Page #1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Page #2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
JAINA-RŪPA-MAŅDANA
(Jaina Iconography) Umakant P. Shah
Jain Edt
K
vale & Personal use only
Page #3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
JAINA-RUPA-MANDANA
(Jalna Iconography) Umakant P. Shah
Pp. 348 Demy 4 to Index
Half-tone illus. 215 Colour Illus 3 Bibliography
The JAINA-ROPA-
MW . Volume I is an authentic work on Jaina iconography from the pen of a well-known authority on the subject, Dr. Umakant P. Shah, an eminent Indologist and art historian with specialization in Jaina art and literature. Illustrated profusely with over two hundred monochrome plates, the work is a standard textbook and a very useful guide to all students of Indian art and archaeology and to Museum Curators. The work is supplemented with a large number of iconographic tables for images of all important Jaina gods and goddesses.
Dr. Shah, the author, has for the first time given solutions to various basic problems of Jaina iconography supported with ample evidence from both archaeology and literature including unpublished original texts still in manuscripts.
Two further volumes will soon follow.
Rs. 800
Page #4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
JAINA-RUPA-MANDANA
Volume I
जैन-रूप-मण्डन
भाग १
(Jaina Iconography)
UMAKANT P. SHAH
M.A. Ph . Dip. Museology Ex-Editor, Journal of Indian Society of Oriental Art
Ex-Deputy Director, Oriental Institute, Baroda
GE
BOERE
Vasudeva
Baladeva
Prati-Vasudeva
Cakravartin
abhinav publications
Jain Education international
Page #5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Plate !
FRONTISPIECE
Page #6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
To
My Revered Parents
The Jaina Samgha
Page #7
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
First Published in 1987
©
U.P. Shah
Printed in India
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Publishers Shakti Malik Abhinav Publications E-37, Hauz Khas New Delhi-110 016
ISBN 81-7017-208-X ISBN 81-7017-218-7
Printers Hans Raj Gupta & Sons Anand Parbat New Delhi-110 005
JAYALAKSHMI INDOLOGICAL BOOK HOUSE 6. Appar Swamy Koil Street (Upstairs)
Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004. Tel: 4990539 Fax: 044-4940066 Attn. FDA 89
Page #8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Preface
Before 1953 when I was awarded Ph.D. degree on my thesis on Elements of Jaina Iconography (North India). I had published, from 1940 onwards, some important chapters on Iconography of the Jaina Goddess Ambika, on the Jaina Goddess Sarasvati, on the Sixteen Jaina Mahāvidyās, on Jivantasvami, on Kaparddi and Brahmaśānti Yaksas, Kșetrapāla, on Supernatural Beings in the Jaina Tantras, on the History of Tantra in Early Jaina Literature, on the Age of Differentiation of Digambara and Svetāmbara images and the earliest known Svetāmbara bronzes, Vardhamāna-Vidya-Pata, etc. In 1954 I gave lectures on Jaina Art in the Banaras Hindu University under the auspices of the Jaina Cultural Research Society when the late Dr. V.S. Agrawala presided. The lectures, published as Studies in Jaina Art, mainly dealt with Symbol Worship in Jainism. Since then several articles on Jaina iconography, art, and culture have been published by me, besides three books on Jaina paintings-New Documents of Jaina Paintings (jointly with Dr. Moti Chandra), More Documents of Jaina Paintings and Gujarati Paintings of the sixteenth and later centuries, and Treasures of Jaina Bhandaras. A Brief Survey of Jaina Bronzes with many illustrations was published in Aspects of Jaina Art and Architecture.
Every time I tried to revise my thesis for publication I was required to postpone it and undertake works on Jaina paintings mentioned above, as well as the book on Art of the Akota Bronzes or the editing of the rare Jaina work on music entitled Sangitopanişad-Säroddhara and the work of Critical Edition of the Rāmāyana of Valmiki and so on.
The accidental discovery of the Akota Hoard of Jaina Bronzes was a landmark in the study of Jaina Iconography and Western Indian Sculpture. I was fortunate in retrieving the hoard dispersed amongst people in Baroda. The Akota Bronzes, discovered in 1951-52, helped me in getting solutions of problems like the Introduction of Sašanadevatās in Jainism, Age of Differentiation of Svetambara and Digambara Tirthankara-images, Introduction of cognizances on Tirthankara images, identification of Jivantasvämi images etc., and finalising the thesis with some satisfaction.
My work does not aim at exhausting everything in Jaina iconography. The thesis was more or less a first systematic attempt at putting the study of Jaina iconography on scientific basis. In the thesis, I had concentrated only on North Indian Jaina images, though I tried to study most of the Svetāmbara and Digambara literary sources in Prakrt, Sanskrt, Apabhramśa and Gujarati. For the first time I could bring to light and refer to tantric Jaina texts (published as well as a majority in manuscript form). For this study good deal of material also exists in Kannada and Tamil literatures. Prof. S. Settar of Dharwar is doing good work in Karnataka, has brought to light several sources, especially of Kannada Purānas, and has published a valuable work on Sravana Belagola. Dr. Sarayu Doshi brought to light several rare Digambara Jaina paintings and, in Marg, a special issue on Gommateśvara.
Before I started my studies around 1938, some important works and articles on Jaina art and iconography were published:
A. Cunningham in his Archaeological Survey Reports published valuable information about Jaina sites and noticed sculptures, inscriptions etc. from several sites like Mathura, Khajuraho, Gwalior, etc. G. Buhler published two articles on Jaina inscriptions from Mathura and a paper on Jaina sculptures from Mathura, in Ep. Indica, between 1892-94 A.D. His discussion on Naigameşin from Jaina and Medical
Page #9
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana sources was remarkable. In 1887 he wrote 'On the Authenticity of Jaina traditions', in W.Z.K.M., and in 1896, a paper on "Epigraphic Discoveries at Mathura'. His 'Legend of the Jaina Stūpa at Mathura was published in German in S.K.A.W., Wien, 1897. In 1903, Burgess translated in English Buhler's paper 'On the Indian Sect of the Jainas', appending himself an 'Outline of Jaina Mythology'. J. Anderson in his Catalogue of Archaeological collections in the Indian Museum (c. 1883) noticed a few Jaina sculptures in the Museum. He had also mentioned some Jaina bronzes, of which the bronzes from Gwalior were neglected hitherto. I have recently published these Gwalior bronzes along with other Jaina bronzes from Prof. Eilenberg's collections.
V.A. Smith (1901) published his 'The Jaina Stūpa and other Antiquities of Mathura', a work of outstanding value for all later studies of Jaina antiquities from Kankali Tila, Mathura.
On the basis of some Canareso Dhyana-ślokas obtained from South India, J. Burgess discussed ‘Digambara Jaina Iconography' in Indian Antiquary, vol. 32 (1903-4), and illustrated various yakşas and yakşiņis with modern line-drawings. His Archaeological Survey Reports entitled 'Antiquities of Kathiawad and Kachchha' (1876), 'Report on the Belgaum and Kaladgi Districts (1874) and 'A Revised List of Antiquarian Remains in the Bombay Presidency (jointly with H. Cousens' noticed Laica su i images and shrines. Also noteworthy is his Report on the Elura Cave Temples and the Brahmanical and Jaina Caves in Western India, Archaeological Survey of Western India, vol. V (1883), as also Cave Temples of India (jointly with J. Fergusson) and Inscriptions from Cave Temples of India (with Bhagwanlal Indraji, 1881).
Growse, F.S., wrote on Mathura and also discussed some Mathura Inscriptions in Indian Antiquary, vol. 6. Later J.Ph. Vogel published his famous Catalogue of the Curzon Museum of Archaeology at Mathura (1910), La Sculpture de Mathura, Art Asiatica, Paris, 1930, and wrote on the Mathura School of Sculpture in ASI, A.R., 1906-07 and 1909-10.
Bhandarkar, D.R., wrote on the now famous Jaina Caumukha Temple at Ranakpur (ASI, A.R., 1907-08). In an article on Jaina Iconography (ASI, A.R., 1905-06) ho identified and described a sculpture depicting the Aśvāvabodha-tirtha and Sakunikā-vihāra story associated with the life of Tirthankara Munisuvrata, and discussed the Jaina Samavasarana in another article on Jaina Iconography in Indian Antiquary (1911). In 1915, he discovered from excavations at Vaļā (ancient Valabhi) five unique Jaina bronzes assigned to c. fifth and sixth centuries A.D., now preserved in the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay. As Superintendent, Western Circle, he surveyed a number of sites (Jaina as well as Hindu) in Western India.
Banerji, R.D., discussed 'New Brahmi Inscriptions of the Scythian Period' in Epigraphia Indica, X (1909-10) and described some Jaina images and pedestals. In his notes on Mangya Tungya Caves (ASI, A.R., 1921) he described some early mediacval Jaina carvings in Maharashtra. In his Eastern School of Mediaeval Indian Sculpture he discussed Jaina images discovered from Bengal; in his Age of the Imperial Guptas he discussed some known Jaina sculptures of the Gupta Age.
In 1914, Dr. A.K. Coomaraswamy opened a new line of studies in his 'Notes on Jaina Art' wherein he discussed miniature paintings of the Kalpa-sútra, a cosmographical chart and a canvass pața of Pārsvanatha. In his Catalogue of Indian Collections in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, vol. IV, Jaina Paintings, 1924, he described Jaina miniature paintings, Jaina Jataka-scenes. He also discussed iconography of Tirtbaðkaras, deities like Indra, Naigamesa and others and described the five kalyäpakas in the life of each Tirthaokara. In his Boston Catalogue, vol. IV, in the Portfolio of Indian Art and in his History of Indian and Indonesian Art he published some i Jaina sculptures and temples. In 1935 was published his beautiful paper on "The Conqueror's Life in Jaina Painting" (JISOA, vol. III) wherein he tried to interpret the fourteen prognostic dreams of a Jina's mother. His remarkable pioneer study of Yaksas (parts I and II) (1928-31) has been largely helpful in our study of Yakşas and Yaksinis in Jaina art and literature.
Two monumental studies by H. Cousens, entitled 'Chalukyan Architecture' and 'Antiquities of Somnath and Kathiawad', were very useful in our study of Jaina antiquities in Karnataka and Kathiawad. His studies of shrines at Aihole, published in ASI, A.R., 1907-08, were equally illuminating.
Page #10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
vii
Preface
Rama Prasad Chanda made valuable advancement in the study of Jaina art and iconography by publishing 'Notes on Jaina Remains at Rajgir, ASI, A.R., 1925-26, describing and illustrating almost all important Jaina sculptures from this ancient site. He supplemented these notes in the same report with another long article on 'Svetāmbara and Digambara images of the Jainas' wherein he discussed the age of differentiation of Svetambara and Digambara Jaina images and placed it roughly in the age of king Ama (Nāgāvaloka) and Bappabhațți sűri, in c. 750-840 A.D. In his Mediaeval Indian Sculptures in the British Museum (1936), he brought to light some beautiful Jaina sculptures.
T.N. Ramachandran was the first scholar to give a systematic account of Jaina iconography in his "Tiruparuttikunram and its Temples' (1934). The book included study of wall-paintings in Jaina temples at Jina-Kanchi, supplemented by illustrations of Jaina bronzes and sculptures in these temples, an account of Jaina Cosmography and Iconography of yakşas and yakşiņis from Hemacandra's work and three lato Kannada sources.
Publications on Jaina miniature paintings by W. Norman Brown, Coomaraswamy, Sarabhai Nawab, Moti Chandra and others were also helpful.
Dr. Benoytosh Bhattacharya gave, for the first time, an outline of tv supe u. a work on Jaina Iconography by giving lists of different types of Jaina deities for whom sādhanas were traced by him in Jaina texts. The paper on Jaina Iconography was published in Sri Atmānanda Satabdi Smāraka Grantha (1935).
Brindavan C. Bhattacharya had published a study of the 'Goddess of Learning in Jainism in Malaviya Commemoration Volume (1932) with the help of sources like Nirvāņakalikä and AcaraDinakara. In 1939, he published a work on Jaina Iconography, which was the first work of its kind aiming at presenting iconography of various Jaina deities with the help of literary as well as archaeological sources. Unfortunately it is marred by some cases of incorrect interpretations of the text, incomplete references, vague statements and in a few cases wrong identifications. However he deserves all the credit for publishing a pioneer work on Jaina iconography.
Sapkalia, H.D., in 1938, identified some Dhank sculptures as Jaina which were formerly supposed to have been Buddhist. In 1940, he published a paper on Jaina Yakşas and Yaksinis and published two sculptures of Dharanendra and Padmavati from the Prince of Wales Museum, along with a few reliefs from the Jaina cave at Badami. His paper on Temples at Deogarh hardly added anything new to what was published in the Archaeological Reports and what was already mentioned by B.C. Bhattacharya.
Vasudev Saran Agrawala's Catalogue of Mathura Museum (volume on Jaina sculptures) has been very useful to all students of Jaina art and culture. He wrote several articles on Jaina sculptures, for example, an article on Presiding Deity of Child Birth in Mathura art, and Brahmanical Deities in the Jaina Art at Mathura, etc.
K.P. Jayaswal's discoevry of 'Torso of a Jaina Image of Mauryan Period' from Lohanipur near Patna, published in JBBORS, vol. XXIII, was an epoch-making discovery in the study of Indian iconography of historical period.
J.E. Van Lohuizen-De Leeuw published her famous work on the Scythian Period (1949) in which she discussed several Jaina images of the Kuşāna period from Mathura and focused our attention on the importance of dating Mathura sculptures of c. Ist cent. B.C. to c. 4th cent. A.D. It may be pointed out here that all Mathura inscriptions-Jaina, Hindu and Buddhist-deserve to be read again.
This is not an exhaustive list of all work done before I wrote my thesis and published articles on Ambikā, Sarasvati etc.; this is but a brief survey of the work done. Since 1949 till today many authors have made substantial contributions in the field of Jaina art and culture. In this new revised edition of my thesis I have tried to incorporate results of all such researches by various scholars. However here too I crave indulgence of scholars for all acts of omissions.
In my researches for many years I had concentrated only on North Indian Jaina images and my thesis was entitled 'Elements of Jaina Iconography (North India)'. I am glad to note here that my friend Prof. Klaus Bruhn (now in Berlin) carried out the study of Jaina Art and Iconography further by doing exhaustive studies of the Jaina shrines at Devgadh. Only the first volume entitled the Jaina
Page #11
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
viii
Jaina. Rupa-Mandana Images of Deogarh is yet published. Prof. S. Settar of Dharwar is doing good work in the South. He has brought to light important references from Kannada literature and has published a beautiful monograph on Sravana Belagola besides some important contributions on Brahmadeva Pillars, Jválámalini, Jaina yakşas and yaksinis mainly from Karnataka. M.N.P. Tiwari is doing good work in North India, especially on sites like Khajuraho and has written in Hindi a book on Jaina Pratima-Vijñāna besides several articles. Some of his articles are collected in his book entitled 'Elements of Jaina Iconography'. Since he had read my thesis (from Prof. Dalsukh Malavania) and used its title for his book noted above, I have changed the title of my book now and called it 'Jaina Rūpa-Maydana (Jaina Iconography)'. I have also tried to include study of several Jaina sculptures from South India though this study is not exhaustive. Two or three more volumes of this work will be published as early as possible.
For my studies I am very much indebted to my guide and teacher the late Dr. Benoytosh Bhattacharya, Ex-Director of Oriental Institute, Baroda and author of the standard text on Buddhist Iconography and editor of several original ancient works. I am also indebted to late Prof. A.N. Upadhye for his guidance in Digambara traditions and to late Muni Sri Punyavijayaji for all his help regarding Svetambara traditions. Through him I had easy access to Sve. Jaina temples as well as Bhandaras. In various ways I am indebted to several scholars like the late Dr. V.S. Agrawala, Dr. Moti Chandra, Rai Bahadur K.N. Dikshit, Dr. Amalananda Ghosh, and almost all the officers of the Archaeological Survey of India, Curators of all museums in India and abroad and many Jaina friends.
Most valuable are the blessings of my parents, the help and cooperation of my wife, brother and son, all of whom have suffered in various ways for me.
But for the great patience and sincerity of Shri Shakti Malik of Abhinav Publications this work would not have been published. I am also thankful to his proof reader.
Umakant P. Shah
48, Haribhakti Colony J.P. Narayan Road Vadodara, 390015 (India) January 28, 1987
Page #12
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Page #13
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Contents
Preface 1. Introduction 2. Origin of the Jina-Image and the Jivantasvāmi Pratima 3. Panca-Parameşthis 4. Parents of the Tirthankaras 5. Notes on the Jaina Pantheon 6. Kulakaras and Salākåpurusas 7. Devādhideva-Tirthankara 8. Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras 9. Sasana-Devatās 10. Four More Popular Yaksinis
Index List of Plates with Acknowledgements Plates 1-CIX (Figs. 1-215)
Page #14
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
SVETĀMBARAS AND DIGAMBARAS
Jainism, primarily an Indian religion, hardly spread outside the borders of ancient India, unlike Buddhism which spread in almost all the countries of South and South-East Asia, and as far as Central Asia, Korea, China and Japan. However, Buddhism almost disappeared in India during the late mediaeval period, revived only in the twentieth century, but Jainism has been a living religion throughout the course of history from the time of Pärśva, the twenty-third Tirthankara (8th century B.C.) and the last (twentyfourth) Tirthankara Vardhamana Mahavira (6th century B.C.) till today.
Buddhism and Jainism are the two ancient principal heretical sects which revolted against Vedic priestly domination and ritualism involving animal sacrifice on a large scale. Out of many other such revolting sects and beliefs only Buddhism and Jainism have survived. Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, and Vardhamana Mahavira, the last Tirthankara of Jaina belief, were contemporaries.
The followers of Mahavira were called Nirgranthas and Mahavira is referred to as Nigantha Nataputta (naked scion or son of the Jñatṛ-clan) in Buddhist texts. They are later more commonly known as Jainas, followers of the Jina or the Conqueror. One who conquers the enemies in the form of passion, attachment, jealousy, etc. resulting in karma-bondage, is a Victor-a Jina. Buddha was also called a Jina3 in ancient Buddhist works, and an emancipated scul was also called a Buddha in early Jaina texts. Similarly the epithet Arhat (i.e. deserving respect and veneration) was used by both the Buddhist and the Jaina sects in ancient India, but later it came to dercte a Jina or a Tirthar kara. Later cn, the terms Buddha and Jina came to be specially used for the founders of Euddhism and Jainism respectively.
Jainism is a living faith in India and as such there are a large number of Jaina shrines still in worship in almost all the States of India. It is therefore very difficult to explore and study exhaustively all available Jaina images from all Jaina shrines and sites in India. But after a preliminary outline study of Jaina iconography and art, special studies of selected sites5 cr regions can be undertaken by future workers.
The Jainas claim very great antiquity for their religion. According to the Jaina Conception of Time, there is an ever-revolving Wheel of Time, with twelve spokes (arás, representing different pericds or ages, aeons, of mixed and unmixed happiness ard misery); six of them, when ccming up, ccnstitute the tsarpini or evolutionary cycle, followed by a downward process of the spokes representing the avasarpini or involutionary and degenerative process. In each of these two main cycles are born, in this BarataKşetra (sub-continent), twenty-four Tirthankaras, at different intervals. In the present avasari ini cycle twenty-four Tirthankaras have already lived. The first of them was Ṛsabhanatha or Adinatha (the first Lord) who is said to have flourished some millions of years ago. He was born in Vinita (Ayodhya) and obtained Nirvana on mount Aṣṭāpada (supposed to be Mt. Kailasa), where a temple and a stupa were built in his honour by his son Bharata, the first Cakravartin. The twenty-second Jina Nemi or Aristanemi is regarded in Jaina traditions as a cousin brother of the Hindu Lord Krishna. The twenty-third Jina Pärsvanatha, son of king Asvasena and queen Vima of Varanasi, lived in abcut the eighth century B.C., i.e., about 250 years before Mahavira whose Nirvana took place in 527 B.C.
Page #15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Jaina-Rapa-Mandana
J.C. Jaina writes: "It is curious to note, however, that most of the Tirthankaras have been assigned to the Iksvaku family and are said to have attained salvation at the mount Sammeta (modern Pārasanatha hill in the Hazaribag district, Bihar). So far no historical or archaeological evidence has come forth to warrant the historicity of the first twenty-two Tirthankaras; on the other hand, taking into consideration the long duration of their careers and the intermediate periods between each Tirthankara, they appear to be legendary figures introduced perhaps to balance the number of Jinas with the number of Buddhas."
Pārsvanatha and his disciples are referred to in various Jaina Canons. We learn from the Acārānga Sūtra that the parents of Mahavira followed the faith of Parsva and were adherents of the Samanas. Mahavira himself seems to have first followed the order of Pārśva. The Bhagavati Sūtra records a discussion between Mahāvīra and Samana (Śramaņa) Gingeya, a follower of Parśva. Samaņa Gängeya gave up the Caujjama Dhamma (Cituryima Dharma-the Doctrine of Four-fold Restraint) and embraced the Pañca-Mahāvrata (Five Great Vows) of Mahavira. It is stated in the Samaññaphala-sutta of the Buddhist Digha-Nikaya that a Nigantha is restrained with four-fold restraint (Caturyama-Samvara). Jacobi has shown the existence of the Nioanthas before Nitaputta (Jñatṛr-putra) Mahāvīra, on the strength of references in the Pali Literare. Inese Nirgranthas (knotless, i.e., free from bondage, attachment, etc.) were obviously followers of Parśva. The followers of Mahāvīra also were originally known as Nirgranthas.
2
Pārśva emphasised the Doctrine of Ahimsa (non-injury) as a protest against Brahmanical sacrificial animal-slaughter, and added three more precepts, namely, abstinence from telling lies, from stealing, and from external possessions.10 Mahāvīra added the fifth vow of brahmacarya (celebacy) to the above four preached by Parśva. Another important difference between the Doctrine of Parsva and Mahavira was that the former allowed an under and an upper garment (santaruttaro whereas the latter forbade clothing altogether (for Jaina recluses).11
Mahāvīra was born in Kṣatriyakuṇḍagrāma, a suburb of Vaiśāli (modern Basarh in Bihar) in the house of King Siddhartha by his queen Trisala (acc. to Svetambara Jaina tradition) or Priyakariņi (acc. to Digambara Jaina tradition). According to the Svetambara tradition as recorded in the Kalpa-sūtra, Mahavira was first conceived in the womb of a Brāhmaṇa lady Devananda residing in another part of Vaiśāli but his embryo was transferred to the womb of the Ksatriya lady Triśala by (the goat-faced) Harinegamesin, the commander of infantry of Śakra, since the Indra thought that Tirthankaras were never born of Brahmana ladies. The supernatural element in the account obviously lends doubt to the historicity of the incident, which, it is interesting to note, is not reported in the Digambara tradition. In the Bhagavati-sutra, a canonical text acknowledged by the Svetämbara Jaina sect, is described the meeting of the Brahmana lady Devananda and the Tirthankara Mahavira. After the departure of the lady, Mahāvira, when questioned, explains to his chief disciple Indrabhūti (Gautama), that the lady was his (Mahavira's) mother. This further lends doubt to the historicity of this incident. 12 A stone panel depicting Harinegameşin seated on a throne and with some attendant ladies on one side, with one lady at the far end carrying a small baby in her hands, is obtained from the Kankali Ţilā, Mathura (Fig. 19). The stone panel is broken at one end and we do not know what figured beyond the representation of Harinegameşin seated on the throne. Below we find inscribed Bhagava Nemeso. Surely, this cannot be taken as the scene of transfer of Mahavira's embryo. As we have shown elsewhere, 13 Harinegameşin, as Nejamesa or Naigamesa is known to Vedic ceremony of Simantonnayana where three mantras addressed to Nejamesa are recited and in Brahmanical and ancient Indian traditions, Naigamesa is known as one of the attendants of Skanda, the Commander of God's army. Naigameșa was propitiated by Krishna for obtaining a beautiful son, according to the Jaina text Vasudevahindi. 14 So this panel may simply represent Harinegameşin as a god connected with protection of children, etc. Goat-faced terracotta figurines are obtained from many other north Indian sites, not necessarily showing Jaina association. During the early centuries of the Christian era, and perhaps a few centuries before, belief in malefic and benefic deities connected with child-birth, rearing of children, diseases of children etc., was very popular as can be seen from the Buddhist account of Hiriti and the references to Putanis, Ṣasthi, Revati, Bahuputrika yakṣi, and the Bāla-grahas obtained in ancient literature.
Page #16
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Introduction
3
Mahavira renounced worldly life at the age of thirty, after practising meditation and penance at home for about a year or more prior to retirement. After renunciation, he wandered from place to place suffering great hardships and molestations from people of Rādha, etc., and practised severe penance, finally attaining Kevalajñāna on the bank of the river Ujjuväliya near Jambhiyagama. He was at that time sitting with upright knees like a milkman sitting while milking the cow (godohikásana).
. For thirty years Mahavira wandered as a preacher from place to place, and at the age of seventy-two, two hundred and fifty years after Pārsva's death, died in Pāvā in 527 B.C.15
Like Parśva, Mahāvira organised his community (Saṁgha) into four orders, namely, monks (sādhu), nuns (sādhvi), laymen (srävaka) and laywomen (śrávika). Gautama Indrabhūti and Candanã were Mahāvira's first male and female disciples, leaders of his orders of monks and nuns respectively. Mahavira had, amongst his monk disciples, eleven Ganadlaras (Fig. 167), i.e., heads of schools or groups of monks of whom Gautama Indrabhūti was the oldest Ganadhara.
The obstacles (upasargas) suffered by Mahāvira before Kevalajñana have been a popular theme of the miniature paintings of the Kalpa-sutra; see, for example, Moti Chandra, Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India, Figures 159 and 160 illustrating pages from a Kalpa-sútra irom the Sm Ātmäräma Jaina Jñanamandira. Baroda. For more illustrations, see W. Norman Brown, Miniature Paintings of the KalpaSutra, pp. 35-38, Figs. 75, 76, 77 and 78. Another upasurga, narrated in later texts, is that from the Sulapāņi Yaksa (the trident-bearer yakşa) (Fig. 171) who seems to be no other than Siva, the Brahmanical God. and the story echoes some strong opposition, faced by Mahavira, from the Saivites.
The life of Pārsva is also noteworthy for what is known as Kamashopasarga, the attack by Kamatha, again a Brahmana ascetic (tapasa) practising penance with fires kindled around him. Once while wandering, Prince Pārśva saw a cobra burning in the logs of wood in the fires kindled by Kamatha and as Pärśva removed the logs, the snake came out half-burnt and died but was born as Dharanendra, the Lord of the Näga-kumāra class of semi-divine beings. Kamatha, after death, was also born as a god, Meghamālin. When after renunciation, Párśva was standing in deep meditation, Kamatha, reborn as god, saw him and taking revenge, poured torrential rains, flooded the area, and sent his host of terrific beings to hurl rocks, etc., to disturb Pärsva's meditation. Dharanendra, remembering the obligation, rushed to the scene with his chief queens and protected Pārsva by spreading his cobra-hocds over the head of the saint, while Dharanendra's queens played music and danced in order to lessen the miseries inflicted on the saint. Unmoved by the obstacles of Kamatha or the sweet music and dance of the Nāga queens, Päráva continued his meditation.
This incident is a very popular theme of reliefs in several Jaina sites in South India (at places like Aihole, Badami, Ellora, Kalugumalai, etc; cf. Figs. 50, frontispiece), and in paintings of the Kalpa-sútra. No sculptures or reliefs of this scene are as yet discovered from Svetā mbara sites. 16
The attack of Kamatha reminds one of the attack of Māra in Buddha's life so often portrayed in Buddhist reliefs. Both the Jaina and the Buddhist accounts remind one of the Indra-Vstra fight of the Vedic lore. These seem to be echoes of the eternal fight between forces of good and evil, truth and untruth, devas and asuras, light and darkness.
Sometime after Mahavira's Nirvana in 527 B.C., schisms began cccurring in the Jaina Church. According to Svetāmbara accounts, the schism headed by Sivabhūti, pupil of Kanha (Krsna sthavira (Fig. 21), turned out to be the biggest in course of time, and resulted in two principal sects of Jainism, namely, the Svetämbaras or the white-robed, and the Digambaras or the sky-clad ones. The Digambaras were also called Botikas in texts of the other sect. This schism took place in 136 years after Vikrama, that is, in 79 A.D. according to the Digambaras, and in 82 A.D. (609 years after Mahavira's Nirvāna) according to the Svetämbaras. Some of the main points of difference17 between these two sects are: (1) The Svetämbaras worship images showing a lower garment carved or painted on the person of the Tirthankaras and further decorate their idols with additicnal ear-crraments, glass-cyes, necklaces, armlets, crowns of gold or silver and jewels, while the Digambaras worship their Tirthankaras unadorned and showing no garment on the body.
The eyes of the Tirthankaras in the Svetambara worship are shown wide-open. Usually there are
Page #17
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana glass-eyes attached to Jina-images in almost all temples still in worship. In the case of Digambara images, the eyes are generally shown half-closed in the original carving, and no glass eyes etc. are attached. This observation regarding eyes applies to images carved after the Gupta period, in what we call the mediaeval period. (2) The Svetambaras assert that there are twelve heavens of different groups of gods (the kalpa heavens), the Digambaras maintain that there are sixteen such types or groups. (3) According to the Svetāmbaras there are sixty-four Indras for various heavens or groups of gods, the other sect speaks of one hundred such Indras. (4) According to the Digambaras, final emancipation is not possible for a woman, while the Svetāmbaras believe that a soul can obtain salvation even when born as a woman. This is perhaps an inevitable corollary to the Digambara insistence on the nudity of monks (as well as of the Tirthankara images) which was regarded as the ideal stage of aparigraha (possessionlessness) which was not practical in the case of nuns. (5) (as a corollary to above) The nineteenth Jina Mallinātha was a male according to the Digambaras but according to the mythology of the Svetambara sect, Malli was a princess who later renounced the world and became a Tirtharra. in earliest Svetambara source for this, so far known, is the canonical text Näyâdhammakahão, which, in its present form, does not seem to be earlier than the third or the fourth century A.D.
The Digambaras do admit a nun's order, but these nuns can reach only upto a certain spiritual stage in the hierarchy of monks and nuns. For attaining the highest stage of Kevalajñāna they have to be reborn as males. (6) All the Svetāmbara monks use at least two garments, one upper and another a lower one. The Digambara monks, barring a few primary stages, remain naked. (7) The Svetāmbaras acknowledge authenticity of the extant Arigas (or Scriptures, part of the Jaina Canonical or Agama literature) and regard them as works of the immediate disciples of Mahavira. The Digambaras think that all the twelve original Anga texts are lost and hence regard, as authoritative, works like Mülācára, Dhavala, Jayadhavala, Mahadhavala, Bhagavati Aradhana, etc., composed by earlier leading monks, since such works are based on original tradition handed down from the ancient line of ācāryas. (8) According to the Svetämbara tradition, the mother of a would-be Tirthankara sees fourteen (different objects in) dreams, while according to the Digambaras she sees sixteen such dreams at the time when the Jina is conceived in her womb. This event is the first auspicious event in the life of a Jina. It is known as the Cyavana Kalyāņaka, auspicious event of the Descent from heaven in the Mother's womb. (9) The lists of eight auspicious objects--the aştamangalas-are slightly different in the traditions of the two sects.
There are several other points of difference which are not quite relevant for students of iconography. However, one must note that these differences have grown gradually. Almost all the hitherto-found Tirthankara images in the standing or the käyotsarga posture, dating before the fifth century A.D., are naked, while images of Tirthankaras in the sitting posture (in the padmasana), dating before the fifth century, do not show the lingam, but since they do not show any mark of drapery on the body we have to presume that the very posture of sitting was such that even though there was no garment, nudity could not be shown.
After the fifth century, we find standing images of Tirthankaras) in the Svetämbara tradition showing a lower garment, though the Svetambara-Digambara differentiation in the case of images in the sitting posture was not explicit. But still later, probably after the seventh century, we find that even in the case of seated figures, markings of garments and their ends, and/or of a girdle (holding the loin-cloth) were clearly done by the Svetambaras while the Digambaras managed to show the lingam even in the case of a Jina sitting in the padmasana or the ardha-padmasana.
Tirthankara images, of both the Jaina sects, are found in two postures only, namely, the standing or the kājotsarga mudra, and the sitting or the padmasana or the ardha-padmasana posture. The ardha. padmasana posture is more popular in South India in the Digambara Jaina worship, where images in the padmasana posture are hardly found.
A Tirthaikara image can be differentiated from a Buddha image by noting the presence or absence of
Page #18
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Introduction
the upper garment or samghati, since there is no upper garment shown on the person of any Tirthankara. A dialogue between monk Kesin of the school of Parsvanatha and Gautama, the first pupil of Mahavira, recorded in the Uttaradhyayana sutra, shows that the doctrine of Parsva allowed an under and an upper garment (santaruttaro) while that of Mahavira forbade clothing altogether. Gautama cleverly bridges over this difference of the two law-givers pursuing the same end by saying that the outward symbols were introduced as they were useful for spiritual life and that, as a matter of fact, knowledge, faith and right conduct were the only three causes of liberation.18
The Brhat-Kalpa-Bhasya of Samghadāsa gani Kṣamâśramana (circa 5th-6th cent. A.D.) says that the doctrine of the first and the last Tirthankaras prescribed nudity while that of the intervening pontiffs allowed the option of both nudity and wearing garments (to the Jaina monks).19
Even this statement was only used in perpetuating the controversy between the Svetambaras and the Digambaras so far as image-worship is concerned. We however know that Mahavira himself followed, in the beginning of his career as a recluse, the order of Parsvanatha. The Acārānga-sutra, regarded as the oldest preserved section of the extant Jaina Canons, says, about Mahavira, hat for year and a month he did not leave off his robe, thereafter he moved about naked and leaving garment became a houseless sage (anagare).20
5
"The Buddhist texts refer to the existence of large numbers of Niganthas (Knotless, i.e. naked, i.e. Unattached ones) who followed the caturyāma samvara, the four-fold restraint that Jacobi and others have convincingly identified with the teachings of Parsva ... Whereas the Digambaras may reject the authenticity of the Kesi-Gautama dialogue, particularly with regard to its position on nudity, the Buddhist reference to căturyǎma forces them to confront the "discrepancy" between the teachings of Parsva and Mahavira which this dialogue seems to express."21 The above remarks of Padmanabha Jaini are noteworthy. He says that the Buddhists have failed to make clear what the term caturyāma samvara entails. The Svetămbara canon gives the first comprehensive definition. "Caturyāma is said to involve restraint from four sorts of activities: injury, nontruthfulness, taking what is not given, and possession. This list agrees with that of Mahavira except that it omits the fourth of his five vows, which specially prohibits sexual activity... Abhayadeva and Santyācārya interpreted the vow of non-possession as including celebacy... The recent research of P.K. Modi, however, shows that this interpretation is subject to serious difficulties. First, we should expect Mahavira, as a follower of the tradition of Parsva, to have initially taken the same vows as his predecessor. Yet even the Acaranga-sutra of the Svetāmbaras has him pledging only to follow a single great restraint called samayika-caritra, which entails avoiding all evil actions whatsoever. Moreover, the term caturyāma never appears in Digambara literature; Mahāvīra is invariably said therein to have undertaken the samîyika-samyama, which in the Bhagavati-sutra is shown to be identical to the sāmāyikacaritra. In the light of these facts Modi has suggested that caturyama did not imply four vows at all, but rather the four modalities (mind, body, speech and the senses) through which evil could be expressed. Thus, he concludes, both Parsva and Mahavira practised and taught the same, single, all-encompassing sāmāyika restraint, while the five vows that Mahavira set forth are no more than a specification of the main areas of conduct to which this restraint applied."22
The Buddhist Pali texts talk of certain eka-sataka Niganthas which is regarded as a testimony showing the clothed state of at least a few Jaina monks in Mahavira's time. A passage in the Acaranga-sutra states that weak men, who cannot tolerate going sky-clad but wish to practise fasting and other virtuous activities, should do so while continuing to wear clothing.23 The Sthānanga-sutra permits the use of garments under certain conditions, the Acaranga provides for begging of garments, the Uttaradhyayanasutra refers to the worry of monks about their garments being old and torn. It would seem that even Mahavira did not insist on nudity, nor did he regard the use of garment as parigraha; nakedness was not insisted upon as the means to attain salvation.24
From very early times there were two modes of conduct practised by the Jaina monks, namely, the Jinakalpa and the Sthavirakalpa. The first enforced nudity and rigorous austerities while the second enjoined a modified living with a few bare necessities including garments, alms-bowl, etc. According to the Avasyaka-curni (c. 700 A.D.) Municanda, a contemporary of Mahavira and a follower of the school of
Page #19
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
6
Jaina-Rupa-Maṇḍana
Pārsva, who called himself a Samana-Niggantha, placed his disciple at the head of the gaccha, and went to practise the Jinakalpa outside the town. The ascetics of the order of Municandra are said to have indulged in activities which, according to the doctrines of Mahavira, constituted preliminary sin; they put on clothes (sapariggaha) and also practised the Jinakalpa.25
Nudity was thus the highest ideal and specially those who practised Jinakalpa were required to have no parigraha whatsoever.
