Yakșa-Yaksi pair in the Svetāmbara examples, was otherwise traditionally associated with the 22nd Jina Aristanemi. However, in a few instances, the cobra-canopy has been provided over the heads of Sarvānubhūti and Ambikā for emphasizing their association with Pārsvanātha. The Pārsvanātha images from the Digambara sites of North India usually contain the figures of Dharanendra and Padmāvatī, either standing formally at the right and left flanks with the snake-canopy, or seated near Jina's throne-ends. In former examples, Padmāvatī invariably holds a long parasol above the head of Jina; while Dharanendra is shown either with folded hands or as bearing a fly-whisk. The images from north India, in some instances, show the figures of Dharanendra and Padmāvati both at the Jina's throne ends and on the two sides of the mulanāyaka figure. The Pārsva images from south India usually show the figures of Dharanendra and Padmavati standing on the two flanks of the mülanāyaka which, however, are sometimes substituted by the camaradharas.
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Ellora in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra occupy a singular position in respect of history of architecture for its prolonged rock-cut shrine activities and the high quality of its figural and decorative art from c. middle of the sixth to about midtenth century A.D. and perhaps a little beyond. The site is all the more important due to its being the confluence of the three principal Indian sects, the Vaidika, the Buddhist, and the Nirgrantha. A series of five principal Nirgrantha caves (Nos. 3034), occupying the northern horn of the Ellorā ridge, are important from the standpoint of the study of Nirgrantha iconography and architecture of the southern school of pre-medieval and the early phase of the medieval times. These rock-cut hall-shrines, belonging exclusively to the Digambara sect, are datable to the ninth and tenth centuries a.d. The earliest Jaina caves apparently were carved during the reign of the Rāstrakūța emperor Amoghavarşa I (A.D. 815-881), the great patron of the Nirgrantha religion. These caves, among other Jina and subsidiary figures, contain several rock-cut images of Jina Pārsvanätha."
In Ellorā, Pārsvanātha is represented by over 31 examples, this being the highest number met with at any single Jaina site. The figures of Pārsvanātha in Ellorā, however, never occupy the position of a principal image, and is thus not found in the sanctum proper. Of the 31 figures, nine show Pārsvanātha in dhyana-mudra, the remaining in the kāyotsarga posture. The Pārśva figures are all carved either in the gūdhamandapa or in the vīthikā or fore-lobby. They show almost identical features, with a few definite peculiarities. The placement of the figures of Pārsvanātha, mostly facing Bahubali (in the corresponding position on the opposite wall) may have some underlying meaning. Such a placement may have been actuated by the commonality of the fact of upasarga (though of a different nature) in both cases.
Pārsvanātha in Ellorā, when seated, is usually accompanied by a triple parasol, fly-whisk bearing attendants, lion-throne, the hovering mālādhara-angels and the drum-beater suggestive of some of the asta-mahāprātihāryas, an invariate feature of the arhat images (Plate 56). On the contrary, the images in the kāyotsarga-mudrā show no prātihārya with Pārsva. This may be suggestive of Pārsvanātha yet not attained to Jinahood. The seated figures of Pārsvanātha in one case is, surprisingly, joined by the figures of Yaksa Sarvāhna and Yakși Ambikā.? The rendering of Sarvāhna and Ambikā in the present instance reminds us of their invariate association with Pārsvanātha at the Svetāmbara sites of western India. In a single instance, a seated figure of Pārsvanātha (cave 30) is carved at the lalāta of the lintel as well.
Pārsvanātha figures at Ellorā, seated or standing, invariably have been provided
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with seven-hooded snake-canopy. The largest number of figures are carved in cave 32 where occur as many as 12, three of which are in the dhyāna-mudrā. The caves 30, 31, 33 and 34 are having in order five, two, ten, and two figures.
The Pārsvanātha images from Ellorā are specially significant for elaborate rendering, in the parikara, of the upasarga or tirade of tormentations inflicted on Päráva by the evil spirit Sambara. The earliest known examples, illustrating the upasargas of Pārsvanātha are in Bādāmi (Cave IV) and Aihole (Jaina Cave), both datable to c. A.D. 600, wherein the figures of Sambara are shown attacking Pārśva with a boulder or with some weapon (Plate 54). However, the figures of Padmavati, in both instances, holds a long obliquely laid parasol and is joined by the figure of Dharanendra, both standing on the right flank of Pārsvanātha. Close to the figure of Pārśva with fivehooded snake-canopy, sits at his left the figure of Sambara bowing in humility with folded hands. The most elaborate representations of such scenes depicting the onslaught of Sambara to dissuade Pārsva from his tapas are met with at Ellorā. Barring a few examples known from the Malādevi temple at Gyāraspur (Vidisha, M.P.), Indian Museum, Calcutta (provenance probably Bihar), and Humca (Dist. Shimoga, Karnataka, two examples),' such elaborate representations are rarely encountered. In the rendering of the upasarga, at Ellorā are noticed three, four, five, six, seven or eight figural manifestations of Sambara, each one engaged in the act of causing a different type of assault to Pārsvanātha. In about 20 images, all in the kāyotsarga-mudrā, the upasarga scenes are carved, this being the highest number for such images at any site. Surprisingly, the available Pārsva images belonging to the Nirgrantha-Svetāmbara tradition do not show the upasarga episode. Instead, in the ceiling each of the Mahāvīra and the Sāntinātha temple at Kumbhāriä (c. A.D. 1062 and 1082, Banaskantha District, Gujarat), we come across the detailed renderings pertaining to the enmities of Kamatha (Meghamāli or Sambara) and of Marubhūti (Pārsvanātha in his previous existence).
The earliest literary reference to the upasarga of Pārsva is inside the Pārsvābhyudaya kāvya of Jinasena of Pancastūpānaya of the Southern Church (before a.d. 784 or more probably c. 825),10 wherein only two upasargas posed by the devil Kamatha are described; they are the apsarases or the beautiful damsels and the hurling of huge rock-boulders at Pārsva." Another work, the Uttarapurāņa of Guņabhadra (c. mid-ninth century A.D.) deals with the life of Pārsva in detail; but that pertains mainly to the enmity between Marubhūti and Kamatha or Pārśva and Sambara in their previous existences. As to the upasargas of Sambara during the course of tapas of Pārsva, it merely mentions that the devil Sambara had caused
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different upasargas continuously for seven days. It further mentions that, in course of the onslaught, Sambara lifted and threw hillocks at Pārsva.12 Both works also refer to the manifestation of Dharanendra along with his consort (the name Padmāvati not mentioned) for protecting Pārśva from the upasargas of Sambara. Dharanendra covered Pārsva with his hoods forming the canopy over his head while his consort raised a vajramaya chatraadamantine-parasol-over the snake-canopy.
The detailed account of the different upasargas of Sambara to Pārsva is found perhaps for the first time in the Pāsanābacariü (A.D. 1077) of the Digambara author Padmakīrtti which gives a telling description of how Sambara himself took different forms and used fatal weapons such as thunderbolt, arrow, spear, mudgara, axe, parasol etc. to shake Pārśva from his tapas. He also made abortive attempts through ferocious animals namely, śārdūla (tiger), lion, monkey, dog, bear, snake, boar, buffalo, elephant, ox, etc. to shake up Pārsva from his meditation. He also caused upasargas by the horrendous goblins such as the vaitāla-monster, piśāca-demon, dākini-ogress and by grahas or obscuring planetary divinities, also snakes, eagles, and kumbhända-monster with their terrifying cries to frighten Pārsva. An upasarga by the bewitching apsarases was also conjured up to lure away Pārsva from his trance. After failing in his efforts to shake Pārsva, Sambara next caused non-stop rains. When the rain water crossed the shoulder of Pārsva, Dharanendra came to his rescue along with the nāga-ladies. The king of snakes next raised his seven hoods over the head of Pārśva for providing full cover and rested Jina's feet in the folds acting as lap. As usual, Padmavati raised a parasol over the snake-hoods of Dharanendra. Sambara, finding his efforts going futile, was incensed and attacked even någarāja Dharanendra with the weapons such as thunderbolt, vajra-danda and mountain boulders, in which too he failed. 13 Filled, then, with remorse, Sambara bowed to Pārsva asking for forgiveness. The details of the various upasargas in the figures of Pārsva from Ellorā almost fully correspond with the details in the Pāsanābacariü. Since the figures of Ellorā in point of time are earlier than the text, it may be presumed that an identical but earlier tradition was before the artists at Ellorā, the textual source of which is now lost. Some general as well as the individual features of the images of Pārsvanātha from Ellorā showing elaborate rendering of the upasarga may now be looked into. In such scenes, Sambara has been shown in different forms, either riding on buffalo or lion or hovering in air and as throwing spear, dagger, trident, mace, thunderbolt, snake, and boulders at Pārsvanātha. In all instances, the target of the fierce attack of the devil Sambara, in his different manifestations carved on two sides, is Pārsva who stands unshaken by the onslaughts
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and is absorbed in deep trance. Barring an exception (cave 31) where Dharanendra is shown in human form (Plate 55), in all other instances from Ellorā he appears in the snake form with seven-hooded canopy over the head of Pārsva and its coils running all over his body down to the feet. On the contrary, the north Indian images from the northern Nirgrantha (Acela-kşapaņaka) sites invariably show the figure of Dharanendra in human form who stands on the right flank of Pārsva, while the corresponding left flank is occupied by Padmāvati who holds a long parasol. Padmāvatī, in the images from Ellorā, on the other hand, has always been depicted on the right flank of Pārsvanātha. She stands mostly on lotus and holds a long obliquely laid parasol seen above the cobra hoods and ultimately providing shade above the head of Pārsva as a mark of his greatness and also for protecting Pārsva and Dharanendra from the heavy shower due to Sambara's sorcery. Sometimes Padmāvati is joined by one or two nági figures which, however, conforms to the tradition of the Pāsanābacariü referring to the presence of nāgakanyās. The shaft of the parasol held by Padmāvati is delineated with such tenderness that it looks like a lotus stalk.
The compositional scheme in the Pārsvanātha images from Ellorā showing the upasargas is superb. It graphically blends different moods and depiction-modes of details. Pārsvanātha in deep meditation appears as a symbol of total austerity and self-sacrifice, while the hostile devils in terrifying forms represent demonic fury. The tenderly modelled figures of Padmāvatī, on the other hand, is suggestive of divine beauty and beneficence. In consonance with the literary injunctions, Sambara, wearing mukuta and other ornaments, appears along with his consort in humility with folded hands as if asking forgiveness. It is surprising that, despite a variety of representations of different upasargas, that caused by the charming apsarases is not carved in any of the examples at Ellorā. The slender and motionless figures of Pārsvanātha at Ellorā shows tranquillity and weightlessness. The face of the mūlanayaka is always calm and benign with a faint smile which suggests that, unshaken by the upasargas, the Jina is aware of what is going around despite his being in deep trance. The body of Padmāvatī, though slim and tenderly flexioned, is slightly fleshy but not without the feminine grace and elegance. The figures of Sambara in its different formal emanations show different modellings, sometimes meaty and plumpish, sometimes dwarfish and evil-looking. The facial features and expressions of the host of figures of the demon Sambara are in all instances terrifying.
The figure in cave No. 30 shows Sambara in different forms, in the act of attacking Pārsvanātha with a huge rock-boulder, and also with the sword and shield. In one
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of the examples, however, Dharanendra also stands close to Padmăvati on the right flank of Pārsvanātha.
Of the five figures of Sambara in an example from cave 31, one is interestingly shown with a lion face carved on its belly which was a usual convention of showing one of the form of the ganas but more specifically kumbhānda, the early examples of which are known from Bādāmi (Plate 56). The figure of Padmavati here is adorned with jewellery and is gracefully modelled.
The representations of Pārśva in cave no. 32 are most elaborate in respect of the rendering of the upasargas. In one of the figures, Sambara, kneeling at the feet of Pārśva with folded hands, has a terrifying appearance with bulging eyes and protruding fangs. In one case figure of Sambara is shown only as bust after the manner of Rāhu. In an elaborate example (Plate 57), the seated figures of Sambara and his consort are shown at the feet of Pārsva and the chatradhārini Padmāvati are finely executed. The dynamic figures of Sambara, eight in number, in differing forms, make a realistic depiction of the severe inflictions cast by saṁbara toward Pārsva. Three figures ride on lion and buffalo and hold snake and dagger. The figure carved very close to Pārśva apparently fail to shake Pārśva from his tapas which is suggested by his calm and benign face. This undoubtedly is the best of all figures of Pārsva at Ellorā both in terms of details and the enactment of the legend which appears ethereal. In some of the examples, the compositional scheme is not so elegant and it appears crowded as well as lack in vitality. In one of the instances, a monster is shown only by his head with his hands being closed to its mouth. In all examples, different emanatory forms of Sambara attacking Päráva are carved on both sides as hovering, so as to suggest that the inflictions originated from the sky. In an example in cave No. 32 a figure of dākini with snake garland and twisted snake in arm is also carved (Plate 58). The image also contains two diminutive figures of Jinas standing at the two extremities. However, a bearded monk with hands raised in tapas stands close to Padmāvatī; he may be identified with Kamatha or Katha performing penance. Another detailed representation in cave No. 32 showing eight devilish figures of Sambara is not so fine in terms of its compositional setting. The carver, however, has here paid considerable attention to the details of upasargas with forceful elaboration (Plate 57). But the weird power of Sambara seems ridiculous before the spiritual luminosity of Pārsva. Of the eight figures, two ride on buffalo and lion, while one is shown blowing a conch. The figure hovering in the air and hurling a huge boulder at Pārsva is the most forceful of all such depictions. In one of the examples in cave No. 32, two figures riding respectively a lion and buffalo
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attack Pārsva with trident and thunderbolt (Plate 59).
In one of the examples in cave No. 33, an unbearded monk wearing kaupina and standing with folded hands with a begging bowl hanging from his arm, is shown in close proximity of Pārśva on the left (Plate 61). The figure may be identified with Kamatha, though this mode of depiction finds no parallel textual explanation. In one of the examples at cave No. 33, a vigorous depiction of a devil attacking Pārsva with trident is worth noting (Plate 62). The image, though mutilated, contains beautifully modelled figure of Padmāvati in atibhanga. Likewise, the figure in cave No. 34 shows the demon riding a buffalo and making a bid to attack Pārsva with mudgara-dumbbell (Plate 63).