In the early days both the Jinakalpa and the Sthavirakalpa monks were allowed to remain in the Jaina Samgha, and there were no strict rules about one's wearing clothes or going about naked. The Acaranga says: 'if a naked monk thought he could bear the pricking of grass, cold and heat, stinging of flies and mosquitos, or any other painful thing then he could leave the privies uncovered."26 But (when the number of articles in a monk's equipment increased and) when the monks began staying more and more among people, then he could cover the privies with a katibandha. In later stages the katibandha (loincloth) was replaced by a Colapatta.27
Arya Mahägiti, a contemporary of Samprati (the grandson of the Mauryan emperor Aśoka), was an exponent of the Jina-kalpa, while his contemporary Arya Suhasti, teacher of Samprati, followed the Sthavira-kalpa. Naturally Suhasti had a larger following. But the Jina-kalpa possibly lingered on upto the age of Arya Rakşita. When Arya Rakşita initiated his family, his father was unwilling to discard all clothes due to modesty. Later on after great persuasion he accepted a kaḍipaṭṭa.29
The division of the Jaina community into two sects, according to the Svetambara accounts, is ascribed to Śivabhūti, a pupil of Arya Kapha, in the city called Rathavirapura. Koḍinna and Koṭṭivira were Sivabhūti's first pupils.30
The Digambaras relate another legend according to which, during the reign of Candragupta (Maurya) in Ujjain, sage Bhadrabahu predicted a twelve years' famine. At this Viśākhācārya, a disciple of Bhadrabahu, led the Jaina Samgha to the Punnāta kingdom in the south, while Bhadrabahu and others migrated to Sindhu region. In course of time when all returned to Ujjain, famine was still raging though not so acute, and the monks were allowed to use a piece of garment (held before their privies) (ardhaphalakam puraḥ krtva) while going out for alms (compare Fig. 21 of the Tablet of Homage from Kankali Tila, Mathura, depicting the venerable ascetic Kanha; and Figs. 12, 15 showing on pedestals figures of Jaina ascetics holding such cloth-pieces). When the famine was over all the monks did not follow their elders' advice of reverting to nudity, and some retained the piece of cloth, which brought about the schism in Jainism dividing the Samgha into the Digambara and the Svetambara sects. The earliest available literary source for this Digambara legend is the Brhat-kathākośa of Hariṣeņa (v.s. 989-932 A.D.),31 while the earliest source for the Svetambara account of the schism is the Uttaradhyayana Niryukti (of Bhadrabahu II, not later than c. 500 A.D.).32 According to the Svetämbaras, the origin of the Botikas (Digambaras) took place 609 years after Mahavira's Nirvāņa, that is, in (609-527=) 82 A.D.33
Introduction of Jainism in the South certainly dates from at least the first two centuries before the Christian era and even earlier as is evident from the Tamil Classics Manimekhalai and Silappadikaram,34 and from inscribed stone beds for monks in caves (e.g. the Sittaṇravasal Jaina cave) and caverns mainly in the Tamil Nadu, the inscriptions being in what is now called Tamil-Brahmi (that is, in Brahmi script and in Tamil language), 34" A Svetambara account shows that it was the Mauryan ruler Samprati who first patronised or facilitated the migration of the Jaina monks to the Daksiņāpatha, to the land of the Andhras and to other places further south.35 It is indeed difficult to say which of the two-the Digambara or the Svetambara-legends regarding the schism is correct. In fact, the differences between the two sects grew gradually36 and the final separation came later. Even Harisena refers to a third big sect of the Jainas. The sect was known as the Yapaniya sect which is referred as Yavanika in the Hoskote copperplate inscription of Pallava Simhavişņu. The Yapaniyas, unlike the Digambaras, believed in the authenticity of the Svetambara Canons but retained the practice of nudity 37 It seems that they also believed in the possibility of mukti (emancipation) for females.
The first known archaeological evidence of the name of the Svetambara sect, discovered hitherto, is the grant of the Kadamba ruler Siva Mrget avarman,28 who, issuing a village grant in his fourth regnal
Page #20
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Introduction
year from his capital Vaijayanti, divides the village income into three shares, the first for the Holy Arhat, the second for the congregation of the eminent ascetics called the Svetapatas (Śvetapata-Mahāśramanasamgha), who were intent on practising the true religion declared by the Arhat, and the third for the enjoyment of the congregation of the eminent ascetics called the Nirgranthas.39 What is noteworthy in this record is the fact that the same image of the Holy Arhat in the village seems to have been respected and worshipped by followers of both sects, even though they lived in different quarters and differed in certain beliefs.
The same practice is evident from the finds af a large number of sculptures of the Kuṣāṇa period from the Kankali Tila, Mathura. The names of the monks and the branches (gana, kula, and śākhā) to which they belonged, mentioned in the inscriptions on the pedestals of these sculptures, are available in the Śvetambara tradition of the Kalpa-sutra Sthaviravali while all the Tirthankaras represented here show no trace of any garment on their person.40 The standing images are all nude, while those shown in the padmasana posture show neither the mark of nudity nor of any garment. It is therefore quite certain that during the Kuşâna period both the sects worshipped naked images of the Tirthankaras.
7
Hitherto known Jaina sculptures of Tirthankaras upto the fourth and early ifth centuries A.D. (Gupta period), obtained from Rajgir (Fig. 26), Mathura (Figs. 13, 14, 23), and Vidiśā (Fig. 27), though limited in number, show no trace of a garment on the person of the Tirthankara.41 But the standing Adinatha image, in brass or bronze, from Akota, with silver studded eyes, datable to the last quarter of the fifth century A.D., is the earliest hitherto known image with a lower garment on the person of a Tirthankara (Fig. 22).
The Mathura finds include a stone plaque representing Kanha Samana (Kṛṣṇa Śramana) by name, holding on his forearm a piece of cloth to cover his nudity which suggests the existence of the ardhaphalakas (monks with partial covering!) in the second century A.D.42 This Tablet with the figure of Kanha (Fig. 21) bears an inscription dated in the year 95, and is noteworthy because this ascetic Kanha is very likely the same as the teacher of Sivabhuti, the leader of the Digambara-Svetämbara schism.43
These ardhaphalakas are seen on pedestals of Tirthankara images, on one side of the dharma-cakra, in sculptures of the Kuşaṇa period obtained from Mathura (Figs. 12, 15, 21). These pedestals deserve more critical attention than what they have received so far.44 Usually there is, in the centre, a dharmacakra (Wheel of Law) sometimes with the rim facing us and mounted on top of a pillar, or sometimes the Wheel is mounted on a tri-ratna symbol. To the right of the Wheel, the first figure or sometimes the first two figures represent a Jaina monk holding a piece of cloth on forearm to cover his privies from front view. Obviously the monks follow what in later literature is called the ardhaphalaka tradition. 45
The earliest known Jaina sculpture was obtained from Lohanipur near Patna (ancient Pataliputra) which is a continuation of the ancient site of Kumrahara (site of Pataliputra). The sculpture is assigned to the Mauryan age on account of the high Mauryan polish on it and represents a Tirthankara standing in the kayotsarga mudra and having no garment on his person (Fig. 2). The head and lower parts of legs are lost but the position of the arms and the legs sufficiently warrant the inference that the figure stood in the käyotsarga mudra which is a peculiarity of Tirthankara images in the standing attitude. The modelling of the torso is in the best traditions of ancient Yakṣa statues and the Harappa torso (a surface find). It has been argued that this torso need not be assigned to the Mauryan age as this type of polish continued even upto the first or second century A.D. We may add that some people have been able to produce similar polish on stone sculptures even in our age. This type of reasoning is not valid in the case of the torso under consideration. The 'Mauryan polish' did exist in the Mauryan age though of course it continued for a long time. So there is a possibility of existence of a Tirthankara image carved in the Mauryan age and having what is known as Mauryan polish on it. There was no prohibition about image worship in Jainism as it was regarding the worship of the Buddha image in early Buddhism. Samprati, the grandson of Asoka, is known in Jaina traditions to have patronised Jainism in different ways including installation of Jina images. The Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela refers to the Kalinga-Jina image carried away by the Nanda king which was brought back by Kharavela. The Lohanipur excavations revealed foundations of a brick structure with bricks of the size known to have existed in the Mauryan age. A few
Page #21
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana punch-marked coins were obtained. This torso was obtained from near these foundations. From all these considerations it is advisable to assign this image to the Mauryan age, probably to the age of Samprati.
The earliest known image showing any garment on the person of the Jina, discovered so far, is the bronze image of a standing Tirthaókara, identified as Rşabhanatha, obtained in the Akota hoard and assigned to the latter half of the fifth century A.D. (Fig. 22).46 All standing metal images of Tirthankaras. from the Chausa (Bihar) hoard, now in the Patna hoard, dating from a period c. 1st cent. B.C.-A.D. to c. 4th cent. A.D., show no garment on the person of the Jina (Figs. 4, 8).
Varāhamihira, who lived in c. 492-551 A.D., prescribes in his BỊhat-Samhita that the god of the followers of Arhats is to be represented as young, naked, peaceful and beautiful in appearance, with arms reaching his knees and with the Srivatsa mark on his chest.47 Varahamihira's silence over the Svetāmbara type of the Tirthaikara-image is significant, especially when in the Jaina traditions Varā hamihira is regarded as brother of Bhadrabahu, the author of the Niryuktis. It is quite obvious that the Svetāmbara type of the Jina-imagu. . + existed, had not become popular enough to obtain recognition in the Bphat-Samhita.
The Svetā mbara traditions speak of a dispute over the ownership of the Jaina temples at Mt. Girnar, which took place in the times of Bappabhatti sūri (c. 743-838 A.D.).48 The case was decided, with the help of supernatural elements, in favour of the Svetāmbaras and against the Digambaras. From that time onwards, in order to avoid future disputes, the Svetāmbaras started the practice of showing an añcala or the end of the garment of the Tirthaókara on images of the Jinas. Obviously this refers to the Tirthankara images in the sitting posture. The Digambaras also clearly showed the linga of the Jina even when he was sitting in the padmāsana or the ardha-padmāsana posture.
The account of this dispute, given by writers of the fourteenth and later centuries, containing some supernatural element, may not be wholly correct, but one fact emerges that there was a dispute over the ownership of the Girnar temples in the age of Bappabhatti suri. The dispute could arise only in the case of images of the Jinas in the sitting posture which hitherto left the matter ambiguous (so far as nudity was concerned), while on the other hand, so far as the ancient images at Lohanipur (Pataliputra), Mathura, Rajgir and other places were concerned, these clearly represented the Tirthankaras as naked, and from fifth century A.D. the Svetë mbaras started showing a lower garment on the person of a standing Tirthaikara image. 49
THE JAINA CONCEPTION OF THE DEITY
According to Jaina philosophy, the substances are real, characterised by existence, and are six in number. They can be broadly divided into the living (jira) and the non-living (ajiva). Jiva means the soul or the spirit. It is essentially a unit of consciousness and there are infinite souls. The class of nonliving substances is made up of infinite matter (pudgala), principles of motion and rest (dharma and adharma), space (akāśa) and time (kāla). These substances are eternally existing, uncreated, with no beginning in time. As substances they are eternal and unchanging, but their modifications are passing through a flux of changes. Their mutual cooperation and interaction explains all that is implied by the term "creation", and Jainism admits of no intelligent Creator who can be credited with the creation of this Universe. There is thus no place in Jainism for a Supreme God-head, a Creator-God.
Consciousness (cetana) is the very essence of the soul. The soul is inherently endowed with infinite vision (ananta-darśana), infinite knowledge (ananta-jñana), and infinite power (ananta-virya). These original faculties or characteristics of the soul are suppressed in the case of mundane souls because they are bound by subtle matter called karma. This bondage results in the cycle of birth and death, happiness and misery. By cultivating pure thoughts and actions the influx of karma-matter (clinging to and binding the soul), both good and bad, must be stopped, and the already binding stock of karma must be consumed by rigorous religious austerities. When the karmas are completely destroyed the soul becomes liberated manifesting all qualities of ananta-jñana, ananta-virra, etc. This liberated and perfect siddha) soul is the
Page #22
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Introduction
9
embodiment of infinite power, knowledge and bliss. He is freed from all bondages of attachment and aversion (räga and dveṣa) etc. and does not frown upon nor favour anybody. He then becomes a Jina (who has conquered enemies like räga and dveşa) and an Arhat deserving respect and adoration and when he establishes and organises the Samgha (Tirtha), he is a Tirthankara. When he leaves the last bondage of the human body he is completely liberated and perfect, a Siddha.
The ultimate goal of every follower of the Jaina Faith is the attainment of Nirvāņa or Mokṣa which consists in completely liberating the soul from the bondage of and defilement by the karmas. Right Knowledge (samyak-jñāna), Right Faith (samyak-darśana), and Right Conduct (samyak-caritra) collectively constitute the path of liberation. These are known as the Three Jewels--Ratna-traya or Tri-ratna.
There is thus no place in Jainism for God as the Supreme Being, Creator and distributor of happiness and misery, of fruits of action, worship and devotion, It is therefore reasonable to suppose that in the beginning there might not have been any Jaina worship of cult images in temples. (But human mind needs some support and resort (asraya) and as such, out of respect for the liberated souls and Tirthankaras, worship of the Jina (Tirthankara) image was started at an early stage. By God Jainism understands a liberated soul (siddha) as well as the Tirthankara (who is also a siddha and) who is the highest spiritual ideal to which any soul can aspire; the God is, therefore, an example to inspire and guide. And by worshipping the God (i.e. the siddha or the Jina) a person is reminded of the God's highest qualities which the pious Jaina worshipper tries to develop in one's own self. The Jaina Conception of the Deity and His worship are therefore different from those of the Brahmanical faith.)
The Jaina ideal of worship was for the sublimation of human thoughts and instincts and not for obtaining any material rewards. But this highest ideal, though acknowledged in theory to this day, was in practice never strictly adhered to by the Jaina masses, and, even in the age of Mahavira, propitiation of Yaksas, Nāgas, Harinegameşin and others for obtaining children etc., was not unusual with the laity. It is this tendency which led to the eulogising of the Pañca-Parameşṭhi mantra or the Navakara mantra as potent enough to save the worshipper from all calamities.
In its purer form, Jaina worship is based on the conception of bhakti of an ideal, or an apostle representing an ideal, not for reward but for self-purification In essence it is more psychic than material and it is for this reason that, in both the Jaina sects, Bhava-puja is said to be always superior to Dravya-pūjā. Kundakunda, an early Digambara äcārya, strongly supported Bhiva-paja in preference to Dravya-pājā.
JAINA WORSHIP-BEGINNINGS
Evidence of Jaina sculptures from the Kankali Tila, Mathura,50 and adjoining sites has shown the prevalence of Stupa-worship in Jainism, from at least c. first century B.C. A Stupa of Muni-Suvrata at Viśālā is referred to in one of the Niryuktis.51 This Muni-Suvrata may be the twentieth Tirthankara of Jaina belief or the sage (Rşi) Suvrata referred to in Brahmanical literature.52 The Jaina stupa, which once existed on the site of the Kankali Tila, is regarded as a stupa of Supärśvanatha, the seventh Tirthankara in some late Jaina accounts, but, as we have shown elsewhere,53 it was very probably the stupa of Pārsvanatha who flourished 250 years before Mahavira, in circa eighth century B.C., according to Jaina traditions. The antiquities from the site, discovered so far, with a few perhaps dating from c. first century B.C. (Fig. 18) and almost all others dating from c. first century A.D. to the end of the Kuṣāņa period, suggest that the stupa was enlarged, repaired or perhaps rebuilt and adorned with sculptures in the beginning of the Christian era. Svetambara Jaina traditions speak of repairs to the Jaina stúpa of Supärsvanatha in the age of Bappabhatti suri in the eighth century A.D. Antiquities from the Kankali Tila show no repairs of the eighth century A.D.
These antiquities from Kankali Tila, Mathura, attest to the existence, amongst the Jainas, of the worship of the Stupa (cf. Fig. 21), the Caitya-tree, the Dharma-cakra, the Ayigapata (Figs. 10, 11, 16, 17), the asta-mangalas (eight auspicious symbols) like the Svastika, the Nandyavarta diagram, the Vardhamanaka (powder-box), the Sri-vatsa mark, Mina-yugala (pair of fishes), the Padma (lotus), the Darpana (mirror), and Sthapana (cross-stand for holding a book) (Figs. 10, 11).54 Images of Tirthankaras, represented both
Page #23
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
10
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
in the standing (Figs. 9, 14) and the sitting (Figs. 10, 12, 23) attitudes, show no trace of drapery which clearly suggests that even though the Svetämbara-Digambara schism had come into being in the second century A.D., the final crisis in the differentiation of Tirthankara icons of the two sects had not yet taken place. Hence the evidence of art from Mathura refers to Jaina worship prevalent in and common amongst both the sects in the first three or four centuries of the Christian era and not restricted to the Digambara or the Svetāmbara sect alone.
From Mathura are found a special type of sculptures, called pratimă-sarvato-bhadrika in the inscriptions on their pedestals, which show a Tirtharkara image on each of its four sides, facing each different direction (Fig. 14). These four-fold images, later more popular as Caumukha-pratimās55 on account of their facing four directions, have remained popular in Jaina worship of both the sects. The sarvvato-bhadrapratimās from Kankali Tila, Mathura, date from the Kuşāna period. It must however be remembered that not all the four-fold images from the Kankali Tila have inscriptions calling them pratima-sarvvato-bhadrikā.
An image of Sarasvati, installed in this period, is also found from the Kankali Tila (Fig. 20). Reliefs showing inc
. the lives of Tirtharkaras and other scenes from Jaina mythology seem to have existed in Jaina art at Mathura as is evident from Fig. 18 depicting the scene of Dance of Nilänjana and the consequent retirement of Rşabhanātha. The relief dates from c. late first century B.C. We also have a panel showing Harinegameşin on throne attended by some figures (Fig. 19). " The full parikara obtained on Tirthaikara images of the mediaeval period is not yet evolved in the Kuşāna age, and only the halo, the Caitya-tree, the flying Vidyadharas or heavenly garland-bearers, heavenly musicians etc., all together or in different groupings are depicted in relief. During the Kuşāna period one does not find any cognizance (lañchana) on the pedestal of a Jina or an attendant Chowrie-bearer (camaradhara) with the figure of a Tirthankara at Mathura. Instead of the attendant camaradhara yakşa on each side of the Jina, we obtain, in the early stages of Tirthankara iconography, a donor and his wife (e.g. no. J.7 in Lucknow Museum), or more generally a monk and a nun (Fig. 9), or two monks or, in the case of Tirthankara Neminātha, figures of Krsna and Balarama, on the two sides of the Jina The Tirthankara is represented either standing in the kāpotsarga posture on a pedestal or meditating while sitting in padmāsana on a simhasana (lion-throne). The pedestal or the simhāsana shows lions on two ends and the dharma-cakra (Wheel of Law) in the centre, sometimes placed on a pillar, and flanked by figures of sådhus (monks), sadhvis (nuns), śrāvakas (Jaina laymen), and śrāvikas (Jaina laywomen) (Figs. 12, 13).
The Tablets of Homage called ayāgapaļas in the inscriptions on them, obtained from the Kankali Tila, Mathura, offer an interesting study. In the inscription on the Tablet dedicated by Vasu, the daughter of Lonaśobhikā, the Tablet is called a Silāpafa.56 In the Jaina canonical literature, we find, in the stock description of the yakşayatana (caitya, explained by commentators as Yaksa shrine), reference to Silapata worshipped on a simhāsana placed adjacent to the trunk of a Caitya-tree. The Jaina āyāgapațas of Mathura have for their prototypes these Silapatas of ancient worship, as is evident from the inscription on the Tablet dedicated by Vasu, referred to above. The Buddhists also worshipped Sila pațas as shown in the reliefs from the Bharhut stūpa. A study of some of these Jaina āyāgapatas or silapatas shows that in each of them one of the mangala (auspicious) symbols is prominently displayed in the centre. Acārya Hemacandra in his Trisastiśalákāpuruşacarita refers to Bali-patas with aştamangala marks which are thus the same as the ayagapatas of the older tradition at Mathura. Now-a-days we find, in Jaina temples, plaques of metal with reliefs of all the eight auspicious symbols on them (Fig. 153).
In the äyāgapata illustrated in Fig. 10 we find on one end a pillar surmounted by the Dharma-cakra and on the other end a pillar surmounted by a lion. In the āyāgapata illustrated in Fig. 11 we find on one end a pillar surmounted by the Wheel of Law while on the other end we find a pillar surmounted by an elephant. Since the lion and the elephant are the cognizances of Mahavira and Ajitanātha respectively and since ācārya Hemacandra lists such cognizances as Dhvajas of the different Jinas in his AbhidhānaCintāmaņi-kośa, we should identify the pillars with the lion and the elephant as the Dhvaja-Stambhas or Dhvaja-pillars in front of temples of Mahavira and Ajitanatha supposed to have exsited in the Kuşāņa period at Mathura. The Jainas also erected Dharma-cakra pillars. We find such pillars in the centre of the simhāsanas of some of the Jaina images from the Kankali Tila (Figs. 12, 15). Figure 164 from Kankali
Page #24
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Introduction
Tila, Mathura, shows worship by circumambulation of a Dhvaja-Stambha by a Jaina couple.57
It seems that Jainas adored another type of pillars from fairly early times, at least from the Kuşāņa period if not earlier. The Kahaon pillar (in U.P.) with an inscription of the Gupta period is perhaps the oldest extant Jaina pillar of this type so far discovered. It has on top four Jina figures facing four different directions and one Jina figure at the base.58 This is the type known as the Manastambha or the Mänavakastambha in early Jaina texts of both the sects.50
Some of the four-fold sculptures obtained from Kankali Tila, Mathura, seem to have been either on the top or at the bottom of such Månastambhas since a careful examination has shown that there are sockets either at the top or at the bottom of these sculptures for joining another stone. This proves the existence of the practice of erecting Manastambhas in front of Jaina shrines in the Kuşāna period.
The practice of erecting pillars or votive columns is very old in India. The pillars not only remind us of votive columns one of whose early types was the wooden sthūņā of the Vedic age, but also the Yüpa of Vedic sacrifices. 60
Coomaraswamy drew our attention to the reliefs of Amaravati81 where the Buddha is represented as a fiery pillar with wheel-marked feet below supported by a lotus, and with a 'triśula-head', and has remarked that they "represent the survival of a purely Vedic formula in which Agni is represented as the axis of the universe, extending as a pillar between the Earth and Heaven."62 The worship of Agni as Skambha (or a sthùnă) should, according to Coomaraswamy, he regarded as the origin of later practice of erecting pillars dedicated to different deities and surmounted by their vahanas (dhvajas) or by symbols like the Dharma-cakra.
(According to the Jivājivābhigama-sútra, a Jaina canonical text, there was a big manipithaka in the centre of the Sudharma Sabhā of Indra. On it was a Caitya-Stambha called Mänavaka, in the central part of which were gold and silver boards with pegs. (naga-danta, of ivory) with hangers (sikkaka) attached to the latter. In these hangers were round boxes of vajra (diamonds) with bones of many Jinas preserved therein, worshipped by gods and goddesses. On the Mänavaka-Caitya-Stambhas were placed aşta-mangalas and umbrellas.
The Digambara text Adipurana describes a type of pillars known as the Manastambha, in the first rampart of the Samavasarana (congregation hall or theatre, erected by gods, in which the Tirthankara delivers his sermon). At the base of these pillars on four sides were placed four golden images of the Jinas. The pillars were lofty and adorned with bells, fly-whisks, etc.63 They were placed on triple platforms and on top were triple umbrellas. Being erected by Indra, they were called Indra-Dhvajas. They are also described by the Digambara text Tiloya pannatti which says that the Jina images were on top of such pillars. 64 The pillars found in front of Parsvanātha Basti on Candragiri, Cannanna Basti on Vindhyagiri and Bhandari Basti in Sravana Belagola are Manastambhas.
The Indra-dhwaja is perhaps an ancient diraja-pillar associated with the Indra-maha 65 referred to in Jaina canons, and reminiscent of the worship of the ancient Vedic god Indra. It may be noted that even today, when a Jina image is taken out in procession in a car (ratha), in front of the procession is an Indra-dhvaja, with flags on all sides, also carried in a car.
The Bhagavati-sütra discusses supernatural powers of certain classes of Jaina monks who can fly to the mythical Nandiśvara-dvīpa and worship the Caityas (Ceiyaim) thereon. Obviously these Caityas are the Sasvata-Jina-ayatanas situated on the different mountains and also referred to as Siddhayatanas in different texts.
The Jaina texts refer to madaga-ceiya (mstaka-caitya),67 i.e., funeral caityas, madaya-thubhiya (mstakastūpa), i.e., funeral stūpa and devaya-ceiva (daivata-caitya), i.e., caitya (image as well as edifice) dedicated to gods (for worship).68 Caityas existed in the pre-Buddhist epoch, at least in the sixth century B.c., or, say in the latter part of the Sutra period. These caityas were sanctuaries, holysteads, both with or without an icon, including the dhatu-caityas (funeral relics, memorial structures) referred to in Buddhist texts.
The description of the Purnabhadra Caitya (which is the Jaina canonical stock description of a Caitya= a Jakkha-ayatana, a Yakşa shrine) in the Aupapatika-sútra does not refer to any image of the yaksa worhipped therein and describes only the Pythvi-sila-pasa on a simhasana at the stem of the Asoka tree
Page #25
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
12
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana in the forest-grove (vanakhanda) of the Caitya. This Silā-pața was possibly meant to represent the Pārņabhadra Yaksa. Mahavira visited and stayed in such shrines. Nowhere is it said that he visited a Jaina shrine or worshipped a Jina image. Obviously shrines dedicated to Tirthankaras seem to post-date Mahāvira 69 and the canonical passages referring to Saśvata-Jina-Pratimas and Saśvata-Jina-āyatanas must be regarded as later than the epoch suggested by the description of the Pūrņabhadra-Caitya. The stock description (varnaka) of such Caityas, explained as Yaksa-Caityas by commentators, is as under.
The Purnabhadra Caitya was in the udyana (park) called Amraśālavana, situated to the N.E. of the city of Campā. It was very old in age (cirätita), recognised by people as old, ancient (porāna), famous, praised everywhere and jñata (of the Jñats-people ?). It was decorated with an umbrella (or umbrellas), banners, bells, flags, atipatakas (flags surmounted on flags), whisks or bunches of peacock-feathers (lomahatthaga) and having a railing (vitardikā, vedikā, according to Abhayadeva, which would also mean 'containing a sacrificial altar'), its inside floor was coated with cow-dung and the wall-surfaces were polished by rubbing with cowries; it bore palm-impressions in red gošīrsa or dardara sandal, was adorned with
tas (auspicious jars), and on its entrance gates were toranas (arches) with candanaghata decorations. It was sprinkled all over with perfumed water and garlands were hung; it was fragrint with flowers of five colours, and with burning incense of kålägaru, kundurukka and turukka. It was haunted by actors, dancers, rope-walkers (jalla), wrestlers, boxers, experts in mimics (vidambaka), ballad-singers, story-tellers, pole-dancers (läsaka), picture-showmen (mankha), pipe-players, lute-players and minstrels. Many people visited the shrine which deserved praise, offerings, worship with sandal-paste, etc., gifts, adoration and respect, and which like a benefic, auspicious divine (devayam) ceiam (caityam, image according to commentators), deserved to be propitiated with due respect, and which when wor. shipped with desire did not fail to fulfil it (saccopaye), and which was attended upon by divine prātihāryas. It deserved a gift of a share from sacrifices (Aupapatika sūtra, sūtra 2).
The above description shows that this Purnabhadra Caitya, which according to the explanation of commentators, was a Yakşa-ayatana, a Yaksa-shrine, was situated in a big park called Amraśālavana (a forest of mango and śāla trees) and was ancient even in the days of Mahavira. It had a Vitardika (Vedikā) or railing around. The wall surfaces were polished. It had entrance gates with toranas (arches). This would suggest that the shrine had walls as well as a railing. Does it mean that its compound or courtyard had a railing with four entrance gates (on four sides and) adorned with arches?
There is no mention of the image worshipped and the sanctum (garbhagrha) in which it might have been installed. The fact that it was visited by actors, dancers, showmen and the like shows that it had a big compound around in which these people could perform dancing etc. But where was the Caitya in this udyāna? Was it in the centre of the udyana?
In the next sūtra we are told that on all sides of it (i.e., on all sides of the Caitya or shrine) was a big forest grove (vanasanda) with a central big Asoka-tree (obviously a Caitya-vrksa). Attached to its stem and under the tree was a Prthvi-Sila-Pafa placed on a simhasana. This Silā-para had a very smooth surface and was soft to touch like butter, etc. Its surface was shining like a mirror. Thus this plaque (silā-pața) made of earth (Prthvi), that is, the terracotta plaque, was a highly polished one, what we know as N.B.P. ware. This was not unknown in the age of Buddha and Mahavira as is proved by the discovery of such ware of different colours obtained in excavation of the foundations of the Ghositārāma at Kaušāmbi. We find, in the reliefs of Bharhut, scenes of worship of Sila-patas placed on a simhasana under a Caitya-tree. Obviously such scenes represent continuation of such traditions from the age of Buddha and Mahavira and even still earlier. The Sila-pata was placed under the tree reclining a little against its stem (isim khandhasamalline) and deposited on a simhasane (siha sanasamthie) obviously because it was an object of worship. It rested on the lion-throne, not vertically but horizontally, either slightly raised on the trunk side or with its one end probably slightly thrust into the stem of the tree. This was possibly meant by the expression isim khandhasamalline. That the pața was horizontally placed obtains confirmation from representations of the Bodhi-shrine at Bharhut.
The description of the Purnabhadra Caitya ends with the description of the Asoka tree and the Sila-pața. So what was the object of worship in the Purgabhadra shrine? We are told in this text sūtra 2,
Page #26
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Introduction
13
translated above, that the Caitya was in the udyāna called Amraśālavana. And then later the text says in sutras 3-5 that in the centre of this forest-grove was the Aśoka-tree. So where was the walled Caitya of sūtra 2?
It is reasonable to suppose that in the different vacanas of the Jaina canon some portions of the original texts might have been lost and some were not understood or misunderstood. To us it appears that two stages in the evolution of the Pūrṇabhadra Caitya are here mixed up. In the first stage, there was no walled structure around the object of worship which was none else than the Prthvi-Sila-Pata under the Caitya-tree. It was open on all sides and at the most there was a railing around as we see a caitya-tree with a railing in the Ayigapata set up by an unknown donor (Smith, Jaina Stupa ..., pl. IX, p. 16 and Shah, U.P., Studies in Jaina Art, fig. 11, pp. 81-82). In the next stage perhaps there was a big platform around the tree and the simhasana with the pata was on the platform (Coomaraswamy, HIIA, figs. 41, 46, 51; Barua, B.M., Book of Bharhut, III, figs. 26, 28, 30, 31).
The Mahabharata (Santiparva 69.42) forbids even the felling of leaves of trees that are known as Caityas. Mm. Kane (History of Dharmasastra, II, p. 895) here interprets Caitya as "trees like the Asvattha that have a platform (caitya) built for them." Coomaraswamy cites a case where, in explaining the Suciloma Sutta of Samyutta Nikaya, II.5, a stone dias, stone, or platform (tankite mañco) is stated to have been Yakkha's haunt (bhavanam).70 Coomaraswamy writes, "most of the Yakkhacetiya referred to in Buddhist and Jaina literature may have been sacred trees."71 The Vasudevahindi (c. 400-450 A.D.) supplies definite evidence in support of the above inference. According to this text, there was, in Säliggama in the Magadha Janapada, an udyana called Manorama. Therein was the Jakkha Sumano, whose stone-plaque or platform (sila sila) was placed there under an Aśoka tree, the sila was known as Sumana. There the people worshipped this Yaksa (tattha Sumano nima Jakkho tassa Asogapayavasamsiyā Sila Sumana tattha nam jana puyanti-Vasudevahindi, p. 85). A certain person, Satya by name, is further said to have spent a night in meditation in this area (siläpaesa, ibid., p. 88) of the Sumanasilä, standing in the kayotsarga pose, to propitiate this Yaksa.
The Sila-pata, placed on the simhasana, became a spot for laying offerings to the spirit of the tree. Nay, it also became the pitha for representation of a spirit (or deity) or of a symbol as can be inferred from a relief of a Dhamma-cakka shrine from Bharhut, illustrated by Coomaraswamy (HIIA, fig. 41). At some stage the object of worship was carved on the Sila itself and offerings placed on it, e.g. the Ayagapatas illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11 which have in each a figure of a Tirthankara in its centre.
These Yakṣa-caityas were open on all sides but at some stage stone umbrellas supported by a staff in the centre were introduced to serve as roofs over these Sila-patas or images of deities placed on such Šila-patas. At some stage images of Yaksas or other deities were worshipped under such Caitya trees and walls were raised on all the four sides72 and there were entrance gates with toranas, as described in the Aupapätika sutra, sūtra 2, noted above. It would mean that still the shrine could be visited from any of the four directions on account of entrance gates facing the four directions.
Another stage in the worship of the Caitya-vṛkia can be imagined in the erection of a pitha or platform with a Sila-pata or an image on each of the four sides of the tree. 73 This served as the basis of the conception of a Caturmukha shrine. Such an inference is confirmed by the elaborate account of Caitya-vrkṣas in the Samavasarana of Adin itha described by Jinasena in his Adipuriņa. According to this text, they are Caitya-vrkṣas because at their roots are placed on four sides four images of the Jinas.74
In Jaina canons the stock description of a Jaina temple is that of the Siddhayatana. The Siddhāyatana to the N.E. of the Sudharma Sabhi of Vijayadeva was 13 yojanas in length and six yojanas and one krośa (about half of the length) in breadth and nine yojanas in height. It had on it, above the entrance doorway, the vedika-panel motif and an arch, surmounted by silabhanjik is; it had beautiful pillars of Vaiḍurya gems, its floor inlaid with gems and gold and silver, its walls decorated with figures of mythical animals (ihämrga), oxen, kinnaras (half-men and half-horses or birds), crocodiles, birds, dragons, winged-deer (sarabha), yaks (camara), elephants, creepers and lotus-rhizomes. The abacus of columns had crowning figures of vidyadhara-pairs, with mechanism to show them moving. The shrine was adorned with thousands of sculptures or reliefs and with many domes (thabhiya), the tops decorated with
Page #27
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
14
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana bells, flags, etc. white, lustrous, adorned with palm-impressions of sandal; its gates were adorned with auspicious pictures and arches surmounted by candana-ghatas; there were flowers, garlands, perfumes and incenses. It was adorned with figures of apsarasas.
The shrine had three entrances. In front of each entrance was a portico (mukhamandapa) adorned with the asfamangala-motifs. In front of these were preksägshamandapas or assembly halls (theatres). In front of each preksāgphamandapa was a Caitya-stupa on a manipithikā (jewelled platform). The Caitya-stūpas were white and shining, each two yojanas in area (ayamam circumference or length x breadth) and more than two yojanas in height, its surface covered with jewels, and surmounted by astamangalas, black chowries and flags. On four sides of each stūpa were manipithikās, each platform surmounted by Jina figures sitting in the paryarika-asana and facing the stūpa.
In front of each Caiya-stūpa was a manipithikā with a Caitya-vskṣa on it. In front of each Caityavrkșa was a manipihikā surmounted by a Mahendra-dhaja (Indra-dhvaja) with a round staff and adorned with thousands of flags, astamangalas, etc. In front of each Mahendra-dhvaja was a Nanda-Puşkarani, an -tificial reservoir or tank.
In the centre of the Siddhayatana was a manipithikā, two yojanas in length and bread.i au un yojana in height on which was a big Devacchandaka, two yojanas in length and breadth and a little more than two yojanas in height, all made of jewels. In this Devacchandaka were installed 108 life-size images of Tirthařkaras. On top of the Siddhayatana were aştamangalas, flags etc.
It seems that the Devacchandaka was a sort of miniature shrine with pillars and arches in front, and containing only the sanctum. It is something like the Gandhakuti on top of a Stupa. In the Jaina account noted above, there was a row of such miniature shrines or ornamental niches, each with an image of a Tirthankara.
The above account from the Jivājīvābhigama Sutra, 3.2.137ff inciudes all types of Jaina worship practised in ancient times. The Caitya-stupas, Caitya-vykşas, and the Mahendra-dhvajas described here do not form part of the main structure of the Siddhayatana. It seems that the Jaina temple of the age of composition of this passage consisted of a sanctum, an adjacent hall (or rather a portico only) and a preksämandapa. This last mentioned hall was possibly a little separated from the main structure though the Jaina texts do not explicitly say so. The plan of the shrine would suggest that the passage dates from the early Gupta age. Though the plan of the shrine can be assigned to this age, it must be remembered that the general description of decorative motifs, pillars etc. is of a much earlier tradition reaching back to at least the Kuşāņa period and sometimes to the age of the Sanchi and Bharhut Stūpas. We have little evidence of shrines of the Kuşāņa and Sunga periods, but it is not unlikely that the plan of the Siddhayatana noted by the passage may refer to plan of Jaina shrines of the Kuşäna age. Most of the text of the Svetāmbara Jaina canon preserved for us seems to be the text of the Mathura Council of c. early fourth century A.D. The descriptions of Caitya-Stūpas, Caitya-vīkşas as apart from the main shrine suggest that there were in worship such separate cult-objects, analogous to those in reliefs from Bharhut, compare Coomaraswamy, HIIA, figs. 41, 55, 70 (Bodhi tree), fig. 45 (Dharmacakra shrine), fig. 42 (Caitya-stupa), also from Amaravati illustrated in HITA, figs. 142 and 144-146.
ORIGIN OF STOPAS AND CAITYAS
Both the Svetambaras and the Digambaras believe that the first person to erect on this earth the temples of the twenty-four Jinas of this age was Bharata Cakravartin, the son of the first Tirthankara Rşabhanātha.75 Referring to the nirvāņa of Rşabha, the Avaśyaka-Niryukti, gātha 435, says:
निव्वाणं चिइगाई जिणस्स इक्खाग सेसयाणं च । सकहा थूभे जिणहरे जायग तेणाहि अग्गित्ति ।।.
Haribhadra sūri, commenting on the above gāthā, says that Bharata erected in honour of the Lord
Page #28
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
15
Introduction a Stupa and a Temple called Simhanişady.i-ayatana, one yojana in area and three gavyutis in height and installed therein life-size images of the twenty-four Jinas, as also images of the hundred sons of Rsabha including himself and in order to protect these from violation by others, he placed as gatekeepers mechanical figures made of iron (lohamayan yantrapurusan).76 This he did on the Mt. Aştāpada, identified in Jaina traditions with the Mt. Kailasa, which is the site of Rşabha's Nirvana. This tradition of Bharata erecting the first Jaina shrine is also found in the Avaśyaka-cürni and in the Mala-Bhäşya gäthả based on the above Niryukti gatha. The same belief is expressed in the Vasudevahindi in its account of Rsabha's Nirvana and the mount Astăpada.77
Jaina canonical literature shows the existence of the worship of (1) Bones of Tirth ankaras, ashes or relics, (2) Caitya-trees and Caitya-Stūpas, (3) Caityas or images, e.g. the Saśvata-Jina-Pratimas, (4) Stambhas or Pillars and Symbols like the Silapatas.
The existence of several Caityas in the different places visited by Mahāvira is noteworthy. For example, there was Kosthaka Caitya at Srāvasti, Candrāvatarana Caitya at Kauśämbi, Purnabhadra Caitya at Campā, Gunaśila-Caitya at Rajagsha, Bahuputrika-Caitya at Viśālā, and so on. Commentators explain these Caityas as Yakṣāyatanas. Besides, we hear of temples of Sulapāni Yakşa, Surapriya Yakşa and so on. These suggest the existence even in the age of Mahāvira of image-worship amongst followers of the Yakşa Cult, and amongst the Indian masses, for, the Jaina Agamas speak of ladies propitiating such deities for obtaining children. Also, the Agamas speak of festivals and worship of Indra, Rudra, Skanda, Vaiśramana, Näga, Yakşa, Bhūta, Vasudeva and others. A temple of Skanda is said to have existed at Sivatthi in the time of Mahavira according to the Avaśyaka Niryukti. Thus, according to the Jaina evidence, image worship was already popular amongst the Indian masses in the age of Mahävira. The Purņabhabra shrine visited by Mahavira was ancient (porāne) even when Mahavira visited it. Of course the Aupapatika sutra makes no mention of the image of Purnabhadra yaksa. A sort of hero-worship could be casily introduced even though there is no Creator-God according to Jaina Doctrine. Bhakti predominated amongst the masses who worshipped the Yaksas, Nagas, Bhūtas, Indra, Rudra, Skanda, Vaisramana, Våsudeva and even Trees, Tanks, etc. Representation of the Jina figure was never spoken of as an act of sacrilege and was not disliked as was done by the Buddha regarding worship of the Buddha-image and hence the Jina-image-worship seems to have started early, at least during the Mauryan age. We have referred to the Kalinga-Jina image carried off by the Nanda king and brought back by Kharavela. T.N. Ramachandran has identified a frieze on the Mañcapuri Cave, Udayagiri, Orissa, as a representation of worship of the Jina image, the frieze is assignable to first century B.C. The existence of a Jaina shrine (pasāda), as early as the middle of the second century B.C., at Mathura, is proved by an inscription recording the dedication of a pasada-torana by a śravaka named Uttaradasaka.774 In the inscription on the Ayāgapața donated by Vásu, the words used for a Jaina shrine are Devakula and Nirgrantha-Arhatayatuna.
'The Jaina account of the cremation of a Tirthankara and the consequent collection of bone relics by Indra and other gods, including erection of the stūpas on the cremation site by the gods, given in the Jambudvipaprajñapti78 is noteworthy since it gives us an insight into contemporary methods of cremation and because it obtains an interesting parallel with cremation in Buddhist accounts.
Detailed descriptions of a Jaina stūpa are not traced in the Jaina accounts but the conception of a Samavasaraņa bronze or a stone sculpture showing the three ramparts of a Samavasaraņa vertically is reminiscent of the conceptions of a Jaina stupa. This will be obvious on a camparison of fig. 182 with figs. 10A and 21 in this book as also figs. 14B and 76 in the Studies in Jaina Art. It seems that the popularity of representations of the Samavasara na ultimately replaced the Stupa symbolism in Jaina worship.
The pedestal of a Jina image said to refer to Arhat Nandyāvarta (but referring to Munisuvrata according to K.D. Bajpai's corrected reading) obtained from Kankali Tila, Mathura, was installed in the so called Vodva stupa which is said to be Devanirmita79 according to the inscription on it dated in the year 49 or 79. Due to a slight mistake in separating the words of the inscription inscribed in a line, the stūpa was called Vodva Stupa by scholars. Lüders in his unpublished revised readings and notes had corrected the
Page #29
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
16
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana relevant reading as pratimăvo dve thupe devanirmite instead of the earlier reading pratimă vodve thupe etc. Often when two images were donated or cast or fashioned at the same place one had the inscription on one of the two images only but referring to both the images. We have a similar instance of the two big standing Jina bronzes cast by the artist Sivanāga and installed in Samvat 744, obtained from the Vasantagadha hoard, now in worship in a Jina shrine at Pindwada, published in Lalita Kala, nos. 1-2. I am thankful to Prof. Alsdorf for informing me about Lüders's correction.
The origin of this Stupa of Kankali Tila, Mathura was forgotten and it was supposed to be Devanirmita, built by gods. Haribhadra sūri in c. early seventh century A.D. also called it Devanirmita.80 The expression may also mean erected by or gift of a person named Deva or it could have been regarded as work of Deva school of art. Taranatha in his history of Buddhism speaks of Deva and Naga artists,81 As we have shown in Studies in Jaina Art, p. 12, it is better to regard this stūpa as a stúpa of Pārsvanātha rather than of Supārsvanatha.
Digambara texts like the Brhat-kathā-kośa of Harişena (932 A.D.) give a story of the origin of Five Stūpas at Mathura, all built by gods, during a controversy with the Buddhists.82 Somadown, the author of Yaśastilaka-campū,83 gives a similar account but refers to only one Devanirmita stūpa at Mathura. Rājamalla in his Jambūsvāmicarita refers to the repair of Mathura Stūpas.84 A Pancastūpānvaya or a Pancastūpanikaya is connected with the locality of Mathura and Jinasena, the author of Jayadhavala, says that he belonged to this lineage of Jaina monks.85
The Paharpur copper-plate, dated in the year 159 (478 A.D.) refers to Pañca-stūpa-nikāya.86 It is therefore certain that in and around Mathura Five Jaina Stupas existed.
The Ayaga pața dedicated by Vásu, the daughter of courtesan Lonaśobhikā (Fig. 14B in Studies in Jaina Art) may be acknowledged as representing at least one type of Jaina stūpa.87 The stūpa-drum, standing on a high platform, was reached by a long flight of steps. In front of this platform, all around perhaps, were niches with images. The flight of steps led to the circumambulatory which had, at its entrance near the top of the flight of steps, a torana-gateway. Perhaps there were such flights of steps and torana-gateways facing all the four directions. All around the circumambulatory path there was a stone or wooden railing and the various apsarasas or yaksis and coping stones found from Kankali Tila came from such a railing. The triple-arch of the gateway is reminiscent of the Sanchi gateway. From the middle of it hangs a vandana-målā, an auspicious garland. The drum seems to be in three tiers. High above the pradaksinā path is another railing, then a band of decorative motif and then perhaps another railing or a band with lotus (?) motif demarcating the third tier from where the rounding off of the anda begins. The stupa-drum is perhaps straight in height till this point.
Perhaps the big platform was square in plan and had huge pillars on four corners. Two huge pillars of Persepolitan style are shown on two sides of the drum, at two ends, in the Ayāgapata set up by Väsu. The pillar on the right in this plaque is surmounted by the dharmacakra. The capital and top of the pillar on the left are partly worn out and indistinct. On the analogy of the āyāgapata donated by Sihanädika (Smith's Jaina Stupa, pl. III, no. J.249 in Lucknow Museum) this other pillar was surmounted by some animal in the Tablet gifted by Vásu (no. Q.2 in the Mathura Museum). Almost of the same type was the representation of the Jaina stūpa on the mutilated Ayagapața donated by Sivayasas (Smith, Jaina Stupa, pl. XII, Aspects of Jaina Art and Architecture, fig. 1 on plate opp. page 74). Here the toranagateway is surmounted by two triratna symbols, one on each end, while the Jaina technical name for the honey-suckle like symbol in the centre is yet unknown. This tablet dates from c. first century B.C. both from the style of the two dancing female figures and from the paleography of the inscription incised on it. It is certainly earlier than the āyāgapata donated by Väsu.
A stone panel, a frieze or a Torana-beam, from the Kankali Tila, no. J.535 in the Lucknow Museum, illustrated here as Fig. 10 A, depicts the worship of a Stupa by two Suparnas and at feast five Kinnaras. The mutilated and lost right end of the beam possibly showed a sixth Kinnara. Here also it seems that the Stūpa is of a high cylindrical type with three tiers clearly marked by three railings. The platform is not shown but perhaps it is taken for granted. About this scene Smith remarked that the beam "may have belonged to the ancient Stupa which was believed to have been built by gods ... and is certainly
Page #30
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Introduction
17 an early work probably to be dated about 100 B.C. or 50 B.C." This evidence, along with the frieze depicting the dance of Nilāñjana and the retirement of Rşabha, illustrated here in Fig. 18, and the representation of a Lion-Pillar being circumambulated by a male and a female illustrated here in Fig. 164 prove that the original Stupa on the Kankali Tila site was decorated with reliefs etc. in the first century B.C. and it was perhaps enlarged and repaired during the Kuşāna age ard embellisted richly with decorative sculpture as well as cult-images and plaques etc. meant for worship.
SYMBOL WORSHIP IN JAINISM
Worship of symbols like the Dharmacakra, Pillars like the Mcrastin the, and the Indradhvaja, Caityatrees, the Siläpafas later known and worshipped as Āyagapatas, and the Stipas, is discussed above. Worship of some other symbols may be briefly noted here. We have elaborately discussed Symbol Worship in Jainism in our Studies in Jaina Art.
The most highly venerated in Jainism are the Farca-Para meşthis or the Five Highest Dignitaries, who came to be worshipped in a Diagram Mandala or Yantra) known as the Siddha-Cakra (Svetambara) or the Nava-Pada (Digambara) diagram. These will be discussed in Chapter Three.
During the Kuşāna period at Mathura we find worship of symbols like the Stupa, the Caitya-tree, the various Stambhas, the Aşta-Mangalas, the Dharma-Cakra, the Ayagapata, the Tri-Ratna, etc. Later, during the mediaeval period we find representations of the Fourteen or Sixteen Dreams seen by a Jina's Mother, models in stone and metal, as also diagrams in paintings, of the Jaina conception of the Samavasaraña, the Nandisvara-dvipa, the Panca-Merus (the Five Meru mountains), the Aştāpada, the Sthăpanacārya, and the Carana-pădukås or the Foot-prints and the Nisidis or the Memorial structures of great monks and nuns.
1. Auspicious Dreams
Belief in auspicious dreams and omens is very old in India. The Chāndogya Upanişad, V.2.7.8 speaks of the prosperity that would come if a woman is seen in dream. Belief in dreams and omens dates from pre-Mahāvīra epochs and Nimitta-pathakas or sooth-sayers were called by Siddhārtha to interpret the dreams seen by Trišalá, the mother of Mahavira. Nimittaśāstra was very popular with the Ajivikas from whom Kalakācārya mastered it in the second-first century B.C. The Angavijja is a very early Jaina text on Nimitta and dates from c. fourth century A.D.
Whenever a Tirthankara descends from cne of the teavens into the womb of his mother, she sees fourteen dreams according to the Svetambara tradition ard sixteen according to the Digambara sect. The fourteen dreams seen by Trisalā, the Mother of Mahavira, as noted in the Kalpa-Sutra €8 are: (1) a white elephant, (2) a white bull, (3) a sportive lion, (4) the goddess Sri, four-armed and carrying lotuses and lustrated by two celestial elephants, (5) a garland of various flowers, (6) the Full Moon, (7) the Sun, (8) a wondrous beautiful banner fastened to a sc!den staff with a licn at the top, (9) a full vase filled with water and lotuses, the abode of fortune, (10) a large lake full of lotuses, (11) the Ocean of Milk, (12) the Dzvavimāna (celestial palace), (13) the jewel-hcap (ratra-resi) and (14) smokeless fire with constantly moving flame.89
Kalpa-sútra miniatures show representations of these dreams, either in a group as in Fig. 180 (also fig. 19 in Brown's Miniature Paintings of the Kalpa-sutra) or singly as in Brown's op. cit., fes. 20-33, pp. 19-22. The most common type of miniature (cf. Brown's figs. 6, 18) represents the Mother of a Jina lying on a cot in the lowest panel and in the two cr three upper panels are shown, in different rows, smaller figures of the fourteen dreams.90 Dreams are also represented in store reliefs of the lives of different Jinas (Fig. 82) or in paintings on wooden book-covers of palm-leaf manuscripts showing lives of Tirthankaras as also above the door-lintels of Jaina shrines91 (see also Studies in Jaina Art, figs. 83, 87). In modern times they are generally shown in reliefs on wooden or metal stools and platters used for placing offerings in Jaina shrines of both the sects.
Page #31
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
18
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
According to the Digambara tradition, 92 the sixteen dreams are: (1) Airavata, the elephant of Indra, (2) the best of bulls, (3) the lion, white in colour and with red manes, (4) the goddess Padma (same as Sri noted above), lustrated by elephants and seated on lotuses, (5) pair of garlands of best flowers. (6) the Moon, (7) the Sun, rising from the Uduyacala mountain, (8) pair of full-vases with lotuses placed on their mouths, (9) pair of fishes, (10) celestial lake, (11) agitated ocean, (12) a lofty golden lion-throne, (13) a celestial car (vimāna). (14) a palace of the king of snakes (Nagendra-bhavana), (15) heap of jewels, (16) smokeless fire.
Representations of the sixteen dreams are also popular amongst the Digambaras and are often carved on door-lintels of Jaina temples as for example in the Säntinátha temple and other shrines at Khajuraho.
According to Jaina traditions, mothers of other Salakäpuruşas like the Baladevas, Vasudevas and Cakravartins also see a certain number of dreams at the time of conception.93 According to the Svetāmbara tradition, the Mother of a Vasudeva (Nårāyana or Visnu) sees the following seven dreams: (1), Young lion, (2) Padmã (Sri) seated on a lotus, and being sprinkled with water by two elephants, (3) Sun, (4) a pitcher filled with water and with its mouth adorned with white lotuses, (5) an ocean filled with aquatic animals etc., (6) a heap of jewels, and (7) smokeless fire.94 According to the Digambaras, they are: (1) the Sun, (2) the Moon, (3) Sri, (4) Vimana, (5) Fire, (6) Celestial banner, (7) Die nauc u. jewels.95
The Mother of a Baladeva sees the following four dreams: (1) Elephant with four tusks, (2) bull, (3) Moon, (4) a pond filled with lotuses.96 According to the Digambara tradition they are: (1) Moon, (2) elephant, (3) ocean, (4) Sun.97
The Mother of a Cakravartin sees fourteen dreams like the Mother of a Tirthankara, according to the Svetämbara tradition. According to the other sect, she sees five dreams: (1) Earth, (2) Sumeru mountain, (3) Sun and Moon, (4) lake with swans, and (5) ocean with surging waves.98
Dreams may be auspicious or inauspicious. Mahavira in his itinerary, before attaining Kevalajñāna, saw ten dreams which are described along with their meaning by the Sthānānga Sutra.99
Belief in dreams and their effects is an ancient superstition. It is difficult to say when the section on dreams was introduced in the life of Mahāvira in the Kalpasūtra account. At least the detailed descriptions of each of the fourteen dreams seem to have been added later as shown by Muni Punyavijaya in his critical edition of the Pavitra Kalpa-sätra. It may be noted that the ornament dinara-mäla in the description of Sri in these dreams (Kalpa-sútra, sūtra 37) supports the inference that this section is added later after the dinära coin became popular in India. 100
Belief in dreams is common to all sects. The science of Svapna-Sakuna was very popular in the age of the Puranas and even medical works like the Astāngahşda ya of Vägbhata refer to such dreams in
detail.101
II. Aştamangalas
The Aştamangalas or Eight Auspicious symbols are familiar to both the sects and are known to Jaina worship from ancient times. They are: Svastika, Sri-vatsa, Nandyāvarta, Varddhamanaka (powderflask), Bhadrâsana (a particular type of seat), Kalaša (the full vase), Darpaņa (mirror), and Matsyayugma (pair of fishes), and are often referred to in the Jaina texts, including canonical works, 102 as decorating tops of architraves or ramparts or placed on Caitya-trees, platforms, or painted on walls and so
on. 103
Hemacandra ācārya further notes that eight auspicious symbols were represented on Bali-pattas or offering-stands.104 The offering-stand is a platter with low legs, made of wood or metal, used to hold offering in temple worship. It has eight auspicious signs carved or wrought in high relief. Such stools, often made of wood with silver plate studded all over them, or made of silver or brass, and with reliefs of the eight auspicious symbols or the 14 or 16 auspicious dreams, are even today used for placing offerings in Jaina shrines. Often Jaina ladies prepare such signs with uncooked rice on wooden or metal platters placed in the mandapa in front of the deity. Small sized platters with the asfamangala symbols are often worshipped in the sanctums along with metal images of Tirthankaras.
Hemacandra's reference to Bali-pațțas with marks of the eight auspicious symbols is interesting since
Page #32
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Introduction
19 such symbols are seen on some of the Jaina Āyż gapatas of the Kuşă na period, obtained from Mathura. The Tablet of Homage (Āyagapaļa) set up by Acala (no. J.252, State Museum, Lucknow), illustrated here in Fig. 10, shows a line of four symbols in the uppermost panel and another of eight at base. In the lower panel, the first symbol from right end, partly mutilated, was probably the Srivatsa. The second symbol is Svastika, the third a lotus-bud, half open, fourth a pair of fishes, fifth a water-jar with a handle, sixth is either an offering of sweets or better a crude representation of Ratna-rësi (heap of gems). The seventh is probably the Sthåpanā (a cross-stand with a manuscript on it), the eighth is an inverted Tri-ratna looking like the so-called hill on ancient coins. The uppermost central rectangular panel, which contains four symbols, shows the Srivatsa, another type of Srastika with bent ends and two more symbols which cannot be properly identified. 105 A better preserved set of eight symbols is obtained on the Ayagapata set up by Sihani dika (no. J.249, Lucknow Museum, see Fig. 11) with inscription in characters which seem to be earlier than those of the age of Kaniska.1c6 Here in the lower panel are shown the Tri-ratna, the full-blown lotus, the Sthāpanā (or is it Bhadrosara?) and the Mangala-kclaša. In the panel at the top are Mina-yugma, an unidentified symbol, the Sriratsa and the Vardhamanaka (powder-box).
It is thus reason.ble to infer that in the Kuşāna period the Jaina set of the aşamangalas was not finally settled. 107 In this older tradition as represented by the Mathura Ayāgapatas, the Nandyavarta and the Darpana are omitted and the full-blown lotus and an unidentified symbol are used. The Mathura finds represent a stage anterior to the tradition recorded in the Jaina canons like the Rayapasenaiya sutta. 108 Such facts confirm our inference that most of the Jaina cancns as available today follow the edition of the Mathura council of c. 300-313 A.D. under Arya Skandila.
Asfamangalas are represented in miniature paintings109 of manuscripts, in paintings on canvas of different patas, both tantric and non-tantric, and in scroll paintings of the Vijñaptipatras, 110 They are often represented as decorative motifs in different parts of a temple.
The Digambara sect gives the following set of Asramangalas: Bhrrigora (a type of vessel), Kalasa, Darpana, Camara (fly-whisk), Dhwaja (banner), Vyajana (fan), Chatra (umbrella) and Supratisha (a seat).111
Some of these symbols like the Svastika are of very ancient origin, common to different ancient civilizations and races of the world and their exact significance is not always easy to comprehend. The fullvase or the Půrna-Kalasa, the Purna-Kumbha, of Vedic lilerature, is the Indian symbol of fullness of life, of plenty, of immortality,112
The Svetāmbara Jaina text Ācāra-Dinakara explains the significance of these symbols which may or may not represent the original conceptions. According to this text, the Kalasa is worshipped as a symbol for the Jina as he is verily like a Kalasa in the family. The Darpana (mirror) is for seeing one's true self; the Bhadrâsana is worshipped as it is sanctified by the feet of the Blessed Lord; the Vardhamanaka is suggestive of increase of wealth, fame, merit, etc., due to the grace of the Lord. The highest knowledge is said to have manifested itself, from the heart of the Jina, in the form of the Srivatsa mark on his chest. Svastika, according to this text, signifies Svasti, i.e., Santi or peace. The Nandyāvarta diagram with its nire points stards for the Nire Nidhis. The pair of fishes or the Mina-yugala is the symbol of Cupid's banners come to worship after the defeat of the God of Love.
Belief in auspicious objects is very old, ccmmcn to all sects. V.S. Agrawala has referred to Mangalamāla (garland of the auspicious symbols) amongst Sanchi reliefs. The Mahabharata, Dronaparvan, 82.20-22 mentions numerous objects which Arjuna lccked at ard touched as auspicious before starting for battle. Amongst these auspicious maidens are also mentioned. 114 The Vimana Furara, 14.35-36 mentions several objects which are auspicious. The Pral:mavaivarta Purăral15 also gives lists of animate ard inanimate objects regarded as auspicious. Belief in Mangalas and Mangela-dra's is also known to the Rāmāyana. 116
III. Sthāpanā or Sthåpandcārya
This is a symbolic representation of cne's icărya or teacher which a Jaina monk keeps in front while giving a discourse. It marks the presence of the elder, used as a corrective witness, a precaution against
Page #33
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
20
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
misinterpretation, but especially as a mark of reverence for the teacher. Literally it means installation of the figure or symbol of the ācārya or any other elderly person including deities) when one is not personally present. 117
It is a crossed wooden stand, made of two or more crossed wooden sticks which can be folded and carried easily. The sticks are tied with a string in the centre and when the stand is placed in position, a nice piece of cloth, often a costly ornamental one, is placed as a cover on its top. Under it were placed akşa and varafaka. A scripture was usually placed on it as a sthāpanā. The sticks are often made of ivory or sandal-wood with beautiful carvings at the ends. The sthapana is an old practice amongst monks of both the sects and can be seen on stone sculptures, especially depicting figures of monks, in various Jaina sites like Devgadh, Khajuraho, Abu, Kumbharia, etc. (Studies in Jaina Art, figs. 43, 77; Treasures of Jaina Bhandaras, figs. 16, 22, 24, 33, and colour figs. C and F; and Figs. 36, 37, 167 in this book). Whether the motif existed or not in art of the Kuşāņa age at Mathura is not known, but the symbol preceding the Mangala-Kalaša, in the lower panel of the Ayagapata dedicated by Sihanädika (Coomaraswamy, HIIA, fig. 70; Studies in Jaina Art, fig. 13), illustrated here as Fig. 11, come very near to this conception.
Sthapana is a pretty old conception, referred to by Jinabhadra gani kşamāśramana as shown above, and by the Anuyogadvāra cūrai which mentions the accessories of a sådhu in the practice of Dharma.
They are thavanā (sthapana), muhapatti (mukhapattikā), danda-paunchanam (dapda-praunchanaka), and javamilia (japamalikā). The sthāpanā is for the practice of the virtue of vinaya or showing respect to and being obedient to the elders.
The Muhapatti is a piece of cloth held in front of the mouth by a Jaina monk while speaking. Prescribed for preventing insects from entering the mouth and being killed, the Mukhapatrika is also a symbol of samyama or control of speech. The Mukhapatti is a very old accessory used by Gautama, a gañadhara of Mahavira, as suggested by the canonical text Vipāka sūtra, adhyayana 1.
The Dandapraunchanaka, also called Rajoharana, is a broom with a stick-handle, used to sweep dust particles and small insects. According to the Bệhat-Kalpa-sútra-bhāşya it was made of any one of the following five fibres-wool, hair of camels, jute (sanaka), fibres of valkala, or strings prepared by twisting the muñja grass. In the Digambara tradition brom made of peacock's feathers is known.
The muhapatti, rajoharana and the jap amalika (rosary of beads) carried by a Jaina monk can be seen in a sculpture of Nanna-suri, now in worship in a shrine in Sadadi and installed in V.s. 1393. It is illustrated in Studies in Jaina Art, fig. 48.
IV. Dharmacakra or the Wheel of Law
Representations of the Dharmacakra on Jaina pedestals from Kankali Tila, Mathura, show that the Wheel was placed on a platform or a pillar, often with the rim to front, and worshipped on both sides by the members of the Jaina Samgha (śrävaka, śravikā, sādhu, and sadhvi). A Wheel on a pillar is shown in Ayāgapațas illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11, also circumambulation of such Dharmacakra-pillars is suggested in a relief illustrated in Figs. 164. It seems that formerly the Dharmacakra was separately installed as an object of worship in Jaina shrines. This is inferred from the find of a Dharmacakra of brass or bronze obtained with the Chausa hoard of Jaina bronzes, illustrated in Fig. 16. This Dharmacakra belongs to the Kuşaņa age. A separate brass or bronze Caitya-tree of the same age was also obtained in this hoard (Fig. 17). An Ayagapata from Mathura with a big Dharmacakra in centre is illustrated by us in Studies in Jaina Art, fig. 14.
V. Aştāpada, Sam:neta śikhara and Panca-Meru
Rşabha obtained Nirvāṇa on the Astăpada mountain. Near his cremation ground Bharata erected a temple, of jewelled slabs, and named it Simhanizadya-ayatana (possibly from its architecture ?) with statues of the Saśvata Tirthankaras and the twenty-four Tirthankaras of this age. Bharata also installed statues of his ninety-nine brothers who obtained Nirvāņa on this mountain, along with Rşabhanātha, besides
Page #34
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
21
Introduction he placed a statue of himself listening attentively like a faithful devotee. Bharata raised the Blessed One's Stūpa and those of his 99 brothers outside the shrine. To save these from future damage at the hands of mortals, he placed mechanical iron guardsmen, and cutting off the projections of the mountain, he made it steep and straight and impossible for men to climb. He then made eight (aşta) steps (pada) around it in the form of terraces impossible for men to cross and each step or terrace (pada) was one yojana apart from the next one. From that time the mountain was called Astăpada. Among people it was also known Harādri, Kailasa, and Sphatikādri.
Such is the origin of the name of the mount Astăpada according to Hemacandra.118 The Vasudevahindi119 tells how Astăpada came to be regarded as a tirtha, how Bharata erected stupas and shrines and installed the different images but gives no explanation of the name Aştāpada. Astâpada is an old Jaina tirtha since it is referred to by the Jambūdvīpaprajñapti 120 and the Avaśyaka-Niryukti. 121
Gautama, the first Ganadhara of Mahivira, was told by his Master that whoever is able to reach the top of this mountain and worship the Caityas thereon will obtain emancipation. Gautama, with his supernatural power, climbed it like a flash of light. Some tåpasas (Brahmanical monks ?) were attempting to do so but could not go beyond the third terrace. At the sight of Gautama they got enlightenment and obtained moksa. Gautama reached the top and entering the Simhanisadya-Caitya by the South gate, he first saw images of the four Jinas beginning with Sambhava and worshipped them. At the West-entrance he worshipped the eight Tirthankaras beginning with Supārsva, entering by the Northern gate, he worshipped the ten Jinas beginning with Dharmanatha. From the Eastern gateway of the shrine he worshipped the first two Jinas-Rşabha and Ajitanatha. 122
Obviously, Simhan: sadyi is a Caturmukha shrine with four doorways and having in the centre a platform on which the Jina images are represented in the order described above and worshipped by Gautama. In Svetambara Jaina temples, sometimes, a cell is dedicated to Astăpada represented in the way described above. A representation of Astăpada of this type, with Gautama ganadhara shown climbing, and the tápasas on the way, is seen in a shrine on the mount Satrunjaya in Saurashtra, Gujarat. Fig. 181 is supposed to represent Astapada. Smaller representations, only of the Jinas, in the above order, on four sides of a pitha, are more common and one such may be seen in a Jaina shrine in Surat. All these are later mediaeval representations and earlier ones are not traced hitherto. Citra-pațas mapping tirthas like Šatruñiaya. Girnāra, Sammeta-Sikhara, Aştāpada etc., singly or in groups, are frequently installed in front halls of Jaina shrines and scroll paintings on canvas or paper were in use. A Pañcatirthi-pata painted at Champaner in Gujarat in early fifteenth century A.D. was published long ago by N.C. Mehta and was again discussed by Motichandra with better illustrations in colour. 1220 The avacuri on Samavasaranastava refers to patas representing the Samavasarana structure. Fig. 182 is a small representation of Samavasarana in stone, under worship in Vimala Vasahi, Abu.
The Digambara sect also believes that Rşabha obtained Nirvana on the Aştāpada mountain and that Bharata erected a memorial shrine on the cremation. But representations-in plaques, paintings, sculpturesare not yet traced, though a proper search is likely to disclose some kind of representation of the Aştāpada and other tirthas amongst the Digambaras as well.
Similarly, representations of the Sammeta-Sikhara (see Fig. 180 from Kumbharia) are also worshipped in Svetāmbara Jaina shrines, a famous example of which is available int he triple-shrine built by Vastupala and Tejpala on the Mt. Girnar. Such representation is known as avatara or uddhära of a particular tirtha. A stone-plaque representing avatara of the Satrunjaya and Girnāra tirthas, now in worship in a shrine in Varakhână, Rajasthan, is illustrated here in Fig. 186.
Representations of Panca-Meru mountains, showing a Siddhāyatana on each tier (on each side as in a four-fold or Caumukha image), one above the other, represented in five tiers surmounted by a finial, are more common amongst the Digambaras. One such Panca-Meru obtained in a Digambara shrine in Surat, installed in V.S. 1514 = A.D. 1456, is illustrated here in Fig. 184. One such Panca-Meru is also obtained in a Svetāmbara shrine, in the Hastiśālā of the Lūņa-Vasahi, Delvada, Mt. Abu. The five Merus are: Sudarśana in the midst of Jambudvipa, Vijaya in eastern Dhitakikhanda-dvipa, Acala in western Dhatakikhandadvipa, Mandara in eastern Puşkarārdha-dvipa, and Vidyunm ili in the western Puskarardha-dvipa.
Page #35
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
22
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
According to the Digambara belief, in all there are eighty Siddhāyatanas on the five Merus.
VI. Nandiśvara-Dvipa
Nandisyara-dvipa is known to both the sects. 123 It is the last of the numerous island-continents of Jaina cosmography, the first or the central one being the Jambū-dvipa. The Nandiśvara is a land of delight of the gods with gardens of manifold designs, adorned and honoured by visits of gods devoted to the worship of the Tirthankaras. In its central parts are four Añjana mountains of black colour, situated in the four directions-Devaramana in the east, Nityodyota in the south, Svayamprabha and Ramaniya in the north. On their tops are temples of the Arhats, each shrine having four doors. The shrines are 100 yojanas long, 50 yojanas wide and 70 yojanas in height. Within the shrines are jewelled platforms (manipishaka) on which are diases (devacchandaka) on whom are one hundred and eight eternal statues (Saśvata-bimba) of the four Eternal Arhats (sāśvata-Jina), named Rşabha, Vardhamāna, Candrānana and Värişeņa, made of jewels, in the paryanka posture and attended each by a beautiful retinue consisting of two Nagas, two Yakşas, two Bhūtas and two Kumbhadharas (pitcher-carriers), while behind each statue is a figure of an umbrella-bearer. On the diases are incense-burners, wreaths, bells, the aştamangalas, banners, festoons, baskets, boxes, seats as well as sixteen ornaments such as full-pitchers etc.
There are gleaming entrance-pavilions (mukha-mandapa), theatre-pavilions (prekşa-mandapa), arenas (aksavā faka), jewelled platforms, beautiful stūpas, statues, fair caitya-trees, Indra-dhvajas and divine lotuslakes in succession.