Thus the sculptors at Ellorā worked with a deep sense of imagination and had avoided the monotony in the details for representing the episode of Pārsva's upasarga (which repeatedly figures) and also in integrating different aspects represented by the figures of Pārsva, Padmăvatī, and Sambara. The variety revealed in forms and postures of different figures and their elaboration as well as expressiveness in such representations are unparalleled in the rendering of upasargas of Pārsva. Perhaps the scale of the composition on cave-walls provided the space for, and the textual tradition before the patrons and the carvers supplied the necessary details for the dramatic elaboration of the episode. (A smaller image of seated Pārsva but without the upsarga episode is shown in Plate 60).
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1. Bronze image in the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay and an āyāgapata from Mathurā with
the seated figure of Pārsva in the centre, now in the collection of State Museum, Lucknow. Acc.
No. J253 2. The bronze image (c. first century A.D.) in the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay and the two
figures at Bādāmi and Aihole (c. A.D. 600) show five-hooded snake-canopy with Pārsva. 3. Images from Kankāli Tila, Mathurā. 4. Vimala Vasahi, Dilwara, Mt. Abū. 5. For details, consult R.S. Gupte and B.D. Mahajan, Ajanta, Ellora and Aurangabad Caves, Bombay
1962, pp. 218-24; also the Jaina Art and Architecture, (ed. A. Ghosh), Vol. I, New Delhi 1975, pp. 188-91; K.V. Soundara Rajan, 'Ellora', Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture, Vol. I,
Pt. II (eds. Michael W. Meister and M.A. Dhaky), Delhi 1986, pp. 129-30. 6. Bāhubali (the son of the first Jina Rşabhanātha), as a result of his rigorous tapas and deep trance,
became a powerful symbol as well as a material image evocative of the ethos of self-sacrifice and of abissă preached by the Jinas. The same idea of rigorous tapas and deep trance are met
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with in the example of Parsva standing likewise in the käyotsarga for attaining the kevala-jñāna. He had to encounter with terrible upasargas caused by Meghamali or Sambara (the soul of devilish Kamatha). Despite the upasargas, Pārśva remained completely unaffected and stayed stable in tapas because of his inexhaustible inner spiritual strength. The probable source of the mythology of upasargas of Parsva was the legends of Buddha's Maravijaya and Krsna's uplifting
of Govardhana mountain.
7. Cave No. 33.
8. U.P. Shah, "A Pārsvanatha Sculpture in Cleveland", The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, December 1970, pp. 303-11.
9. M.A. Dhaky, "Śântara Sculpture", Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art, New Series, Vol. IV, 1971-72, pp. 78-96.
10. See the recent article in Hindi by M.A. Dhaky, "Dakṣiņātya Nirgrantha Parampara ke Kucha Granthon ki Aitihäsika Samasyäeñ," Sandbāna, Vol. V, 1992, pp. 17, 18.
11. Pārsvábbyudaya kavya of Jinasena, ed. M.G. Kothari, Bombay 1965, IV sarga, verses 45-48. 12. Uttarapurana of Guṇabhadra, ed. Pannalal Jain, Bharatiya Gyana Pith, Varanasi 1954, sarga 73, verses 136-140.
13. Pāsanābacariü of Padmakīrtti, ed. Prafulla Kumar Modi, Varanasi 1965, sarga 14, veres 4-30.
Plate 54. Plate 55. Plate 56.
Plate 57. Plate 58. Plate 59. Plate 60. Plate 61. Plate 62. Plate 63.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Aihole, Jaina Cave, vīthikā, Pārsvanatha, c. last quarter of the 6th century A.D. Ellora, cave 31, Pārśvanatha, south wall, c. ninth century A.D. Ellora, cave 31, Pārsvanatha, north wall, c. ninth century A.D. Ellora, cave 32, Pārsvanatha, south wall, c. ninth century A.D.
Ellora, cave 32, Indrasabhā, Pārsvanatha, south wall, c. ninth century A.D.
Ellora, cave 32, Indrasabhā, Pārsvanatha, c. ninth century A.D.
Ellora, cave 32, Indrasabha, Pārsvanatha, upper series, east, c. ninth century A.D.
Ellora, cave 33, Pārsvanatha with the figure of Kamatha (?), c. ninth century A.D. Ellora, cave 33, Pārsvanatha, c. ninth century A.D.
Ellora, cave 34, Pārsvanatha, south wall, c. ninth century A.D.
(All illustrations are published here by the courtesy and kindness, American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art & Archaeology, Ramnagar, Varanasi.)
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JINA PĀRSVA AND HIS TEMPLES IN INSCRIPTIONS: SOUTHERN INDIA (C. 5TH TO 11TH CENT. A.D.) ANDHRA PRADESH, KERALA, AND TAMIL NADU
K.V. Ramesh
The topic originally assigned to me included only Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, two diagonally placed states in which epigraphical references even to Jainism in general, let alone 'Pārsvanātha and his temples' in particular, are hard to come by. Shri K.G. Krishnan's pre-occupations elsewhere, which came in the way of his participating in this Seminar, and his affection for me led him to hand over Tamil Nadu to me and made available some more material which enabled me to add a couple of pages to the paper which, in any case, is a brief affair because of the paucity of epigraphical information. This is not to say that Pārsvanātha finds no place in the religious records of the three States under reference. What is meant is that, although the sculptural representations of Pārśva and his attendant deities are met with fairly frequently in the context of ancient and medieval rock-cut reliefs and structural temples in several past and present Jaina centres in these States, not many of them are backed by the presence of direct or even indirect epigraphical records or references. I have included in this paper only those sites which have sculptures of Pārsva and his attendant deities side by side with inscriptions referring to them, directly or indirectly. While speaking of Jainism in South India, an historical fact of sterling significance which we keep in mind is that Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, which lie to the west and east of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, had more or less completely overshadowed the two latter States in the matter of receiving and playing host to Jainism. Of the three regions of my concern, the ancient Andhra country, which had maintained very close alliance with the Magadhan power nucleus from very early times, had played host to Buddhism in a big way. The meeker in numerical strength because of its sterner ascetic discipline and consequent austerity and hence less attractive Jaina religion followed the line of least resistance and entered Karnataka, thence waded its way further south into Tamil Nadu and Kerala and was, in early and later historical times, also carried sporadically to places here and there in Andhra Pradesh. We must recognize the fact that in Andhradēśa, the patrons of Jainism were mostly rulers and people who were either invaders or migrants from Karnataka who
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got almost all Jaina inscriptions written in the Kannada language though by then Telugu also had come to be used as a major epigraphical medium. So also, even in Tamil Nadu where Tamil, Tamilians and Jainism had interacted significantly and to a considerable all-pervading benefit, the continuing influence of the Kannadigas is sufficiently attested to by epigraphical sources.
To the best of my knowledge, there is only one pre-Telugu early historical Jaina site in Andhra Pradesh, Danavulapadu in Cuddapah District. Though about a dozen Jaina inscriptions, most of them in Kannada, unearthed during excavations conducted in that village, they belong to a period as late as the eighth-ninth centuries. Later, a brick chamber revealed there and an image of Pärśvanätha enshrined therein have been attributed to c. third century A.D.' The inscriptions, however, do not contain any reference to Pārsvanatha.
In point of fact, there are only a couple of references to Pārsvanatha in inscriptions from Andhra Pradesh, and these too are of a period as late as the 11th and 12th centuries A.D.
Of these the Cilur (Hyderabad District) pillar inscription2 of the Kalyāṇa-Calukya ruler Vikramaditya V, in Kannada language and dated in A.D. 1012, records a grant of lands made by the king's daṇḍanāyaka Padmanabhayya to the Arhat Pārsvadeva of Indra-Jinālaya attached to the Antara-vasadi of Cilakūru. From the name of the temple, Indra-Jinalaya, we may reasonably infer that it was built in the reign of, or in memory of one of the three Rastrakūta emperors bearing that name. It is noteworthy that Pärsvadeva is mentioned herein as Annal-Atisaya-Pärsvadeva. Annal, among other things, also stands for the Arbat, more so in Tamil. From the adjective atisaya we must surmise that the image had miraculous potency, for atisayas of the Jina in Nirgrantha terminology imply extraordinary physical characteristics and attendant glory phenomena and images or tirthas which are qualified as 'sad-atisaya-yukta' are supposed to possess the curative or benign influence or power.
A Kannada inscription3 from Ujjili (Mahbubnagar District), engraved in the 11th century characters, is dated in Saka 888 (current), Prabhava (-966-67 A.D.) and registers grants made to the Jaina Tirthankara Cenna-Pärsvadeva installed in the Baddi-Jinālaya in the town of Ujjivolol. The name of the temple, Baddi-Jinālaya, tempts me to conclude that it was probably built by, or during the reign of and named after the Räṣṭrakūta emperor Baddega Amoghavarṣa who ruled during A.D. 936-39. The gift was received, on behalf of the temple, by its acārya Indrasēnapandita.
On the reverse of the slab is engraved another Kannada inscription of A.D. 1097
116
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recording the gift of a tank to Pārsvanātha of the same temple, Baddi-Jinālaya, by dandanāyaka Bhānudevarasa, an officer of the then reigning Kalyāņa-Cāļukya king Vikramaditya VI. This gift was also received by Indrasena-pandita, the ācārya of the temple.
The fact that the name of the ācārya of the Pārsvanātha temple was the same in A.D. 966-67 and in a.d. 1097 can be explained away in two ways; either that the abbatial ācāryas of that temple were hereditarily called Indrasēna-panditas or that the earlier grant of A.D. 966-67 had to be renewed in A.D. 1097 and was received on behalf of the deity by the then ācārya. In any case, it is clear that Baddi-Jinālaya enjoyed the patronatge of the royalty in sufficient measure for at least a century and a half. Taking it for granted that I will be allowed to break the time-barrier of the fifth to the 11th century marginally, I will refer here to the Govindapuram (Warangal District) Kannada inscription of A.D. 1122. According to this inscription, Nāgarāja, the minister of Gundarāja, constructed a temple for Pārsva-Jineśvara:
Ratn-ambõdhi-viyac-chaśānka-gata
Sāk-ābde Plave vatsare rājat-Phālguna-māsa-nirmmala-tritīyā
Sauri-vāre vare! lagne Pārsva-Jineśvarasya bhavan
ārādhya-pratistām śubham udyad-bhakti-vidhāna-pūrvvam-akarot
śrī-Nāgadēva-prabhuḥ II With the permission of Mēdarāja, the elder brother of Gundarāja, he also gifted four tanks to the temples:
tad-dēvasya nivēdya-dīpa-vara-pūj
ārtham gan-ambonidhih Toppa-śrēsthi-brihat-tațāka-puratas
sāmbram taţākam muda PārốY-ägra-tri-tataka-samyutam-adặc
chri-Nāgadevo vibhuḥ śri-Meda-kşitipāla-sammata-paras
candr-ärkka-tāram śubham II
A guild of horse-dealers chimed in with grants of cloth pieces (cirnna) at the rate of two per horse for the worship of Pārsvanātha:
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praty-aśvam Pārévadévasya ghotaka-vyavahāribhiḥ | puj-ārtham cīrnna-yugalam dattam-ā-candra-tārakam Il
Pedda-Kadumūru (Mahbubnagar District) has also yielded a Jaina inscription dated in A.D. 1119, referring as it does to the reign of Kalyāņa-Cālukya Vikramāditya VI. This Kannada inscription records a grant of 12 mattars of land and a tank to the god Parissadeva (Pārsvadeva) installed in the basadi of Sankara-setti in PiriyaKadambūru.
From these scanty epigraphical references, one thing becomes clear that Jainism never became a popular religion in Andhra Pradesh among the local Andhrans, and that whatever patronage it received over there was more or less confined to rulers and people from Karnataka.
Jainism did not fare any better in Kerala and epigraphical references to Pārsvanātha and his temples there are few and far between. Significantly, these few available inscriptions are located in places which have been either subsequently transferred to Tamil Nadu as a sequel to States' reorganization or are situated on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. Hence, I propose to discuss those inscriptions along with those of Tamil Nadu.
Tiruccāranattu-malai near Citral and Nāgarkovil, both of them now in Kanyakumari District in Tamil Nadu but not long ago were included in the erstwhile Travancore state, and Kallil in Kottayam District, Kerala, had flourished as important Jaina centres in which Pārsvanātha and his śāsana-devată Padmāvati had occupied the pride of place. We, however, have no inscriptions specifically referring to these deities from those places.
In point of fact, the earliest direct epigraphical mention of Pārsvanātha occurs in the Aivarmalai inscription of Pandya Varaguna II dated Saka 792/A.D. 870-71. This is an important inscription from our point of view. It is engraved on a neatly dressed portion of the rock above a natural cave on the Aivarmalai hills in the village of Aiyampāļaiyam, Madurai District. What concerns us here is the statement contained in the inscription that śāntivīrakkuravar, the disciple (mānākkan) of Gunavīrakkuravadigal, renovated the image of Pārsvanātha and his Yakşi at Tiruvayirai (Tiruvayirai Pārisva-patāraraiyum=Iyakki-avvaigalaiyum pudukki) and also endowed 502 kāņam (gold coins) for food offerings to the two deities (irandakkumuttāv-avi) and for feeding, probably daily, one ascetic (adigal). The reference here is obviously to the reliefs of Pārsvanātha and Padmāvati engraved inside the cave. Since they had to be renovated in A.D. 870-71, we may reasonably suppose
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that they must have been originally carved long before that date, perhaps a few centuries earlier.
Some three decades ago, on a hillock at Alattūr (Palghat District) was discovered a Jaina temple site in ruins. Amidst the ruins were found the images of Mahāvīra, Pārsvanātha, and a partially damaged Vatteluttu inscription' of about the tenth century A.D. The inscription refers to one main Jaina temple or shrine as Nalañjiyar-palli and to an unknown number of subsidiary temples or shrines as vali-ppalligal. We also gather from the inscription that the main Jaina deity of that place was called Tirukkunavāyttēvar, but we have no means of knowing whether this local name was conferred on Mahāvīra or Pārsvanātha.