In the four directions from each of the Añjana mountains there are big square lotus-lakes, Nandiseņa, Amogha, Gostupa, etc., and beyond them are great gardens named Asoka, Saptaparna, Campaka and Câta. With the sixteen lotus-lakes are the crystal Dadhimukha mountains, each having a Sāśvata-Jinālaya with images of Sāśvata-Jinas noted above. Between each two lakes are two Ratikara mountains making a total of thirty-two Ratikara mountains. These again have thirty-two śāśvata-Jinālayas on them. This makes a total of fifty-two such eternal temples of the Arhats on the Nandiśvara-dvipa. Here and elsewhere on the Nandiśvara-dvipa Indra and other gods celebrate Eight-days' Festival (Aşfåhnika Mahotsava) on different holy (parva) days.
Works on cosmography like the Laghukşetrasamāsa of Ratnasekhara expressly state that there are fifty-two Sāśvata-Caityālayas, thirteen in each of the four directions, on the Nandiśvara-dvipa.124 A diagrammatic representation of it generally shows in a circle a group of thirteen miniature shrines in each of the four directions, with a mountain in the centre.
In various temples and palaces of the Nandiśvara-dvipa, gods together with their retinue celebrate the Aştahnika Mahotsava on holy days of the holy Arhats. After celebrating the Kalyāņaka ceremony (or the festival of any of the five chief events in the life of every Jina) gods retire to this dvipa, worship the Caityas thereon and then return to their respective abodes. 125
Plaques or Patas representing the fifty-two shrines on the Nandiśvara are very popular amongst both the sects. The Digambaras represent fifty-two small figures of the Jinas (suggesting shrines) on a four-tiered platform, or in a miniature shrine, both the types being four-faced, as illustrated by T.N. Ramachandran in his Tiruparuttikunram and its Temples, pl. xxxi, figs. 3-4, p. 181. The Svetā mbaras represent miniature shrines in four groups of thirteen each, carved in relief on a stone plaque, and arranged in different artistic ways. A beautiful Svetāmbara plaque, worshipped in the famous Caumukha shrine at Ranakpur, is illustrated here in Fig. 179. Another pata of this dvipa, installed by one Dhandhala in V.S. 1287 (1230 A.D.), is preserved in a cell in the main shrine on Mt. Girnar but the number of shrines on the plaque exceeds the usual figure 52. It is impossible to list here all the available representations of Nandiśvara from the whole of India nor is it necessary in a work of iconography to do so even with regard to images of different deities nor does this author claim to have made an exhaustive study from each and every shrine of the Jaina faith which is still a living religion in India.
The Nandiśvara-dvipa has been held very sacred by both the sects who install stone and metal sculptures or plaques in their shrines. T.N. Ramachandran (op. cit.) has published a metal sculpture of N.
Page #36
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Introduction
23 dvipa, pyramidal in shape, rising in four tiers and with a finial top. On each side thirteen Jinas are sitting in padmisana. He has also published a bigger stone sculpture of the N.-dvipa, shaped like a vimana, superimposed on a square base, the sides of which reveal Jinas seated in meditation. The vimāna has on each side niche surmounted by an arch with a figure of a Jina sitting in it. A finial surmounts the whole giving it a dignified appearance. Figure 63 in Studies in Jaina Art, illustrated by us, represents a modern N.-dvipa bronze from a Jaina shrine in Kolhapur. Since the N.-dvipa with its 52 Sáśvata-Jinalayas has been a favourite resort of gods for festivals and worship, it has naturally become a favourite symbol of worship of the Eternal Jina images, by the pious Jainas. The figure 52 became so popular that a group of smaller shrines 52 in number were often erected round a Jaina shrine. One of the penances practised by them is known as Nandiśvara-pankti-vrata in the Digambara tradition; a similar N.-tapa practised by the Svetambaras along with pūjā of the Nandiśvara-pața is referred to by the Pravacanasäroddhāra. 1252
VII. Samarasarana
Sumavasuruna126 literally means assemblage and refers to the Sermon-hall constructed by gods, where heavenly beings, human beings and the animal world assemble, take their apportioned seats, and attend to the sermon delivered by a Tirthankara after enlightenment. According to Svetambara sect, Vyantara gods erect it at the bidding of Indra, while the Digambara traditions say that Indra himself was the architect.
It is a special structure usually an elaborate circular theatre with three fortifications around, erected by gods, for beings to sit and listen to the discourse. 127 In representations in Jaina miniature paintings it is generally circular in plan while in some cases it is square in plan.
Detailed descriptions of such assembly halls are obtained in works of both the sects, especially the Jaina Purăņas in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Apabhramśa, Kannada, Tamil, etc. 128
The Kalpa-sutra does not refer to the Samavasarana or the festival celebrated by the gods at the time of the Kevalajnana of Mahävira. 129 Even the negative evidence of Kalpa-sätra is sometimes significant as it is an early text already commented upon by Agastyasimha sūri in c. third century A.D. 130 lt may also be noted that not a single representation of the Samavasara na has yet been discovered from Kankali Tila. Mathura. But the Avasyaka-Niryukti does describe it.131 The terms Samavasaraya, for such an elaborate conception, seems to have originated from canonical expressions like samavasstah used in Jaina canons for Mahavira staying and holding meetings in different places and from texts like the Aupapātika sūtra 10, where Mahavira is said to have arrived at the Puraabhadra Caitya near Camp, with a view to hold a congregation (samosarium kame).
According to Hemacandra (Trişasti, op. cit.), when Rşabha obtained Kevalajñāna, Indra ordained Vyantara gods to erect a Samavasarana. The Väyukumāras first cleaned the ground for one yojana, the Meghakumaras then sprinkled it with fragrant water, the Vănavyantaras spread flowers on it. The Vyantaras covering the surface with shining mosaics, erected, in four directions arches (torana), of jewels, gold etc., having on their tops tall figures of salabhanjikās with reflecting surfaces. Makara ornaments (of glistening sapphire) shone on the arches. 132 The arches, adorned with flags and white umbrellas above and eight auspicious symbols below, looked like those on offering slabs (Balipatsas).
The Vimanavasi gods made the uppermost rampart of jewels (ratna) with battlements (kapiširşa). In the middle part, the.Jyotiska gods made a rampart (vapra) of gold with battlements of jewels on it. The third and the outermost fortification wall, constructed by Bhavanavasi gods, was made of silver and decorated on top with extensive coping stones of golden lotuses.
Each of these ramparts had four ornamental gateways (gopura). At each gate, jars of incense were placed. Besides at each gate the gods made a reservoir or step-well (väpi) with golden lotuses and having four gates like those of the rampart.
To the north-east, inside the second wall, they made a dais (devacchanda) for the Master to rest on. On both sides of the east gate of the first rampart stood two gold-coloured Vaimånika gods as gatekeepers. At its south gate stood two white Vyantara gods, at the west gate two Jyotiska gods of red
Page #37
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
24
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana colour and at the north gate two Bhavanadhipatis black like clouds. At four gates of the second wall, in the same order, stood the goddesses Jaya, Vijaya, Ajita and Aparăjită, each with one hand in the abhaya-mudra and the other three hands carrying the noose, the goad and the hammer. On the last rampart, at each gate, stood a Tumburu as door-keeper, carrying a skull-crowned club (khatvanga), wearing a garland of skulls, and adorned with matted hair. 133
In the midst of the Samavasarana, a Caitya-tree was raised by the Vyantaras, beneath it a platform (pitha) of jewels, on the latter a dias (chandaka) of gems. In the centre of it, to the east was placed a jewelled lion-throne with foot-stool. Above the throne shone the white triple-umbrella, on both sides Yakşas held two white fly-whisks. At the gate of the Samavasaraņa, they placed, on a golden lotus, the Dharma-cakra of remarkable lustre.
Gods use nine lotuses for the master to step on while reaching the congregation. Entering the Samavasarana by the east-gate, the Jina makes pradakşiņā (circumambulation) of the Caitya-tree and bowing to the congregation (tirtha) takes his seat on the lion-throne. Vyantara-gods make three life-size images of the Lord and place them in the other three directions so that everyone in the assembly finds himself facing the Lord. 134 Behind the Jina appears a halo (bhandala), a urum is sounded in the skies (devadundubhi), and a jewelled banner blazes in front of the Lord.
In the first rampart is the place for monks and nuns. Gods, men and women, and animals have their own places in different ramparts.
In the interesting account given by Jinasena in the Adipurāņa,135 Samavasaraņa is circular in plan, surrounded by a dhūli-sāla (mud-wall) of dust particles of various gems producing effect of rainbow colours. A little inside the dhūli-såla, in the midst of roads were tall Manastambhas on platforms reached by flights of steps, and situated in the midst of a Jagati, surrounded by three walls and four gopuras. At their bases were golden images of the Jinendra worshipped with waters of the Ksira-sägara. Music and dancing continued before these Jina images. The pillars, erected by Indra, also called Indra-dhvajas had triple umbrellas on tops. Near the pillars were step-wells in four directions and by their sides small kundas for washing one's feet.
A little away from these vāpis was a moat filled with water, full of lotuses and encircling the Samavasarana area.
Near each gateway, of the first rampart, were nine-nidhis (treasures). On each side of the highways starting from these gateways were two nāfya-śālās. Further inside were incense-burner jars, still further, on the byways by the side of highroads, were four forest groves with square or triangular vāpis for heavenly damsels to bathe. At some places were lotus ponds, at others kridámandapas, artificial billocks, mansions (harmya), prekșa-grhas, citra-śālās (picture-galleries), eka-śālās, dvi-śālas (single-roomed or doubleroomed houses), or big palaces (maha-prasada). In the Aśoka-vana was a big Asoka-tree on a three-tiered platform, and adorned with flags, bells etc. At its root were four images of the Jinendra worshipped by gods and human beings. Similarly the other three forests had the Caitya-trees called Saptaparana, the Campaka, and the Amra-tree.
At the ends of these forests were Vana-vedikās with tall gateways with flagstaffs in front.
In the description of the second rampart, and its area, the forests are of the Kalpa-vȚkşas and in the list of buildings etc. we find additional mention of Candraśālās and Kütāgāras. In the centre of each of the highways were nine lofty stūpas adorned on all sides with images of the Siddhas and the Arhats.
In the centre of third rampart area, three pithas stood, one above the other. On the third, Kubera erected a square Gandhakuti on which was placed the lion-throne on which sat the Lord, with triple umbrellas overhead, halo (bhāmandala) behind, nearby and attended upon by Yaksas waving fly-whisks. In the sky rose the sound of the celestial drums beaten by gods.
Descriptions in traditions of both the sects agree in broad outline, viz., a central pavilion (Gandhakuți) for the Jina, placed on a big platform, and surrounded by three fortifications, each with four archways in four different directions. Originally the conception of the samavasaraña seems to be circular in plan and the square plan seems to be a later one. But it shows that the samavasarana has for its prototype the big stūpa (the harmika of stupa may be compared with the gandhakufi or devacchandaka for the
Page #38
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Introduction
25
Jina) surrounded by a flight of steps. At a lower level or on the ground level, running around this central structure and at some distance from it is the bigger railing (a rampart) with ornamental torana-gateways. There is a third rampart which can be compared with the third railing seen on the frieze of worship from Kankali Tila, illustrated in Fig 10A.
But the elaborate Digambara description, in the Adipurăpa of Jinasena, includes in it the various constituent elements of a big city and may have incorporated in it an ideal description of a contemporary city-site with three fortifications, a surrounding moat, pleasure resorts, stepwells, theatres, lawns, lakes, palaces etc., and having in its centre the royal palace. Viewed in this light, such accounts are of special value as providing us with architectural and other cultural data.
In Kalpa-sūtra miniatures Samavasarana is generally represented as circular and occasionally square in plan. Brown's pl. 23, fig. 80 shows Mahavira sitting in the padmasana in the centre of the samavasarana, with a yakşa attendant standing on either side. Four highways lead to the Jina in the centre. The ornamental concentric bands around the Jina represent the usual fortifications. The whole is enclosed in rectangular panel, a four corners of which stand pairs of animals who have forgotten their natural animosities under the spiritual influence of the Jina whose main teaching is ahimsă. Brown's figures 113 and 126 are of a similar composition. His figure 99 represents the second type, here a samavasarana of Pärsvanatha. 136
The fresco paintings of Sittannavasal, of c. 9th-10th century, contain in the ceiling, a scene of a big lotus pond with animals such as elephants and bulls, birds, and fishes frolicking about and men gathering lotus flowers, which has been identified by Ramachandran as khätikābhūmi or the tank region, with the faithful (bhavyas) gathering lotus flowers.
The wall and ceiling paintings at Tirumalai, N. Arcot district, the ceiling at Tiruparuttikunram, at Sravana Belagola etc., also contain representations of Samavasarana in circular form.
Representations of Samavasarana are available in reliefs showing lives of different Jinas, for example. in the life of Santinātha in a ceiling in the Vimala vasahi, Abu, bhāva no. 19, and in another elaborate ceiling in a shrine at Kumbharia. Loose sculptures, mostly circular, showing three ramparts, one above the other, surmounted by a square pavilion showing the Jina sitting on each side are also obtained, a beautiful example of which from the Vimala vasahi cell 20 has been discussed by D.R. Bhandarkar. A big sized beautiful bronze structure of a similar plan, installed in the eleventh century, brought from Sirohi and now in worship in a Jaina shrine in Surat, is illustrated here. 137 Examples of such loose stone and metal sculptures and reliefs are scattered in Jaina shrines all over India. The upper part of Samavasarana, the pavilion or the Gandhakuti, with the Jina facing each side, has been a subject of representation by itself as the Caumukha (Caturmukha pratima) called Pratima-Sarvatobhadrika in Mathura inscriptions. In further later elaboration of this concept we find such four-sided sculptures and bronzes with several Tirthankaras on each face. But the practice of installing Caturmukha sculptures is an old one common to the Caitya and Yaksa worship and images were installed and worshipped on four sides of a Caitya, a pillar or a stúpa, as also in the pavilion or gandhakuti on top of a stūpa.
The square or circular Samavasarana has for its prototype the square or circular funeral mounds or structures referred to by the Satapatha Brāhmana and called Daiva and Asura Pracya respectively. Being associated with smaśäna, symbolising funeral memorials, the Jainas unlike the Buddhists did not like to install miniature Stūpa representations in their shrines and at the same time could not omit such a very popular symbol from the Jaina worship. The evolution of the Samavasarana concept gave an excellent substitute for the stūpa symbol. So far as the concept is concerned Samavasarana has nothing to do with funeral rites.
The original conception of a Caturmukha-pratimă so far as a samavasarana or the gandhakuți on top of a stúpa is concerned, shows that figures of one and the same Jina should be shown on each of the four sides. But the Pratima-Sarva tobhadrikás from Kankali Tila, Mathura, show figures of four different Tirthankaras on the four sides, two of them can be identified as Rşabhanātha and Pärávanátha and the other two possibly represented Mahavira and Neminātha. Thus the Pratima-Sarvatobhadrikäs of Kuşår a age do not always seem to imply the Samavasarana concept and some of them were certainly on the top or at the base of a kind of Jaina pillars, like the Kahaon Pillar, called Manastambhas. This is quite evident in
Page #39
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
* 26
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana cases where, amongst the Pratimă-sarvatobhadrikā or Caturmukha images from Kankali Tila, Mathura, we find tenon or socket on top or bottom.
The conception of the Samavasaraṇa is not later than the Gupta age since neither the Avaśyaka Niryukti nor the Vasudevahindi referring to it can be assigned to a date later than the fourth and fifth centuries A.D.
The conception of a Caturmukha shrine, evolved from the cult of Caitya-vskșa and the Yakşa cult as shown before, and the allied concept of Caturmukha Pratimă led further to the creation of interesting sculptures and bronzes, as, for example, the Nandiśvara images at Jina-Kånchi or Tiruparuttikupsam illustrated by Ramachandran, op. cit., pl. XXI, fig. 3 and pl. XXXI, fig. 4. Four-sided bronze and stone images having in all 72, 108, or 1008 miniature Jina images were also evolved. A beautiful Caumukha shrine from Guna, Madhya Pradesh, is a gem of its kind. 138
VIII. Tree-Worship
We have already referred to Caitya trces before. Tree-worship, popular from ancient times, noticed on Indus seals and in Vedic and later Brahmanical literature, formed an important aspect of the religious cult of the masses with whom Buddha and Mahāvīra were mainly concerned. The Caitya tree had to be introduced on relief sculpture of a Tirthankara by showing its foliage spread over his head, because of the great popular appeal the Tree had in ancient India. 139 Originally perhaps the Jina image was placed under a Caitya-Tree. The bronze figure of a Caitya-tree obtained in the Chausa hoard (Fig. 17) was perhaps worshipped in such a way with a separate small Jina figure placed near its trunk. Even today the Çaitya-tree of Rşabhanātha (Rayana tree in Gujarati) is held sacred and worshipped on the mountain Satrunjaya.
The earliest reference to the Caitya-tree of Mahāvira is in the Acārānga sūtra, book II which is regarded as later than book I. Though incorporating much earlier material, the Samavāyānga sutra (samavāya 159, p. 152) is obviously a later compilation. It gives a list of Past, Present and Future Tirthankaras and records a list of Caitya-vęksas of all the 24 Tirthankaras of this age in the Bharata kşetra.
Spirits connected with trees are assigned by the Jainas to the class of Vyantara gods. The Vyantaras are subdivided into eight groups, namely, Piśācas, Bhūtas, Yaksas, Raksasas, Kinnaras, Kimpurusas, Mahoragas (Nāgas), and Gandharvas. Each group has on its crest the symbol of a tree in the following order--the kadamba, sulasa, vata, khatvanga, aśoka, näga and tumburu according to the Svetāmbara tradition while the Digambaras substitute the badari tree for the khayvānga. In the Svetämbara list khafvanga alone does not seem to be the name of a tree.
The Sthânănga sutra (10.3, sū. 766) gives a list of trees worshipped by the ten classes of Bhavanavāsi gods. A different list is supplied by the Tiloyapappatti, 4.913ff.
Along with the conception of Caitya trees may be noted the conceptions of the Tree of Life and the Wish-fulfilling Trees (kalpa-druma) in Brahmanical and Buddhist texts. Jaina texts also speak of ten kalpa-drumas, described in detail in the Jambūdvipaprajñapti, 20, pp. 99ff, Harivamsa of Jinasena, I, pp. 146-47, Trişaștiśalākā-puruşacarita (Parva 1, transl. op. cit., pp. 29-30), etc.
REFERENCES
1. For references from Buddhist texts, see Muni Naga
rajaji, Agama aur Tripitaka-Eka Anusílana (Hindi), vol. I, pp. 402ff. Malalasekera, G.P., Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, vol. II (London, 1938), pp. 61-65; Shah, C.J., Jainism in North India (London, 1932), pp. 5-7; Jaini, Padmanabha, The Jaina Path of Purification
(Delhi, 1979), p. 2, n. 3. 2. Varāhamihira in his Brhat-Samhitä refers to the Arhats,
i.e., followers of Arhats. By his time the term Arhat (worthy of veneration) seems to have been used espe
cially for a Jina or a Tirthařkara. 3. As in Amarakośa, cf. : G G:* fecitaffucci: 1 4. A Jina is called an Arhat, cf. Abhayadeva's Comm. on
Sthánānga sutra, p. 191, and Avašyaka Niryukti, gatha 1087; Mülacara, 7.4; Jaini, Padmanabha, op. cit., pp. 1-2 and notes.
Page #40
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
27
Introduction S. A remarkable study of the Jaina shrines at Devgadh 11.12, SBE, XLV, p. 11. Also see Muni Uttam Kamal
is made by Klaus Bruhn in his The Jina-Images of Jain, Jaina Sects and Schools (Delhi, 1975), pp. 39-45. Deogarh (Leiden, 1961). S. Settar has studied Sravana. 25. Avasyaka Cürni (Ratlam, 1928), pp. 285, 291. BrhatBelagola Monuments. I understand his work will be
Kalpa-Bhasya, I, gåthas 1328-57. published soon. Of course, an abridged book entitled For details about Jinakalpa, see Brhat-Kalpa-Sarra with Sravana Belagola by S. Settar was published in 1981 Bhäsya, III, gāthas 3962ff; about the Sthavirakalpa from Dharwar. M.A. Dhaky is engaged in a special monks, sec Acaranga sutra, 7.4.208ff; also see Schustudy of all the Jaina monuments at Satrunjaya while bring, Die Lehre Der Jinas (Berlin and Leipzig, 1935), Harihara Singh has made a special study of the Jaina pp. 162ff. Muni Kalyanavijaya, Sramaşa Bhagavan shrines at Kumbhària.
Mahavira (Hindi, Jalor, v.s. 1998), pp. 285ff. For the 6. Jaina, J.C., Life in Ancient India as depicted in the Jaina Digambara view, see Jaina, Kamta Prasad in Jaina Canons, p. 19, and o. 2.
Antiquary (Arrah), vol. ix, no. II. 7. Acarariga süfra, II.3.401, p. 389.
26. Acārārga sātra, 1.7, SBE, XII, pp. 69-73. 8. Bhagavati sutra, 9.32.
27. Brhat-Kalpa-Sutra with Bhasya, III, gāthā 3964. 9. Jaina sutras, SBE, vol. XIV, pp. xvi-xxi.
28. Avasyaka cürni, II, pp. 155ff. 10. Jaini, Padmanabha, op. cit., pp. 15-21.
29. Ibid., pp. 406ff. 11. Cf. Uttaradhyayana sutra, 26.29. For rules of conduct of
30. Avasyaka cūrni, pp. 427ff. Avašyaka-Bhasya, gāthā 145 Kesin, a follower of Pårśvanátha, see Rayapasenaiya
printed in Avasyaka vptti of Haribhadra süri (Agarosutta, 147, and for disciples of Mahavira, Aupaparika daya Samiti ed., Bombay, 1918), pp. 323ff. Višeşayasútra, 16, p. 61.
$yaka-Maha-Bhāsya of Jinabhadra gani (510-600 A.D.), Modern scholars do not believe in the legend of Transfer vol. II, pp. 676ff (Ratlam ed.). of Mahavira's Embryo. It seems that he was born of a 31. Brhat-Katha-Kosa (ed. by Upadhye, A.N., Singhi Jaina Brahmapa lady. Also see Jaini, Padmanabha, op. cit., Series, no. 17), 131, pp. 317ff, and Intro., p. 118. For pp. 6-9 and notes; Malavania, Dalsukh D., Mahavira's
inscriptions about this legend, vide Epigraphia CarnaLife, Journ of the O. I., Baroda, vol. XXIV, pp. 11ff.
tica, II (revised ed.), pp. 36ff. Also see Bhavasamgraha 13. Shah, U.P., Harinegamesin, Journal of the Indian Society
of Devasena (Bombay, 1978), pp. 35-39, and of Oriental Art, vol. XIX (1952-1953), pp. 19-41 and Bhadrabähucarita of Bhațjāraka Ratnanandi (Bombay, plates.
1912). 14. The Digambara Sect does not believe in the Transfer 32. Uttaradhyayana sutra, pp. 152-178; Urtaradhyayana
cpisode nor do they give the name of Mahavira's mother Niryukti, gathas 164-178; Avasyaka Niryukti, gathas as Trišala. They call her Priyakāriņi.
778-783. 15. For the date of Mahavira's Nirvāṇa, See Muni 33. Više dvaśyaka Maha-Bhasya, gathas 3011ff) (Ratlam Kalyanavijaya, Vira Nirvana Samvat Aur Jaina
ed.), pp. 729-34. The Digambara writer Devasena in his Kalaganana (Hindi), Nagari Pracarini Patrika, vols. X
Darśanasara, v. 11, says that this schism arose 136 years XI; and Muni Nagaraj, op. cit.
after Vikrama, i.e., in 79 A.D. For Pandit Nathuram 16. For a fuller account and more illustrations, see Shah,
Premi's remarks on above, see Jaina Hitaisi (Hindi), U.P., A Pārsvarātha Sculpture in Cleveland, Bulletin of
vol. XIII, pp. 252ff, 265ff. the Cleveland Museum of Art, December 1970, pp. 303
For the age of Niryuktis, Muni Punyavijayaji's Intro311 and plates.
duction to Brhat-Kalpa-Sūtra with Bhāsya, vol. VI; 17. Jaini, Padmanabha, op. cit., pp. 38-41.
Charpentier's Intro. to the Uttaradhyayana-sutra 18. Urtaradhyayana sutra (Devacand Lalbhai Jaina Pusta.
(Upasala, 1922), pp. 49f places Bhadrabahu, the author koddhara series, no. 33, 1916 A.D.), pp. 502-503, Transl.
of the Niryuktis in c. 4th cent. A.D. According to by Jacobi, SBE, vol. XIV, p. 12.
Leumann the Niryuktis were compiled in c. 80 A.D.; 19. Brhat-Kalpa-Sätra with Bhasya (ed. by Muni Punyavija
also see Schubring, op. cit., p. 60; Ghatge, A.M., yaji, Bhavanagar), vol. VI, gathā 6369, p. 1681:
Dašavaikälika Niryukti, IHQ, vol. XI, p. 629. Alsdorf, अचेलक्को धम्मो पुरिमस्स य पच्छिमस्य य जिनस्स ।
A.L., in Mahavira and His Teachings (Ahmedabad, मज्झिमगान जिणानं होत्ति अचेलो सचेलो वा ॥
1976). The Svetambara writers tried to explain the term acela 34. Silappudikaram, transl. by Dikshitar, Ramachandra, by saying that even with tattered worn out garment a V.R. (Oxford, 1942), pp. 4f, 190f, 214f, and Intro., person can be generally called acela, see also ibid..
p. 68; Chakravarti, A., Jainism in Tamil Land, Jaina p. 1680, gathas 6260ff and p. 1688, gåthås 6402ff.
Antiquary, vol. IV, 3, pp. 69ff etc. 20. Acäränga süfra, 1.8.1, Transl. by Jacobi, SBE, vol. 34a. For detailed information of sites and illustrations, seo
XXII, p. 78; Kalpa sutra, Jacobi's transl., vol. XXII, R. Champakalakşmi, South India, Jaina Art and pp. 259f.
Architecture, chp:9, pp. 92-103 and plates. 21. Jaini, Padmanabha, op. cit., pp. 10ff; Dighanikäya, 1.57. 35. Brhat-Kalpa-Sūtra, gåthås 3275-3289, vol. III, pp. 91722. Jaini, Padmanabha, op. cit., pp. 13ff, 16.
931. Compare gathā 3289 which is famous (the same 23. Jaini, Padmanabha, ibid., pp. 16-18.
gathās are also available in the Niśitha Cūrni, vol. IV, 24. Sthananga, 11.171, p. 137 (Agamodaya Samiti ed.); Acar
pp. 128-131, gåthås 5744-5758, given in both the texts as äriga, JI.5.1.2, SBE, XII, pp. 157-166; Uttaradhyayana, Bhasya gathās):
Page #41
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
.
उदिण्णजोहाउलसिद्धसेणो, स पत्यिवो णिज्जियसत्तुसेणो । समततो साहमुहप्पयारे, अकासि अंधे दमिले य धोरे ॥३२८६।। Also see The Ascendency and Eclipse of Bhagvan Mahavira's Cult in Tamil Nadu, by K.A. Nilakantha Sastri and V. Ramasubramaniam, in Mahavira and His Teachings (Bombay, 1977). pp. 297-344. It is indeed difficult to say when exactly Jainism entered South India. But one can imagine gradual inroads of Jainism in the South, through Kalinga (note Kharavela's inscr.), and through Pratisthanapura; and on the west coast through Surparaka to Karnataka. During the lifetime of Mahavira the Jainas were mainly in Magadha and Radha in Bengal and perhaps in southern Košala and also in Ujjain etc. Afterwards the Kalpa-sutra-Sthaviravali giving Gana and Kula names derived from places is our sure guide. Jainism does not appear to have made strongholds in the South before c. third or second century ... A few monks could have ventured going into South india before the time of Mauryan ruler Samprati but with little or no success in settling there. Also see Subrahmanyam, R., The Gunfupally Brahmi inscription of Kharavela, Andhra Pradesh Govt. Epigraphical Series no. 3 (1968),
pp. 1-6. 36. Schubring, op. cit., p. 6. 37. Premi, Nathuram, Jaina Sahitya Aura Itihasa (in Hindi)
(Bombay, 1942), pp. 41ff. Upadhye, A.N., Yapaniya Samgha, Journal of the University of Bombay, vol. VI, pp. 224ff. The Hoskote copper-plate inscription of Pallava Simhaviņpu (Ep. Ind., vol. 24) refers in line 25 to Arhaddeva-ayatana Worshipped by the Yavanika Samgha (Yapaniya Samgha). I am thankful to R. Nagaswamy for drawing my atten
tion to the Hoskote plates. 38. Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic
Society, vol. 34. Devagiri Plates of Siva Mrgesavarman, Indian Antiquary, vol. XII, pp. 36ff. Saletore, B.A., Mediaeval Jainism (Bombay, 1938), pp. 31-32. Date of
Mțgeśavarman is c. 470-488 A.D. 39. Perhaps the Digambaras are here referred to as
Nirgranthas. 40. It is not possible to illustrate here all of them. Also
see Chanda, Ramaprasad, Svetambara and Digambara Images, Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of
India, for 1925-26, pp. 180ff. 41. For known Jaina sculptures of the Gupta period, see
Chanda, Ramaprasad, ibid., pp. 121ff, pl. LVI, figs. b and c; Shah, U.P., Studies in Jaina Art, pp. 14-16; Fleet, Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, vol. III, 66-68; Banerji, R.D., Age of the Imperial Guptas, pp. 104, 106, 108, 129, and pl. xviii; Agrawala, V.S., Catalogue of the Mathura Museum, pl. xiii, pp. 52ff; Gai, G.S., Three Inscriptions of Ramagupta, JOI, vol. XVIII, pp. 247ff and plates; Jaina Art and Architecture (ed. by A. Ghosh), vol. I, chps. 10, 11, 12, 13, pp. 107-142 and plates. Shah, U.P., An Old Jaina Image from Khed-Brahma, JOI, vol. X, pp. 61ff and plate. Joanna Williams, The Art of
Gupta India, figs. 27-30, 60, 68, 69, 88, 146-148, 230-231. 42. Smith, V., Jaina Stupa and Other Antiquities from
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana Mathura, pl. xvii, fig. 2, discussed by Chanda, R.P., op. cit., p. 179; Epi. Ind., X, p. 117; Jaina Art and Architecfure, I, chp. 6, pl. 3, p. 57. For the Ardhapbalakas, see Jaina, K.P., Ardhaphālaka Sampradaya (in Hindi).
Jaina Siddhanta Bhaskara, VIII, no. 2, pp. 63-66. 43. The date in the inscription is generally read as 95, Ep.
Ind., 1, no. 22. Luders' List no. 75. Luders says that the reading of the first two signs of the date is uncertain. In Jaina Art and Architecture, I, p. 57, Debala Mitra has given year 99 as the date. It seems that the date 95 or 99 may not be in the era of 78 A.D. since that would be equal to 173 or 177 A.D. But if the date is in the era of 57 B.C. then the date would be equal to 38 or 42 A.D. which is reasonable since Kapha or Krspa Sramana is the teacher of Sivabhūti and since Sivabhūti's schism arose in 79 or 83 A.D. If we accept Jacobi's date of Mahavira's Nirvana around 467 B.C., the date of the schism of Sivakofi or Sivabhūti would be 142 A.D. In that case the cra used for the date in this Tablet of Kanha Samapa can be the
era of 78 A.D. 44. Also see Shah, U.P., Evolution of Jaina Iconography and
Symbolism, Aspects of Jaina Art and Architecture, paper
no. 6, pp. 49-74, and figs. 16-21. 45. The inscriptions on the pedestals of these images from
Mathura refer to ganas, sakhas, kulas, etc., found in the Svetambara Sthaviravali of the Kalpa-sūtra whereas the monks represented on pedestals are naked and often hold a piece of cloth on the elbow in such a way that the linga is covered from view. Whom they called arddhaphalakas in their times? They seem to be Jinakalpi monks who might be holding such a piece of cloth when they come out of seclusion into the society. Or, are they Yapaniyas? It is difficult to draw any definite conclusion. It is very likely that these sculptures from the Kankali Tila, Mathura are of an age when the Digambara-Svetambara schism had either not surfaced or at least had not reached Mathura. Otherwise we would have found figures of Jaina monks dressed as Svetambara monks, with at least one lower garment. The problem needs further investigation since names of some monks and most of the ganas, sakhas, kulas etc.
figure in Sve. accepted Sthavirāvali of the Kalpa-sütra. 46. Shah, U.P., Age of Differentiation of Digambara and
Svetämbara Images and the Earliest known Sverdmbara Bronzes, Bulletin of the Prince of Wales Museum, no. 1,
pp. 31ff. Akota Bronzes, p. 26, pls. 8a and 8b. 47. Traag: Therafan दिग्बासास्तरुणो रूपवाश्च कार्योऽहंतां देवः ।।
-Brhar-Samhita of Varahamihira, 58.45. The Pancasiddhantika of Varahamihira is dated in 327 Saka year according to S.K. Dikshit in Indian Culture, vol. VI, no. 2, pp. 191ff. Dikshit takes veda-3 in saprāśviveda-samkhye etc. Others take veda=4. Dikshit
says that in those days only three Vedas were recognised. 48. Prabhavaka-Carita of Prabhacandra (1334 v.s.), publi
shed in Singhi Jaina Serics, no. 13, pp. 8off, Upadesutarangini of Ratnamandira gani, p. 248; Pravacanaparikså of Dharmasagara, in Report of the Search of
Page #42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Introduction
Mss. 1883-84, by Bhandarkar, p. 146: 49. Also compare Rama Prasad Chanda's remarks in A.S.I.. Ann. Rep. 1925-26, op. cit.
50. Smith, Vincent, Jaina Stupa and other Antiquities from Mathura, Debala Mitra, Chapter no. 6, Mathura, Jaina Art and Antiquities, vol. I, pp. 49-68 and plates. Agrawala, V.S., Catalogue of the Mathura Museum, Jaina Antiquities, JUPHS, vol. XXIII (1950), pp. 35
147.
51. Avasyaka Niryukti, gāthās 949-51, Avasyaka Cürni, p. 567, Avasyaka Vrtti of Haribhadra, p. 437. 52. Siddheśvara Shastri Citrava, Präcina Caritra Kosa (Marathi, Poona. 1932), p. 635.
53. Shah, U.P., Studies in Jaina Art, pp. 12, 62-64. 54. For Stupa worship at Mathura, see Debala Mitra, chp. 6 on Mathura in Jaina Art and Antiquities (ed. A. Ghosh), vol. I, pp. 52-61, plates 1-8. Studies in Jaina Art, pp. 43-64. For Aştamangalas, Studies in Jaina Art, pp. 109-112, and fig. 60; Shah, U.P., Treasures of Jaina Bhandaras. For Caitya-Trees, Studies in Jaina Art, pp. 65-76; for Ayagapatas, ibid., pp. 77-84 and figs. For Sthapana, ibid., 113ff, fig. 43.
55. Caumukha images are also found on tops of Samavasarana icons, for Samavasaraṇa, see ibid., pp. 85-95, fig. 76. For Caumukha sculptures, ibid., fig. 28 (from Son Bhandara cave, Rajgir), fig. 74 (from Terahi, M.P.), fig. 84 (from Surat); Jaina Art and Architecture, I, pl. 18 (from Mathura); ibid., II, pl. 159 A and B (from Deolia and Purulia respy.), pl. 257B (from Mudabidri), etc. For discussion of four-fold sculptures on top or bottom of pillars-Manastambhas-and allied matters, see Shah, U.P., Jaina Anusrutis... etc.... Motichandra Memorial Lecture, Journal of Indian Museums, vol. XXXIV (1978), pp. 1-34. esp. pp. 18-22.
56. Studies in Jaina Art, pp. 77-84, fig. 14B. Jaina Art and Architecture, I, pl. I.
57. Shah, U.P., Moti Chandra Memorial Lecture, Journal of Indian Museums, vol. XXXIV (1978), p. 15 and figs. 1 and 2. Worship of pillars was known to Buddhists also, compare Fig. 11, in The Art of India through the Ages, by Stella Kramrisch (London, 1954), showing worship of the Dharmacakra Pillar by a male and a female, carved on a pillar near the north entry at the Sanchi Stupa (c. second century B.C.).
58. See Fleet, Gupta Inscriptions, Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, III, pp. 66-68.
59. The practice has remained popular with the Digambaras. At Devgadh are several pillars which show variations in and elaboration of Mänastambhas, see Devagadh ki Jaina Kala (in Hindi) (Delhi, 1974), by Bhagachandra Jaina, figs. 28, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48.
In Southern India there are so-called Brahmadeva pillars and other pillars in front of Jaina shrines. S. Settar has explained that these pillars do not show figures of Brahma Yakṣa or Brahmadeva but the pillars have figures of Sarvanubhuti Yakṣa. He has shown their origin in the Manastambhas. Cf. S. Settar, The Brahmadeva Pillars, Artibus Asiae, vol. XXXIII, nos. 1-2, pp. 17ff.
29.
60. Also see Bannerji, J.N., Development of Hindu Iconography (first ed.), p. 114 and note..
61. Coomaraswamy, A.K., Elements of Buddhist Iconography, figs. 4-10, and pp. 10f.
62. Cf. Rgveda, VI.16.13; 1.59.1-2; IV.13.5; V.29.4; X.5.6. According to Coomaraswamy, op. cit., p. 66, "The axis of the Universe is coincident also with the fiery Sivalingam set up, according to the Devadaruvana legend, in the foundations of the Earth and extending upwards to Heaven. The Jyotirlingas were originally perhaps such fiery lingas. One such linga with flames exists in the Bharata Kala Bhavan, Varanasi.
63. Adipurana of Jinasena, 22.92-102, pp. 515-16. The name Manastambha is explained as follows:
मानस्तम्भान्महामानयोगात् त्रैलोक्यमाननात् । अन्वर्थसंज्ञया तज्ज्ञ मनस्तम्भाः प्रकीर्तिताः ॥१०२॥ Tiloyapanṇatti, 4.782, gives another explanation: माल्लासयमिच्छा वि दूरदो दंसणेण थंभाणं ।
जं होंति गलिदमाणा माणत्थंभ ति तं भणिदं ॥ ७८२ ॥
64. Tiloyapanṇatti, 4.779ff, vol. I, pp. 243-44. S. Settar, The Brahmadeva Pillars, Artibus Asiae, vol. XXXIII, pp. 17ff, figs. 1-3.
65. Indramaha was the most prominent of all other mahas
(festivals) in ancient days. Bharata is said to have celebrated eight days' festival in honour of Indra (Avasyaka Curni, p. 213). Indramaha is also mentioned by Bhasa (Pusalkar, Bhāsa, A Study, chp. 19, p. 440f), also in the MBH, I.64.33, and Kathasaritsägara, etc. According to Rāmāyaṇa, IV.16.36, it was celebrated on the full-moon of the Asvin in Gauda-deśa. Indalatthi (Indra-yaşți, the same as the Indradhvaja) is mentioned in the Nayadhammakahão, I, Bhagavati sutra, 9.6; also in the Mahabharata, VII.49.12. Also see Brhat-KalpaSutra, vol. IV, gāthā 5153.
Jaina texts mention festivities in honour of (1) Inda, Indra, (2) Khanda, Skanda, (3) Rudda, Rudra, (4) Mukunda, (5) Siva, (6) Vesamana, Vaiśramaņa, Kubera, (7) Näga, (8) Jakkha, Yakṣa, (9) Bhuya, Bhuta, (10) Ajjä. Ärya, the same as Durga, (11) Koṭṭakiriya, Mahiṣamarddini... Näyādhammakahão, 8. Bhagavati sutra, 3.1. Acaränga sutra, 2.1.1.2, sutra 12; Nayadhammakahão (Vaidya's ed.), pp. 49f.
66. Bhagavati sutra, 20.9, su. 684, 794. For the Nandisvaradvipa, festival thereon and representations of Nandiśvaradvipa, see Studies in Jaina Art, pp. 119-121, figs. 63, 89.
67. For a detailed discussion on the origin and conception
of Caitya, see Shah, U.P., Studies in Jaina Art, pp. 3975 where conceptions of Caityas, Caitya-stūpas, Caityastambhas, Caitya-vṛksas, etc. are discussed with Jaina and other sources.
68. Jaina commentators explain Ceiyam-Caityam in kallāṇam mangalam devayam ceiyam etc. as Jinädipratimā or Iştadevapratima. See Studies in Jaina Art, p. 50. 69. Ibid., p. 53, note 4.
70. Coomaraswamy, History of Indian and Indonesian Art (HIIA), p. 47. Also see Odette Viennot, Le Culte De L'Arbre Dans L'Inde Anncienne, pl. VIII, fig. D from Amaravati Stupa.
Page #43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
71. Coomaraswamy,HILA, p. 47. 72. This stone structure probably had an earlier wooden
prototype. For Stone Umbrellas and the Jaina description, see Shah, U.P., Stone-Umbrellas from Mathura, Journal of the U.P. Historical Research Society,
vol. XIV (1951). 73. Cr. Odette Viennot, op. cit., pl. XII, figs. A, E, F,
pl. XIII, figs. A, B,C,D. pl. XIV, fig. A. 74. Adipurana, 22.184-204, vol. I, pp. 524-527.cr.:
मूर्ना छत्रत्रयं बिभ्रन्मुक्तालम्बनभूषितम् । विभोस्त्रिभुवनश्वयं विना वाचेव दर्शयन् ॥१७४।। भेजिरे बुघ्नभागेऽस्य प्रतिमा दिक्चतुष्टये । जिनेश्वराणामिन्द्राधः समवासाभिषेचना: ॥१७५|| चैत्याधिष्टितबुध्नत्वादूढतन्नामरूढयः । शाखिनोऽमी विभान्ति स्म सुरेन्द्रःप्रासपूजनाः ॥२०१।। Also cf.: मद्दोभूमुहरुंदा चञ्जोयणऽच्छिदाणि पीढाणि । पीढोवरिबहुमज्झे रम्मा चेट्ठन्ति चेत्तदुमा ॥३३॥ छत्तादिध्वत्तजुत्ता घंटाजालादिरमणिज्जा ॥३६॥ आदिणिहणेण हीना पुढविमया सब्वभवणचेत्तदुमा। जीवुप्पत्तिलयाणं होंति निमित्ताणि ते णियमा ॥३७॥ चेत्ततरूणं मूले पत्तक्कं चउदिसासु पंचेव । चेदति जिणप्पडिमा पलियंकठिया सुरेहि महणिज्जा ।।८।। चठत्तोरणाभिरामा अट्ठमहामंगलेहि सोहिल्ला । वररयणणिम्मिदेहि माणथम्भेहि अइरम्मा हा
-Tiloyapannatti, 3.33-39, vol. I, p. 115. 75. Digambara writers share the same telief, compare:
तीर्थादौ भरतेश्वरेण भगवत्संदेशनालब्धिता गार्हस्थ्ये रसखंडमंडलघनरष्टापदे निर्मितः । चैत्याना निवहस्तु यत्न जिनराड्बिबानि संस्थापिता न्येवं भूतभविष्यदैहिककलां पूज्येश्वराणां पृथक् ।।
-Vasubindu-Pratisthópáha, v. 17, p. 6. 76. Avasyaka-vrtti, p. 169. The Mula-Bhosya-gatha on the
Niryukti verse is: यूभसय भाउगाणं चउवीसं चेव जिणहरे कासी। सम्वजिणाणं पडिमा वण्णपमाणेहि निअएहिं ॥४५||
-avasyaka-Vrtti, p. 169. Also see Avasyaka Curni, pp. 223ff. 77. Vasudevahindi, p. 169 and pp. 300-303. Cf.:
तस्सपुत्तो आसी भरहो नाम पढमचक्कबद्री चउदसरयणाहिबई नवनिहिवई, तेण इमं आययणं कारियं पडिमा भिया य। Vasudevahindi,
p.301. 77a. Epigraphia Indica. II (1893-94), p. 198; H. Lüders, List
of Brāhmi Inscriptions (1912), no. 93. Debala Mitra on Mathura in Jaina Art and Architecture, pp. 49ff. Also see
Lucknow Museum, no.J.540 and Luders List, no.99. 78. Jambūdvipaprojñapti, 2nd vaksaskāra, sūtra 33 (Deva
chand Lalbhai Pustakoddhara Fund, ed. 1920), pp. 157158. Quoted by us in Studies in Jaira Art, p. 59, note 4.
Also see Avaśyaka Cūrņi, pp. 221-223. 79. Lüders, List no. 47. For K.D. Bajpai's corrected
reading, see Mahavira Commemoration Volume (Agra),
I, pp. 189-190. 80. Avasyaka Niryukti with Haribhadra's Viti I, p. 453.
Also see Vyavahāra-Bhāsya, 5.27-28; Brhat.KalpaBhāsya,V.5824,VI.6275.
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana 81. For some explanation, see Studies in Jaina Art. pp. 63
64. Brhat-katha-kosa, ed. by A.N. Upadhye (Singhi Series, Bombay, 1943), pp. 22-27. Also see Jyotiprasad Jaina, Pramukha Aitihasika Jaina Puruşa Aur Mahilae (Hindi),
p.59. 83. Handiqui, K.K., Yašastilaka Campū and Indian Culture,
pp.415ff.
Brhat-katha-kosa, notes, p. 379. 85. Introduction to Harivamsa of Jinasena, by Pandit
Nathuram Premi in Harivamsa, vol. I (Mapikchand
Digambara Jaina Granthamala), pp. 20ff. 86. History of Bengal, I, p. 410. 87. See plate I in Jaina Art and Architecture (ed. by A.
Ghosh), vol. II and pp. 55ff, Paper no. 6 on Mathura
by Debala Mitra. 88. Kalpa-sūtra, sū. 31-46, Jacobi's translation in SBE,
pp. 229-238; also see Kalpa-sútra, sů. 3, and Jacobi's
translation, op. cit., p. 219. 89. For discussion and interpretation of some of these
prognostic dreams see Coomaraswamy, A.K., The
Conqueror's Life in Jaina Paintings, JISOA, vol. III, __no.2(Dec. 1935), pp. 122-144. 90. For other illustrations, Jaina Citrakalpadruma, vol. I,
fig. 73. Coomaraswamy, Catalogue of the Indian Collections in the Boston Museum, vol. IV, figs. 34. 13. Brown's KSP, op. cit., fig. 152, p. 64. Pavitra-Kalpasutra, ed. Muni Punyavijaya, figs. 17, 22. Representations of Sri amongst such miniatures are of
special iconographic interest. 91. In the Kharatavasahi Caumukha shrine at Delvada,
Mt. Abu, they are represented on an architrave in the hall in front of the main shrine, a photograph of which is published in Muni Jayanatavijaya's Tirtharaja Abu (Gujarati), 5thedition.
The dreams are painted on a wooden-book cover depicting the life of Parsvanātha, now preserved in the L.D. Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad, see JISOA, vol. V, pp. 2-12, and plates. Also see Jesalmer Citrávali (Gujarati), edited by Muni Punyavijaya. For paintings of dreams on walls, see Niraydvalião, 2.1, p. 51. Adipurana of Jinasena, sarga 12, v. 101-119; Harivamsa,
sarga 8, verses 58-74. 93. The belief is common to both the sects but the differences
in the lists and the numbers would suggest a relatively
later growth. 94. Trişaşrisalāk āpuruşacarita, parva 4, chp. 1, vv. 216-233. 95. Harivamsa, 35, vv. 11-12, vol. II, pp. 451-452.
Padmacarita, 25.3, p. 506 notes a different tradition
according to which she the Lion and the Moon only. 96. Trisasti., op. cit., vv. 167-179. 97. Harivamša, 32.1-2; Padmacarita, 25.12-15 gives a diffe
rent tradition. 98. Trisasti., 1.4, vv. 883ff. Pavitra-Kalpa-sutra, ed. Muni
Punyavijaya, sū. 71. 99. Harivamsa, 32.1-2; Padmacarita, 25.12-15 gives a
different tradition. Adipurana of Jinasena, parva 15,
vv. 100-101. 99a. Sthananga sitra, 10.3, su. 750, vol. II, pp. 4991.
92.
Page #44
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
31
Introduction 100. Muni Sri Punyavijaya. in his Introduction to his ed. of
Pavitra-Kalpa-sutra, p. 10, says that the detailed description of the fourteen dreams in the KS is not referred to in Agastya Simha's Cūrni on the same and that therefore it is difficult to say whether the portion in question is genuine or not. According to him, the Niryukti as well as the Cürni on the Daśāśrutaskandha (of which the Kalpa-sutra is the eighth adhyayana) seem to date from c. 350 A.D. or earlier. See Sabdakalpadruma-Kosa under Svapna. Aupapatika sūtra, sū. 31: Sovatthiya (or Sotthiya), Sirivacca, Nandiyāvatta, Bhaddasana. Kalasa, Maccha,
Dappana and Vaddhamanaga. 103. Trisasti., I (translation in Gos, vol. LTD. pp. 112, 190.
Jinasena's Adipurana, parva 22, vv. 143, 185, 210 etc. Compare: तेसिणं तोरणाणं उप्पि अट्ठट्ट मंगलगा पण्णत्ता, तं जहासोत्थिय, सिखिच्छ, नन्दियावत्त, वद्ध नाणग, भद्दामण, कलस, मच्छ, दप्पण जाव पडिरूवा। -Rayapasenaiyam, ed. Pt. Bechardas Doshi, pp. 80ff;
Jambudvipaprajnapti, vol. I, p. 43. 104. Trisasti., I (transl. in Gos, vol. LI), p. 190 and note 238. 105. Smith. V.A., Jaina Stipa ..., pl.XI. Studies in Jaina
Art, fig. 10. Some of these symbols occur on other Ayagapatas also, cf., for example, Smith, Jaina
Stüpa ..., pl. IX; Studies in Jaina Art, figure 11. 106. Smith.Js.... pl. VII; Studies in Jaina Art..fig. 13. 107. Especially see Agrawala, V.S., Harsacarita, Eka
Samskrtika Adhyayana (Hindi), p. 120, where he has referred to Asramangalamalās from Sanchi reliefs. The Mangalakas are more than eight at Sanchi. Gradually
the number was fixed as eight. 108. On a red sand-stone umbrella (c. 2nd cent. A.D.) from
Mathura, the following eight auspicious symbols are carved: Nandipada (same as the Tri-ratna), Matsyayugma, Svastika, Puspa-dama, Purna-ghafa, Ratna-pätra, Sri-vatsa, Saikha-Nidhi ... Agrawala, V.S., A New Stone Umbrella from Mathura, JUPHS, vol. XX (1947). pp.65-67. For the Jaina evidence and description of such Umbrellas, from Prašnavyäkarana sitra, see Shah, U.P.,AFurther Note.on Stone Umbrellas from
Mathura, JUPHS, vol. XXIV. 109. Jaina Citrakalpadruma, figs. 59, 82. Shah, U.P..
Treasures of Jaina Bhandaras, fig. 116. Studies in Jaina
Art, fig.60. 110. For illustration see Helen Johnson's translation of the
Trisastisalākāpurusacarita, I, in the GOS, vol. LI,
pl. IV. 111. Tiloyapanmatti, 4.738, vol. I, p. 236. 112. Coomaraswamy has discussed the Purna-Kumbha (full
jar) in his Yaksas, part II, pp. 61-64; full-jar is discussed by Agrawala, V.S. in JUPHS, vol. XVII, pp. 16ff; Wilhelm Huttemann, Miniature Zum Jina caritra, Bassler-Archin, vol. 4 (1914). pp. 47-77. Brown, W. Norman, KSP, op. cit., p. 12. Agrawala, V.S., PurnaKumbha (Varanasi). The Vardhamanaka and the Sri-vatsa symbols are treated by Coomaraswamy in Ostasiatische Zeitschr (1927-28), pp. 181ff, and by Johnson, E.H., JRAS,
1931, pp. 558ff; ibld., 1932, pp. 393ff. Agravala, P.K., Sri-vatsa, the ... of Sri (New Delhi). For Svastika, see
Brown, W. Norman, The Svastika. 113. Acāra-Dinakara, pp. 197-198. 114. Also see Kane, P.V., History of Dharmaśāstra, vol. II,
p. 511. He quotes the following verse from a manuscript of Saunaka-kārika: दर्पणः पूर्णकलश: कन्या सुमनसोऽक्षताः ।
दीपमाला ध्वजा लाजा सम्प्रोक्त चाष्टमङ्गलम् ॥ 115. Brahmavaivarta Purana, Ganapati Khanda, adhyâya 16
and Krsna-janma Khanda, adhyâya 70, both quoted in Sabdakalpadruma, III, p.564. Also see Agni Purana, adhyâya 58. v. 31 (Anandaśrama ed.), p. 72. Sabdakalpadruma, I, p. 148 quotes the following: मृगराजो वृषो नागः कलशो व्यजनं तथा । वैजयन्ती तथा भेरी दीप इत्यष्टमङ्गलम् ।।
इति बृहन्नन्दिकेश्वरपुराणे दुर्गोत्सवपद्धती. 116. Cf. मङ्गलैरभिषिञ्चस्व तत्र त्वं व्यापृतो भव ।
-Ramayana, II.23.29. 117. Jinabhadra gani Ksamasramana (c. 500-610 A.D.)
explains it as: गुरुविरहम्मि च ठवणा गुरुवएसोवदंसणत्थं च ।। जिणविरहम्मि व जिणबिंबसेवणाडमन्तणं सहलं ।।
-Visesāvasyaka-Mahābhāsya. Devendra sūri in his Samghācāra-fika, section called Guruvandana-bhāsya, says: गुरुगुणजुत्तं तु गुरु ठाविज्जा अहव तत्य अक्खाई। अहवा नाणाइतिरं ठविज्ज सक्ख-गुरु-अभावे ॥२८॥ The following from Pindaniryukti explains the Sthapana: तं बिति नामपिड ठवणापिंडं अओ पोच्छं ॥६॥p.3. अक्खे वराडए वा कटू पुत्थे व चित्तकम्मे वा। सम्भावमसम्भावं ठवणापिंडं वियाणाहि ॥७॥ Commentary of Malayagiri-........"स्थाप्यमानस्येन्द्र (देरनुरूपाङ्गोपाङ्गचिह-वाहनाहरणादिपरिकररुपो य आकारविशेषो यदर्शनात्साआद्विधमान इवेन्द्रादिलक्ष्यते स सद्भावः, तदभावोऽसद्भावः. तत्र सद्भावमसद्भावं चाश्रित्य 'अक्षे' चन्दनके 'कपर्दे' बराटके वाशब्दोऽङ्ग लीयकादिसमुच्चयार्थः, उभयतापि च जातावेकवचनं, तथा 'काष्ठे' दारुणि 'पुस्ते' डिउल्लिकादो, वाशब्दो लेप्यपाषाणसमुच्चये, चित्रकर्मणि वा या पिण्डस्य स्थापना साऽआदिः काष्ठादिष्वाकारविशेषो वा पिण्डत्वेन स्थाप्यमानः स्थापनापिण्डः...." - Pindaniryukti (DLPF no. 44, Bombay, A.D. 1918),
pp.3-7. 118. Trisasti., I (Gos, vol. LI), pp. 358-370. Abhidhāna
Cintamani, 4.94. 119. Vasudevahindi, p. 301. 120. Jambudvipaprajnapti, sātra 33. 121. Cf.: अट्टावयमुज्जिते गयग्गपद धमचक्के य । पासरहावत्तनगं चमरुप्पायं च वंदामि ॥
-Acaranga Niryukti. 122. Astăpadagiri-kalpa in the Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa ___Jinaprabha suri, published in the Singhi Series, pp.91
93. Also see ibid., p. 31 for an Astapadamahātirthakalpa by Dharmaghosa suri. Abhidhāna-Rajendra-Kosa on Astapada.
. 122a.Miniature Paintings from Western India, hgs. 177-183.
Page #45
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
123. Trişastišalákāpuruşacarita, I (translation in GOS, vol.
LI), pp. 395-397. Trisasi., parva II-III (transl. in GOS, vol. LXXVII), pp. 120ff. Harivamsa of Jinasena, 5, v. 647-685, pp. 124ff. Trilokasära of Nemicandra, v. 960ff. Kirfel, Die Kosmographie der Inder, pp. 253. Ramachandran, T.N., Tiruparuttik unram and its Temples, pp. 181ff. Sthänänga sätra, 4.2, sū. 307, vol. I, pp. 220ff.
Avašyaka Cūrni, p. 3978. 124. Also see Jivojivabhigama sutra, 3.2, sü. 183, pp. 356,
for an account of the Nandiśvara-dvipa. 125. Cf. Avasyaka Cürni, p. 151; JambūdvipaprajAapti, 1.2,
sü. 33, p. 158. Trisaspi., op. cit., p. 130f. Cf.: फाल्गुनाष्टाह्निकाधेषु प्रतिवर्ष तु पर्वसु । शक्राधा: कुर्वते पूजां गीर्वाणास्तेषु वेश्मसु ।।
-Harivamsa, p. 124, v. 680. Also see Vasudevahindi, pp. 87, 153, 171. 236. According to Digambara traditions, the gods celeb: to the leais in the last week of the months of Kärttika, Fälguna, and Așadha every year. See Brhat-Jaina-Sabdarnava,
II, p. 512. 125a. Pravacanasārodc hara, gātha 1552 and commentary. 126. First discussed by D.R. Bhandarkar, Jaina Iconography,
Indian Antiquary, vol. XL (1911), pp. 125-130, 153-161; also T.N. Ramachandran, Tiruparuttikunram and its
Temples, pp. 105ff on the basis of Tamil Sripurana. 127. #
Hugga ugat CuaT71 -Dhanapala's commentary on Sobhana's Stuticaturvim
fatika, v. 94. 128. For typical elaborate descriptions see, for example,
Triņaspisalākāpuruşacarita, 1.3, v. 422ff; transl. in G.O. Series, Vol. LI, pp. 190ff; Adipuräna, 22.76-312.
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana 129. Kalpa-sútra, sü. 120-121, Jacobi's transl. (SBE). Brown
thinks that it is implied in the K.S., 120-121, see p. 38
of his Miniature Paintings of the Jaina Kalpa-sútra. 130. Discovered from Jesalmer by Muni Punyavijayaji,
edited by him in Pavitra-Kalpa-Sätra (Ahmedabad). 131 Avasyaka-Niryukri, gathas 539-569; Ivasyaka-Vrtti of
Haribhadra, pp. 229-235. This Niryukti in its extant form is certainly not the work of Bhadrabahu I, as traditions would have us believe, since there are references in it to schisms much later than the age of
Bhadrabahu. . 132. Also compare Avašyaka Niryukli in Avašyaka Vrtti,
pp. 230-231. 133. The Avašyaka Niryukti and the Vasudevahindi do not
refer to gate-keepers. 134.] See Av. Niryukti, op. cit., pp. 231-232. 135. Adipuraņa, parva 22. We have noted here only main
points of description, including some additional details
supplied by Jinasena. 136. Also see Brown, Norman, A Ms. of the Sthanariga sutra
illustrated in the Early Western Indian Style, New Indian
Antiquary, vol. I, no. 2, pp. 127ff, fig. 2. 137. Studies in Jaina Art, fig. 76. Figure 83 in the same book
represents the Samavasarana of Parsvanátha in the Life
Story of Pārsvanātha carved in relief in this ceiling. 138. M.N.P. Tiwari, Jaina Pratima Vijana (Hindi), fig. 69.
For further remarks on Samavasarana, Pratimă-sarvatobhadrika, etc., see Shah, U.P., Studies in Jaina Art, pp. 85-95, 123-130; and chapter 35 in Jaina Art and Architec
ture (ed. A. Ghosh), pp. 479ff. 139. Shah, U.P., Studies in Jaina Art, figs. 72, 73, 75.
Page #46
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
CHAPTER TWO
Origin of the Jina-Image and the Jīvantasvāmi-pratimā
Prehistoric sites in India have not as yet yielded any definite clue to the existence of Jainism. A few seals from Mohen-Jo-Daro showing human figures standing in a posture closely analogous to the freestanding meditative pose (käyotsarga mudra) of the Tirtharkara, or the seals with a figure generally identified as "Siva-Pasupati as Yogi' (in a meditative sitting posture)2 cannot, in the present state of uncertainty of the meaning of the writing on the Indus-Valley Seals, be definitely used to attest to the antiquity of Jaina image or ritual. The standing figures seem to have some extra appendage on the head while the sitting figures have no resemblance with the known Tirthankara images in the padmāsana or the ardhapadmasana posture.
Jaina traditions ascribe the first twenty-two Tirthankaras of this (avasarpiņi) age to a period covering millions of years before Chirst, but modern scholarship accepts only the last two, namely, Pārsvanätha and Mahavira, as real historical personages. The possibility of the twenty-second Tirthankara Neminātha, cousin brother of Krsna of Brahmanical puränas, being a historical personage, depends on the historicity of Krsna.
The mutilated red-stone statuette from Harappa (Fig. 1), though surprisingly analogous to the Mauryan polished stone torso of a Jina (Fig. 2) obtained from Lohanipur near Patna, Bihar, has, in addition, two circular depressions on shoulder fronts which are not seen on any other Tirthařkara image known hitherto, hence the Harappan torso should better be regarded as representing an ancient Yakşa. Being a surface find, it is difficult to assign it with confidence to the age of the Harappan culture.
The origin of Image-Worship in Jainism may, on the basis of available archaeological evidence, be assigned to at least the Mauryan age, circa 3rd century B.C., the age of Samprati, the grandson of Asoka. Samprati is reputed in Jaina traditions to have been converted to Jainism and is said to have given much royal support to the monks of this faith. He seems to have installed many Jina images and even today pious Jainas ascribe all old images to Samprati's patronage. The evidence of the Lohanipur statue does lend support to Jaina traditions.
Line 12 of the Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela, as read by different scholars, refers to the recovery and reinstallation of the statue of Kalinga-Jina, formerly carried away to Magadha by the Nanda-king. 5
So far as literary evidence is concerned, we have to weigh it with great caution since available texts of the Jaina canonical works are said to have been finally edited at the second council at Valabhi (Valabhi vacana) which met in the latter half of the fifth century A.D. There are a few references to worship of images, relics, and shrines of Arhats (Tirthaikaras) by gods and men, and these references may be at least as old as the Mathura council (which met in the beginning of the fourth century A.D.) and may be even somewhat older. Most of the art evidence obtained in Jaina canonical texts as available today speaks of motifs etc. found in the art of the Sunga and Kuşāņa periods.
But there are reasons to believe that attempts were made to worship an image (verily a portrait-statue) of Mahavira, even during his life-time. This portrait statue of sandal-wood (gośirşa-candana) was supposed to have been prepared when Mahavira was standing in meditation in his own palace, about a year or two prior to his final renunciation and dikşă. So this statue showed a crown, some ornaments and a lower
Page #47
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
34
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana garment on the person of Mahāvira. Being a life-time portrait statue it was known as Jivanta-svāmi-pratima, that is, the "Image fashioned during the life-time of the Lord". All later images of this iconographic type then came to be known as Jivantasyämi pratimas.
The original portrait statue was worshipped by the queen of Uddāyana, the king of Vitabhaya-Pattana (Roruka ?) in the Sindhu-Sauvira region.
The earliest available reference to an image of Jivantasvāmi is from the Vasudevahindi of Vācaka Samghadāsa gani who took the Bphat-kathā of Guņādhya as the model or prototype for his Jaina version of such stories. A critical study of the subject matter and the language of the work has led scholars to conclude that it is a work of c. early fifth century A.D. or a little earlier. In this work, a certain lady, Vāsavadattā by name, seeks company of a caravan going to the city of Ujjain. In this caravan was also travelling a certain Jaina nun, followed by a retinue of female pupils, with the object of paying respects to Jivantasāmi (Jivantasvämi) (image at Ujjain).
Kşamāśramaņa Samghadāsa, a somewhat later writer, of c. 6th cent. A.D., composed his Bhāșya on the Bphat-Kalpa-sútra and its N ti wherein he refers to the visit to Ujjain by Arya Suhasti and the conversion by him to Jaina Faith of emperor Samprati, the grandson of Asoka. The Niryukti and Bhāşya verses often use only catch-words to refer to legends etc. which are elaborately explained by later commentators. Ksemakirti, commenting on the Bșhat-Kalpa-sūtra Bhāsya and Niryukti, says that Arya Suhasti visited Ujjain for adoring the image of Jivantasvāmi. Kșemakirti (v.s. 1332=A.D. 1256), commenting on the BỊhat-Kalpa-sūtra-Bhāşya, verse 2753, explained a reference to pūrva caityas as under:
491f caffor ar' fare attaifafa rat.........11 (by pūrva caityas are meant ancient idols like the image of Jivantasvāmi etc.).9
The Avasyaka-curni10 of Jinadāsa (676 A.D.), giving an account of the origin of the city of Daśapura (modern Mandasor) narrates also the origin of the first image of Mahavira, when the Lord was alive (Jivanta Syami). According to this account, in a festival of Nandiśvara, Vidyunmäli, a demi-god, was advised by his friend Acyuta, another god, to worship an image of Varddhamana Mahāvira, the last Jina. Vidyunmāll fashioned an image of Mahāvira out of a kind of sandal-wood (gośīrṣa candana) from the Maha-Himavanta mountain. 11 This image was later on given by Vidyunmāli to a certain individual from whom it was taken by King Uddāyana, a contemporary of Mahāvira, ruling over Vitabhaya-pattana in the Sindhu-Sauvira land. Both Uddāyana and his queen Prabhāvats worshipped the image with great devotion. After the death of his 'queen, the king entrusted his slave-girl Devadattă with the worship of the image. But Devadatta, in love with Pradyota, the king of Ujjain (Avanti), managed to elope with her lover, carrying with her the original image of Mahavira but only after depositing in its place a copy of it prepared by Pradyota for the purpose. The theft was soon discovered and Uddāyana rushed after them with an army, overtook Pradyota before he reached Ujjain and defeated him with the help of ten confederate kings. Uddayana tried to remove the original image but the image would not move and a supernatural warning was heard that the Vitabhaya-pattana was destined to perish in a terrific sandstorm. Uddayana later on forgave Pradyota and released him on the Pajjusaņā day. This happened when both were encamped at Dasapura. Uddāyana had to maintain a camp here and erect a temporary mud-fortress as the rainy season had set in before he could return to his capital. Haribhadra sūri, in his Āvaśyakavptti,12 gives the same account.
The above account is repeated with many additional details by Hemacandrācārya in his Trişastisalākāpuruşacarita where it is said Pradyota dedicated the city of Daśapura for the worship of the Vitabhaya-image13 before he returned to Avantipuri. Once upon a time Pradyota went to Vidiśä and gave a grant of 12,000 villages for the worship of the image fashioned by Vidyunmāli. Uddāyana himself turned a Jaina monk after dedicating villages, mines and cities for the worship of the (new) Jivantasvāmi image left with him.14 The image remaining at Vitabhaya-pattana was the copy deposited by Pradyota, which, on the evidence of Hemacandra, was fashioned out of śri-khanda wood and was originally consecrated by a Svetāmbara sage named Kapila.15
Page #48
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
35
Origin of the Jina-Image and the Jivantasyåmi-pratima
Hemacandra informs us that the image at the buried in sandstorm) city of Vitabhaya was recovered by the Chalukya king Kumāra pala after excavation by his specially appointed officers. Along with the image was recovered the inscribed grant given by Uddayana. Kumārapäla erected a temple at Patan (his capital, north Gujarat) and installed the image therein. 16
Hemacandra further informs us that Vidyunmāli had prepared the image after seeing the person of Mahavira standing in the pratima-dhyana in the latter's palace (at Ksatriya-Ku da-grāma). 17 Thus the Jivita-svāmi or Jivanta-svāmi image represents an image of Mahavira, 18 fashioned as a portrait in his lifetime before the great Jaina teacher took to monk-hood. The image, therefore, should show the ornaments of a Prince. Strictly speaking, the title Jivantasvāmi can only be applied to a portrait carved in the lifetime of a Jina. At a later stage, images modelled after the original life-time portrait sculpture of sandalwood, showing the same iconography, came to be known as Jivantasväml images. The Akota bronzes (Figs. 29, 30) are Jivantasväml images in this sense.
Hemacandra further notes that Pradyota and Devadattā, engrossed in sensual pleasures, gave the original sandalwood image of Jivitasvāmi to a merchant Bhräjila residing in the city called Vidiśā, for worship and care, 19 The snake-god Dharanendra gave a boon to this Bhra jilasvami that Fradyota would found a city commemorating Bhrajila's name. Dharanendra further predicted that this Jina image would in course of time be concealed under a new cover by followers of false faith who would proclaim it as an image of the Sun-god known as Bhrājilasvāmi.20 We are further told by Hemacandra that after release from the captivity of Uddayana, once Pradyota went to Vidiśā and founded a divine city there. Hemacandra's account thus states that the original image of Jivitasvāmi was preserved at Vidiśā. But the Vasudevahindi and Ksemakirti's commentary on the BỊhat-Kalpa-Bhāşya speak of a Jivantasväml image at Ujjain. The Brhat-Kalpa-Cürpi,21 which is calier than the comm. of Ksemakirti, also states that Arya Suhasti went to Ujjain for adoration of the Jiyasāmi in the city. There while he was walking in the ratha-yātrā (procession of the Jina-image placed in a chariot) he was seen by king Samprati watching the yāträ from his Palacewindow. The puzzle is solved by a reference from the Āvaśyaka-cūrni22 where it is said that both Arya Mahăgiri and Arya Suhasti went to Vidiśā to worship the Jitapadima. From this place Mahāgiri went to a place called Edakaksa (formerly called Daśārnapura) where he died on a mountain called Gajāgrapada. Arya Suhasti then went to Ujjain for adoration of the Jivitasvāmi image in that city.
Evidently another image of Jivantasvāmi was installed at Ujjain sometime after the Pradyota incident narrated above.
That the original image was installed at Vidiśā (modern Besnagara near Bhilsa, M.P.) is further supported by the Niśitha-Cūrņi23 which says that Ārya Suhasti went to Vidiśā, to worship the Jivantasvāmi, where the ratha-yatrā festival took place. According to this text the first meeting of Suhasti and Samprati also took place here on this occasion.24
It seems that with the passage of time many more copies of the original portrait sculpture, that is, the Jivan tasvāmī image, were made and installed at different Jaina tirthas. The ţikä on a gathā of the BỊhatKalpa-Bhāşya (vol. V, p. 1536) speaks of a Jivantasvāmi image at Kośalā.25
In the Akota hoard of Jaina bronzes was found an inscribed image of Jivantasvämi (Fig. 29). The inscription on the pedestal of the bronze, incised in characters of middle sixth century A.D., reads:26
L. 1. Om Devadharmoyam Jivantasāmi L. 2. pratima Candrakulikasya L. 3. Nagisvarī śrāvikasyāḥ.
The bronze represents Mahavira in a standing attitude (kāyotsarga mudro) and wearing a dhoti held with a girdle. The right arm is mutilated and lost but the left arm shows a bracelet and an armlet. The Jina wears a crown, ear-rings and a necklace. A more beautiful bronze (Fig. 30), partly mutilated and with the pedestal lost, also found in the Akota hoard, dates from c. late fifth century A.D.27 A bigger bronze of Jivantasvāmi, from a Jaina temple in Jodhpur (Fig. 37), dates from c. 8th cent. A.D.28 Two stone sculptures of Jivantasvāmi from a temple in Sirohi, published carlier by us, 29 date from c. 10th
Page #49
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana cent, A.D. R.C. Agrawala 30 published a beautiful sculpture of Jivantasvāmi, originally from Khimvasar in Rajasthan, now preserved in the Jodhpur Museum. Dhaky brought to light Jivantasyami images from Nadol, Sevadi and Ahad.31 Maruti Nandan Prasad Tiwari discovered two stone sculptures of eleventh century lying in a room in the Jaina temple complex at Ośia,32 Rajasthan. On the pillars of the torana, in front of the Jaina shrine at Ośia, dated in v.s. 1035 (A.D. 978),33 were carved in all eight figures of Jivantasvāmi in the kāyotsarga pose. Two more dated sculptures of Jivantasvämi, brought from Osia, dated in the tenth century, are now preserved in the museum at Jodhpur. They are described by M.N.P. Tiwari. Recently Devendra Handa 34 has discussed all the Jivantasväml images from Ośia. It seems that the Jivantasyāmi images remained more popular in Western India.