Colavāndipuram (South Arcot District, Tamil Nadu) flourished as an important Jaina centre in the 10th-11th centuries as evidenced by sculptures carved on the groups of boulders on the hillock called Andimalai at that place. 10 Of particular interest here is a pair of huge boulders leaning against each other; in the recess between these boulders is found a loose slab, about 4 feet high, with a fairly ancient sculpture of the Jaina goddess Padmāvati cut on it in high relief. On the sides of the boulders facing each other on either side of the goddess are two panels, one containing in bold relief the figure of Gommata or Bahubali and the other, that of Pārsvanātha. Near the Gommața figure is engraved a small inscription" in Tamil characters of about the tenth century recording the erection of a Tevāram(-Debära), a divine abode, the divinities meant here obviously being Pārsvanātha, his Yaksi Padmāvatī, and Gommata, by a private individual named Vēli Kongaraiyar Puttadiga!. The goddess Padmāvati is today locally known as Käliyamman, thus shorn of her original Jaina association.
Nāgarkovil is now in the Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, but formerly formed part of the Travancore State. The place name is derived from Nāgar + kõil which literally means the temple of the Nāga deity. The temple, originally a Jaina one, has a long history of being earlier mistaken for a Brahmanical fane, of Anantālvār, on the erroneous premise (or argument of convenience) that the hooded serpent, the characteristic emblem of Pārsvanātha, was Adiśeșa! A number of inscriptions in this temple, all belonging to the early years of the 16th century, mention the Nāga deities and the god Nāgaraja of Kottaru alias Mummudisolapuram and also refers to the Jaina supervisors of the temple, Gunavīra-pandita and Kamalavāhana-pandita. What is more, images of Jina Mahāvīra and Arhat Pārśva are found sculptured on the pillars of the mandapa in front of the Nāgarāja shrine. From this it is apparent that the Nāgarkoil was a Jaina temple, that the Jaina deity Pärsvanātha had come to be called Nāgarāja after his Nāga emblem, and that the effective conversion of the temple into
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the Brahmanical fold occurred sometime late in the 16th century or thereafter. 13
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1. Archaeological Survey of India Annual Report, 1905-06, pp. 120-27; P.B. Desai, Jainism in South
India, Sholapur 1957, pp. 17 and 22. 2. Epigraphia Andbrica, Vol. II, pp. 50 ff. 3. Andhra Pradesh Government Archaeological Series, No. 3, Inscription No. MN 61. 4. Telaṁgana-śāsanamula, p. 67, No. 35. 5. Andhra Pradesh Government Epigraphical Series, No. 6, Inscriptions of Andhra Pradesh, Warangal
District, No. 26, pp. 71 ff. 6. Ibid., p. 62, No. 32. 7. Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XXXII, pp. 337-38; South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. XIV, No. 22. 8. Journal of Indian History, Vol. 44, pp. 536 ff. 9. Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy, 1959-60, No. В 238. 10. Annual Report on South Indian Epigraphy, 1936-37, pp. 60-61. 11. Ibid., No. 251. 12. Travancore Archaeological Series, Vol. VI, pp. 153 ff. 13. I am thankful to my colleague, Dr. M.D. Sampath, Superintending Epigraphist in the Directorate
of Epigraphy, for his help in preparing this paper.
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JINA PĀRSVA AND HIS TEMPLES IN INSCRIPTIONS:
SOUTHERN INDIA (KARNATAKA)
(c. 5th to 11th century A.D.)
Madhav N. Katti
Karnataka, ancient and medieval Karnātadēśa, was for long a stronghold of Jainism. As a result, throughout the historical period, several Jaina temples and often inscriptions referring to the construction of, and endowments to the temples for various tirtharkaras are known in fair number. Almost all the sub-territories of Karnataka can boast of temple-building activities connected with the Jaina deities for about one and a half millennium. However, as in the case of Saivite and Vaişnavite temples, many buildings, for which we have the testimony of inscriptions, have not survived. Nonetheless, these inscriptions amply reflect the prosperous times Jainism once had enjoyed in Karnataka.
All of the important ruling dynasties of Karnataka, commencing with the Kadambas, and their feudatories, supported different religions in their dominions. Scores and scores of temples for many different divinities, including those of the Jaina pantheon, were constructed. The rulers, their consorts, princes, feudatories and chieftains, and their generals or military governors made munificent donations to such temples for the daily worship of, and offerings to the deities as well as for the maintenance, repairs, and renovations of the temples, irrespective of their personal faith. Thus, during the reign of the Kadambas of Vanavāsī, the Cālukyas of Vātāpi, the Rāstrakūtas of Mānyakhețaka, the Cālukyas of Kalyāna, and still later the Hoysaļas, the Kaļacūryas as also some minor dynasties to whose reign-period the subject of our discussion pertains, a number of Jaina temples came to be constructed. The élite of the society together with the laity, too, lent their share as patrons. Among the Jaina sects, the Svetāmbara or Svetapata and the Nirgrantha (possibly the surviving remanant of the sect of Pārsvanātha) had been much less important compared to the Yāpaniya and the Digambara orders, the latter represented by the Mula Sangha and the Drāvida Sangha had considerable following in Karnataka.
Amongst the Jaina deities, Pārsvanātha occupied a very prominent place as several inscriptions refer to the construction of the temples or vasatīs, called basadis in Kannada, for this deity. The images of the Jina were in most examples shaped in
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stone in Karnataka. Today, in several cases, we come across the sculptures lying in different regions of the State on account of the dilapidated condition of the temples, and in a number of cases due to the original buildings' destruction. And yet, as a matter of delight, a good number of temples not only exist but are under worship even to this day.
The majority of inscriptions (which form the source material of the present paper), are in Kannada language and script, while a few are in Sanskrit. Both Kannada as well as Sanskrit languages are together employed for the rest of inscriptions. The script of the Sanskrit inscriptions is Southern Brāhmi in the early centuries of the Christian Era; while in the later centuries, it is Kannada. The epigraphs highlight various socio-cultural and religious aspects of the contemporaneous times. In some cases the details of date are lost and for these the palaeographic dating is resorted to. I will discuss here some of the more important and interesting inscriptions as evidence for Pārsvanatha's shrines, and the grants made to them for conducting daily worship and offerings to the deities of such buildings and for buildings' repairs and refurbishment during different centuries.
There is a Pārsvanātha basadi in Sravanabelgola (Hassan District), which traditionally is believed to preserve the memories of Maurya emperor Candragupta, Arya Bhadrabāhu, and various other personages. However, there are no inscriptions referring to the construction of a basadi, installation of the deity, etc. at that age on this haloed hill. A number of epigraphs otherwise refer to the deity Pārsvanātha; but they all belong to the 11th and later centuries. The rock-cut Jaina cave (No. IV) in Bādāmī, Bijapur District, possesses perhaps the earliest image of Pārsvanātha in its forelobby. This belongs to the early Cālukya period. While there are no contemporaneous epigraphs in the cave, on stylistic grounds the cave and its sculptures of the Calukya phase are believed to be of the period of Mangaleśa. Earlier than this, in the Kadamba period, there is an interesting reference to a Jaina deity in a copperplate charter belonging to the 4th regnal year of king Mrgeśavarmana assignable to the late 5th century A.D. This charter refers to bhagavat-arhat-mabājinendra, without mentioning the name of the tirtharkara. Further discoveries alone can shed light if Pārsvanātha was here intended or implied. The charter was granted combinely to the Svetapața-mahā-śramaņa sangha and the Nirgrantha order.
Though the inscriptions of the period of the Cālukyas, and following them of the Rāștrakūtas, mention about the erection of temples to the Jaina deities, there is no reference to Jina Pārsvanātha directly during those periods. There is, however, a figure of Pārsvanātha on the rocky hill of Adõni near Bellary (presently in Kurnool
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District) with an inscription on its side.3 There are a few more sculptures in the area, without being associated with inscriptions. They can be assigned to c. tenth century on stylistic grounds. However, further investigations are needed in that regard.
A Kannada inscription from Kargudari 5 (Dharwar District), belonging to the reign of Jagadekamalla of the Kalyāṇa-Cālukya dynasty, refers to the construction of the temple of Vijaya-Pārsva-jinendra, by maha-vaḍḍavyavahāri Kalliseṭṭi, at Karegudure (the findspot of the record) and states that the setți made over a number of grants to the temple for the purpose of worship and offerings to the deity and for the foodofferings to the preceptors dwelling therein, (Karigudureyo! tamma māḍisida VijayaPārsva-jineṁdran-amga-bhoga, ramga-bhogakam-alliya riṣiyar-āhāra-dānakkam). The grants were made on the occasion of the sankramaņa, as sarvabādḥā-parihāra. The record is dated Prabhava, Pushya bahula, pāḍiva, Monday, Dakshiṇāyanasankramana (A.D. 10276). Jagadekamalla referred to in the inscription, very probably was Jayasimha II (Jagadekamalla I).
The inscription next in time belongs to the reign of Trailokyamalla (Someśvara I) of the Kalyāṇa-Calukya dynasty. The inscription, except for the part of its grant portion (including boundary details), is in Sanskrit language. The script is Kannada. It mentions the king as Trailokyamalla-deva, whose epithets are given as follows:
Samasta-bhuvanāśraya-śrī-prithvi-vallabha-mahā-rājādhirāja-parameśvara
parama-bhaṭṭāraka-satyāśraya-kula-tilaka-Calukyābbarana. The record is dated Śaka 976, Jaya, Vaiśākha, Amāvāsya, Somavāra, Sürya-grahaṇa, which corresponds to A.D 1054 May 9, f.d.t. 26. Trailokyamalla's queen is mentioned as Ketaladevi, who is stated to be administering over the agrabāra Ponnavāḍa on the date of the record. Her feudatory Cāṁkirāja of Vāṇasa-vaṁśa, is referred to as the pāda-kamalabhramara of yogirāṭ Mahāsena-muni and also as paripurna-cāru-vidyānidhi. The inscription further states that he caused the construction of the Jinendra-geha and installed the images of the deities, Pārśvanātha, Śāntinātha, and Supārsvanatha. The basadi was known as 'Bhuvana-bhumbhuka'.
The three shrines of this trikūṭa basadi were in this order: Śāntinātha's shrine was in the middle, flanked by those of Pārsvanatha and Supārśvanatha (ParamaSänti-jinendra-geham-dvayonugata-Pārsva-Supārsva-vāsam). It is further stated that the image of Pārsvanatha together with the 'great serpent' was got sculptured (mahānāgam-racitam Parsvadaivatam) by Jinavarma who is referred to as the chatra of Mahasena-muni. The basadi is further described as 'Tribhuvanatilaka'. The grants were made on account of the surya-grahana for the food-offerings to the rṣis (ascetics) and the jiyas (preceptors) as sarvanamasya by the emperor Trailokamalla himself,
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at the request of (one of his consorts) Ketaladevi. The grants included land, garden, house-site, shops, the sculptor's house (kalkutigara mane) and oil-mills. The recipient of the grant was evidently Mahasena-muni of Mula-sangha, Varasena-gana, and Pogari-gaccha.
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An inscription from Gudigere" (Dharwar District) which can be assigned to c. A.D 1075-76, records a number of gifts to the temple of Pärsvanatha at Dhvajataṭāka (i.e. Gudigere the findspot of the record) by astopavàsi-kantiyar, at the instance of her teacher Śrīnandi. Here astopavàsi-kantiyar is the nun who performed eight fasts in continuity; Calukya Someśvara II was on the throne on the date of this record. Another record from Soratūru (Gadag Taluk, Dharwar District) engraved during the reign of the same emperor (Someśvara II) refers to a very interesting occasion when Huliyabbajjike, disciple of the same preceptor Srinandi (his gana being mentioned as Surastha and anvaya as Citrakuta), received the grant made to the basadi. This hints to the fact that she was in charge of the management of the basadi. These instances reflect the important role played by the Jaina nuns or female preceptors during this period.
An inscription from Doni 10 (Dharwar District) belonging to the reign of Calukya Vikramaditya VI, dated A.D. 1097, refers to the administration of the place Dronipura by Lakṣmi-mahadevi, Vikramaditya's senior queen (piriyarasi), states that Sovisetti, a merchant of that place, caused the construction of the Jaina temple and made gift of a garden to Carukirti-pandita of the Yapaniya-sangha and Vṛkşamüla-gana. The temple no longer exists, the solitary image of Pärsvanatha from the place is the only indication of the deity in the basadi mentioned in the epigraph.
There are a number of Calukya period inscriptions assignable on palaeographical grounds to the 11th-12th centuries A.D., which furnish some evidence about the Pārsvanatha temples; to these I shall presently turn. According to an inscription preserved in Gulbarga," Aḍakki (the present-day Aḍaki in the vicinity of Gulbarga) which was a flourishing Jaina centre during this period, had a Jaina temple by name Koppa-Jinālaya, dedicated to Pārsvanätha. This temple is referred to as Cenna-Pārsva (also as Cenna-Päršvanätha; Cenna meaning beautiful). An inscription from Koppal (Raichur District) refers to Kusa-Jinalaya and the deity Pärsvanatha. Barnkur1 (Gulbarga District) has preserved ruins of a number of Jaina temples. Of these, bastiguḍi has the images of Parsvanatha and Padmavati, amongst other images like Adinatha, Caturvirśati-Jinas, Vardhamana, and others. On stylistic grounds, they can be assigned to the Kalyāņa Calukya period (11th-12th centuries A.D.). A thorough exploration may reveal many more sculptures and inscriptions of interest to us.
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While the village Ciñcoli' has preserved a Pāršvanatha sculpture, Hagaragi's has a sculpture of Pärśvanatha attended by Padmavati and Dharanendra; Kalagi1 and Malkhed" have again preserved images of Pärśvanätha amidst the temple ruins. At Hunisi-Hadangili, the medieval Jaina temple of the site is referred to as ŚrīkṣetraHuñasi-Hadangili-Parsvanatha-Padmavati-basti, in the official records. These all are in Kalyāṇa-Calukya style and may be assigned to 11th-12th centuries A.D.
Two inscriptions from Halebid" (Hassan District), of the Hoysala period, are of considerable interest. The first refers to the construction of the temple of Pärśvanātha by Tippana and Harideva, sons of Mallisetti, while the second record refers to punise-jinälaya. Since the latter record is also from the same place, the reference therein is obviously to the same Pärśvanatha-Jinälaya, which may have been referred to as such, because it may have been situated in the vicinity of a tamarind tree (punise).
The inscriptions of the 10th or 11th century, though mostly donative, furnish some important and interesting account of the temple-building activity for Jina Pārsva. However, in respect of the period prior to those centuries, a further epigraphical survey is needed. As earlier noticed, a number of sites have preserved ruins of Jaina temples and sculptures. A thorough examination of these may possibly bring to light some hitherto unknown epigraphs, some even referring to Jina Pārsva
A comparison with the situation in other parts of India, particularly Southern, reveals similarity to a fair degree in the nature of inscriptions, temples, and sculptures pertaining to the Pärśvanatha cult. In Karnataka, as also in other parts of Southern India, the sculptures installed in the sanctum sanctorum are of stone. The uniqueness of Karnataka is that the worship of Parsvanatha is attested to in all ages after Jainism had secured a firm foothold.
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1. B.R. Gopal (ed.), Epigraphica Carnatica, Vol. II (Rev.), pp. 3 ff.
2. Ibid., Corpus of Kadamba Inscriptions, p. 35; cf. also P.B. Desai, Jainism in South India and some Jaina Epigraphs, Sholapur 1957, p. 97.
3. Ibid., p. 149. At Bādāmī (Bijapur District), the rock cut cave IV of the Vatapi-Calukya period (c. A.D. 600) contains Jaina sculptures of all tirthankaras seemingly added in the Hoysala period. However, there is no contemporaneous epigraph in the cave.
4. Desai, Jainism., p. 149.
5. N.L. Rao (ed.), A.R. Ep., 1950-51, No. B. 67.
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6. The details of date seem to correspond to December 18, A.D. 1027. The tithi pädiva ended on
the previous day. Dakṣiņāyanasaṁkramana, however, occurred on December 24.
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7. N.L. Rao (ed.), 1950-51, B.25. The findspot of the record (which is now in the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay), is in all probability Honvăd, Bijapur District. References to bhujangaraja and mahānāga in the paper read in this Seminar by Prof. M.A. Dhaky strengthens the point that the reference to mahānāga in this inscription is to the serpent king Dharanendra behind the image of Pārsvanatha.
8. Desai, p. 144. The Calukya emperor mentioned in this record is Someśvara II.
9. Cf. J.F. Fleet and R.C. Temple (ed.), Indian Antiquary, Vol. XVIII, pp. 75 ff; also Desai, ibid., P. 143.
10. Desai, ibid., p. 144. Cf. South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. XI, Part II, Ins. No. 140. The place is also referred to as Dronikāgrāma, Droṇīpura, Dronikapura, and Doni.
11. Desai, ibid., p. 321 ff.
12. Ibid., p. 350, Text line 3.
13. Ibid., pp. 183 ff.
14. Ibid., p. 185.
15. Ibid., p. 186.
16. Ibid., p. 192.
17. Ibid., pp. 192 ff.
18. Ibid., pp. 241 ff.
19. G.S. Gai (ed.), A.R. Ep., 1963-64, Nos. B 361-62. This place is situated in Hassan District.
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PĀRSVANĀTHA IN FIGURAL ART OF KARNATAKA
A. Sundara
Antiquity
Traditionally, Jainism is believed to have begun to be spread in Karnataka with the arrival of Śruta Kēvalin Bhadrabahu along with Prabhācandra (EC. Vol.II; 1973: pp. xlii-iv) believed to be Candragupta, the Mauryan emperor (c. B.C. 325-301), together with a host of disciples in Sravana Belgola (Hassan District), the most sacred and prominent Jaina centre in South India even to this day. However, the interpretation of the concerned epigraphs and literary notices do not clearly lead to such conclusions. The earliest known references to the erection of temples, basadis, and consecration. of Jina images in Karnataka are the early Kadamba records, copper plate as well as lithic charters, ranging from the period of Kakusthavarma (c. A.D. 405-430) to Harivarmā (C. A.D. 519-530). They (Gopal 1985; Nos. 3, 8, 9, 13, 16, 22, 23, 24, 29, 36 & 37) state about either the construction of a Jinālaya or grants to them by the ruling monarchs, often at the request of their officers rather than on their own initiative.' In this context, excepting two records, all other invoke the Tirthankara usually as bhagavan jinendra and in the text as bhagavadarbat. The temples, too, are simply described as arbadayatana/devālaya/sälä and caityalaya. In this context there is no specific mention of any of the 24 Tirthankaras. Even an attempt of contextual interpretations of the invocatory verses or the relevant expressions in the texts, does not seem to indicate any particular Jina as the descriptive attributes therein are common to all Tirthankaras.
Of the two records mentioning Tirthankara's names, that (No.3) of the Kākusthavarmā ends with "Namo Namaḥ Rṣabhāya Namaḥ". But the record registers a grant of land to the king's general Śrutakirti from Kheta village belonging to holy Arhats. There is no mention of any specific caityalaya. However, it may be deduced that there were caityalayas for the Arhat Rṣabha also in this period in the Kadamba territory. For during the subsequent Vätäpi-Calukya and Rāṣṭrakūta periods, depiction of the images of Rṣabha, Pārsva, and Vardhamana Mahāvīra was frequent. Images relating to other Tirthankaras, of the Vatapi-Calukya period, however, have not so far come to light.
The other Kadamba copper-plate charter (No. 29), of Harivarma, speaks of the grant of "Vasanta-väțikä" village in Suddi-Kundūru Vişaya by the king to the
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"Arhadāyatana" got built by Mrgeśavarmā in Palāśikā, modern Halới (Khanapur Taluk, Belgaum District). Mrgeśavarmă caused to be built a Jinālaya in Palāśikā and granted 33 nivartanas of land extending from the river Mātņsast up to the Inginisamgama, to Dāmakīrti the Bhojaka (officiating priest) and Jiyanta the Ayukta ka for the Jaina ascetics of the Yapaniya, Nirgrantha, and Kūrcaka sects. Harivarma's record ends with salutation “Namorhate Vardhamānāya" (No. 13). Possibly, therefore, Mrgeśavarma's āyatana was dedicated to Jina Vardhamāna.
If the frequency of occurrence of Jina Rşabha and Vardhamana in the Calukyan and Răstrakūta periods may be taken as symptomatic of their probable still earlier representation in Karnataka, it may be expected that, in the early Kadamba period which was no less favourable to Jainism, these two Jinas may have been under warship as has been briefly discussed above. Depiction of Pārsvanātha during this period is also probable. There is, in point of fact, an indirect hint supporting this probability. Gudnapura inscription of Ravivarmā (pp. 81-91) refers to "Padmāvatyālaya" in Kallīli village. If Humca (ancient Pombuca, Shimoga Dist.), another important Jaina centre with several Jaina basadis (including that of Pārsvanātha) in Karnataka and celebrated for the Padmavati temple is any guide, in Kallīli also there must have been a Jinālaya dedicated to Pārsvanātha whose śāsana-dēvatā happens to be Padmāvatī. If this surmise is correct, then this is the earliest known indication regarding Pārsvanātha in sculpture. The village has not been correctly identified. During my exploration in Halsi, I found only one basadi, of c. 11th century A.D., but of a plan of an early tradition, consisting of a garbhagrha and a gūdhamandapa similar to a few of the early Cālukyan temples in Aihole, such as for instance the Tārābasappagudi. It is likely that this temple was perhaps of the early Kadamba founding and originally may have been in brick. In the later period stone replaced the brick, more or less following the original plan. In a neighbouring later building is a well moulded stone pithikā for a Tirthankara image, of rather an unusual type, perhaps of pre-Cālukyan period. Elsewhere in the village, in a Garuda temple, there is a simhapītha of a Tirtharkara image. Roughly a kilometer east of the village is a large ancient site at the foot of a hill within a mud fortification, locally known as “Bödke Tembe" and identified as ancient Palāśikā by me. Traces of brick structures at this site indicate that it was a town with numerous brick buildings which possibly had included the Jinālayas referred to in the inscriptions. Further explorations and excavations at this site and Kallīli area may reveal the actual remains of Jinālayas with icons of Tirtharkaras including probably Pārsvanātha of the early Kadamba period.
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Pārsvanātha in Sculpture
From the Vātapi-Cālukya period onwards, Jinālayas were erected in progressively larger number. Tirthankaras are shown exclusively in two forms; in khadgasana (kāyavyutsarga) or in padmāsana. In the khadgāsana or kāyavyutsarga form, Jina Pārsva is usually flanked by the seated or standing Dharana Yakșa and Yaksi Padmavatī; and above the Näga hoods is mukkode or chatratraya, triple umbrella. Near the shoulders are depicted cămaras on both the sides, though this is not an invariate feature. In Gulbarga region, on the central part of the chest may be delineated the śrīvatsa symbol; but this is a rare feature to meet with.
In the padmāsana form, usually the Tirthankara is shown as seated on a seat with pillow behind against the makara-pattikā as the back. The image is flanked by Indras as camara-bearers. In this case, almost invariably, and occasionally in the other form, the Yaksa and Yakşi are separately installed on the sides of the doorway to the garbhagyha, and thus in the antarāla-vestibule of the caityālaya. The images in these two forms are generally consecrated as cult-icons in the garbbagrhas.
Images of Pārsvanātha in padmāsana are depicted as lalāțabimba at the central block of the lintel of a doorframe, but generally without the Yakṣa and Yakși figures for lack of space. The Jina, in rather rare instances, is also shown in khadgasana on the exterior wall (Hallūr temple of the Rästrakūta period, Nittür temple of the Cālukya period, śāntinātha-basadi in Jinanāthapura near Sravana Belgoļa and of the Hoysala period), and as one of the four Tirthankaras in the Caturmukha-Sahasrakūta representation in the Sankha-basadi, Lakşmeśvara (Shirahatti Taluk, Dharwad District). The khadgāsana-murti form also figures at the centre (or alternatively also the padmasana) along with the other Tirthankaras in similar posture surrounding the central image in caturvimśati-pattas.
Very rarely indeed, the main episodes from the life of Pārsvanātha are carved in a narrative vein. The only one of its kind is probably a series of such panels in the columnar hall in front of the Pārsvanātha temple in Halebidu, known as “Vijaya Pāraśvanātha" (A.D. 1133) founded by Boppadeva in memory of his father Gangarāja, a minister and general to the Hoysaļa king Vişnuvardhana.
Images of Pārsvanātha in the two usual forms with some variations in regard to the auxiliary features, especially the first two, are most commonly found in the main Jaina centres: Bādāmī, Aihole, Kambadahalli, Sravana Belgola, Humca, Shimoga area, and Mudabidre (Karkala) where there are numerous Jaina basadis. However, a few of the Pārsvanātha sculptures in Bādāmi-Aihole, Humca, Śravana Belgola and in Bilicodu are endowed with some special features which render them more dramatic
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and interestingly significant. Excepting the Bādāmī-Aihole sculptural forms in the rock-cut Jaina caves (c. A.D. 600), I am not aware if similar sculptures of the other forms are met outside Karnataka.
Pārsvanatha in Bādāmī
Aibole
In Bādāmi in the layana (excavated rock temple) IV, are fine sculptures of Bahubali and Pārsvanatha facing each other, carved as they are on the shorter walls of the vitbikā or paṭṭaśālā-forelobby. Generally, above Pārsvanatha's (and also Supārsvanatha's) head is the canopy of naga's five or seven hoods, one of the distinct features of identification of the respective Tirthankaras. In the Bādāmi instance (Plate 64) the canopy is depicted as having five hoods. A female attendant to the right of the Tirthankara is holding the parasol over the canopy, a feature occurring in the Calukyan sculpture, but disappearing in later periods. She also has naga-hood over the crown, and is therefore most probably an early form of Padmavati. To the left is seated a royal person in rajalilāsana. Above the parasol are the vidyadhara-angels showering flowers. To the left is indistinctly carved Kamatha or Samvara attempting to hit the meditating Jina. The image of Pärsvanatha in an identical position in the paṭṭasālā of the Jaina Cave at Aihole shows Sambara, Padmavati (having her own naga-canopy), and five-hooded Darenendra. (See here M.N. Tiwari, Plate 54.).
The naga hoods of the canopy are five; hence the Tirthankara has to be identified as Pārsvanatha in view of the accompanying Yakṣa and Yakṣi, indeed an indisputable criterion in determination. The presence of Kamatha further supports the identification. In the early sculptural depictions, there largely are sculptures of Vardhamana Mahāvīra and Pārsvanatha better known to history. The delineation of the other traditionally known Tirthankaras in sculpture apparently is later. In the Calukya period, therefore, the need of standardizing the number of någa hoods in connection with Pārsvanatha was not felt. It was in the wake of regular sculptural representation of Supärśvanatha in the subsequent period, who like Pärśvanatha, is characterised by naga-canopy, there arose a need of distinguishing him from the other. This was met with by the depiction of a particular number of hoods, Supärśvanatha being an earlier Tirthankara, the number of hoods in his case is appropriately made seven in contrast to Pārsvanatha's five.
If these observations are acceptable, then in Bädämi-Aihole area are the earliest available representation of Pārsvanatha, radiating as they do a kind quiescent majesty.
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The Pārśvanātba Sculpture, Humca
Pombuca or Humca is one of the greater Jaina centres in Karnataka, even now a pilgrim centre known for the Padmavati temple, worshipped by the non-Jaina communities as well. Historically, it was the capital of the śāntaras from the eighth century onwards, who got built many caityālayas dedicated to Pārsvanātha, Bahubali, and a Pañcakūta-basadi collectively during 9th-12th centuries A.D. (M.A. Dhaky has studied the sculptural wealth of this place that led him to identify the art as distinct and to describe it as "śāntara school of art". :)
In the first hall of the Pärsvanātha-basadi are two almost identical, large, sculptural steles (3.0 x 1.0 m. approximately) of Pārsvanātha. They exhibit a further elaboration of the upasarga-theme (Plate 65) first noticed at Bādāmi. The Tirtharkaras are in kbadgäsana. The näga raising his body spirally behind him, spreads his hoods over the Jina's head. Demon Kamatha, with a host of his attendants with stones and sticks, is shown fiercely attacking the Jina from all sides. But Pārsvanātha remains unperturbed like the sea receiving roaring and rushing rivers only to be merged in it, loosing their identities, indeed an excellent composition and equally a masterly portrayal in which every figure appears distinctly in different mood and posture.