Like the crowned Tirthankara Mahāvira (in the Jivantasvāmi image) we have images of the crowned Buddha in both the sitting and the standing attitudes. Such a practice of showing the crowned Buddha35 might have been influenced by the Jivantasvāmi images.
In an earlier paper entitled Side-lights on the life-time sandalwood image of Mahavira, published in Journal of the Oriental Institute, vol. I, no. 4 (June 1952), pp. 358-368, this writer had referred to certain Buddhist parallels to the Jaina cf in a sandalwood portrait of Mahavira carved in his life-time. The Buddhist accounts also speak of such an image of Buddha carved in Buddha's life-time.
A. Ghosh writes: “Leaving the standing figures on a Mohen-Jo-Daro seal out of consideration, the Lohanipur Tirthankara images of Mauryan age show that in all probability Jainism had the lead in carving of images for veneration over Buddhism and Brahmanism; no image of Buddha or any Brahmanical deity of that antiquity have been found, though there are contemporary or near-contemporary Yaksastatues, after the stylistic model of which the Lohanipur images are carved. That the practice was prevalent at the time of Mahavira himself is not established: the legend of the queen of Uddá yana of Vitabhayapattana (unknown from any other source), a contemporary of Mahavira himself, having worshipped a sandalwood statue of the Tirthankara has its counterpart in the legend of Buddha's contemporary Udayana of Kausambi having installed an image of Buddha out of the same material. (Even the similarity of the names of the two rulers may not be an accidental coincidence.36)
The tradition of Jivantasvāmi images in Jainism is fairly old and known from such early texts like the Vasudevahiņdi assigned to c. fourth/fifth century A.D. The evidence of Cūrnis and the Bțhat-Kalpabhāşya is based upon traditions and the Niryukti gathās. The Niryuktis usually give a catch-word for a whole story or incident which is elaborately described by the Cūrnis. The Niryuktis cited above are not later than the fourth century A.D. and contain much earlier matter.
A. Ghosh has accepted the view that the Lohanipur torso is of Mauryan age and that it is of a Tirthankara image standing in the käyotsarga posture. Thus he believes that the Jainas probably are earlier than the Buddhists in starting image worship. He is right because we all know that Buddha had advised not to worship his images. Mahavira did not issue such a prohibitive order.
The tradition of Jivantasvāmi images in Jainism is fairly old and available literary evidence is at least as old as the fourth century A.D. It is not impossible that one or more portrait sculptures or paintings of both Mahāvira and Buddha were done during their life-time. That does not mean that regular worship of their images or paintings was started in shrines as cult-objects, during their life-time. Regular worship of images and shrines of Tirthankaras seems to have started sometime after Mahavira's Nirvāņa, though not later than the age of Mauryan ruler Samprati who in Jaina traditions is known to have installed Jaina images and provided facilities for Jaina monks to visit the Deccan and Andhra and Dravida countries.37 Udayi (the same as Udayabhadra), another ancient ruler of Magadha and successor of Ajātaśatru, is reported to have set up a Jaina shrine in his newly founded capital of Pataliputra, according to the Avaśyaka-curņi38
Nowhere in the Jaina canons it is stated that Mahāvīra visited a Jaina shrine or worshipped images of earlier Tirthankaras like Pārsvanātha or Rşabhanātha. Mahāvira's parents were followers of Pārsvanátha and Mahavira himself in the beginning followed the faith of Pärsvanātha. He never visited any Jaina shrine or stayed in Jaina shrines. He stayed in Caityas like the Guņaśila caitya, etc., which the commentators explain as Yakşa-āyatanās, Yaksa shrines. Nor are any of his chief disciples-the Gaņa
Page #50
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
37
Origin of the Jina-Image and the Jivantasvāni-pratima dharas-or other disciples said to have visited any shrine of any earlier Tirthankara or of Mahāvīra.
The Jina image, as suggested elsewhere by us,39 has for its model or prototype the ancient Yaksa statues. Most of these ancient Yakşa statues were of wood and we find in Jaina canonical legends that these were painted annually. There might have been terracotta images also of the ancient Yaksas and Yakşiņis, and perhaps rarely in bronze but hardly in stone. One has to await future archaeological evidence for definite conclusions. It was also suggested by us that the mode of worship of the ancient Yakşa-Nāga cult has largely influenced the mode of worship in Jainism. Since Mahavira stayed in Yakşa shrines and preached the masses visiting and worshipping in such shrines, it is but natural that the Jaina converts from these masses adopted as models the images and the rituals of the Yaksa cult.
Jayaswal's discovery of Mauryan torso of a standing Jina figure from Lohanipur supports, on the one hand, the authenticity of Jaina traditions about Samprati and image worship, and, on the other hand, the existence in Magadha of an earlier model for the Jina and Buddha images of early. Christian centuries. The Jina-image is a cult object.
Lohanipur is a continuation of the Mauryan sites at Kumrahar and Bulandibag near Patna. Along with this highly polished torso were revealed the foundations of a squatc (icinple) structure (8 ft 10 in X 8 ft 10 in), one more nude stone torso, the lower portion of a head and a large quantity of bricks of the size used in the Mauryan age. From the plinth of this brick structure was obtained a worn-out silver punch-marked coin. The foundations should be noted for the earliest known plan of a Jaina temple, assignable to the Mauryan age.40
It is necessary to consider the reliability of the tradition of Mahavira's sandalwood image carved in his life-time. If acārya Hemacandra gives report of the discovery of a Jivantasvāmi image from the ruins of Vitabhayapattana buried in a sandstorm, especially from special excavation carried out by specially appointed officers under orders of Kumärapäla with the blessings of Hemacandra, then it is a contemporary account since Hemacandra and Kumarapala were contemporaries. Hemacandra further reported that the copper plate charter of donations for the worship of this image (the copy left at Vitabhayapattana by Pradyota) was also recovered along with this image. It is further reported by Hemacandra in his Trişaştiśalākāpuruşacarita that the image was brought to Patan and installed in a temple. Sauvira country is identified as close to lower Sindh. Sindhu and Sauvira are spoken together and Sauvira, possibly the area around TharParkar and Gujarat and Marvad's modern border with Pakistan, was under Kumārapāla's control. What is more important to note is that Hemacandra also reports that the copper plate grant given by Uddayana to the image was also recovered. If Hemacandra has not bluffed before his contemporaries then we have to accept the Jivantasvāmi account as fairly reliable. Would a person of Hemacandra's status make false statements about recovery of the image before his own contemporaries?
Hiuen-Tsang remarks about Kausambi, the capital city of the famous lyrist king Udayana: "In the city, within an old palace, there is a large vihara, about 60 feet high; in it is a figure of Buddha, carved out of sandalwood, above which is a stone canopy. It is the work of the king U-to-yen-na (Udayana)... The princes of various countries have used their power to carry off this statue, but although many men have tried, not all the number could move it. They therefore worship copies of it, and they pretend that the likeness is a true one, and this is the origin of all such figures ..."41 Hiuen-Tsang further writes: “When Tathāgata first arrived at complete enlightenment, he ascended upto heaven to preach the law for the benefit of his mother ... This king (i.e. Udayana), thinking of him with affection, desired to have an image of his person; therefore he asked Mudgalyayanaputra, by his spiritual power, to transport an artist to the heavenly mansions to observe the excellent marks of Buddha's body, and carve a sandalwood statue. When Tathāgata returned from the heavenly place, the carved figure of sandalwood rose and saluted the lord of the world ..."42
In his account of a city called Pima (Pi-mo), in the district of Khotan, the Chinese traveller Hiuen-Tsang writes: "Here there is a figure of Buddha in a standing position made of sandalwood. The figure is about twenty feet high ... the natives say: This image in old days when Buddha was alive was made by Uddayana (U-to-yen-na), king of Kauśambi (Kiao-shang-mi). When Buddha left the world, it mounted of its own accord into the air and came to the north of this kingdom, to the town of Ho-lo-lo-kia.
Page #51
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
38
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
The men of this city were . . . attached to heretical learning... no one paid it respect. Afterwards there was an Arhat who bowed and saluted the image... the king issued a decree that the stranger should be covered with sand and earth . . . A man who had himself honoured the image with worship, secretly gave food to the Arhat... buried upto the neck. The Arhat... said: Seven days hence there will be a rain of sand and earth which will fill this city full, and there will in a brief space be none left alive... This man escaped and went to the east... (and) the statue appeared behind him..."43
But Fa-Hien, who visited India in c. 400 A.D., giving an account about a sandalwood image of the Tathāgata being carved and installed when the Buddha went to heaven to preach his mother, lays the scene in Śrāvasti rather than in Kauśambi in the account given by Hiuen-Tsang. This image was installed by King Prasenajit of Kośala. It was carved out of a sandalwood called gośirşacandana. Says Fa-Hien, "When Buddha returned and entered the vihara, the image, immediately quitting its place, went forward to meet him. On this Buddha addressed these words to it: Return, I pray you, to Your seat. After my Nirvana you will be the model from which my followers... shall carve their images... This image, as it was the very first made of all the figures of Buddha, is the one which all subsequent ages have followed as a model..."44
We are thus faced with similar accounts, one Jaina and the other Buddhist. Both speak of sandalwood images of their leaders carved in their life-time. At least one of the two traditions must be reliable even if one sect borrowed the account from the other. Since the Mahayana Buddhists had to account for image worship it would seem that they are the borrowers. Again, because Samprati was converted to Jainism by Arya Suhasti at Vidiśā (according to another tradition at Ujjain) during the ratha-yatra of the Jivantasvāmī image, it is well nigh certain that the tradition of the sandalwood image in Jainism is as old as and even somewhat earlier than the age of Samprati, the grandson of Aśoka. So far as the Sravasti image of Buddha is concerned, the tradition is certainly older than the visit of Fa-Hien who reports about it. Actually there is a relief sculpture from Gandhara depicting the incident of the Sravasti image and the Buddha returning from the heaven. This means that for the Gandhara artists the first Buddha image was carved and installed at Sravasti. There is nothing unreasonable in believing that during the life-time of both Buddha and Mahavira attempts were made to carve out their portraits and to worship them. Even portrait painting might also have been attempted.45 The fact that Buddha asked his followers not to install his image as a cult object shows that such attempts were indeed made during Buddha's life-time.
As already suggested before, at least one of the two legends-namely, the Jaina and the Buddhistmust have behind it some historical background or core around which other legendary and supernatural elements are woven. These remarks apply also to the story of Udrāyaṇa or Rudrāyaṇa of Roruka (in Sauvira) obtained in the Rudrayaṇāvadāna chapter of the Divyavadana and in the Avadanakalpalată of Kşemendra. P.S. Jaini has further brought to our notice a Pali version entitled Vaṭṭāngulirāja Jātaka from a collection known as the Pannåsa Jätaka "which probably originated in the 13th or 14th century in northern Chieng-Mai."46
REFERENCES
1. Marshall, Sir John, Mohen-Jo-Daro and the Indus Valley Civilisation, vol. I, pl. xii, figs. 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 22; Jaina, Kamta Prasad in Modern Review, August, 1932, pp. 152ff, regards some of these as representing Jina figures.
2. Marshall, ibid., xii.17, pp. 52ff.
3. The Jainas believe that 24 Tirthankaras lived in this avasarpiņi era (āra), and an equal number lived in the preceding utsarpini (evolutionary) era, and the same number will be born in the forthcoming utsarpiņi ārā.
For the Jaina conception of these evolutionary and involutionary eras, see Jaina, J.C., Outlines of Jainism, p. xxvi; also, Nahar and Ghosh, Epitome of Jainism. 4. Marshall, op. cit., vol. I, pl. x.a-d.
For the Lohanipur torso see Jayaswal, K.P., in Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society, vol. xxiii, part I, pls. i-iv. Also see Banerji-Shastri, Mauryan Sculptures from Lohanipur-Patna, Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society, vol. xxvi, part 2, pp. 120ff.
5. B.M. Barua's revised readings in Indian Historical
Page #52
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Origin of the Jina-Image and the Jivantasväml-pratima
39
23.
Quarterly, vol. xiv (1938), pp. 459-485. make no men- tion of the Kalinga Jina. Also see Mohapatra, Ramesh Prasad, Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves (Delhi, 1981),
Pp.20166. Shah, U.P., A Unique Jaina Image of Jivantasvami, JOI,
vol. I, no.1, p.71 and note. 7. Vasudevahindi (ed. by Muni Caturavijaya and Punyavi____jaya Muni). p.61. 8. Brhat-Kalpa-Satra, with Niryukti and Bhāsya (ed. by
Muni Caturavijaya and Muni Punyavijaya), gatha 3277
and comm., vol. III, pp. 917ff. 9. Ibid., P. 776. 10. Avašyaka Cürņi (Ratlam edition), vol. I, pp. 397-401 on
Niryuktigatha 774. 11. Ibid.. p. 398. 12. Avatyaka-Vrrti of Haribhadra Suri, vol. I. part 2,
pp. 296-300. 13. प्रद्योतोऽपि वीतभयप्रतिमायै विशुद्धधीः ।
शासनेन दशपुर दच्चावन्तिपुरीमगात् ॥ अन्येद्युविदिशां गत्वा भायलस्वामिनामकम् । देवकीयं पुरं चक्रे नान्यथा धरणोदितम् ॥ विद्युन्मालिकृताय तु प्रतिमाय महीपतिः । प्रददौ द्वादशग्रामसहस्त्रान शासनेन सः ।।
___-Trisasti., X.11.604-606. 14. Ibid..x.11.623. p. 157. 15. Ibid., p. 152, v.463 and p. 157, vv. 608-609. 16. ततो गुरुमनुज्ञाप्य नियोज्यायुक्तपुरुषान् ।
प्रारप्यते खनयितुं स्थलं वीतभयस्य तत् ॥ राज्ञः कुमारपालस्य तस्य पुण्येन भूयसा । खन्यमानस्थले मंक्ष प्रतिमाविर्भविष्यति ॥ तदा तस्यै प्रतिमाय यदुद्दायनभूभुजा । ग्रामाणां शासनं दत्तं तदप्याविभविष्यति ।।
-Trisasti.,X.12.36-92, pp. 159ff. 17. विद्युन्माल्यपि तस्याज्ञामुखीकृत्य सत्वरः ।
क्षत्रियकुण्डग्रामेऽस्मानपश्यन्प्रतिमास्थितान् ॥ गत्वा महाहिमवति छित्वा गोशीर्षचन्दनम् । अस्मन्मूर्ति तया दृष्टां सालंकारां चकार सः ।।
-Trisasti..X.11, p. 149. The Nisitha Carni, vol. III, pp. 139-147 repeats the account of Daśapura etc. narrated above from Avaśyaka Cúrni and specifies further that it was an
image showing ornaments on the person of Mahavira. 18. The conception of the Jivantasvämi image of Mahavira
remained popular in the mediaeval period and was later applied to images of other Tirthankaras as can be seen from a reference to Jivantasvami-Pärsvanatha image on a golden chariot, in the story of Vankacula given by Rajasekhara (v.s. 1405)-Prabandha-kosa, ed. by Muni Jina vijaya, p. 76. Also see Jaina-Pratima-Lekha
samgraha, vol. I. pp. 5 and 7, nos. 33 and 39. 19. वणिजो विदिशापुर्या भायलस्वामिनोऽन्यदा ।
गोशीर्षकाष्ठप्रतिमा विद्युन्मालिप्रकाशिता ॥६४०।। राज्ञा कुग्जिकया चापि पूजनाय समर्पिता etc.
-Trisasti.,x.11.640, p. 154.
20.
....""कालेन गच्छता । गुप्तव मिथ्यादम्भिः सा प्रतिमा पूजयिष्यते ।। ५५३ ।। तस्याः प्रतिकृतिश्चैव बहिः संस्थापयिष्यते । आदित्यो भायलस्वामि नामायमिति वादिभिः ।।
-lbid., p. 155. vv. 553-554. 21. Brhat-Kalpa-Bhasya, vol. II, gatha 3277 and comm., and
vol. III, pp.917ff. 22. Avasyaka-carni, vol. II. pp. 155-56, on Niryukti gatha
1283. Avasyaka-vrtti of Haribhadra, II, part I, pp. 66870. अन्नया आयरिया वतीदिसं जियसामिपडिमं वंदिया गता। तत्थ रहाणुउजाने रणो घरं रहोवरि अंचति । संपतिरण्णा ओलोयणगएण अज्जमहत्थी दिट्ठो । जातीसरणं जातं । Quoted by Muni Kalyanavijaya in Vira Nirvana Samyat
aura Jaina Kalagananā, p. 90, note. 24. D.R. Bhandarkar beutified Progress Report, Western
Circle, 31-9-1913, part 2, p. 59) Vidisa with BhilsaBhaillasvämin on the basis of a copper-plate grant dated v.s.1190. The account of Bhrajilagiven by Hemacandra,
compared with this Bhaillasvamin, becomes interesting. 25. कोशलायां जीवन्तस्वामिप्रतिमा । 26. Shah, U.P.,Akota Bronzes (Bombay, 1959), pp 27-28,
pls. 12a, 74b, 74c,74d. 27. Ibid.. pp. 26-27, pls. 9a, 9b. 28. Shah, U.P., More Images of Jivantasvami, Journal of
Indian Museums, vol. XI (1955), pp. 49-50, fig.1. 29. Ibid., figs. 2, 3. 30. Agrawala, R.C., An image of Jivantasvami from
Rajasthan, Adyar Library Bulletin, vol. XXII, pts. 1-2,
pp. 32-34 and plate. 31. Dhaky, M.A., The Temple of Mahavira at Ahar and the
Visnu Temple, Ekalingji, Journal of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, vol. XIV, pp. 11-17, and pl. VII; Dhaky, M.A., Some Early Jaina Temples in Western India, Sri Mahavira Jaina Vidyalaya Suvarna-Mahotsava Grantha (Bombay, 1968), vol. I, English Section, pp. 290-347 and plates%3; Krishna Dev, Mahavira Temple, Sevadi, Aspects of Jaina Art and Architecture (Ahmedabad, 1975), pp. 253-254
and fig. 3. 32. Tiwari, M.N.P.,Offai se prāptaJivantasvāmi ki Apra
kasila Mürtiyant, Vishwa Bhārati, vol. 14, no. 3 (1973), pp. 215-18; also Jivantasvāmi images, Bharati, New
Series no. 2 (1984), pp. 78-83. 33. Studies in Jaina Art, fig.53; Devendra Handa, Jivanta
svåmi Images from Osian, Punjab University Research Bulletin (Arts), vol. XIII, no.1 (April, 1982), pp. 11-14,
figs. 1,2. 34. Devendra Handa, ibid., figs. 1-7; Devendra Handa,
Jaina Sculptures from Osian, Punjab University Research
Bulletin (Arts), vol.XIV, no. 1 (April, 1983). pp. 172-74. 35. For example, sec Gairola, C.K.. Two Buddhist
Sculptures in the Volkerkunde Museum of Munich,
JOI, vol. XIV. p. 397 and plates. 36, Ghosh, A., Jaina Art and Architecture, vol. I, pp. 3-4. 37. Brhat-Kalpa-Sutra, gāthās 3275-3289 and comm.,
vol. III, pp. 917-921. Nisitha-Cürni, uddesa 16, gåthås 5744-5758, pp. 128-131.
Page #53
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
40 38. Avašyaka-Curni, vol. II, p. 179. 39. Shah, U.P., Studies in Jaina Art, p. 5; Journal of the Ori
ental Institute (JOI), vol. III, no. 1, pp. 55-71, esp. p. 66. 40. Jayaswal, K.P., Jaina Images of the Mauryan Period,
Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society, XXIII, part I, pp. 130-132; Banerji-Shastri, A., Mauryan Sculptures from Lohanipur, Patna, ibid., XXVI (1940),
pp. 120-24. Jaina Art and Architecture, vol. I, p. 71. 41. Beal, Buddhist Records of the Western World, vol. I,
pp. 235-236. 42. Ibid., pp. 235-236. 43. Ibid., vol. II, pp. 322-324. 44. Beal, op. cit., vol. I, Introduction, pp. xliv-xlv. Travels
of Fa-Hien, chp. XX. Also see Shah, U.P., Origin of the
Buddha Image, JOI, vol. XIV, nos. 3-4, pp. 365-367. 45. In the Divyávalia orniint of Rudrāyana, king of
Roruka, we wcar that Binibisara had sent a painting of the Lord Buddha to Rudrāyana-Divyāvadana (ed. by Cowell and Neil), chp. 27, pp. 544-586.
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana 46. Padmanabha S. Jaini, On the Buddha Image, Studies in
Pali and Buddhism (ed. A.K. Narain, A Homage volume to the memory of Bhikkhu Jagdish Kashyap, Delhi, 1979), pp. 183-188. P.S. M.N.P. Tiwari has criticised me for not having noticed the loose inscribed Jivantasvămi images at Osia. He has himself said that he couldụnot photograph them. When I visited Osia in 1938 I was not even shown the images which were reported later to be lying in some room. The walls of the temple and the Devakulikās were thickly coated with white lime. The coating was made almost every year. It was difficult to identify symbols of most of the images on walls. M.N.P. Tiwari has made similar criticism about me for not noting certain images. Mine was a pioneer attempt at a standard work on "Elements of Jaina Iconography (North India)" which was the title of my thesis. It was not necessary then to make exhaustive studies of every Jaina site.
Page #54
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
CHAPTER THREE
Pañca-Paramesthīs
The Pañca-Parameşthis or the Five Supreme Ones are: 1. Arhat, 2. Siddha, 3. Ācārya, 4. Upadhyaya and 5. Sådhu. These are superior to all other objects of worship in Jaiais... From very early times throughout the history of the Jaina Church they have been invoked in Che famous mantra--Namo Arahantanam. Namo Siddhanam. Namo Ayariānam. Namo Uvajjhāyānam. Namo Loe Savvasāhūnam. Eso PancaNamukkāro, Savva-pāva-ppanäsano Mangalānam Ca Savvesim Padhamam Havai Mangalam.
The Mahāniśitha calls it Pancamangala-Mahāśrutaskandha. It is variously known as Pañca-Namaskāra. Panca-Parameşthi Namaskara or simply Namokkāra (Navakāra-mantra) and so on.1
It is to be muttered on all occasions and is regarded as potent in protecting a person from all calamities.2
The Mantra came to be employed for Tantrik rites and Hemacandra has prescribed it for dhyāna in his Yogaprakāśa.3 Muttering of this mantra at the time of death leads one to better life hereafter and a number of stories in the literature of both the sects demonstrate this power of the mantra.
The mantra is obtained in the beginning verses of the Bhagavati-sütra and the Kalpa-sūtra, and in the Mahanišitha, 3rd Adhyayana. Bhadrabahu has discussed the five padas of the mantra in his Avaśyaka Niryukti (Namaskāra-Niryukti), it is also discussed by Jinabhadra gani kşamāśramana in the Višeşāvaśyaka-Mahābhāşya.
This special sanctity attached to the mantra from olden times is due to the fact that the Five Supreme Ones are the Devädhidevas, the highest of objects of veneration for a pious Jaina.
But this worship is impersonal. It is the aggregate of qualities of these souls that is remembered and venerated rather than the individuals. The Siddhas or Arhats are souls who are freed from the bondages of matter or karma and as such do not confer any boons on the worshipper. They are indifferent to praise or abuse. By saluting any of the Parameşthins a worshipper suggests to his own mind the qualities of the Arhat, Siddha, Acāry., Upadhyāya or Sadhu, which the mind would gradually begin to follow and ultimately achieve the stage reached by the Siddhas. Hence the belief in the practice of using the mantra against Säkin's etc. is all due to Tantrik influence. But fundamentally, this is the mantra to lead a person to self-realisation, the Kevala-jnana, Omniscience. When the matter binding a soul is entirely subjugated or removed the soul is said to have been liberated or attained perfection, a condition in which the soul "enjoys its true and eternal character, whereof the characteristic is the four infinites-infinite perception or faith, infinite knowledge, infinite power and infinite bliss." And such a soul is called Siddha.
Siddhas 5
The Siddhas are divided into fifteen classes by the Prajñāpanā sutra according as a person obtains Right knowledge himself or after initiation by a Guru, or according as the person is a male (puruşalinga-siddha) or a female (stri-linga-siddha) and so on. But the two main divisions noteworthy for us are: Tirthankara siddhas and Säminya-siddhas. All the Siddha souls after nirvana live in a disembodied state at the summit of the Universe on the Siddha-Sila in the Isatprāgbhāra Prthvi. The Sämänya Siddhas, like the Tirthankara Siddhas, enjoy the same state of unending bliss but the latter are so called because during their life-time, they had
Page #55
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana established the Tirtha, the four-fold Jaina order, whereas the former did not do so. There were 24 Tirthankara Siddhas of this avasarpini in the Bharata-kşetra.
Tirtha karas or Arhats and the Siddhas are separately invoked only because while the former as Arhat are worshipped as embodied souls, the Siddhas are worshipped in their disembodied stage when even the last bondage of the material body does not remain. A Siddha is endowed with the following 8 chief qualities: Anantajñāna, Anantadarśana (infinite-faith), Anantacäritra, Avyābādha Ananta-sukha, Akaşaya-sthiti, Arūpitva, A-guru-laghutva, and Anantavirya.8
Late representations of the siddhas are sometimes obtained in Jaina temples. Being disembodied, bis body is not shown and the metal plaque is made like a stencil, the whole standing figure of the Siddha being cut awayo (Fig. 185). Such images are found in Digambara shrines.
Arhats
Qualities of the Arhats are described in detail in Jaina texts and their total comes to 46.10 These an dereced to 12 qualities: 1-8. Prātiharyas, mentioned before. 9. Apāyāpagamätiśaya, complete freedom from injury. 10. Jñánātiśaya, perfect knowledge. 11. Pujatiśaya, worship by everyone. 12. Vacanätisaya, supernatural characteristics of speech which are 35. Nos. 9-12 are known as mulatisayas. They are called Arhats because they deserve the worship by celestials with mahāprätihāryas etc.. or because they kill (hantă) the enemy (ari) in the form of rajas (binding matter), or because they have nothing to conceal. They are Jinas because they conquer attachment, dislike, infatuation etc. 11 Ācāryas are those who practise (ayaramāņa) the five-fold ācāra, 12 and instruct others in the rules of conduct (ācāra), constituted of darśana, jñana, tapa, and virya. They are endowed with 36 qualities. The acāryas are heads of groups of Jaina monks (gacchas), and include the ganadharas and so on. The detailed list of qualities need not be enumerated here. Upadhyāyas are those who teach the scriptures, consisting of the eleven argas and the fourteen pūrvvas (now lost). They are endowed with 25 chief qualities. 13 All ascetics are sādhus. A Jaina sādhu has 28 chief qualities besides other subsidiary ones, according to Digambaras and 27 according to the Svetāmbara lists. 14
Ācāryas
Upadh- yayas Sådhus
Separate representations of the Parameşthins are obtained. In sculpture, there is no marked difference in the representations of Ācāryas, Upadhyāyas and Sadhus. The Svetāmbara saints are shown with an upper and a lower garment and carrying a rajoharana (Fig. 177), and a mukha-paffikā. Sometimes a rosary is placed in the hand held in Vyākhyāna mudra. The earliest known representation of an acārya (Ganadhara) is on two sides of the figure of Pārsvanātha in the Ayagapata, set up by an inhabitant from Mathura, No. 248, Lucknow Museum. Two ganadharas of Pārsvanatha stand on two sides of the Jina and are without any garment.149
Jaina monks are represented also on pedestals of images obtained from Kankali Tila, Mathura. Here on the pedestals are generally shown all the four constituents of the Jaina Samgha: Sadhu, Sadhvi, Srăvaka and Sråvikā. A study of pedestals Nos. J.32, J.3, J.11, in the Lucknow Museum, the pedestal of the image of Vardhamāna, No. J.10, in the same Museum, and No. J.16 of Vardhamana dedicated in Samvat 35, etc., has shown the following noteworthy points:
(1) Sadhus are naked but they carry on the left forearm a piece of cloth held in such a way as to
cover the nudity. The right arm holds a rajoharana. (2) Sadhvis wear an undergarment, carry a rajoharana. But they also wear a long coat or gown and
in one case at least, on J.108, Lucknow Museum, a caddara seems to have been used as an upper
cover. (3) Sadhvis can be easily differentiated from śrāvikäs on pedestals since the latter wear anklets, neck
ornaments and carry thick money-bags.
Page #56
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Pañca-Parameşthis
43 (4) Sädhus have shaven heads; hair are suspected on some figures of sadhvis, but probably they
covered their heads with a scarf (odhani). (5) Water-vessel is not carried by either sädhus or sadhvis. (6) The coat of sadhvis is a gown-like thing whose border's lines are clearly marked. (7) Especially noteworthy, and our unfailing guide is No. J.8 of a standing Jina with head lost, and
having on two sides as attendants, not the usual Yakşas, but a sådhu on the right and a sadhvi on the left. Such a representation of the Tirtharkara image is singular. The sadhvi's two garments
a lower one and a gown or coat-are clearly visible. Here she has a shaven head. (8) The tablet representing ascetic Kanha, Fig. 21, No. J.623, Lucknow Museum (Smith's Jaina
Stupa, pl. xvii, p. 24), shows the same accessories for the Jaina monk-a piece of cloth held on left forearm, and a rajoharana, but no garment. The Tablet is dated in Samvat 95, i.e. 173 A.D. but the same types of figures of monks are available on pedestals dated in first two decades of the era noted on these sculptures, i.e. in the last two decades of the first century A.D. Modern scholars recognise this practice of holding the cloth-piece as the Ardha-fälaka-sampradaya. 15
Figure 212 illustrates a much later sculpture of Adinātha (belonging to the Digambara sect) from a Temple at Khajuraho. In the central panel, below the Jina, sit the Ācārya and his disciple facing each other with the Sthapanā between them. The pupil carries a scripture. A small thin broom of peacock's tail sometimes accompanies figures of Dig. Jaina monks as in Devgadh Temple 4. Wooden vessels used by these monks are also shown.
In a Jaina temple in Sevādi, Rajasthan, is worshipped a figure of a Svetāmbara ācārya sitting on a raised seat with the right foot hanging, the left tucked up and a yogapata running across the right leg. He carries a book in the left hand while the right one carrying a rosary is held in the vyakhyana mudrå. The broom is shown behind him, and a mukha-vastrikā piece rests on his right shoulder. The figure was installed in Samvat 1242 (or 1243) and is at present preserved in a shrine at Sevādi, old Jodhpur State. The monk wears a lower garment, while the mark of the Caddara above is worn out, but it can be inferred from a miniature painting of Sudharma and Jambūsvāmi from a palm-leaf MS16 in Cambay Bhandara.
Figure 214 represents a rare sculpture of a Svetambara Sadhvi now preserved in a shrine in Patan. She sits like the acārya in Sevädi image discussed above and wears an under and an upper garment. The right arm is mutilated, the left one holds a book. Figure 213 represents a Dig. Jaina nun figure worshipped in a shrine at Surat.
Figures of Ganadharas in miniature paintings of the Kalpa sūtra are well known, cf. Brown, K.P., pl. 39, figs. 130-34. Also see Figs. 170 and 167 illustrated here.
The Five Supreme Ones are worshipped collectively also, by representing them on one plaque, along with symbols of four other essentials of the Jaina religion. Such plaques are known as the Siddha-Cakra (Šve.) or the Navadevatā (Dig.).
Figure 38 is a representation in stone, from Nadol, Rajasthan, of the Five Parameşhins. Instead of the last four Padas of the Navapada diagram (called the Siddha-Cakra amongst the Svetā mbaras), only four double-lotuses are carved. A Svetambara Siddha-Cakra-Yantra is illustrated in Fig. 39, where the additional four padas are shown in four corners as om Hrim Namo Tavassa, Om Hrim Namo Damsanassa, Om Hrim Namo Nánassa, and Om Hrim Namo Carittassa. It will be seen that here invocations are offered to the abstract qualities and not to anthropomorphic deities. The whole diagram of the Siddha-Cakra is in the form of an eight-petalled lotus with different worthies arranged as follows: The Arhat is in the centre, the Siddha just above, the Ācārya to the left and the Sadhu to the right of the central figure. The Upadhyāya is just below the figure of the Arhat. The Arhat and the Siddha sit in the padmasana showing the dhyana mudrā while the remaining three Paramesphins sitting in the padmāsana carry some object in one hand while the other hand rests on the lap. As figures are not quite distinct in this bronze it is not possible to identify the symbols held by them. However, paintings of the Siddha-Cakra are also popular in Jaina worship. In paintings, each of these three dignitaries (excluding the Arhat and the Siddha) lets his left hand rest on the lap while the right hand, held in the vyakhyāna mudrā, carries the muha-patti, or the mouth-piece.
Page #57
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
44
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana In paintings of this diagram (illustrated by us in the paper on Vardhamāna-Vidyā-Pata, Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art, vol. IX (1941, fig. 1 on pl. facing page 44), each of the Five Parameşthins has a particular complexion, necessary for his dhyāna in the Tantrik sādhana of the Siddha-Cakra-Yantra. Thus the Arhat, the Siddha, the Acārya, the Upadhyaya and the Sadhu are of white, red, yellow, greenish and blue-black complexion respectively. The colour of the four remaining members of the Nava-Pada is to be visualised, in meditation, as white according to the Nava-Pada-Aradhana-Vidhi (also see SiriSirivāla-Kahā, verses 1185-1191).
The Digambara diagram of the Nava-Pada, also called Nava-Devatā, is illustrated here in Fig. 36 (stone) and in Fig. 37 (bronze). The first Five Dignitaries are the same in both the Svetāmbara and the Digambara traditions, namely, the Arhat, the Siddha, the Acārya, the Upadhyāya and the Sadhu. But in the Digambara tradition the remaining four dignitaries or Padas are: the Caitya or the Jina-image, the Caityalaya or the temple of the Jina, the Dharma-Cakra or the Wheel of the Sacred Law, and the Sruta or the Speech of the Tirthankara represented by Jaina Scriptures. Figure 36 is a rare early specimen of the Digambar l ā, hailing from Tamil Nadu, now preserved in the Madras Museum and dating from c. fifteenth century A.D. The Nava-Devatā bronze illustrated in Fig. 37 is in worship in a Jaina shrine in Sravana Belagola. T.N. Ramachandran had illustrated one such bronze from Jina-Kāñchi, Tamil Nadu in his Tiruparuttikunram and its Temples, pl. XXXVI, fig. 2.