The Pārsvanātba - basadi, Śravaņa Belgola On the summit of Candragiri, Pārsvanātha's is one of the several basadis standing to the south beside the “Kattale” and “Candragupta” basadis. The plan of the Pārsvanātha-basadi is somewhat unusual. Externally, the width of the garbbagrha is as much as that of the gūdhamandapa. (Generally, the width is kept to half of the gudhamandapa elsewhere. But rarely a basadi of the type of Pārsvanātha is found at Aihole (i.e. Caranti Math group), Ron (Dharwad District). In such cases it is found that there are two small chambers on the sides of the garbhagrha meant for storing valuables, articles of worship, or the Tirtharkara images made of precious stones such as crystal, jasper, lapis-lazuli, etc., accessible only from the garbhagyha though a small opening in the side walls. But in the basadi in Sravana Belgola there are no such indications of the existence of side chambers. Whether in course of time the original openings were later permanently sealed is a matter to be investigated. But what is really noteworthy here is the colossal figure of Pārsvanātha as well as the mode of providing entry to the garbhagyha. Here a severely plain and narrow doorway occurs, only a little wider than the maximum width of the image. Consequently, devotees in the gūdhamandapa feel that the colossal image is set
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up as though in a tall niche, somewhat reminiscent of the colossal Buddha in the rock excavated niche in Bamiyan (Afghanistan). There is no doorframe as such consisting of various sākās like the one in the neighbouring Camundaraya-basadi. Carving of the doorway with ornate sākhas has been deliberately avoided here so that the attention of the devotees is focused entirely on the Jina image. The nagahoods look both realistic and vivid (Plate 66). To the right, near the hoods, is a pedestal projected from the wall. With the help of a ladder the priest/devotees can get on it and perform the abbiṣēka rite. As mentioned above, usually the images of the respective Yakşa and Yakşî in the basadis are placed on the sides of the garbhagrba-doorway in the antarala. But here this feature has been eliminated. Instead, on the side walls of the entrance, are drawn in outline in red colour, the figures of the Yakṣa and Yakṣi; they were obviously not meant to be sculpted. Carving of the images along the lines in the walls would have created deep niches that would have weakened the walls. This mode of construction and image-placement had been resorted probably to make the Jina image as the sole focus of attention. Such mode of representing Pārsvanatha has not been noticed elsewhere.
A rare form of Pārsvanātha sculpture from Bilicodu
This is indeed a noteworthy sculpture from Bilicoḍu (Chitradurga District) of c. 11th century A.D., located in the outskirts of the village in a modern grave-yard. Obviously it is brought from some Jaina temple in the village and installed on a platform in the present place. (It is about 70 cm high and 30 cm broad.) It depicts the Jina in kbadgåsana. On the sides are shown seated figures of Yaksa and Yakşi. The unique feature of the sculpture is the representation of two entwined nagas like those in any other Näga sculpture. In the single loop so formed by the Nagas bodies and between the hoods are medallions showing fully blossomed lotuses. The Tirthankara's feet is in between the hoods just above the lotus and the Yakşṣa and Yakși are represented right on the top of the hoods. Apparently, the sculpture has the combination of a Tirthankara and the Nagas of the type of the Brahmanical sculptural representational tradition. The combination looks unusual, even strange ! A careful perusal of the Jaina Purāņas, however, explains this mix up. In the Parsvanatha-purana, it is narrated that Pärsvanatha, born as he was in Kāsī, and though he was a prince, was uninterested in mundane life and was inclined more towards the quest of the Self. One day, while he was wandering about on the bank of the river Gangā, saw some ascetics performing austerities in front of a burning hearth. They were feeding the hearth with fire-wood. Pārsvanatha questioned them
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why they were harming the creatures. Surprised and angered they asked him to show the creatures that were said to have been harmed. Pārsvanatha took out a burning fire-wood from the hearth and split it with an axe. Within the burrow of the wood were found two serpents male and female already partially roasted struggling for life. Realising that they would not survive, Pärśvanätha exhorted the mantra of Pancanamaskara (i.e. Reverence to Arhats, Siddhas, Acaryas, Upadhyāyas, and Sadhus) and left the place grief-striken. Later, while he was engrossed deeply in meditation in the forest of Ahicchatră, a semi-divine being Kamatha, his former enemy, saw him and remembering the enmity of the previous existence, proceeded to torment Parsva by throwing at him brick, stone, and the like. But Pärsvanatha remained unshaken and unperturbed. Thus failed Kamatha, next conjured up a downpour with thunder so as to drown him. In the meanwhile the two serpents which were led to the heavenly path at the time of their death, had been born as Dharanendra Yakṣa and Padmavati Yakṣi in the Patalaloka. No sooner did they know about the calamity inflicted on their guru than did they rush to the spot of upasarga to help him. Padmävatī supported him on her crown and Dharanendra spread his hoods over his head. And at that moment Pārsvanatha got enlightenment.
In the light of the above Puranic story, the sculpture described represents obviously Pārsvanatha with Dharanendra and Padmavati and the two serpents beneath them in it indicate to the immediately past life of the Yaksa and Yakṣi.
Some other aspects during the Calukya and Hoysala periods In northern Karnataka during the Kalyāṇa-Calukya period, the back-seat of Jina Pārsvanatha seated in padmasana, shows the finely carved makara-torana
Under the Hoysalas, in south Karnataka, the Jina images in general are characterised by the parikara-background intricately carved with minutest details, especially of the mukkode under which the Jina is represented in khadgasana and also the ornaments of the Indras on the sides attending upon the meditating Jina.
In the Jina sculptures of the Kalyāṇa-Calukya and Hoysala periods, the difference is only in the degree of excellence connected with an intricate carving of the mukkode and the Indras as camaradharas. Besides, in many cases, the spiral hair ringlets above the head are artistically rendered. The spiral body of the snake and the seven hoods are realistically depicted by detailing the skin-scales and the naturalistic treatment of the rest of the body. But the narrational aspect of the Jina's portrayal with Yakṣa and Yakşi engaged in the protective action and the Kamatha charging with stones etc. are no longer represented. The Yakşa and Yakşi are
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depicted as seated in padmasana or in a standing posture in an attractive duibhanga. The Dharanendra and Padmavati in dvibhanga from the Päršvanätha-basadi in Halebidu are instances of fine workmanship. However, even when graceful, they lack the dynamism and power of depiction of the preceding examples.
In the Vijayanagara period, the erection of finalayas was largely in the Ghatcoastal region in Bilgi-Gersoppa-Bhatkal and the neighbouring Mudabidre-Karkala tracts. These were foundations largely by the Vijayanagara-feudatories. Generally, the depiction of the Tirthankaras is somewhat rigid, lacking as they do the supplementary details and artistic innovations. The dramatic representation of the surroundings, the unshaken and serene meditative personality of Pärsvanatha in the sculptures of the early period degenerated first into ornamental and next into ossified form as the image probably of the Candogra-Pärśvanätha from the old Gersoppa site illustrates (Plate 67).
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NOTES AND REFERENCES
1. This had been the case not only in early Kadamba times but also, and even with greater frequency, in all subsequent periods in Karnataka.
2. The main deity today seen in the Humca temple is Pārsvanätha, Padmavatī sitting next to the Jina on the altar.
3. These need to be published.
4. However, in the Kuṣāṇa period inscriptions at Mathura, names of such Jinas as Sambhavanatha and Munisuvrata the third and the 20th tirthankara do figure. Ariṣṭanemi, the 22nd, also frequently figures there as he can be identified by the presence, on his flanks, of Vasudeva and Balarama. There may be other tirthankaras in the lot there; but the absence at that date of the lanchana-cognizance does not help identifying these other Jinas.
5. For his paper see here the bibliographical references.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Annual Report of the Mysore Archaeological Department (MAR), 1930. Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Karnataka, Mysore 1934.
2. M.A. Dhaky, "Säntara Sculpture," Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art, New Series, Vol. IV (1971-72), 78-96.
3. Madhusudan Dhanky (M.A. Dhaky), "Gersappa-näñ Jinamandiro," (Gujarati), Svadhyaya, Vol. XIX, No. 1 (1982).
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4. Epigrapbia Carnatica (EC), Vol. II (Revised edition), Institute of Kannada Studies, University of
Mysore, Mysore 1973. 5. B.R. Gopal, Corpus of Kadamba Inscriptions, Vol. I, 1985. Kadamba Institute of Cultural Studies,
Sirsi (North Kanara Dist., Karnataka).
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Plate 64. Plate 65.
Badāmi, Cave IV, vītbikā, Pārsvanātha, c. late 6th century A.D. Humca, Pārsvanātha-basadi, gūdhamandapa, stele showing the upasarga of Pārsvanātha, C. late ninth century A.D. Sravana Belgoļa, Candragiri, Pārsvanātha-basadi, garbhagrba, cult image of Pārsvanātha, c. early 11th century A.D. Gersoppa, forest, ruined Jaina temple, Pārsvanātha, c. 15th century A.D.
Plate 66.
Plate 67.
(All illustrations are published here by the courtesy and kindness, American Institute of Indian Studies, Center for Art & Archaeology, Ramnagar, Varanasi.)
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राजस्थान में पार्श्वनाथ के तीर्थ स्थान
महोपाध्याय विनयसागर
वर्तमान अवसर्पिणी काल के चौबीस तीर्थंकरों में से मुख्यतः केवल तीन तीर्थंकरों के लिये ही आगमसाहित्य में नाम के साथ विशेषण प्राप्त होते हैं • ऋषभदेव के लिये " अरहा कोसलिए " अर्हत् कौशलिक, पार्श्वनाथ के लिये "अरहा पुरिसादाणीए " अर्हत् पुरुषादानीय, और महावीर के लिए "समणे भगवं महावीरें " श्रवण भगवान् महावीर । यश नाम कर्म की अत्यधिक अतिशयता के कारण समग्र तीर्थंकरों में से केवल पुरुषादानीय पार्श्वनाथ का नाम ही अत्यधिक संस्मरणीय, संस्तवनीय और अर्चनीय रहा है । अधिष्ठायक धरणेन्द्र और पद्मावती देवी की जागृति एवं चमत्कार प्रदर्शन के कारण वीतराग होते हुए भी मनोभिलाषा पूरक के रूप में पार्श्व का नाम ही प्रभुखता को धारण किये हुए है । यही कारण है कि मन्त्र साहित्य और स्तोत्र साहित्य तो विपुलता के साथ पार्श्व के नाम से ही समृद्ध हैं I सामान्यतः तीर्थों की गणना में वे ही स्थल आते हैं जहाँ तीर्थंकरों के पांचों कल्याणक- -च्यवन, जन्म, दीक्षा, ज्ञान, निर्वाण — हुए हों । सिद्धतीर्थों में उनकी गणना की जाती है जहाँ कोई-न-कोई महापुरुष सिद्ध, बुद्ध, और मुक्त हुए हों अथवा विचरण किया हो । किन्तु अतिशय तीर्थ या चमत्कारी तीर्थ वे कहलाते हैं जहाँ कोई भी महापुरुष सिद्ध तो नहीं हुए हों, परन्तु उन क्षेत्रों में स्थापित उन महापुरुषों / तीर्थंकरो की मूर्तियां अतिशय चमत्कारपूर्ण होती हों ।
—
भगवान पार्श्वनाथ के कई तीर्थ तो उनके जन्म से पूर्व एवं विद्यमानता में ही स्थापित हो गये थे । परम्परागत श्रुति के अनुसार आचार्य जिनप्रभसूरि ने विविध तीर्थकल्प नामक ग्रन्थ (र० सं० १३८९) में लिखा है
१. दशग्रीव रावण के समय में निर्मित पार्श्वनाथ प्रतिमा ही कालान्तर में श्रीपुर में स्थापित हुई, वही अन्तरिक्ष पार्श्वनाथ के नाम से प्रसिद्ध I
२. भगवान नेमिनाथ के समय में कृष्ण और जरासन्ध में भीषण युद्ध हुआ था । इस संग्राम में जरासन्ध ने जरा विद्या के प्रयोग से कृष्ण की सेना को निश्चेष्ट कर दिया था । उस समय पन्नगेन्द्र से पार्श्व प्रभु की प्रतिमा प्राप्त की और उसके न्हवण जल/ स्नान जल के छिटकाव से कृष्ण की सेना पूर्णतः स्वस्थ हो गई थी । वही स्थल शंखेश्वर पार्श्वनाथ के नाम से तीर्थ रूप में प्रसिद्ध हुआ और आज भी इसकी प्रसिद्धि चरम सीमा पर है ।
३. स्तम्भन पार्श्वनाथ कल्प के अनुसार भगवान् मुनिसुव्रत स्वामी के समय में निर्मित पार्श्व प्रतिमा ही नागराज से नवम वासुदेव श्रीकृष्ण ने प्राप्त की थी । यही प्रतिमा कालान्तर नवांगीटीकाकार अभयदेवसूरि
सेढी नदी के तट पर भूमि से प्रकट कर स्तम्भनपुर ( थांभणा ) में स्थापित की थी; जो आज भी तीर्थं स्थल के रूप में प्रसिद्ध है ।
इसी विविध तीर्थकल्प के अन्तर्गत " अहिच्छत्रानगरीकल्प" और "कलिकुण्ड कुर्कुटेश्वरकल्प" में लिखा है कि प्रभु पार्श्वनाथ दीक्षा ग्रहण कर छद्मस्तावस्थ में विचरण कर रहे थे, तभी ये दोनों तीर्थ क्षेत्र स्थापित हो गए थे। अर्थात् उनकी विद्यमानता में ही ये दोनों स्थल तीर्थ के रूप में मान्य हो गए थे ।
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__ भारत के प्रत्येक प्रदेश में पुरुषादानीय पार्श्वनाथ के अतिशयपूर्ण एवं विख्यात कई-कई तीर्थ स्थल हैं। जिनप्रभसूरि ने ही "चतुरशीति महातीर्थनाम संग्रह कल्प" में पार्श्वनाथ के १५ महातीर्थों का उल्लेख किया
१. अजाहरा में नवनिधि पार्श्वनाथ, २. संभाल में भवभयहर, ३. फलवर्धि में विश्वकल्पलता, ४. करहेड़ा में उपसर्गहर, ५. अहिच्छत्रा में त्रिभुवनभानु, ६-७. कलिकुण्ड और नागहृद में श्री पार्श्वनाथ, ८. कुर्कुटेश्वर में विश्वगज, ९. महेन्द्र पर्वत पर छाया, १०. ओंकार पर्वत पर सहस्रफणा, ११. वाराणसी में भव्य पुष्करावर्तक, १२. महाकाल के अन्तर में पाताल चक्रवर्ती, १३. मथुरा में कल्पद्रुम, १४. चम्पा में अशोक और, १५. मलयगिरि पर श्री पार्श्वनाथ भगवान् हैं। साथ ही पार्श्व के दस तीर्थों पर कल्प भी लिखे हैं ।
वि० सं ०१६६८ में विनयकुशल ने गोडी पार्श्वनाथ स्तवन में तथा १८८१ में खुशलविजय ने पार्श्वनाथ छन्द में प्रभु पार्श्वनाथ के १०८ तीर्थों का उल्लेख किया है । वहीं धीरविमल के शिष्य नयविमल ने पार्श्वनाथ के १३५ तीर्थ-मन्दिरों का वर्णन किया है ।
इस प्रकार देखा जाए तो चिन्ताचूरक, चिन्तमणिरत्न के समान मनोवांछापूरक पार्श्वप्रभु के नाम से वर्तमान समय में भारतवर्ष में शताधिक तीर्थ हैं, सहस्र के लगभग मन्दिर हैं और मूर्तियों की तो गणना भी सम्भव नहीं है; क्योंकि प्रत्येक मन्दिर में पाषाण एवं धातु की अनेकों प्रतिमाएं प्राप्त होती हैं । - राजस्थान प्रदेश में तीर्थंकरों विशेषतः पार्श्वनाथ के पाँचों कल्याणकों में से कोई कल्याणक नहीं होने से यहाँ के पुरुषादानीय पार्श्वनाथ के सारे तीर्थं क्षेत्र अतिशय/चमत्कारी तीर्थों की गणना में ही आते हैं । राजस्थान में प्रभु पार्श्वनाथ के नाम से निम्न स्थल तीर्थ के रूप में अत्यधिक विख्यात हैं; जिनका संक्षिप्त परिचय अकारानुक्रम से प्रस्तुत है ।।
१. करहेड़ा पार्श्वनाथ-उदयपुर-चित्तौड़ रेलवे मार्ग पर करहेड़ा स्टेशन है । स्टेशन से एक कि०मी० पर यह गाँव है । यहाँ उपसर्गहर पार्श्वनाथ की श्यामवर्णी प्रतिमा विराजमान है । नाहार जी के लेखानुसार सं० १०३९ में संडेरकगच्छीय यशोभद्रसूरि ने पार्श्वनाथ बिम्ब की प्रतिष्ठा की थी । यहाँ १३०३, १३०६, १३४१ आदि के प्राचीन मूर्तिलेख भी प्राप्त हैं । सुकृतसागर काव्य के अनुसार मांड्वगढ़ के पेथड़ और झांझण ने यहाँ के प्राचीन मंदिर का जीर्णोद्धार करवा कर सात मंजिला भव्य मंदिर बन्धवाया था, किन्तु आज वह प्राप्त नहीं है । सं० १४३१ में खरतरगच्छ के आचार्यों के द्वारा बड़ा महोत्सव हुआ और सं० १६५६ में इसका जीर्णोद्धार हुआ था और वर्तमान में फक्कड वल्लभदत्तविजय जी के उपदेश से जीर्णोद्धार हुआ है।
जिनप्रभसूरि रचित फलवर्दि पार्श्वनाथ कल्प के अनुसार यह करहेड़ा पार्श्वनाथ तीर्थ प्रसिद्ध तीर्थों में से था । खरतरगच्छ की पिघलक शाखा का यहाँ विशेष प्रभाव रहा है । मेवाड़ के तीर्थों में पार्श्वनाथ का यह एकमात्र प्राचीन तीर्थ है ।
२. कापरड़ा पार्श्वनाथ-जोधपुर से बिलाड़ा-अजमेर रोड़ पर यह तीर्थ है । प्राचीन उल्लेखों में इसका नाम कर्पटहेडक, कापडहेडा मिलता है । जैतारण निवासी सेठ भानाजी भंडारी ने भमि से ९९ फीट ऊँचा
आ यह विशालकाय शिखरबद्ध मन्दिर बनवाया था । इस मन्दिर की उन्नतता और विशालता की तुलना कुमारपाल भूपति निर्मापित तारांगा के मन्दिर से की जा सकती है । यह मन्दिर चतुर्मुख है और मूलनायक स्वयम्भू पार्श्वनाथ हैं । मूलनायक की मूर्ति जिनचन्द्रसूरि ने सं० १६७४ पौष बदि १० को भूमि
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The Tirthas of Parsvanatha in Rajasthan (Hindi)
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से प्राप्त की थी । इसकी प्रतिष्ठा वि० सं० १६७८ वैशाख सूदि पूर्णमा को खरतरगच्छ की आद्यपक्षीय शाखा के जिनदेवसूरि के पट्टधर पंचायण भट्टारक जिनचन्द्रसूरि ने करवाई थी । मूलनायक की चारों मूर्तियां परिकरयुक्त है ।
३. चंवलेश्वर पार्श्वनाथ — जहाजपुर तहसील में पारोली से ६ मि०मी० की दूरी पर वर्तमान में प्रसिद्ध चंवलेश्वर पार्श्वनाथ का मन्दिर है । अधुना श्वेताम्बर दिगम्बर के विवाद में उलझा हुआ 1
पं० कल्याणसागर रचित पार्श्वनाथ चैत्य परिपाटी में, मेघविजयोपाध्याय कृत पार्श्वनाथ नाममाला में और जिनहर्षगणि कृत पार्श्वनाथ १०८ नाम स्तवन में इस तीर्थ का उल्लेख प्राप्त है ।
४. चित्तौड़ सोमचिन्तामणि पार्श्वनाथ -- राजगच्छीय हीरकलश द्वारा १५वीं शती में रचित मेदपाटदेश तीर्थमाला स्तव पद्य १६ के अनुसार यहाँ श्री सोमचिन्तामणि पार्श्वनाथ का तीर्थ स्वरूप विशाल मन्दिर विद्यमान था, किन्तु आज नामोनिशान भी नहीं है ।
उत्खनन में प्राप्त कमलदल चित्र काव्य मय शिलापट्ट के अनुसार अनुमानत: १९६२ में जिनवल्लभगणि (जिवल्लभसूरि) ने पार्श्वनाथविधि चैत्य की प्रतिष्ठा की थी ।
५. जीरावाला पार्श्वनाथ - खराड़ी से आबू - देलवाड़ा के मार्ग पर ३० कि०मी० और अणादरा गाँव से १३-१४ कि०मी० की दूरी पर यह गाँव । इसका प्राचीन नाम जीरिकापल्ली, जीरापल्ली, जीरावल्ली प्राप्त होता है । उपदेश सप्तति के अनुसार ११०९ एवं वीरवंशावली के अनुसार १९९१ में श्रेष्ठि धांधल ने देवीत्री पर्वत की गुफा से प्राप्त प्रतिमा की इस गाँव में नवीन मंदिर बनवाकर स्थापना की थी और प्रतिष्ठा अजितदेवसूरि ने की थी । यह तीर्थ जीरावला पार्श्वनाथ के नाम से प्रसिद्ध हुआ । अलाउद्दीन खिलजी द्वारा १३६८ यह प्रतिमा खंडित कर दी गई। विलेपन करने पर भी नवअंग (भाग) स्पष्ट दिखाई देते थे । खंडित मूर्ति मुख्य स्थान में शोभा नहीं देती, अतः परवर्ती आचार्यों ने मुख्य स्थान पर नेमिनाथ की मूर्ति स्थापित कर दी और इस मूर्ति को दाईं ओर विराजमान कर दी ।
उपदेश तरंगिणी (प० १८ ) के अनुसार संधपति पेथड़ शाह और झांझण शाह ने यहाँ एक विशाल मन्दिर बनवाया था और महेश्वर कवि रचित काव्य मनोहर (सर्ग ७ श्लो० ३२ ) के अनुसार सोनगिरा श्रीमालवंशीय श्रेष्टि झांझक्ण के पुत्र संधपति आल्हराज ने भी इस महातीर्थ पर उन्नत तोरण युक्त विशाल मन्दिर बनवाया था, किन्तु आज इनका कोई अता-पता नहीं है ।
इस महातीर्थ की प्रसिद्धि इतनी अधिक हुई कि आज भी प्रतिष्ठा के समय भगवान की गद्दी पर विराजमान करने के पूर्व गद्दी पर जीरावला पार्श्वनाथ का मन्त्र लिखा जाता है । देलवाड़ा के सं० १४९१ के लेख के प्रारम्भ में " नमो जीरावलाय " लिखा है, जो इसकी प्रसिद्धि का सूचक है ।
जीरावाला नाम इतना अधिक विख्यात हुआ कि जीरावला पार्श्वनाथ के नाम से अनेकों स्थानों पर मन्दिर निर्माण जिनमें से हुए; हैं मुख्य-मुख्य धाणेराव, नाडलाई, नंदोल, बतोल, सिरोही, गिरनार, घाटकोपर
―
(बम्बई) आदि ।
६. नवलखा पार्श्वनाथ — पाली मारवाड़ में नवलखा दरवाजा के पास बावन जिनालय वाला विशाल नवलखा पार्श्वनाथ का प्रसिद्ध मन्दिर है । इस स्थान का प्राचीन नाम पल्लिका, पल्ली था । सं० ११२४, ११७८, १२०१ के प्राप्त लेखानुसार मूलतः यह महावीर स्वामी का मन्दिर था । सं० १६८६ के लेखानुसार नवलखा मन्दिर का जीर्णोद्धार हुआ था और पुर्नप्रतिष्ठा के समय पार्श्वनाथ की सपरिवार मूर्ति स्थापित की गई थी।
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Arbat Parsva and Dharanendra Nexus
७. नाकोड़ा पार्श्वनाथ— जोधपुर से बाड़मेर रेलवे के मध्य में बालोतरा स्टेशन से १० कि० मी० दूरी पर मेवानगर ग्राम में यह तीर्थ है । वस्तुतः ग्राम का नाम वीरमपुर या नगर था किन्तु महेवा और नगर का मिश्रण होकर यह स्थान अभी मेवानगर कहलाता है । नाकोड़ा ग्राम के तालाब से प्रकट इस पार्श्वनाथ प्रतिमा की इस स्थान पर स्थापना / प्रतिष्ठा अनुमानतः वि०सं० १५१२ में खरतरगच्छीय कीर्तिरत्नसूरि ने की थी । संस्थापक कीर्तिरत्नसूरि की मूर्ति भी (१५३६ में प्रतिष्ठित ) मूल मण्डप के बाहर बायीं ओर के आले में विराजमान है । नाकोड़ा में प्रकटित होने के कारण ही नाकोड़ा पार्श्वनाथ के नाम से इसकी प्रसिद्धि हुई है । यहाँ के अधिष्ठायक भैरव भी नाकोड़ा भैरव के नाम से सारे भारत में विख्यात हैं । वर्तमान में श्रद्धालु यात्री भी ४००-५०० के लगभग प्रतिदिन आते हैं। राजस्थान के समस्त तीर्थों की तुलना में आय भी इसकी सर्वाधिक है । मन्दिर भी विशाल और रमणीय है । व्यवस्था भी सुन्दर है ।
८. नागफणा पार्श्वनाथ — यह मन्दिर उदयपुर में है । साराभाई म० नवाब की पुस्तक "पुरिसादाणी श्री पार्श्वनाथजी " के अनुसार महाराणा प्रताप ने धरणेन्द्र - पद्मावती सहित पार्श्वनाथ की आराधना से ही पिछले युद्धों में विजय प्राप्त कर इस मन्दिर का निर्माण करवाया था, जो नागफणा पार्श्वनाथ के नाम से आज भी प्रभावशाली माना जाता है ।
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९. नागहृद नवखण्डा पार्श्वनाथ - उदयपुर से २२ कि०मी० पर नागदा गाँव है । यहाँ वर्तमान में सं० १४९४ में खरतरगच्छीय जिनसागरसूरि प्रतिष्ठित शान्तिनाथ का मन्दिर है । किन्तु मुनिसुन्दरसूरि रचित नागहृद तीर्थस्तोत्र, जिनप्रभसूरि के फलविधि पार्श्वनाथ तीर्थकल्प में नागहृद पार्श्वनाथ के उल्लेख प्राप्त हैं। राजगच्छीय हीरकलश रचित (१५वीं शती) मेदपाट देश तीर्थमाला-स्तव पद्य ३ में नवखण्डा पार्श्वनाथ का उल्लेख है । यहाँ पार्श्वनाथ का जीर्ण मन्दिर भी है । मंदिरस्थ मूर्ति के एक पभासण के नीचे १९९२ का लेख प्राप्त
है ।
आलोक पार्श्वनाथ — नागदा में ही एकलिंग जी के मन्दिर के पास ही दिगम्बर परम्परा का आलोक पार्श्वनाथ का मन्दिर था जिसे समुद्रसूरि ने श्वेताम्बर तीर्थ के रूप में परिवर्तित कर दिया था । १७वीं शताब्दी से अनेकों श्वे० शिलालेख प्राप्त है ।
आलोक पार्श्वनाथ मंदिर का उल्लेख बिजोलिया के १२३६ वाले शिलालेख में भी प्राप्त है।
१०. फलवर्द्धि पार्श्वनाथ — मेड़ता रोड़ जंक्सन स्टेशन से एक फर्लांग की दूरी पर फलोधी नामक गाँव है जो फलौधी पार्श्वनाथ या मेड़ता फलौधी के नाम से मशहूर है। राजस्थान के प्राचीन तीर्थस्थानों में इसकी गणना की जाती है । जिनप्रभसूरि रचित फलवर्द्धि पार्श्वनाथकल्प के अनुसार मालवंशीय धांधल और ओसवाल वंशीय शिवकर ने भूमि से प्राप्त सप्तफला पार्श्वनाथ की प्रतिमा नवीन विशाल गगनस्पर्शी मन्दिर बनवाकर स्थापित की और इसकी प्रतिष्ठा वि०सं० १९८१ में राजगच्छ ( धर्मघोषगच्छ) के शीलभद्रसूरि के शिष्य धर्मघोषसूरि ने की थी । सं० १२३३ में शहाबुद्दीन गौरी ने मूर्ति का अंग-भंग किया, तथापि प्राचीन एवं देवाधिष्ठित होने के कारण यही मूर्ति मूलनायक के रूप में ही रही ।
पुरातन - प्रबन्ध-संग्रह के अनुसार पारस श्रेष्ठि ने वाद विजेता वादीदेवसूरि के तत्त्वावधान में इस गगनचुम्बी मन्दिर का निर्माण १९९९ में करवाया और इसकी प्रतिष्ठा वादिदेवसूरि के पट्टधर मुनिचन्द्रसूरि ने १२०४ में करवाई ।
इस तीर्थ की महिमा का वर्णन करते हुए जिनप्रभसूरि तो यहाँ तक लिखते है
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"इस महातीर्थभूत पार्श्वनाथ के दर्शन से कलिकुण्ड, कुर्कुटेश्वर, श्रीपर्वत, शंखेश्वर, सेरीसा, मथुरा, वाराणसी; अहिच्छता, स्तंभ, अजाहर, प्रवरनगर, देवपत्तन, करहेड़ा, नागदा, श्रीपुर, सामिणि, चारूप, ढिंपुरी, उज्जैन, शुद्धदन्ती; हरिकंखी, लिम्बोडक आदि स्थानों में विद्यमान पार्श्वनाथ प्रतिमाओं का यात्रा करने का फल होता