The Digambara Nava-Devata diagram forms the central eight-petalled lotus of the elaborate Pratişthāvidhi-mandala described by Nemicandra (c. 15th cent. A.D.) in his Pratisthå-tilaka; Pandit Āśadhara in his Pratişthă-săroddhāra seems to suggest the same thing. The Nava-Devatās are also invoked in the NityaSandhyā-kriyā-vidhi of the Jina-Samhita (in ms. still unpublished) ascribed to Indranandi, the well-known Digambara Tantrik writer of c. tenth century A.D. The Yantra-Mantra-vidhi section of the Pratiştha-kalpatippanam (in ms.) of Vādi Kumudacandra (c. 1275 v.s.) which mentions different Digambara Yantras, also describes an elaborate Panca-Mandala called Nava-Devatā, the central eight-petalled lotus of which is reserved for the worship of the Five Parameşthins, the Jina-temple, the Jina-image, the Jaina scripture and the Dharma-cakra. Obviously the Arhat amongst these is worshipped in the centre of the eight-petalled lotus.
The Jina-Samhita of Ekasamdhi (c. 1250 A.D.) prescribes in the Devārcana-vidhi section a big mandala with an eight-petalled lotus in the centre, wherein are invoked the Five Parameșthins and (the symbols (?) of) samyak-jñāna, samyak-darśana, samyak-caritra; tapa, however, is omitted, possibly through the scribe's oversight. The mandala contains moreover invocations to the goddesses of the Jayā and the Jambhá groups, the sixteen Vidyādevis, the yakşiņis, and others. According to the author of this work, the mandala followed the tradition of Indranandi. Thus the central part of this elaborate diagram completely corresponds to the still existing type of the Sve. Siddha-Cakra illustrated here in Fig. 39. Again in the Pratişthā-vidhi section, the same writer, following Indranandi, gives a bigger mandala including all the above-mentioned deities and many more, and invokes the Panca-Paramesthins and the four Padas, namely, Jñana, Darśana, Caritra and Tapa in the central eight-petalled lotus. But what the Digambaras worshipped as the Siddha-Cakra-Yantra was quite different from the Svetāmbara one of the same name as also from the Digambara Nava-Devata and this fact is quite evident from the descriptions of the LaghuSiddha-Cakra and the Bhad-Siddha-Cakra Yantras given by Aśādhara (Pratişthă-săroddhara, chp. 6), Ekasandhi (Jinasamhitä, Ms., chp. 9), and Vädi Kumuda-Candra (Pratistha-Kalpa-Tippanam, Ms., YantraMantra-vidhi section).
Amongst the Svetāmbaras, the Nine Worthies were also the first group of deities invoked in the elaborate Nandyāvarta-mandala prescribed for consecratory rites by the Acāra-Dinakara (1468 v.s.= 1411 A.D.). The Nirvanakalikā (c. eleventh century A.D.) refers to the same mandala but in the invocation mantras Tapas or the Right Penance is replaced by Suci-vidya. Henacandra, in his Yogaśāstra, chp. 8, describes a yantra with Five Parameșthins but, instead of adding the four Padas noted above (Jnana, Darśana etc.), the four Padas of the Namaskara-mantra giving the fala-śruti (namely, eso Panca-Namukkaro, savvapapappanāśano, mangalānam ca savvesim, padhamam havai mangalam) are prescribed in the intervening quarters (vidik-patras of the eight-petalled lotus). Thus the Yantra of Hemacandra, partly different from the Siddha-Cakra worshipped today, proves that the older Nava-Pada-Yantra was composed mainly of the
Page #58
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
45
Panca-Parameșthis various parts of the Navakāra-Mantra. And perhaps still earlier the Siddha-Cakra cult included only the Five-Parameşthins. And it is interesting to note that Hemacandra in his description noted above did not Specify it as the Siddha-Chakra. The same writer however refers to the Siddha-Cakra as a diagram brought to light by Vajrasvāmi (c. 57 B.C.-57 A.D) from the lost Vidyānupraväda-purva text, in the early centuries of the Christian era. Unfortunately, the yantra is not described in this context (Yogaśāstra, chp. 8, verses 74-75) and the disciple is invited to learn it from his preceptor. Very probably, the SiddhaCakra was originally based on the Panca-Parameşthi-Namaskāra-mantra without its phala-śruti.
It seems that in the earlier stage, the Siddha-Cakra-Yantra included the worship of the Five Paramesthins only and that the four Padas of Jñana, Darśana, Caritra and Tapa were added later. Siddhasena, commenting on the Pravacanasároddhāra, verses 78-79 dealing with the Panca-Parameșthi-mantra, refers to older texts like the Namaskāra-valaya, where a vyākhyā (explanation of the Panca-ParamesthiNamaskāra is given. As is quite obvious, the Siddha-Cakra is none else than the Namaskara-valaya elaborated at some later stage. But it is also certain that the diagram of Siddha-Cakra, probably in its earlier form, was already well-known in the age of Hemacandra, even though no earlier references to Siddha-Cakra-Yantra could be traced in the extant Svetämh ra literature, for, Hemacandra refers to it as samaya-prasiddha-cakra-višesa in his Brhannyāsa on his own Sabdanuśasana.
The Siddha-Cakra-Yantra attained great popularity and was highly regarded as its worship brought great rewards. The story of king Sripāla, who had been famous for his devotion to the Siddha-Cakra and who is supposed to have been highly rewarded for his meritorious worship of this diagram, forms the subject matter of Siri-Sirivāla-kahā of Ratnamandira gaội (1362 A.D.). A Gujarati ballad known as Sripala-rāsu, composed in 1738 A.D., is very popular amongst the Svetāmbaras of Gujarat and profusely illustrated manuscripts of this work are available in some Jaina bhandāras.
Ratnamandira gani describes the Siddha-Cakra-yantra in every detail. However, according to his version, the yantra is larger than the one commonly worshipped and includes worship of several other deities. According to this author, the presiding deity or guardian of this mystic diagram is Sri Vimalasvāmi, but the Nine Padas of course form a nucleus around which other deities find a place in the yantra.
As noted above, Tantrik texts like the Namaskāra-valaya were known to Siddhasena (1191 A.D.), the commentator of Pravacanasāroddhāra. His remarks are noteworthy in as much as he says that in works of this class is given a vyakhyā of the Panca-Parameșthi-Namaskāra. This Panca-Paramesthi-mantra is also said to be the origin of all mantras (spells, charms etc.), the essence of all Purva-texts and the Wishing-tree (kalpa-druma) for attainment of all desired objects. Its power is great in as much as it can be used against poisons, snakes, supernatural beings like Sakini, Dakini, Yakini and the like grahas and has powers of Vaśya, Akrsti, etc. over the whole world.
Thus the Siddha-cakra-yantra, made up of the worship of mainly the Panca-Parameşthins, came to be employed in various Tantrik rites-the saf-karmas, such as Santika, Paustika, Vaśya, Akarsana, Mohana, Uccätana and Marana, at least in the eleventh century A.D., a century or two preceding the age of the commentary of Siddhasena. Originally the Siddhacakra or the Namaskāra-valaya must have been employed in pure rites like the Santika and Paustika, but the growing Tantrik influence in India, from c. seventh century A.D. if not earlier, which resulted in the composition of various Buddhist Sadhanas and expansion of the pantheon, and in a similar activity in the Brahmanical Tantra, also led the Jainas not only to elaborate their pantheon, but also to include a number of Tantrik rites and practices originally prohibited to Jaina monks and which were against the very principles of Jainism.
Later Digambara manuscripts of the Panca-Namaskāra-Kalpa, and Svetämbara manuscripts of the Panca-Paramesthi-kalpa etc. are still available in the Jaina bhandāras. This class of small Tantrik texts await special critical study.
Page #59
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
REFERENCES
1. Cf. Mulacāra, 7.13, p. 396. 2. संग्रामसागरकरीन्द्रभुजङ्गसिंहदुर्व्याधिवहिरिपुबन्धनसम्भवानि । चौरग्रहभ्रमनिशाचरशाकिनीनां नश्यन्ति पञ्चपरमेष्ठिपदर्भयानि ।।
-Upadesatarangini भोयणसमए यणे विबोहणे पवेसणे भए वसणे । पंचनमुक्कार खलु समरिज्जा सम्बकालं नि ।।
- Upadeśatarangini जेणेस नमुक्कारो सरणं संसारसमरपहियाणं । कारणमसंखदुक्खकखयणस्स हेउ सिवपहस्स ॥
-Vrddha-Namaskāraphala-stotra (Quoted in Pratikramana-sutra-Prabodha-Tika, I,
pp. 25ff) 3. तथा पण्यसमं मन्त्रं जगत्रितयपावनम् ।
५५५५ठनमस्कार विचिन्तयेत् ।। त्रिशुद्धया चिन्तयंस्तस्य शतमष्टोतरं मुनिः । भुजानोऽपि लभेतैव चतुर्थतपसः फलम् ॥ एनमेव महामन्त्रं समाराध्येह योगिनः । त्रिलोक्यापि महीयन्तेऽधिगताः परमं श्रियम् ।। कृत्वा पापसहस्राणि हत्वा जन्तुशतानि च । अ# मन्त्र' समाराध्य तिर्यञ्चोऽपि दिवं गताः ।। घ्यायन्तोऽनादिसिद्धान्तान्वर्णानेतान्यथाविधि । मष्टादिविषये ज्ञानं ध्यातुरुत्पद्यते क्षणात् ॥
-Yogaprakasa, 8th prakasa 4. The unpublished Mahāniśitha sūtra deals at length with
the importance of this mantra. Long ago Schubring discussed the contents in German and later published
some parts. 5. For an explanation of the title cf.:
दीहकालरयं जं तु कम्मं से सियमट्टहा। सियं धंतंति सिद्धस्स सिद्धत्तमुवजायइ ।।
--Visesāvasyaka-bhāsya, v. 3029 Also see Tattvärtha sūtra, 10.7; Pancāstikaya of Kundakunda, v. 35; Niyamasāra, v. 72; Avasyaka Niryukti, vv.953-961.
6. Prajñāpanā sūtra, sū. 8; Visesavaśyaka-bhasya, vv. 2950ff.
Also see Avasyaka-Vrtti of Haribhadra, pp.438ff. 7. Ramachandran, T.N., Tiruparuttikunram and its
Temples, p. 189. 8. See also Jaini, J.L., Outline of Jainism, pp. 130-131;
Trisasti,I(GOS), AppendixV, p. 450. 9. Sometimes a figure without Prätiharyas is regarded as a
representation of Siddha. 10. Abhidhāna Cintamani, I.57-71, Trisasti,I(GOS), p. 450.
Also Jaini, op. cit., pp. 128-29. 11. Avasyaka Carni, II, pp. 8-9; Yogasastra, 3. pp. 216ff
Avasyaka Niryukti, verses 921-926 and Av. Vrtti of Haribhadra, pp.406ff. Sthānanga sutra, 3.4, Sd. 220 and comm., vol. I, p. 174. जितकोहमाणमाया जियलोहा ते जिणा हुँति । अरिणो हंता रयं हंता अरिहंता तेण वुच्चंति ।।
-Avasyaka Nir., v. 1076 With above, cf. Malācāra of Vartakera, 7.64, vol. I, p. 432, which is almost identical with the Av. Nir.
Gatha quoted above. Also see Milācāra, 7.4-5, p. 394. 12. Avasyaka Niryukti, v. 994; Višeşāvasyaka, vv. 3189ff. Pra
vacanasāroddhara, vv. 541-49; Jaini, op. cit., pp. 131ff, Trisasti, I (GOS) p. 452; Niyamasara, v. 73. Avašyaka
Vrtti of Haribhadra, pp. 448ff. 13. Vifesāvasyaka, vv. 3196-3200. Upadhyaya is explained
by Avatyaka Niryukti, v. 997. Also see Trisasti, I (GOS), p. 452. Jaini, op. cit., p. 133; Pravacana
Saroddhāra, vv.492ff. Niyamasāra, v.74. 14. Avasyaka Niryukti, v. 1002; Trisasti, I (GOS), pp. 454
55%; Jaini, op. cit., pp. 133f. Niyamasāra, v. 75. Avasyaka
Vrtti, op. cit., pp. 449ff. 14a. Shah, U.P., Studies in Jaina Art, fig. 12. 15. Jaina Siddhānta Bhaskara (Jaina Antiquary), vol. VIII,
pp. 62-66 paper on Ardha-falaka-sampradaya (Hindi) by
K.P. Jaina. 16. Shah, U.P., Treasures of Jaina Bhandaras (Ahmedabad,
1978), fig. 18.
Page #60
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
CHAPTER FOUR
Parents of the Tīrthankaras
The parents of the Tirthankaras have been paid due respect by followers of both the main Jaina sects, who have taken special care to record their names in the evils if the lives of Tirthankaras of this Avasarpiņi age. Table I, appended at the end of this chapter, gives their names according to both the traditions.
Worship of the parents of the Tirthankaras appears to be of ancient origin. They are invoked in various rites, especially in the pratisthāvidhi, and it is interesting to note that even here the mothers are more frequently invoked than the fathers. In painting as well as sculpture, the mother is more often represented. Aryavati in the Amohini Votive Tablet from Mathura, dated in the 42nd year of Şodāsa, is one of the earliest such specimens (Studies in Jaina Art, Fig. 14A). It belongs to the early Kuşaņa period, and depicts a standing lady (Aryavati) adored and worshipped by attendant figures one of whom holds a parasol over her. The lady represents the mother of a Tirtharkara, probably Mahāvira. Several stone pațas or plaques representing in relief all the twenty-four mothers-each in a separate compartment and carrying the son on her lap-are known to have been installed in Jaina temples during the mediaeval period. The earliest of these known hitherto is preserved in a Svetambara Jaina temple at Ośia in the former Jodhpur State, Rajasthan, and is dated v.s. 1075/A.D. 1018. I know of similar pațas from Påsan, Abu and Mt. Girnar, and many more exist in different Jaina temples.
The mothers of the Jaina saviours were widely worshipped both in groups of twenty-four and singly. When single, the mother is shown reclining on a cot with the child lying beside her, both attended by maids and/or the Dik-kumāris of Jaina mythology. Such representations form part of the numerous scenes depicting the whole life of a Jina as we find in some ceilings of Vimala Vasahi, Abu and in shrines of Santinātha and others at Kumbharia, but such scenes are generally without the Dik-kumāris as in the miniatures of the Kalpa-sútra. Of the latter type may be seen the miniatures illustrated by Brown, Miniature Paintings of the Jaina Kalpa-sútra, pl. 17, figs. 58, 59 where Trišalā is lying on a cot with Mahavira by her side and attended upon by a maid-servant, or figs. 90, 91 from the life of Pārsvanatha, fig. 103 from the life of Aristanemi and figs. 118, 119 depicting the birth of Rsabha. It will be seen that all such representations are of the same type. Another type represents the Mother of a Jina lying on a cot in a lower section of the miniature, while the two upper sections show the various dreams (14 according to the Svetambaras) seen by the Mother when the Tirthankara is conceived in her womb, compare Brown's fig. 18 representing Trisalā, the Mother of Mahāvira.3
In the case of the Mother of Mahavira, however, some more types of miniatures are available, one shows the Brāhmani Devananda seeing the fourteen dreams, when Mahävira first enters her womb (Brown, fig. 6), a second shows Devänanda sleeping on a cot and Harinegamesin carrying away the foetus of Mahāvira (Brown, fig. 14), while a third type shows Trišalá lying on a cot and Harinegamesin standing beside her with the foetus of Mahavira (Brown, fig. 16).4
On a pillar of the famous Dharana-vihāra shrine, Ranakpur, old Jodhpur State, Marwar (now Rajasthan), is found a figure of a Mother lying on a cot which represents the Nativity of a Jina. An older big sculpture of the Mother resting on a cot and shampooed by a maid is preserved in temple No. 4 at Devgadh
Page #61
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Jaina-Ripa-Mandana fort, Jhansi District, Madhya Bharata. The sculpture (dated v.s. 107 (?), c. 1020 A.D.) includes representations of the twenty-four Jinas on all the three sides of the Mother (Studies in Jaina Art, Fig. 39), which shows that the image represents "The Mother of the Jina".
The Nativity figures are not unknown to other sects in ancient Indian sculpture. The Nativity of Buddha, found at the site of his birth, near the Lumbini Garden as also at Nalanda are well-known.5 The Nativity of Krsna is represented on the outer wall of the first Pancayatana temple at Ośia, assignable to the post-Gupta age. Similar representations are known from Eastern India, including representations showing the birth of Sadāśiva.7
The famous sculpture from Pathari, old Gwalior State, of a Mother lying on a cot with a child beside her, and attended upon by four maidens standing behind and holding the fan, the chowrie-a money bag (?) etc. in their hands, 8 is especially noteworthy since the Jaina traditions speak of Dik-kumāris serving the Mother at the time of the birth of a Jina. This sculpture can be identified as representing the Mother of a Jina and the identification is likely, especially when an old Jaina temple still exists at Pathari. It may be remembered that in Buddhist mythology, the Buddha is attended upon, not by females, but by Brahma
er four male deities, while a similar group is not known in Hinduism. It will be seeria Fig. 82 from a ceiling slab in the Neminātha shrine at Kumbharia (North Gujarat), which relates to the life of Pärśvanātha, King Aśvasena and Queen Vāmā (parents of Pårśva) are represented as seated side by side in the first row. The second and the third rows contain in separate sections parents of all the twenty-four Tirthankaras. As, however, the photograph shows only a part of the big slab, only a few of them, each completely labelled by the artist, can be seen in the plate. In each section are seated, side by side, on small seats, the Mother and Father of a Jina, with the child on the Mother's lap. The sculpture is assignable to c. 12th century A.D.
With this type may be considered a group of miniature paintings of the Kalpa sūtra. Figure 35 of Brown shows King Siddhartha and Queen Trisala (Parents of Mahävira) seated beside each other. the king on a somewhat bigger seat, and with a chatra above each. Here Trisalā narrated her dreams to Siddhartha who tells her that the dreams are a very auspicious omen. Of a similar type is fig. 117 of Brown, representing parents of Rşabha, the patriarch Nabhi and his Queen Marudevi. Figure 48 of Brown's KSP shows Siddhartha and Trisalā, listening to the interpreters of dreams (svapnapathaka) shown in a lower panel (also cf. figs. 40, 50 of Brown).
But this type of representation of the Parents of a Jina (seated side by side), on stone at Kumbharia or in the miniatures noted above, leads us to the examination of yet another group of sculptures which were lying unidentified. This type of sculpture generally shows a male and a female in princely attire, sitting under a tree, with a child on the female's lap. In almost all such cases, there is a seated Jina figure on the top of the tree (Figs. 80, 81, 85A).10 Sometimes both the male and the female hold a child each.11 In some cases the male holds a lotus or a citron 12 in one of his hands.13 Below the princely pair, in a lower panel, are found several seated or standing figures (Figs. 80, 81) and in some cases figures riding on horses are also seen. 14 Again, in some sculptures, 15 a group of children are shown near the feet of the male and the female. Sometimes, a small dwarfish figure is seen climbing the stem of the tree just above and in a sculpture in the Devgadh fort, a figure like this is represented on the branch of a tree.
In this connection, two sculptures from Khajuraho deserve special notice. In one (Fig. 85A) a small figure of a bull is placed between the pair, near their legs. In another (Fig. 81) are seen, at two ends below, representations of a Yaksa and Yaksi. Again, the chowrie-bearers to the right and the left of the male and the female may be noted.
Such representations are known to have been found in old Digambara shrines and old Jaina sites in the Gwalior State, Madhya Bharata, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. A few are also known from Bengal. They seem to have been gradually less popular in the Moghul period while older sites like Khajuraho, Devgadh, Budhi Canderi etc., abound in them.
Now, the presence of a Yakșa and a Yakși, as subordinate figures in Fig. 81, as also of fly-whisk bearers and the bull-cognizance in Fig. 85A) shows that such a pair does not represent the Yaksa and Yakși of a Tirthankara. Besides there are different kinds of trees in different sculptures which fact suggests that
Page #62
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Parents of the Tirtharkaras
49
the pairs are concerned with different Tirthankaras. The presence of a child on the lap of the Mother is of utmost importance, for it shows that, in view of all peculiarities noted above, the pair must be taken to represent the Mother and the Father of the Tirtharkara.16 Moreover, both the male and the female are dressed like King and Queen in all sculptures. Above all, we have the evidence of a similar tradition amongst the Svetāmbaras (in c. 11th-12th century) of the ceiling slab from Kumbharia, discussed above (Fig. 82), which actually represents them seated side by side with the son on the Mother's lap. The labels inscribed below the panels at Kumbhāriā leave no doubt about their identifications.
Another alternative is to take the pair as representing the Kulakara and his queen, or the happy twins (Yugalika) who lived in those days.17 But in the case of at least the two sculptures from Khajuraho, discussed above in Figs. 81 and 85 A, the presence of the bull cognizance and the Yaksa and Yaksi would remain unexplained. But it would be easier to identify the pair in Fig. 85 A as representing the Parents of Rsabhanatha, whose cognizance is the bull. The Yaksa and Yaksi in Fig. 81 represented at two ends of the lower panel are already noted. Besides, there are five more figures (both male and female) in the centre of the pedestal, who seem to be worshippers. A figure of a standing camara-dhara to the right of the male is noteworthy. The male seems to have held in his left mutilated hand a lotus with a long stalk (also in Fig. 85 A with the bull symbol). It is therefore impossible to regard this pair as the Yugalikas, and if we take them as Parents the presence of a child is better explained than in the case of a Kulakara. Besides, the almost invariable presence of a Jina figure on the top of the tree in such sculptures would not be necessary if different Kulakaras are represented.
Another alternative would be to regard them as representing a Yakşa and a Yakşi probably as a Jaina version of the Buddhist Jambhala and Häriti. If Fig. 81 above with another Yakşa and Yaksini at the two ends of the pedestal be regarded as our guide to the understanding of these types of sculptures, then we need not take the Male and Female as a Yakşa and Yakşiņi. The presence of horse riders on pedestals of some sculptures is not explicable under any of the above-mentioned alternatives. The Mathura Museum sculpture No. 278, illustrated here in Fig. 178, shows a male and a female seated side by side in lalitása na under a tree, on the trunk of the tree is an ascending lizard. On the pedestal is carved another figure seated with the left leg drawn up and flanked by two butting rams and a group of frolicksome children. No. 1111 is another relief of this group in the Mathura Museum. Here both the principal figures, twoarmed, hold a brimming cup in right hand. No. 1578 in this museum, again, shows, on the pedestal, a group of seven miniature figurines in añjali mudrā.18 A sculpture from Devgadh, showing the male and the female in a standing attitude, and carrying the citron in their right hands and the child in their left hands, was identified by Shri Brindabana Bhattacharya as the Yaksa Gomedha and Ambika Yakşini of Neminātha. 19 A sculpture from Chanderi in the Gwalior State shows on the pedestal a group of horse riders with galloping horses. 20 Now the presence of galloping horses cannot be explained under any of the other identifications suggested by B.C. Bhattacharya, V.S. Agrawala and others while the frolicking children can very well be expected in a sculpture based on the Buddhist Jambhala and Härīti group. A better specimen of this type is preserved at Devgadh, temple no. 12, which shows three more standing infants, not on the pedestal, but beside the legs of the male and female sitting in lalitäsana under a tree. The brimming cup held by the principal figures in some sculptures, or the citron shown in others, or again the lotus held by the male in some figures would suggest that the pair represents some Yaksa and Yakşini. But in the last case (from Khajuraho Museum) the bull symbol would prevent us from doing so and in fig. 117 from Khajuraho where again the male carries a lotus, a yakşa and yaksini figure on the pedestal. Under all these circumstances, it is difficult to find out a final satisfactory solution of this group of sculptures, almost all of whom belong to the mediaeval age, with a few assignable to the early mediaeval age but none earlier than c. 7th century A.D. All the sculptures of this group post-date the introduction of a Yaksa pair as attendants in Tirthankara images. It is therefore likely that this group of Jaina sculptures was modelled after the Buddhist Jambhala and Häriti,21 to attract the laity, and worshipped as Parents of the Jinas, but the correspondence being so great and the canonical injunctions being still not fixed up, the artist could take liberties in representations on pedestals and other minor figures. It may be that a few figures were possibly intended to represent a yaksa pair in cases where the pair carries the brimming
Page #63
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
50
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana cup or the citron, but even in the case of the sculpture discussed by Brindabana Bhattacharya, the lion vehicle of Ambikā is absent (the partly mutilated figure to the left of Ambikā represented some worshipper and not an animal) and the five figures on the pedestal seem to represent five planets or some minor deities. The sculpture was carved in an age (c. 13th century A.D.) when the iconography of Ambika was so well known that she would carry mango-bunch, rather than a citron, and would be shown as standing under a mango-tree only. And no other yakşi carries a child with her in Jaina iconography.
Unfortunately almost all available sculptures of this type bear no inscriptions and in a few cases of short inscriptions on pedestals (as in a bronze in the Nāgpur Museum or in No. A(C)2,329 in the Rajshahi Museum, from Deopara, district Rajshahi) the inscriptions do not help us in identifying this pair. But the short inscription on No. 278 in the Mathura Museum is read as Priyati Siddhah. If this has any connection with Priyakärini and Siddhartha, the Mother and Father of Mahavira, according to Dig. tradition, then the riddle of identification of this group is solved. We are not quite sure about it and in the absence of any other labelled sculptures of this group, the identification of this group, as representing the Parents of the various Tirtharkaras suggested here, is to be regarded as tentative only, and in this the panel at KumSaria, and Figs. 81 and 85 A from Khajuraho are our only guides.
TABLE I
Parents of Jinas
No.
Tirthankara
Father
Mother
1. Rşabhanatha 2. Ajitanatha 3. Sambhavanatha 4. Abhinandana 5. Sumatinătha
Marudevi Vijaya Senā (Sve.); Suşeņā (Dig.) Siddhartha Mangala
6. Padmaprabha 7. Supārsvanätha
Susīma Prthvi
8. Candraprabha 9. Puspadanta 10. Sitalanatha 11. Sreyamsanatha 12. Vasupujya 13.. Vimalanātha 14. Anantanatha 15. Dharmanātha 16. Santinătha 17. Kunthúnatha 18. Aranātha 19. Mallinātha 20. Munisuvrata 21. Naminātha 22. Neminātha 23. Parsvanātha 24. Mahavira
Nabhi Jitaśatru Jitari Samvara Megha (Sve.) Meghaprabha (Dig.) Dhara or Dharana (Dig.) Pratiștha or Supratiştha (Dig.) Mahásena Sugriva Drdharatha Vişnu Vasupujya Kstavarmā Simhasena Bhānu Visvasena Sûra or Suryasena (Dig.) Sudarśana Kumbha Sumitra Vijaya Samudravijaya Aśvasena Siddhartha
Lakṣmaṇā or Lakşmi (Dig.) Rāmā Nanda Vişnu or Venudevi (Dig.) Jayā or Vijaya (Dig.) Syamā or Jayaśyāma (Dig.) Suyaśā or Sarvayaśā (Dig.) Suvrata Acirá or Airă (Dig.) Sri Devi or Mitrā (Dig.) Prabhāvati Padma Vaprā or Vipritā (Dig.) Sivādevi Vāmā or Varmila Trišala or Priyakariņi (Dig.)
Page #64
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Parents of the Tirtharkaras
SI
A sculpture of a male and a female seated in lalitāsana on a common seat, with haloes behind (obviously showing that they are objects of worship, gods or great souls) seated in a sort of a heavenly vimāna, or a shrine with a sikhara, and a Jina seated to front on top, but without the tree (met with in all the sculptures discussed above), is preserved in the British Museum, London.22 Again, neither the male nor the female carries a child and the pair possibly held lotus in their right hands. The female carries the citron in her left hand. The pedestal shows three dwarfs lifting the vimăna, and four standing males who seem to be musicians. On the pedestal is carved Anantaviryyo in early Nāgari characters, of c. 10th or 11th century A.D. No Yaksa is known as Anantavirya in Jaina literature. But Anantavirya is the name of the twenty-fourth future Jina according to the Digambaras23 and of the twenty-third according to the Svetāmbaras.24 Even then it is difficult to identify this pair, it is just possible that Anantavīryyo merely signifies the name of the donor. One must await future discoveries to obtain a final solution of all such sculptures.
In order to identify the different pairs as parents of the different Tirthankaras, a table of caitya-trees of these Jinas is appended below. It will be seen that the tree under which the pair sits is different in different sculptures, and often there is a tree with thic Jia figure on top.
TABLE II
Caitya-Trees of Tirth ankaras
No.
Tirthankara
Svetambara
Digambara
Same as Sve. Saptaparna Sarala Prayāla Priyangu Chatrā
Sirisa Nāga
1. Rşabhanātha 2. Ajitanātha 3. Sambhavanātha 4. Abhinandana 5. Sumatinātha 6. Padmaprabha 7. Supārsvanātha 8. Candraprabha 9. Puşpadanta (Suvidhinatha) 10. Sitalanatha 11. Sreyāmsanatha 12. Vasupujya 13. Vimalanatha 14. Anantanatha 15. Dharmanatha 16. Säntinatha 17. Kunthünätha 18. Aranatha 19. Mallinātha 20. Munisuvrata 21. Naminatha 22. Neminātha 23. Pārsvanātha 24. Mahavira
Nyagrodha Saptaparna Sala (Shorea Robusta) Piyaka or Priyaka Priyangu (Panicum italicum) Caturabha (Anethum Sava) Sirisa (Acacia Sirisha) Nāga Mali Pilankhu (Plaksa) Tinduga Pāļala (Bignonia Suaveolens) Jambú (Eugenia Jambulana) Asvattha Dadhiparna Nandi (Cedrela-Toona) Tilaka Amra Asoka Campaka (Michelia Champaka) Bakula (Mimusops Elengi) Vetasa Dhataki (Grislea Tomentosa) Sala
Akşa Dhuli Palasa Tenduva Pāțala-Jambu Asvattha Dadhiparna Nandi Tilaka Amra Asoka Campaka Bakula Meşaśrnga Dhava Sala
Page #65
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Jaina-Rūpa-Mandana
REFERENCES
1. Acara-Dinakara, pp. 16ff, 154ff, Pratisha-säroddhara,
pp. 87ff, Pratisthå-tilaka, pp. 420ff. 2. Pavitra-Kalpa-Satra, fig. 23 coloured plate representing
Trišala and Mahavira on a cot; fig. 30 is a palm-leaf miniature showing Trišală with an attendant maid and two Dik-Kumāris in an upper corner, also cf. fig. 85 where the Dik-Kumaris are in a lower register. Fig. 100 depicts the birth of Rşabha, only a maid-servant or probably only one Dik-Kumāri is shown. Also see Brown, W. Norman, Miniature Paintings of the Jaina
Kalpa Sutra (KSP), figs. 58, 59, 90, 91. 3. Cf. fig. 98 colour plate representing Devananda seeing
the fourteen dreams, in Pavitra Kalpa Satra, ed. by
Muni Punyavijaya. 4. Pavitra-kalpa sutra, figs. 77 and 82 representing 'garbha
pahāra' and 'garbha-samkramana' respectively. 5. Kramrisch, Stella, Indian Sculpture, fig. 98, also figs. 21
23 for dream of Maya Devi. 6. Annual Report, Arch. Surv. of India, for 1908-09,
pp. 100ff where Dr. D.R. Bhandarkar describes the temples at Osia. The present writer has seen the
sculpture on the temple. 7. History of Bengal, vol. I, figure of Sadāśiva. Bhattasali,
N.K., Iconography of Buddhist and Brahmanical Sculp
tures in the Dacca Museum, plates LIII, LIV, pp. 134ff. 8. History of Indian and Indonesian Art, fig. 178. 9. The four male deities are the four Maharajas, the
quarter-guardians, Dhrtarăşira, Vidudhaka, and others. The Pathari sculpture, because of the four standing attendant females (not known to Buddhist or Hindu mythologies), must be identified as representing the birth
of a Jina, probably the Nativity of Mahāvira. 10. From Khajuraho Museum. 11. From Devgadh. Also see fig. A(c)2,329, from Deopara
in the Museum of the V.R.S., Rajshahi. 12. See Gomedha and Ambika from Devgadh, illustrated by
B.C. Bhattacharya, in Jaina Iconography (first edition). 13. Negative no. 1263, Dept. of Archaeology, Gwalior State
showing 3 sculptures of such pairs. 14. On pedestals of all the three images noted above in note
13. See note 20. 15. From Devgadh Fort. 16. The Pratisha-tilaka of Nemicandra admits as valid
representations of the Mother and Father seated side by side, in the following verse: भर्वा सहकासनसन्निविष्टां
संस्नाप्य यां तीर्थजलैः सुरेन्द्राः । दिव्य विभूषाम्बरमाल्यमुख्य रानचं रेनां वयमर्चयामः ।।
--Pratisha-tilaka, p. 422. 17. For Kulakaras, see a separate discussion under Kulu
karas in this book. Also see T- 110 , pp. 93ff. Tiloyapannatti, 4.320ff, vol. I, pp. 185ff, for Yugalikas. The text specially says: ते जुगलधरमजुता परिवारा नत्थि तत्काले ॥३४०॥ which excludes the possibility of this group being identified as Yugalika-images. For Kulakaras, ibid.,
4-423-510, pp. 195-206. 18. Agrawala, V.S., Catalogue of the Mathura Museum,
JUPHS, vol. XXIII, parts 1-2, pp. 67-68 for Nos. 278,
1111 and 1578 discussed here. 19. Bhattacharya, B.C., Jaina Iconography, plate XVI,
p. 183 (first edition). 20. Annual Report, Archaeological Survey of India for
1924-25, pl. 42, fig. (2). A sculpture from Chanderi shows
horsemen at the bottom portion of the image. 21. Cf. Kubera and Hariti from Sahri-Bahlol, in Smith and
Codrington, A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, pl. 31, fig. B. For Hariti, also see Bhattasali, N.K.,
op. cit., pp. 63-84. 22. Rai Bahadur Chanda, Ramaprasada, Mediaeval Sculp
ture in the British Museum, London, pl. IX, pp. 41-42. 23. Ramachandran, T.N., Tiruparuttikunram and its
Temples, p. 213. 24. Abhidhāna-Cintamani, 1.53-56, pp. 18-19.
Page #66
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
CHAPTER FIVE
Notes on the Jaina Pantheon
(1) BACKGROUND OF JAINA COSMOGRAPHY
According to Jainism, the shape of the Cosmos is fixed and unchangeable. Fourteen rajjusa in height, it is not uniform in breadth-broadest at the bottom, narrowest at the centre, broader still above and at the top narrower once again. The shape of the cosmos (loka) is best compared with a man standing in the vaisākha position, with arms akimbo, at the bottom resembling a vetrāsana (cane-stand), in the middle a jhallari (circular flat symbol or gong) and at the top a muraja (mrdanga). It is filled with three worldslower, middle and upper, the terms being used with reference to Rucaka. The centre of the cosmos comprises the madhya-loka-middle world with the abodes of human and lower beings, and extending nine hundred yojanas above and below Rucaka.
The lower world or adho-loka is made up of seven earths, one below the other, in which are terrifying abodes of hell inhabitants: Ratnaprabhā, Sarkarāprabhā, Valukaprabhā, Pankaprabha, Dhūmaprabhā, Tamahprabha and Mahātamahprabha.5 The Ratnaprabha is divided into three parts; the uppermost, called the khara-bhāga, has in its central regions abodes of all the classes of the Bhavanavāsi-devas except the Asurakumāras, and of the various classes of the Vyantara gods except the Raksasas. The middle part of the Ratnaprabha is called the parka-bhāga wherein stay the Asurakumāras and the Rākşasas. Remaining parts of the lower world contain hells wherein live the närakas or hellish beings, ugly and grotesque in appearance and tortured mercilessly by the Asurakumiras and fifteen other classes of celestial beings known as amba, ambaras, sama, sabala, rudra, mahārudra, käla, mahākāla, asipatra, dhanu, kumbha, vālu, vetarani, kharasvara and mahäghosa.