१५वीं शती में हेमराज सुराणा ने इसका जीर्णोद्धार करवाया था । आज भी यह मन्दिर दर्शनीय है और चमत्कारपूर्ण है।
११. बिजोलिया पार्श्वनाथ—यह भीलवाड़ा जिले की बूंदी की सीमा पर स्थित है । यहां चट्टान पर खुदा हुआ "उत्तम शिखर पुराण" एवं वि० सं० १२२६ का चौहान-कालीन महत्वपूर्ण लेख है । मन्दिर भग्न हो गया है, केवल शिखर का भाग ही अवशिष्ट है । यह मन्दिर दिगम्बर परम्परा का है । चौहानकालीन १२२६ के लेख में ९२ पद्य एवं कुछ गद्य भाग है । लेख के ५६वें पद्य में लिखा है-श्रेष्ठि लोलाक की पत्नी ललिता को स्वप्न में यहाँ मन्दिर बनवाने का देव-निर्देश मिला था । इस लेख में यह उल्लेख भी मिलता है कि यहाँ कमठ ने उपसर्ग किया था । __उत्तम शिखर पुराण दूसरी चट्टान पर खुदा हुआ है । इसमें २९४ श्लोक हैं । इसके तीसरे सर्ग में कमठ के उपसर्ग का विस्तृत वर्णन भी मिलता है ।
१२. रतनपुर पार्श्वनाथ–रतनपुर मारवाड़ के पार्श्वनाथ मन्दिर का तीर्थ रूप में उल्लेख मिलता है । वि० सं० १२०९, १३३३, १३४३, १३४६ के लेखों से इसकी प्राचीनता और प्रसिद्धि स्पष्ट है, किन्तु आज यह तीर्थ महत्व-शून्य है ।
१३. रावण पार्श्वनाथ-अलवर से ५ कि०मी० दूर जंगल में रावण पार्श्वनाथ मन्दिर जीर्ण दशा में प्राप्त है । परम्परागत श्रुति के अनुसार यह मूर्ति रावण-मन्दोदरी द्वारा निर्मित थी । सं० १६४५ में श्रेष्ठि हीरानन्द ने रावण पार्श्वनाथ का भव्य मन्दिर बनवाकर खरतरगच्छीय आद्यपक्षीय शाखा के जिनचन्द्रसूरि के आदेश से वाचक रंग कलश से प्रतिष्ठा करवाई थी । १४४९ की कल्पसूत्र की प्रशस्ति तथा अनेक तीर्थ-मालाओं आदि में भी रावण तीर्थ का उल्लेख मिलता
१४. लौद्रवा पार्श्वनाथ-जैसलमेर से १५ किलोमीटर पर यह तीर्थ है सहजकीर्ति निर्मित शतदलपद्म गर्भित चित्रकाव्य के अनुसार श्रीधर और राझधर ने चिन्तामणि पार्श्वनाथ का मन्दिर बनवाया। श्रेष्ठि खीमसा ने मन्दिर भग्न होने पर नूतन मन्दिर बनवाया । इसके भी जीर्ण-क्षीर्ण होने पर जैसलमेर निवासी भणसाली गोत्रीय थाहरू शाह ने प्राचीन मन्दिर के नींव पर ही पंचानुत्तर विमान की आकृति पर नव्य एवं भव्य मन्दिर बनवाकर चिन्तामणि पार्श्वनाथ की श्यामवर्णी प्रतिमा विराजमान की इसकी प्रतिष्ठा खरतरगच्छीय जिनराजसूरि ने सं० १६७५ मिगसर सुदि १२ गुरुवार को की थी । मन्दिर के दायीं ओर समवसरण पर अष्टापद और उस पर कल्पवृक्ष की मनोहर रचना भी है । मन्दिर शिखरबद्ध है और शिल्पकला की दृष्टि से अनूठा है।
५. वरकाणा पार्श्वनाथ-राणीस्टेशन से ३ कि०मी० पर वरकाणा गांव है । "वरकनकपुर", प्राचीन नाम मिलता है । गोडवाड की प्रसिद्ध पंचतीर्थी में इस तीर्थ का प्रमुख स्थान है। कई बार इसका जीर्णोद्धार होने से प्राचीनता नष्ट हो गई है । शिवराजगणि ने आनन्दसुन्दर ग्रन्थ (र०सं० १५५९) के प्रारंभ में ही "वरकाणा पार्श्व प्रसन्नो भव" लिखकर इस तीर्थ की महिमा गाई है । महाराणा जगतसिंह ने सं० १६८७
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Arhat Pāršva and Dharanendra Nexus के लेख मे मेले के लिये जफात में छूट का उल्लेख है। ___ अन्य तीर्थ—इसी प्रकार तिंवरी पार्श्वनाथ, पोसलिया पार्श्वनाथ सोजत के पास मुंडेवा पार्श्वनाथ, नाडलाई में सोमटिया पार्श्वनाथ, सुजानगढ़ में जगवल्लभ पार्श्वनाथ के मन्दिर भी दर्शनीय हैं । ___ गोंडी पार्श्वनाथ के नाम से बीकानेर, आहोर, धानेरा, नाड़लाई, सोजत के मन्दिर प्रसिद्ध और दर्शनीय
वस्तुतः देखा जाए तो यह राजस्थान प्रदेश अतिशय/चमत्कारी तीर्थ-स्थलों का ही प्रदेश है । इस लघु निबन्ध में पार्श्वनाथ के प्रसिद्ध एवं मुख्य-मुख्य तीर्थ-स्थलों का उल्लेख मात्र किया गया है । ऐतिहासिक विश्लेषण प्राचीनत्व और विशिष्टताओं का लेखा-जोखा नहीं । अनुसन्धान करने पर इस प्रदेश में अन्य अनेक प्राचीन तीर्थ क्षेत्रों का परिचय भी प्राप्त किया जा सकता है ।
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THE TĪRTHAS OF PĀRŚVANĀTHA IN GUJARAT
M. A. Dhaky
The early agamic and related commentaries composed from the late sixth to the ninth century refer to no place as a tirtha sacred to Jina Pārsvanātha in western India including Gujarat. The ancient sites then very famous as tīrthas within the presentday province of Gujarat were Ujjayantagiri (Girnār Hills), Satruñjayagiri (Setrunjo), and Prabhāsa, the first was sacred to Arhat Ariştanemi, the second to Jina Rşabha, and the third to Jina Candraprabha, Pārsvanātha thus not figuring in their context as the principal deity. Likewise, the temples sacred to Jinas that existed in Valabhi (ancient capital of the Maitrakas in Saurāṣtra) before its destruction in A.D. 784 did not include that of Jina Pārsva.' It was only in the medieval period that one hears of some sites sacred to that Jina: these were Stambhanaka (Thambhaņā), Sankhapura (Sankheśvara), Carūpa, Serişaka (Serisā) and a few others, the first two being far more famous in the past, the second also so in the present times, than the remaining sites.? For their images were believed to be endowed with miraculous powers including the cure of leucoderma by bathing in the lustral water of the images of the Jinas concerned. The myths relating to the origin of the first two tirthas have been incorporated in the Kalapradipa of Jinaprabha Sūri (c. A.D. 1333)}; these are best left to the faithful. Historically speaking, the following facts about the tirthas concerned are available in the medieval and late medieval svetāmbara literature. The other sites sacred to Pārsvanātha were Ajāharā (Ajārā), Ghoghā, and Mangalpura (Maggrol), all located on Saurāṣtra's western and south-eastern sea-board. And in Anahillapāțaka, the capital of Gujarat, was the famous temple of PañcāsaraPārsvanātha.
Stambbana - Pārsvanātba
A head of an image of Pārsva had been exposed near a tree in the environs of the village Stambhana situated on the bank of River Sedhi near Cambay or Khambhāt. The exhumed image subsequently was set up in a shrine built for it and was consecrated by Abhayadeva Sūri of Candra-gaccha, the famous commentator on the nine anga-works of the āgama literature of the northern Nirgrantha tradition inherited by the Svetāmbara sect. The date of consecration has been reported to be A.D. 1053 (or 1063). Abhayadeva Sūri next composed a stotra in Apabhramśa in praise of the Stambhana-Pārsvanātha, the psalm famous as Jaya Tihuana-thotta." Thereafter
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followed several similar compositions, in Sanskrit as well as Prāksta, which sing the glory of the image of that tīrtha. Among these the earliest was by Vardhamāna Sūri - disciple of Abhayadeva Sūri — followed by other brilliant compositions till the 15th century. From these, the beginning of a stuti by Nayacandra of BỊhad-gaccha, dated S. 1257/A.D. 1201, is cited below:
सेढीतटस्तम्भनकप्रतिष्ठः श्री पार्श्वनाथः सुगुणैर्गरिष्ठः । पायादपायादलिनीलकायः सिद्धयङ्गनासङ्घटनाभ्युपायः ॥१॥
The glorificatory myths of the early and late medieval epochs speak in most glowing terms the merits that can be accrued by visiting (and worshipping) the Lord Jina Pārśva in the Stambhana shrine. By about A.D. 1232, minister Vastupāla had founded the "avatāra-tīrtha" - shrine incarnate — of Stambhana Pārsvanātha on the Satruñjayagiri as well as Ujjayantagiri.
The image of the Jina had been transferred, in early years of the 14th century, from Stambhana to Stambhatīrtha (Khambhāt) for ensuring its safety; but it could not have survived the Muslim conquest and subsequent occupation of Gujarat when, by A.D. 1325, all Brahmanical and Jaina temples in Khambhāt - which indeed existed in very large number — had been completely destroyed. A shrine of Stambhana Pārsvanātha today does exist in Khambhāt, but is a building of a very late date, of late British period, the old glory of the tirtha has by now been considerably dimmed.
Sankbapura - Pārsvanātha
The image had turned up in the present village of Sankheśvara at the fag end of the 11th century. One Sajjana built a temple for it in S. 1155/A.D. 1099. Minister Vastupāla had renovated or rebuilt in marble (or made additions to the temple early in the second quarter of the 13th century; he also founded its avatāra-shrine on the holy hills of Satruñjaya. Many pilgrim congregations had visited the shrine in the past and even today its fame is fairly considerable. A few hymns due to the Lord Pārsva of Sankhapura are known, that by Municandra Sūri of an unknown gaccha and probably of c. mid-13th century, which is of historical importance, is appended at the end. This tirtha of Pārsvanātha has been noticed also in several other hymnic compositions by authors of the centuries between the 13th and 15th; and Upadhyāya Yaśovijaya, in the 17th century, had sung the glory of the lord in dazzling phrases. The mythical literature commensurate with the glory of the tirtha was also duly
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created. It is said in the hymn of Municandra that the local ruler Durjanaśalya (13th century) was cured of leucoderma by bathing in the lustral water of the Jina. Even today the lustral water of this Jina here is believed among the Jainas to be restoring the skin pigment. The original temple was, to all seeming, destroyed during the Muslim occupation of Gujarat some time early in the 14th century. On its site was built another temple, now in brick, in early 17th century in Mughal times. This, too, seems to have been desecrated and damaged in the time plausibly of Aurangzeb. The present shrine, situated at a different location in the village, is the result of construction late in the British period.
Anabillapāțaka, Pañcāsara - Pārsvanātha
The image had been brought from an old shrine in his ancestral town Pañcāsara by Vanarāja, the progenitor of the Căpotkața dynasty, and set up in late ninth century in a temple - Vanarāja-vihāra — an abbey-temple founded by him in his new capital, Anahillapāțaka or Anhillapattana, present-day Pāțan in north Gujarat. The temple and the ancient image of course have not survived since almost the entire old Pāțaņ was completely devastated by the Muslim invasion and occupation of Gujarat in c. A.D. 1304. Even the ancient site of the temple has been forgotten, though it could not be far from the present new structure. The image of Pārsvanātha of Pañcăsara, though famous becuase it was ancient, perhaps of sixth or seventh century, was not reputed for performing miracles. A few late stavanas and a number of notices on this temple, however, are known from the pilgrim psalms in late MaruGurjara-bhāṣā and in Gujarātī.
Cārupa - Pārsvanātha The temple's image was believed to be ancient. A hymn by Ratnasekhara Sūri of Tapā-gaccha (2nd quarter of the 15th century) sang the glory of the tīrtha. The tirtha exists but does not enjoy the importance it did in the medieval period.
Ajābarā - Pārsvanātha The foundation of the Ajāharā Pārsvanātha near Unā seemingly was of the time as early as the eighth century. It was in all probability destroyed when Mahmud of Gaznā, after devastating Unnatapura (Unā) was proceeding to Prabhāsa for the destruction of the temple of Somanātha in late weeks of December 1025. The original temple may have been built by the adherents of the Nirgrantha-Yapaniya sect who had settled for some time in Saurastra. The shrine was perhaps rebuilt in
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the 13th century, possibly by the Svetambaras. The original, desecrated, damaged, and discarded lime stone image of Pārśva, highly corroded by centuries of exposure to weathering in the temple's outer surroundings, is now preserved in the Government Museum, Junagadh. The tirtha, though ancient, is now of minor importance. It had inspired a couple of hymns, perhaps in the 17th century, when its glory was somewhat revived.
Gbogbā - Pārsvanātba
The ancient image of Jina Pārśva at Ghoghā had been broken into nine fragments but joined into one piece some time after the retreat of the Muslim army in early 14th century; hence it is called Navakhandā Pārsvanātha. Its glory was re-established in the 15th century and the famous pontiff Somasundara Sūri (and his confrère Jñānasagara) of Tapā-gaccha and a couple of his disciples composed fine hymns in adoration of the Jina. Today, of course, the tirtha, though visited by pilgrims, is of secondary importance.
Mangalapura - Pārsvanātba The original image had belonged to a foundation called Kumāra-vihāra, built probably by the Solanki emperor Kumārapāla some time between 1160-1170. The temple had been destroyed during the Muslim rule. The ceiling of its great hall is now in the Juma Masjid to the west of the township. A single hymn by Lakşmilābha (c. 16th17th century?) on this Jina is known. The present shrine is of the British period. It hardly attracts pilgrims excepting for the stray Svetāmbara Jainas visiting this decaying town.
Serisā - Pārsvanātba
The Pārsva image and other old images (possibly along with the temple) were consecrated in a temple in Serișaka by Devendra Sūri in emperor Kumārapāla's times; the Sūri is said to have belonged to the hagiographical line of the Navāngavrttikāra Abhayadeva Sūri (Candra-gaccha) according to the Kalpapradipa (A.D. 1333) of Jinaprabha Sūri' and to the lineage of the Nāgendra-gaccha according to the Nabhinandana-Jinoddhāna-prabandha of Kakka Suri (A.D. 1337).10 In the middle of the 13th century, Minister Alhādana and next Dharmaghoșa Sūri of Tapā-gaccha (A.D. 1260-1300) alluded to this tirtha in their psalms. The temple has been referred to also in the tirthamālās and allied literature in old Gujarātî of the 16th and 17th century. Before the destruction of the temple in the Muslim period, the old images
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had been interred for safety, the temple though was destroyed and stood as a very battered ruin till some decades ago. The images, however, had been recovered and re-established in a new building that was built in A.D. 1946. The glory of this medieval tirtha has been, to some extent, revived.
श्रीमुनिचन्द्रसूरिप्रणीतप्रबन्धगतं श्रीशङ्केश्वर-पार्श्वनाथ-स्तवनम् ।
समस्तकल्याणनिधानकोशं वामाङ्गकुक्ष्येकमृणालहंसम् । अलङ्कतेक्ष्वाकुविशालवंशं वन्दे सदा शङ्खपुरावतंसम् ॥१॥ आराधितः श्री ऋषभस्य काले विद्याधरेन्द्रेण नमीश्वरेण । पूर्व हि वैताढयगिरौ जिनं तं वन्दे सदा शङ्खपुरावतंसम् ॥२॥ यः पूजितः पन्नगनायकेन पातालभूमौ भवनाधिपेन । कालं कियन्तं जिननायकं तं वन्दे सदा शङ्खपुरावतंसम् ॥३॥ यदा जरासन्धजयोद्यतेन कृष्णेन नेमीश्वरशासितेन । पातालतो बिम्बमिदं तदानीमानीय संस्थापितमेव तीर्थम् ॥ ४॥ जराऽऽर्तभूतं स्वबलं विलोक्य यत्स्तात्रपीयूषजलेन सिक्तम् । सजीकृतं तत्क्षणमेव सर्वं वन्दे सदा शङ्खपुरावतंसम् ॥५॥ पञ्चाशदादौ किल पञ्चयुक्ते एकादशे वर्षशते व्यतीते ।। निवेशितः सज्जनश्रेष्ठिनाऽयं वन्दे सदा शङ्खपुरावतंसम् ॥६॥ काले कलौ कामगवी प्रणष्टा चिन्तामणिः कल्पतरूञ्च नष्टः । धत्ते ह्यसौ तत्प्रतिहस्तकत्वं वन्दे सदा शङ्खपुरावतंसम् ॥७॥ प्रभुतरोगेण विनष्टदेह आराध्य यं दुर्जनशल्यदेवः । चकार देहं मदनस्य तुल्यं वन्दे सदा शङ्खपुरावतंसम् ॥८॥ राज्यार्थिनां राज्यसुखप्रदाता सुतार्थिनां सन्ततिदायको यः । नेत्रार्थिनां लोचनदोऽसि नित्यं वन्दे सदा शङ्खपुरावतंसम् ॥९॥ इति स्तुतः श्रीमुनिचन्द्रसूरिणा कृपाकरः शङ्खपुरावतार । प्रबन्धकादौ प्रणतासभाजां प्रचच्छ नित्यं निजपादसेवाम् ॥१०॥
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148
Arhat Pārśva and Dharanendra Nexus
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1. The late medieval prabandhas mention the departure of the images of Valabinātha, Rşabha,
Vardhamana, and Candraprabha to safer havens. Since this is only a side issue, I forgo citations
from the original work. 2. More will be said while describing these tirthas. 3. Vividha Tirthakalpa, Ed. Jina Vijaya, śāntiniketan 1934, “Ayodhyānagrīkalpa," p. 24; and Mohanlal
Dalichand Deshai, Jaina Sahitya-no Saṁskṣipta Itibās, (Gujarāti), Bombay 1933, p. 341, para
495. 4. For the quotation therefrom and the references to the publication sources, see here my paper
"Arhat Pārśva with Dharanendra in hymnic literature". 5. Seemingly, the tirtha in the 12th and the 13th century was at its height of glory. Some of the
hymns of that period for the Stambhana-Jina are tantric. 6. Jainasotrasandoba, pt. 1, Ed. Muni Chaturavijaya, Ahmedabad 1932, p. 106. 7. I had noticed a fragment of a śikharikā piece in marble showing the 13th century style of carving
at the garbhagsha's site, that was some 35 years ago. 8. The temple has been thoroughly renovated. 9. I forgo citations from the original sources. 10. Ibid.
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Plate 1. Upasarga of
Pārsvanātha, Indian Museum, Calcutta, c. late 9th century A.D
Formate. Personal use only
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Jain Education internatonal
For Private
Personal use only
www.janelibrary.org
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Plate 3. Pancatirthi c. 10th Century A.D.
Sravasthi-Baharaich (U.P.)
Plate 2. Halebid (Bastihalli), Pärsvanātha temple,
mūlanāyaka image of Pārsvanātha, A.D. 1133. (Founder dandanayaka Boppadēva, son of Gangarāja, prime minister of Hoysala Vişnuvardhana.)
Plate 4. Pārsvanatha c. 9th Century A.D. Agatsarai
Aligarh (U.P.)
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Plate 5. Pārsvanatha seated under snake canopy
Sam. 1134-57 (1077 A.D.) Sravasthi-Baharaich (U.P.)
Plate 6. Pārsvanatha white marbel c. 12th
Century A.D. Mahoba
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Plate 7.
Udaigiri (Udayagiri), Cave 20, general view, C. A.D. 425-426.
Plate 8.
Vidisā, PārsvanathaSarvatobhadrikā image, c. 7th century A.D. Vidisha Museum No.357-1225.
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Plate 9.
Karitalai, PārsvanāthaSarvatobhadrikā image, c. 7th century AD. Raipur, M.G.M. Museum
Plate 10. Nāchnä-Kuthärā,
Pārsvanátha, seated, c. 6th century A.D. Ramban, Tulsi Sangrahalaya.
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Plate 11: Madhya Pradesh, Pārsvanatha,
c. 6th century A.D. Calcutta, Indian Museum, A25111.
Plate 12 Gwalior Fort,
Pārsvanātha, c. 9th century AD.
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Plate 13. Amrol, Pärsvanātha, c. 9th century AD.
Plate 14. Vidišā, Pārsvanatha, c.
9th century A.D. Vidisha State Museum
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Plate 15. Cirainti village, Pārsvanatha,
Sarvatobhadrikā, c. 9th century A.D.
Plate 16. Deogarh, Pārsvanātha, c. 9th century A.D.
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Plate 17. Deogarh, Jain temple 15,
garbhagrha, Pārsvanātha, c. 9th century A.D.
Plate 18. Deogarh, Jaina temples 12 & 15,
Pārsvanatha, c. 9th century A.D.
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Plate 20. Jabalpur, Parsvanatha, c. 11th
century. A.D. Jabalpur, Rani Durgavati Muséum.
Plate 19. Käritalai, Pärśvanatha, c. 10th century A.D. Raipur, M.G.M. Museum (35).
CATCORTE tráf aro आलय जिला
102
Enh
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Plate 21. Singhanpur, Pancamatha temple, Pārsvanātha,
mid 10th century AD.
Plate 22. Singhanpur, Pancamatha
temple, Pārsvanātha, mid 10th century AD.
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Plate 23. Madhya Pradesh, Pārsvanātha,
Sarvatobhadrikā, c. 10th century A.D. Dhubela Museum.
ENOTTO
Plate 24. Khajurāho. Pārsvanätha, c. 10th
century AD. Khajuraho Archaeological Museum No. 1618.
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Plate 25. Deogarh, Jaina temple 4,
Pārsvanātha, 11th century A.D.
Plate 26. Siron, Pārsvanātha, c. 10th century AD.
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Plate 27. Siron, Pārsvanātha, c. 11th
century A.D.
Plate 28. Hingalājagarh, Pärsvanätha, c. 9th
10th century A.D. Bhānpur, State Museum No. 290.
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Plate 30. Bhojpur, Jaina temple, garbbagṛha, Pärsvanatha, c. 11th
cent. A.D.
3333
Plate 29. Hingalajagarh,
Pārsvanatha, c. 10th cent. A.D. Indore, Central Museum.
Plate 31. Udaigiri, Cave 20, Pārsvanatha, c. 10th11th cent. A.D.
1300
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Plate 32. Ayodhyā, Pärsvanātha. (Courtesy: Archaeological Survey of India, Calcutta.)
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Plate 33. Podasingidi, seated Pārsvanätha.
(Courtesy and kindness: R.P. Mohapatra.)
Plate 34. Pratäpanagari, Pārsvanatha.
(Courtesy: Archaeological Survey of India, Calcutta.)
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Plate 36. Khandagiri, Cave 7, Padmavati under
the seated Pärsvanatha.
Plate 35. Khandagiri, Cave 7, right wall, seated image of Pärsvanatha.
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Plate 37. Khaņdagiri, Cave 8, Padmāvati
under the seated Pārsvanatha.
STYLE
Plate 38. Puri, stele with haloed Tirthankaras
flanking Pārsvanātha. (Courtesy: Indian Museum, Calcutta.)
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Plate 39. Nandapur, Padmāvati with
Pārsvanātha above.
Plate 40. Deulbhiră, perforated grille with
figure of seated Pārsvanātha. (Courtesy: Indian Museum, Calcutta.)
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Plate 41. Beharasai, Pārsvanātha, upper part
of the image. (Courtesy and kindness: Tarapada Santra.)
Plate 42. Beharasai, Pārsvanātha, lower part
of the image. (Courtesy and kindness: Tarapada Santra.)
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Plate 43. Bahulārā, standing Pārsvanātha.
(Courtesy: Archaeological Survey of India.)
Plate 44. Bänkurā, standing Pārsvanātha.
(Courtesy: Indian Museum, Calcutta.)
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Plate 45. Pakbirrā, seated Pārsvanātha.
(Courtesy and kindness: Krishnajivan Bhattacharyya.)
Plate 46.
Pakbirrā, Pārsvanatha, lower portion of the image. (Courtesy: Archaeological Survey of India, Calcutta.)
www.jainelibrary.o
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Plate 47. Pakbirrā, Pārsvanātha, lower
portion of the image. (Courtesy: Archaeological Survey of India, Calcutta.)
Plate 48. Anai-Jambad, standing
Pārsvanatha.
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Plate 49. Pakbirrā, votive caumukha.
(Courtesy: Archaeological Survey of India, Calcutta.)
Plate 50. Puruliā, votive caumukha.
(Courtesy: Haripada Sahitya Mandir, Purulia.)
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Plate 51. Barjorā, votive caumukha.
(Courtesy: Vangiya Sahitya Parishad, Vishnupur.)
Plate 52. Sāt Deuliyā, votive caumukha.
(Courtesy: Asutosh Museum, Calcutta.)
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Plate 53. Burdwan, Vişnu-Lokeśvara. (Courtesy: Asutosh Museum, Calcutta.)
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Plate 54. Aihole;-Jaina Cave, vithikā, Pārsvanātha, c. last quarter of the 6th century A.D.
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Plate 55. Ellorā, cave 31, Pārsvanātha, south wall, c. ninth century A.D.
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Plate 56. Ellorā, cave 31, Pārsvanátha, north wall, c. ninth century A.D.
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Plate 57. Ellorā, cave 32, Pārsvanátha, south wall, c. ninth century A.D.
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Plate 58. Ellorā, cave 32, Indrasabha, Pārsvanātha, south wall, c. ninth century A.D.
www.jainelibrary
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Plate 59.
Ellora, cave 32, Indrasabhā, Pārsvanātha, c. ninth century A.D).
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Plate 60. Ellora, cave 32, Indrasabhā,
Pārsvanatha, upper series, east, c. ninth century A.D.
Plate 61. Ellorā, cave 33, Pārsvanātha with
the figure of Kamatha (?), c. ninth century A.D.
www.jainelibrary.one
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Plate 62. Ellorā, cave 33,
Pārsvanātha, c. ninth century A.D.
Plate 63. Ellorā, cave 34, Pārsvanátha,
south wall, c. ninth century A.D.
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Plate 64. Badami, Cave IV, vithika, Parsvanatha, c. late 6th century A.D.
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________________ Plate 65. We Humca, Parsvanathabasadi, gudhamandapa, stele showing the upsarga of Parsvanatha, c. late ninth A.D.
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________________ Plate 66. Sravana Belgola, Candragiri, Parsvanathabasadi, garbhaglha, cult image of Parsvanatha, c. early 11th century A.D.
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________________ շ, Ա ԼԿԱԼԱՆ, Plate 67. Gerisoppa, forest, ruined Jaina temple, Parsvanatha, c. 15th century A.D.
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________________ PROFESSOR M.A. DHAKY had been the Research Professor of Indian Art and Architecture at the L. D. Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad. For almost three decades he has been incharge of a monumental project, the now well-known Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture at the American Institute of Indian Studies, Varanasi. He has contributed scores of papers and a few monographs on the Indian art and architecture, some also on musicology, art-interpretation and, horticulture.
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