The middle world, a rather circular body, consists of numerous concentric dvipas or island continents with intervening oceans separating any two of them. In its centre is the Mount Meru, golden and surrounded by the Jambu-dvipa, the latter being encircled by the lavanoda ocean. Then comes the Dhätakikhanda-dvipa followed by kaloda-samudra, then the Puşkaravara-dvipa and the puşkaroda-samudra, the Várunivara-dvipa and the värunivara-samudra, the Kșiravara and the kşiroda, the Ghftavara and the ghstoda, the Ikşuvara and the iksuvaroda, the Nandiśvara and the nandiśvaroda. Human beings are found only in the first two dvipas and the first half of the third one. At the end of countless continents and oceans is the great ocean known as the Svayambhuramana.
The Jambu-dvipa, placed in the centre of the middle world, is the most important of all the continents. Six ranges of mountains divide this Jambu-dvipa into seven regions (kşetras): Bharata, Haimavata, Hari, Videha, Ramyaka, Hairanyavata and Airavata. The six mountain ranges known as varsadharaparvatas are: Himavat, Mahāhimavat, Nişadha, Nila, Rukmin and Sikharin. On their tops are six lakes, namely, Padma, Mahāpadma, Tigiñcha, Kesari, Mahāpundarika and Pundarika respectively, each having a big lotus-island (padma-hrada, full-blown lotus, rooted ten yojanas in water) in its centre. In these islands live the six goddesses Sri, Hri, Dhști, Kirti, Buddhi and Lakşmi respectively, 8 attended by sāmānikas, gods of councils, bodyguards, and armies.
In each of the seven kşetras is a pair of chief rivers -Ganga and Sindhu, Rohit and Rohitäsyä (or
Page #67
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana Rohitāmśā), Harit and Harikäntä, Sita and Sitoda, Nārī and Narakāntā, Suvarņakūlā and Rūpyakūlā, Rakta and Raktodā.9
To the north of the Nişadha Mts. and to the south of Meru are the Vidyutprabha and Saumanasa Mts. in the west and in the east. Between them are the bhogabhumis or enjoyment-lands known as Devakurus. In the Devakurus, on the east and west banks of the river Sitoda are the mountains Citrakūta and Vicitrakūta, on which are temples of the Jinas. To the north of the Meru and to the south of the Nila Mts. are Gandhamädana and Malyavat Mts. between which is another bhogabhumi known as the Uttarakurus, where, on the banks of the river Sita, are two Mts. known as Yamaka.
To the east of the Deva and Uttarakurus are the regions known as the East Videhas, while to the west are the West Videhas, each of the Videhas being divided into sixteen provinces.10
In the centre of the Bharata, parallel to the Himavan, is the Mt. Vaitäḍhya or Vijayardha, dividing the Bharata kşetra into northern and southern regions. The northern one is peopled by the Mlecchas.11 The southern region is divided into western, middle and eastern parts, the Mlecchas again live in the treme east and west sections. the middle section, peopled by the Aryas (noble, worthy, respectable ones), is known as the Arya-khaṇḍa.12
54
On the northern and the southern slopes of the Mt. Vaitäḍhya are cities of the Vidyadharas, fifty in the south and sixty in the north. 13 At ten yojanas above the abodes of the Vidyadharas are two rows adorned with abodes of the Vyantaras. Above these again are nine peaks. There are two caves on the Vaitāḍhya, known as the Tamisra-guha and the Khandaprapata-guha. Kṛtamālaka a Vyantara god is the superintending deity of the first while Narttamälaka, another Vyantara god, rules over the second. There are similar Vidyadhara cities in the Airavata and Videha kṣetras.
In the Bharata and the Airavata kṣetras, in the extreme south and north of the Jambu continent, there is an increase and decrease of age, height, bliss, etc., of their inhabitants, in the two chief Eras of Time-utsarpiņi and avasarpini-while in the other five kşetras there is no increase and decrease of any sort.
In the centre of the Jambu-dvipa is the Mt. Meru, golden and having the shape of a truncated cone. At the base of Meru is a grove Bhadrasala resembling a surrounding wall. At five hundred yojanas from Bhadraśāla, on a terrace, is the grove called Nandana. On a second terrace, at a certain distance above Nandana is the grove Saumanasa, while the Sundara-vana (grove) is on a third terrace. On the peak of Meru is the garden Pundarika. In the last grove is performed the Janmabhiṣeka kalyāṇaka (birth-bath ceremony) of the Tirthankaras.14 Each of the above-mentioned groves has four Säśvata-Jina-Bhavanas.
The continent of Jambu-dvipa has a fortification wall (jagati) of diamond, with a lattice work above it which latter is surmounted by a beautiful terrace (vedika) named Padmavara, the pleasure ground of gods. In the fortification wall are four gates in the four cardinal points. They are: Vijaya, Vaijayanta, Jayanta15 and Aparajita with gods of the same name superintending over them. Over each gate is a dvaraprāsāda, with various pavements, excellent väraṇakas, shining with jewel lamps, having pillars adorned with various salabhañjikās, jewelled minarets and flags. It appears beautiful with various sculptures and painting and excellent curtains. On these gates are the images of Jinas sitting on lion-seats and adorned with haloes, umbrellas, fly-whisks etc. 16
The cities of Mahoraga gods situated in the vedi have costly palaces of square and rectangular plans, and of white, ruby, golden or various colours. These mansions contain various apartments, such as the olagaśälä (?), mantra-sälä, bhūṣaṇa-śälä, abhişeka-śāla etc. The Tiloyapanṇatti further says that Vyantara cities of the Jambudvipa have various types of gṛhas, namely, sämánya-grha, citra or caitya-gṛha, kadali-gṛha, garbha-gṛha, latä-gṛha, näda-gṛha, and asana-gṛha. In the beautiful palaces of the city are various types of seats, of the shape of elephants, lions, parrots, peacocks, crocodiles, eagles, swans, etc. 17
The Lord of the Jambudvipa is a Vyantara god called Anadṛta or Anādara.18 Similarly there are lords of kşet ras, samudras and mountains.
Besides the seven mountain ranges (varṣadhara-parvatas) noted above, there are other similar but smaller mountains in different kṣetras. All the mountains have various peaks (kutas). The Vaitäḍhya, for example, has nine peaks known as siddhayatana-kūta, dakṣinardhabharata-kūta, khandaprapata-k., manibhadra-k., vaitadhya-k., pürṇabhadra-k., tamisraguhá-k., uttarabharatardha-k., and vaiśramana-k., the
Page #68
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
55
Notes on the Jaina Pantheon last eight derive names from gods of the same name superintending over them, while the first one is so called from the Siddhayatanas or Temples of the Siddhas situated on it. Such shrines are also known as Sāśvata-Jina-Bhavanas with images of Sāśvata-Jinas installed in them.19
Next to Jambu-dvipa is the Lavanoda ocean, then the Dhataki khanda, then the Kaloda ocean and following it is Puşkaravara-dvipa. Half of the Puşkaravara is inhabited by human beings. The human world, therefore, is made up of two-and-a half continents, two oceans, thirty-five zones in all and a number of mountains, rivers etc.
Beyond it is the Manuşottara, a mountain range, round like a city-wall, surrounding the human world. Situated half-way in the Puskaravaradvipa and golden, Mānuşottara is so called because 'man is not born except on this side of it', which is the ultimate limit of regions inhabited by human beings.
Surrounding the Puşkaradvīpa is the Puşkara ocean, followed by continents and oceans called the Váruņivara, the Ksiravara etc., the eighth from Jambū being the Nandiśvara-dvipa, which resembles a heaven.
The Nandiśvara-dvipa20 is a land of delight of the gods with gardens of manifold designs, adorned and honoured by the visits of gods devoted in the worship of the Tirthankaras. In its central part are four Anjana mountains of black colour, situated in the four directions; Devaramana in the east, Nityodyata in the south, Svayamprabha in the west, and Ramaniya in the north. On their tops are temples of the Arhats (Tirthankaras), one hundred yojanas long, half as wide and seventy yojanas high, each shrine having four doors. Within the temples are jewelled platforms, sixteen yojanas long and wide, and eight yojanas high. On the platforms (manipithikā) are diases (devacchandaka) of jewels whose length and width exceed the platforms, and on them are one hundred and eight eternal statues (säsvata-bimba) of each of the Arhats named Rşabha, Vardhamana, Candránana and Võrişena in the paryanka posture, made of jewels, attended each by a beautiful retinue consisting of two Nāgas, two Yaksas, two Bhūtas, and two pitcher-carriers while behind each statue is a figure of an umbrella-bearer. On the diases are incense-jars, wreaths, bells, the eight auspicious marks, banners, umbrellas, festoons, baskets, boxes and seats as well as sixteen ornaments such as full pitchers etc.
There are gleaming entrance-pavilions (mukha-mandapa) of the size of the temples, theatre-pavilions (prekşá-mandapa), arenas (akşa-vāțaka), jewelled platforms, beautiful stūpas, and statues, fair caitya-trees, indradhvajas, and divine lotus lakes in succession.
In the four directions from each of the Mt. Anjanas there are big square lotus-lakes, Nandisena, Amogha, Gostūpa etc., and beyond them are great gardens named Asoka, Saptaparna, Campaka and Cūta. Within the sixteen lotus-lakes are the crystal Dadhimukha mountains, each having a SaśvataJinālaya with images of Sāśvata-Jinas described above.21 Between each two lakes are two Ratikara mountains thus making a total of thirty-two Ratikara Mts. These mountains have again thirty-two SāśvataJinālayas on them. This makes a total of fifty-two such Eternal Temples of Arhats on the Nandiśvaradvipa (4 on Anjana Mts.+ 16 on Dadhimukha Mts. +32 on Ratikara Mts.).22
In the eight directions on the two southern Ratikara Mts. are the palaces of the eight queens of Sakra and on the two northern mountains are those of the queens of Isanendra, all these being adorned with the temples of the Jinas. Here and elsewhere on the Nandiśvara-dvipa, Indra and other gods celebrate eight days festival (astâlnika-mahotsava) every year on different holy (parva) days.
Next follows the Nandiśvara ocean, then the Arunavaradvipa, the Arunoda ocean, and the ocean and dvīpa called the Arunabhäsa, then the Kundala dvipa with four Jina temples, the Kundaloda ocean followed by the Rucaka-dvipa. In the centre of the Rucaka-dvipa is the Rucaka-giri (mountain) with four Eternal Temples. On all sides of these temples, on different mountain tops, stay the thirty-six Dik-kumāris of the upper Rucaka-giri while four more Dik-kumāris stay on tops in the centre of the mountain. The last in the series of oceans and continents is the Svayambhuramaņa ocean.
In this continent of Jambu-dvipa there always flourish four each of Tirthakrts, Cakrins, Vişnus (Väsudevas) and Baladevas at the minimum. At the maximum, there are thirty-four Jinas and thirty kings, and twice as many in Dhataki and the inhabited half of Puskaradvipa.23
Mount Himavata bounds the Bharataksetra, while there is another Mt. called Vaitādhya, parallel to
Page #69
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
56
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana the Himaván which divides the Bharata-ksetra into a Northern and Southern region. The Northern one is peopled by the Mlecchas or barbarians. Human beings living in the Jambu, Dhátaki and half Puskara dvīpa (together forming what in modern usage is known as Adhai or Dhai dvipas-patas or paintings of which are still popular) regions are of two kinds, Arya and Mleccha. The divisions of these people and the lists of Mlecchas given by Jaina texts form an interesting subject for students of ancient Indian culture.24
To the north of the Nişadha Mt. and south of Meru are the Vidyutprabha and Saumanasa mountains in the east and west respectively. Between them is the bhogabhūmi or enjoyment land known as Devakurus. To the north of the Meru and to the south of the Nila are Gandhamadana and Malyavat mountains. Between them is another bhogabhūmi called the Uttarakurus. East of the Deva and Uttarakurus, the region is called Purva-Videha and to the west the Uttara-Videha. In each there are 16 provinces called Kaccha, Sukaccha etc.25
In the Bharata-kşetra, on the southern and northern slopes of the Vijayārddha mountain are cities of Vidyādharas, 50 in the south and 60 in the north. There is also a similar number of Vidyadhara cities in the Airavata-kşetra and 55 for each slope in the Videha-kşetra. The Mount a in or Vaitādhya is in the centre of Bharata dividing it into north and south.
At 790 yojanas above the surface of the earth (middle world) is the lower level of the Jyotiskas, divided into Adityas (suns), Candras (moons), Grahas (planets) and Nakşatras (asterisms).
The Upper World or Ordhva-loka is above Mount Meru. Starting from below, this world can be divided into the following heavens: (i) Kalpas, (ii) Graiveyakas, (iii) Anuddiśas, (iv) Anuttaras and (v) Siddha-ksetra. The Svetambaras do not acknowledge the (iv) class. The Kalpas are 16, according to the Digambaras, and situated in eight superimposed pairs which are compared to the ribs of a man. They are: Saudharma, Aiśāna, Sanatkumāra, Māhendra, Brahma, Brahmottara, Lāntaka, Kāpistha, Sukra, Mahāśukra, Satara, Sahasrāra, Anata, Prāṇata, Arana and Acyuta.
The heavens of (ii), (iii) and (iv) groups are also known as Kalpātīta heavens. According to the Svetămbaras the Kalpa heavens are 12 in number, omitting Brahmottara, Kāpistha, Mahāśukra, and Satära of the Digambara list.
The nine Graiveyakas, according to both the sects, are arranged in three rows one above the other(i) Sudarśana, Suprabuddha and Manorama; (ii) Sarvabhadra, Suvišála and Sumanas; (iii) Saumanasa, Pritikara and Aditya.
The Anuddiśas (Digambara only) are nine: Arciḥ, Arcimāli, Vaira, Vairocana, Soma, Somarupa, Aika, Sphatika, and Aditya.
The five Anuttaras are: Vijaya in the east, Vaijayanta in the south, Jayanta in the west, Aparājita in the north and Sarvarthasiddhi in the centre, according to both the sects.
Twelve yojanas above Sarvarthasiddhi, at the summit of the universe, is the Siddha-kşetra, the land of liberated souls, in the world called Isatprägbhara. In its middle, radiant like silver is the Siddha-kşeira, shaped like a parasol or canopy, tapering up towards the top. Here the Siddhas live "in the Blissful possession of their infinite quarternary" 26
Saudharma and Aiśana are round like the moon, in the southern direction is Sakra, the Indra of Saudharma kalpa, and in the northern direction, Isana; similarly are situated Sanatkumāra and Mahendra.
Beyond them is the place corresponding the elbow of the man representing the universe, in the centre of the universe is the Brahmaloka with Brahma Indra as its lord. At the end are the Lokäntikadevas: Sārasvatas, Adityas, Agnis, Aruņas, Gardatoyas, Tuşitas, Avyābādhas, Maruts and Ristas. Above Brahma-loka are the Lāntaka and other heavens.
The ten divisions of gods are: Indras or lords of all the gods of the following other nine divisions, Sāmānikas are the same as Indras but lack Indraship, Trāyastrimšas or the ministers and priests of Indras, Pārşad yas or companions of Indras, Raksasas who are bodyguards, Lokapālas or Quarter-guardians who work as spies of Indras, Anikas forming the armies, Prakirnas constituting the villagers and townsmen, Abhiyogikas who work like slaves and Kilbişakas who are regarded as the lowest castes. The Jyotiskas and Vyantaras have no Lokapalas.
Page #70
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Notes on the Jaina Pantheon (2) CLASSIFICATION OF JAINA DEITIES
The Sthānanga27 and other Jaina canons classify gods into four main groups, namely, the Bhavanavāsis, the Vyantaras or Våņamantaras, the Jyotiskas and the Vimā navāsis. These are again sub-divided into several groups with Indra, Lokapālas, Queens of these and so on.
The classification is acknowledged by both the sects and is a very old tradition, but they are after all deities of a secondary nature in the Jaina Pantheon.
1. The Bhavanarasi Gods
The abodes of Bhavanapatis, situated in the Ratnaprabhā earth, are like two rows, in the north and south, of shops on a highway. The ten classes of Bhavanapatis are the same according to both the sects. Each group has its own recognising mark, usually shown in front of their crowns. The following tables give the iconography of ten classes of Bhavanavāsis, according to both sects (TP – Tiloyapannatti, Digambara and Sve. = Jainis canons of Svetāmbara tradition).28
Bhavanavāsīs - Digambara
Class
Caitya-Vrkşas
Mark on Crown
Complexion
1. Asura-kumaras 2. Nāga-kumaras 3. Suparna-kumāras 4. Dvipa-kumaras 5. Udadhi-kumāras 6. Stanita-kumaras 7. Vidyut-kumaras 8. Dik-kumāras 9. Agni-kumāras 10. Vayu-kumāras
Asvattha Saptaparna Salmali Jambu Vetasa Kadamba Priyangu
Cüda mani Snake Eagle Elephant Crocodile Svastika Vajra Lion Kalasa Horse
Black Black Blackish Blackish Black Black Lightning-like Light-black Flame-like Blue-lotus
Sirisa
Palasa Raja-druma
Bhavanavāsis-Svetambara29
Class
Mark on Crown
Complexion
Garments
1. Asura-kumāras 2. Näga-kumāras 3. Suparna-kumāras 4. Dvipa-kumāras 5. Udadhi-kumaras 6. Stanita-kumaras 7. Vidyut-kumāras 8. Dik-kumaras 9. Agni-kumaras 10. Väyu-kumāras
Cudamani Snake Eagle Lion Horse Vardhamanaka Vajra Elephant Water-pot Makara
Black White Golden Golden White Golden Golden Golden Golden Blackish
Red Bluish White Blue Blue White Blue Blue Blue Reddish yellow
Page #71
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
58
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana Caitya Trees of Ten Bhavanavāsis (Śve.)-Asvattha, Saptaparna, Umbara, Vappotatta (?), Palasa, Vanjula, Salmali, Karpikara, Sirtşa, Dadhiparoa.30
According to the Prajñāpanā, all the Asurakumāras are black, have red lips, white teeth, black hair, earrings on left ears (vāmeyakuṇḍaladhara), their bodies are besmeared with sandal paste, they put on red garments, they are in the prime of age (padhamam vayam ca samaikkanta) or youth, their breasts are adorned with maṇi-ratna-hāras, their arms are adorned with talabhangaka and truțita ornaments, having rings on all the ten fingers (of hands), and cuḍāmaṇi on (in front of) their crown. Beautiful in appearance, they are said to have long straight prominent noses.31
The canons name the parṣadas (council halls or assembly halls or durbar halls) of the Indras32 of different classes, and such other details which need not detain us.
II. The Vaṇamantaras or Vyantaras
The Vyantaras33 living in the Ratnaprabha earth are divided into eight chief classes by both the sects. They are: (1) Pisacas, (2) Bhūtas, (3) Yakṣas, (4) Rākṣasas, (5) Kinnaras, impurusas, (7) Mahoragas, (8) Gandharvas.
(1) Pisacas: The are sub-divided into 14 classes by the Dig. Tiloyapaṇṇatti: Kūṣmaṇḍa, Yakṣa, Rākṣasa, Sammoha, Taraka, Aśucināmaka, Kala, Mahākāla, Suci, Satalaka, Deha, Mahādeha, Tuşnika, Pravacana.
34
All the Pisaca gods are black and the two Indras of Piśācas are Kāla and Mahākāla. According to the Svetambaras, the Pisacas are blackish, but beautiful in appearance and adorned with ornaments of various jewels. Kadamba tree is the symbol on the Dhvajas of the Pisacas, according to the Svetämbaras,3 who divide the Pisacas into sixteen classes: Kūṣmaṇḍa, Pālaka, Sujoșa, Āhnika, Kāla, Mahākāla, Cokṣa, Acokṣa, Talapiśāca, Mukharapiśāca, Adhastāraka, Deha, Videha, Mahādeha, Tuṣṇika and Vanapiśāca.
(2) Bhutas: They are divided into seven classes: Svarupa, Pratirupa, Bhūtottama, Mahābhūta, Praticchanna, Akāśabhūta (Dig.). The Tulasi-plant is their Caitya-tree. All Bhutas are black according to both the sects. According to Svetambara traditions there are nine classes of Bhutas: Surupa, Pratirūpa, Atirúpa, Bhutottama, Skanda, Mahāskanda, Mahāvega, Praticchanna, Akāśaga. They are said to be beautiful though black and are peaceful in appearance (saumya), adorned with paste marks of various motifs (bhakti-citra). Their flags bear the mark of a Sulasa tree.
(3) Yakṣas: According to the Tiloyapanṇatti, they are divided into 12 kinds: Manibhadra, Pūrṇabhadra, Śailabhadra, Manobhadra, Bhadraka, Subhadra, Sarvabhadra, Mănușa, Dhanapala, Sarupa, Yakṣottama, and Manoharana. Their Caitya-tree is the Banyan tree. According to the Svetambaras, they are divided into 13 groups: Pūrṇabhadra, Manibhadra, Svetabhadra, Haritabhadra, Sumanobhadra, Vyatipatikabhadra, Subhadra, Sarvatobhadra, Manuṣyapakṣa, Vanāhāras, Rūpayakṣa, Yakşottama, Vanadhipatis (Dhanadhipatis in Samgrahapi). They are beautiful to look at and possess well-proportioned limbs, serene in appearance, wearing shining Kirițamukutas, and other ornaments. Black in complexion, they have the Banyan-tree on their dhvajas.35
Pūrṇabhadra and Manibhadra are their Indras according to both the sects. According to Tiloyapannatti, each Indra has four chief queens called Tārā, Bahuputrā, Kunda and Uttamă. According to Śvetämbara traditions they are called Pūrṇa, Bahuputrikā, Uttamā and Tārakā.36
(4) Rākṣasas: They are of seven classes according to the Tiloyapanṇatti: Bhima, Mahābhima, Vināyaka, Udaka, Rākṣasa, Rākṣasa-rakṣasa, and Brahmarākṣasa. All Rākṣasas are black. Their Indras are Bhima and Mahābhima, having four chief queens each called Padmā, Vasumitra, Ratnaḍhya and Kancanaprabha. Kaṇṭaka is the Caitya-tree of Rākṣasas. The Svetambaras also acknowledge seven classes, namely, Bhima, Mahābhima, Vighna, Vinayaka, Jala-rākṣasa, Rākṣasa-rākṣasa, Brahmarakṣasa. Their Indras are Bhima and Mahābhima. The Rakṣasas are white, adorned with golden ornaments and having fierce appearances with long red lower lips. Their flags have the mark of Khatvanga.37
(5) Kinnaras: According to the Tiloyapanṇatti they are divided into nine classes: Kinnara, Kimpuruşa, Hrdayangama, Rūpapāli, Kinnarkinnara, Anindita, Manorama, Kinnarottama and Ratipriya. They
Page #72
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Notes on the Jaina Pantheon are all black. Asoka is the Caitya-tree of these gods. According to Svetāmbaras, they are of ten kinds: Kinnara, Kimpuruşa, Kimpuruşottama, Kinnarottama, Hşdayangama, Ropaśäli, Anindita, Manorama, Ratipriya, Ratiśreştha.38 Black in complexion, they have especially charming faces, they wear crowns and have a peaceful appearance. Asoka tree is their flag mark.39
(6) Kimpuruṣas: They are of ten kinds, according to Tiloyapannatti: Purusa, Purusottama, Satpurusa, Mahāpuruşa, Puruşaprabha, Atipuruşa, Maru, Marudeva, Maruprabha and Yaśasvān. Their two Indras are Satpurusa and Mahāpurusa. All the Kimpurusas are golden in appearance. According to Svetāmbara tradition the Kimpuruşas are of ten classes: Puruşa, Satpuruṣa, Mahāpurusa, Puruşavssabha, Puruşottama, Atipuruṣa, Mahadeva, Marut, Maruprabha and Yaśasvān. White in complexion, these gods have very bright faces, especially beautiful hands and legs, and are adorned with various ornaments and marks of sandal paste.40
(7) Mahoragas: The Tiloyapannatti divides them into 10 classes: Bhujaga, Bhujangaśāli, Mahātanu, Atikāya, Skandhaśāli, Manohara, Ašanijava, Maheśvara, Gambhira, Priyadarśana. The Mahoragas have dark complexion. The Nāga-tree is their Caitya-tree. According to the Svetāmbaras, the 10 Mahoragas are: Bhuj ga, Bhogasali, Mahakaya, Atikāya, Skandhaśāli, Manorama, Mahāvega, Mahayakşa, Merukānta, Bhāsvanta. Blackish in appearance, they have broad and muscular shoulders and necks and are adorned with various ornaments and sandal paste marks. The Nāga is the mark on their heralds.
(8) Gandharvas: According to Tiloyapannatti, the ten Gandharvas are Hähä, Huhu, Narada, Tumbara, Vasava, Kadamba, Mahāsvara, Gitarati, Gitarasa, Vajravān. Golden in appearance, they have the Tumbaru tree as their Caitya-tree.
According to Svetambara Samgrahaņi sūtra, they are: Haha, Huhú, Tumburu, Narada, Rşivädika, Bhūtavādika, Kadamba, Mahākadamba, Raivata, Viśvāvasu, Gitarati and Gitayaśas. The Gandharvas are blackish and beautiful in appearance, have excellent physiognomy, sweet voices and are adorned with crowns and necklaces. The Tumbaru tree is their herald mark.
Of the Vyantaras, there are eight more classes given by Prajñāpana and other Sve. texts. They are: Anapanni, Panapanni, Isivăi, Bhūyavải, Kandi, Mahakandi, Kohanda and Piyanga. Nothing more is known about these except their Indras.
The Prajñāpanā describes the general appearance of all the Vānamantaras or Vyantaras. They are of an unsteady nature attached to dance and music, adorned with Vanamålas of various flowers, wearing garments of different colours, and used to taking different shapes and forms, smiling or laughing. They like love-quarrels and adorn their bodies with various ornaments such as the angada, kundala, karpapitha etc., and with marks of sandal pastes. They carry sword, mudgara (club), sakti (dart) and kunta (spear) in their hands. 41
III. The Jyotiskas
According to both the sects the Jyotiskas42 are divided into five classes: suns, moons, planets, asterisms and miscellaneous stars. It is said that every moon has 88 planets. The nakşatras are 28 in number. The planets are noteworthy in Jaina iconography. They are found in the parikara of a Jainaimage.
IV. The Vaimānika Gods
The Vaimānika gods and goddesses live in the various Kalpa and Kalpãtita heavens, noted in the outline of Jaina cosmography. The Prajñāpanā43 gives symbols on the crowns of the different classes of
gods:
Page #73
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
Vaimānika Gods44
Kalpa-Gods
Symbol on Crowns
(Šve.)
Symbol on Crowns
(Dig.)
Boar Deer Buffalo Fish
Frog Snake
1. Saudharma 2. Išana 3. Sanatkumāra 4. Mahendra 5. Brahmaloka 6. Lantaka 7. Mahāśukra 8. Sahasrara 9. Anata 10. Pranata 11. Arana 12. Acyuta
Deer Buffalo Boar Lion Goat Frog Horse Elephant Snake Ganda-animal Bull A deer known as Vidima
Goat Bull Wishing Tree Wishing Tree Wishing Tree Wishing Tree
The Jaina texts give various other details regarding the Indras of various classes, their places, shrines, lokapālas, queens etc. The Tiloyapannatti gives an elaborate description of the Airavata elephant. The Jivājivābhigama describes the pūjā performed by Vijayadeva in the Siddhayatana, the 32 types of dances are noteworthy in the Raya pasen aiya. Similar pujà is described in the Tiloyapannatti but the 32 varieties of dance are not detailed.
Besides the above-mentioned gods, there are some gods and goddesses specifically named and described. Of this type are Vijaya, Vaijayanta, Jayanta, and Aparăjita, belonging to the Vyantara class (?), superintendents of the four dvåras (gates) of the Jagati (rampart) of the Jambu-dvipa.45 4nadsta, a Vyantara, is the Lord of the Jambu-dvipa. Now a goddess Aņāhiye has been identified by this writer 46 with the Anähită-Anaitis, an Iranian goddess. This Anādhiya47 or Anahiya or Anadrta seems to be a male counterpart of Anāhitä-Anaitis, evolved at a later date.
The different Dik-Kumāris, living on different kūtas of Meru and Rucakadvipa, 56 in number are a group of goddesses which have a special function like the Indras, in the Birth ceremonies of a Jina and therefore get a place in Jaina art. They are the attendants (mahattarikās) of the Mother of a Jina. The list deserves critical study, since the Jainas seem to have given a place in this list to ancient popular or Vedic goddesses. Thus for example we find Vijayā, Nanda, lla, Aparajita, Bhadrā, Pļthvi, Ekanāsă (Ekānamśā).
Of such antiquity are the six goddesses known as Hľada-devis residing on the islands-continents on the six varşadhara mountains (Himavån and others); they are Sri, Hri, Dhrti, Kirti, Buddhi and Laksmi. 48
Various gods and goddesses could be classified under one or the other of the sub-divisions of the above-mentioned four main classes. But with their store of merit exhausted, these gods and goddesses had to be reborn on this earth. They are not the highest objects of worship. They are mere celestial beings or Devas, but the Devädhidevas, Lords of even the celestial beings, objects of worship for all, are the Emancipated souls, the Siddhas and such Siddhas who during their life-time have founded a Tirtha, i.e. propagated Jaina Faith having established orders of śrāvakas, śrävikäs, sädhus and sadhvis. These are the highest objects of Jaina worship.
Next to the Tirthankaras or Arhats and Siddhas are the other ascetic souls, the Jaina monks of three main grades of Acārya, Upadhyâya and Sadhu, these five constituting what are known as Parcanaramesphins, the Five Chief Divinities. These and the Salákāpuruşas or great souls have been discussed in separate chapters.
This in essence is Hero-worship and as such Great souls both ascetic and non-ascetic came to be
Page #74
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Notes on the Jaina Pantheon
61
especially revered. The Jaina classification of souls will be easily explained by a chart published by T.N. Ramachandran, which is copied and appended herewith. Lives of Great souls became the favourite theme of Jaina Puranas. Such great souls were the 24 Tirthaokaras +12 Cakravartins +9 Baladevas +9 Vasudevas = 54 Mahāpuruşas also called Salākāpurusas by the Jainas. Every Vasudeva had a very powerful enemy who also came to be included as a Great soul and the total of Mahapuruşas was raised to sixty-three. It may be noted that Silānka sūri wrote his Caupanna-mahapurisacariyam in c. 925 v.s. (868 A.D.)49 which shows that upto the middle of the ninth century only 54 people were counted as Mahapuruşas. Hemacandra (12th cent. A.D.) who wrote a Purana on these souls called it Trişaşțisalākäpuruşacarita, and included the 9 Prativasudevas as Great souls.
But there were other Great souls. The Jainas also evolved a conception of Manus like the Manus of Hindu mythology and it is noteworthy that whereas the Digambaras believe in 14 Manus or Kulakaras, the Svetämbaras have only seven. These are fundamentally the Great souls of Jaina Mythology and it is a mistake to count the 9 Näradas or the 11 Rudras as great souls or Salákāpuruşas.
The Jainas who had to face Hindu opposition included at a very late date the conception of eleven Rudras, sometime in the middle ages, but the descriptions of the Rudras or the Náradas in the Jaina Purānas clearly demonstrate that their inclusion was effected only for the sake of popular appeal and with a desire to underrate them.
Kamadeva or the Cupid was an object of worship and temples of Kamadevas existed in ancient India. The Jainas, too, evolved a list of Kamadevas, but their role was different. Behind the Jaina concept of a Kamadeva, it is his extremely beautiful person that was emphasised and he had not the powers of shooting arrows on young men and women. Bahubali, the great sage, was the first Kamadeva.
It must be remembered, however, that in spite of this belief in non-ascetic great souls like the Cakravartins, the Baladevas, the Vasudevas and others, the Five Supreme Ones (Pañcaparameşthins) alone remained the real objects of worship for the Jainas.
For a sect or a religion to thrive amongst the people, local deities, popular deities, and deities acknowledged from ancient traditions by the masses have to be incorporated in every pantheon, in a manner suitable to the new environment and doctrines. Such for example was the worship of the deities whose shrines existed in the days of Mahavira, and whose images and festivals are referred to in the Agama literature. They include Indra, Rudra, Skanda, Mukunda, Vasudeva, Vaiśramana, Yaksa, Bhūta, Nāga, Piśáca, etc.
Indra, the great Vedic deity, was assigned the role of a principal attendant by both Buddhism and Jainism and was made to serve the Buddha or the Jina. The other deities of the list did not originally belong to the pantheon of the Vedic priests and were rather deities of the populace, and of the various other non-Aryan tribes. Mahavira usually stayed in Yakşa shrines which shows that he had to accord a different generous treatment to such deities. Worship of such deities even by Jaina laywomen, for obtaining children, seems to have been tolerated. If Jaina traditions are correctly handed down, then Mahavira had to face bitter opposition from Sūlapāņi Yaksa, i.e. from the followers of Siva who is well known as Sūlapāņi, the trident-wielder 50
Skanda the Commander of Gods in the Hindu Mythology is made the commander of the infantry of Indra. But Naigameşin,51 who was associated with procreation of children as Nejameșa in ancient times, was also worshipped by the Jainas for obtaining boons for children as is shown by the story of Sulasă in the Antagadadasão.
Vasudeva, originally possibly belonging to a heterodox cult, had to be given a very prominent place by the Hindus and the Jainas too made him a very favourite theme of their story literature. But with the rise of his position in Hindu literature, art and ritual or worship, an attempt was made to give him a place in Jaina art, in the Gupta age, though as an attendant, as can be seen from representation of Baladeva and Vasudeva on a sculpture of Adinatha in the Lucknow Museum. The practice does not seem to have lasted long. In the Kuşåna period we find Krsna-Vasudeva and Baladeva on two sides of Neminatha in sculptures from Mathurå.
Page #75
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
The Yaksas, Nagas and others had to be given a place in Jaina worship. Since the Buddhist representations of Jambhala and Hārīti became very popular, they had to be incorporated in Jaina worship and towards the close of the Gupta age, a Yakşa and a Yakşiņi of the type of Jambhala and Hariti came to be incorporated as attendant pair of the Tirthankaras on Tirthankara sculpture. But before that the yakṣas were included as attendant chowrie-bearers on the two sides of a standing or sitting Tirthankara.
A hymn addressed to a snake-goddess Vairofya is ascribed to Arya Nandila or Arya Anandila who, according to traditions, lived in c. first century A.D. Vairotyâ is a snake-goddess and possibly connected with Jangoli-vijjā or a charm against snake-poisoning. Belief in Yaksas and Nāgas etc. is fairly old in Jainism and Dharanendra is a snake-deity one of whose chief queens is called Vairotyä in the canons. With the rise of Padmavati sometime towards the close of the post-Gupta period, Vairotya lost her old great popularity. Vairotya is one of the sixteen Jaina Mahavidyās.
Four more goddesses are very ancient in Jaina worship, though they have not been traced hitherto in sculptures. They are Vijaya, Jaya, Jayantā and Aparajita, invoked in the Varddhamana Vidya. It seems that these goddesses were worshipped under various names by all sects and have been invoked by the Jainas at least from the age of Vajrasvami in the first or second century.. The later Jaina Santi-devi is based on Vijaya as shown in the following pages.
62
Bahubali became popular in Jaina worship at least in the post-Gupta age, not as a Kamadeva (he is also a Kamadeva in Jaina literature) but as a great sage, the Jaina counterpart of the conception of Valmiki. It is noteworthy that not a single sculpture of Bahubali has been recovered hitherto from the Kankali Tila finds at Mathura.
Belief in magic charms, as shown in an earlier paper in our discussion on the Vidyadevis, is very old and Vidyas existed even in the age of Mahavira and Buddha. The Paumacariya and the Vasudevahindi are our earliest sources for the different Vidya-devis like Rohini, Prajñapti, Saravästramahājvālā, Gauri and Gāndhari. Soon sixteen goddesses came to be regarded as the chief Vidyadevis (Mahavidyās) as can be traced in literature, though no early sculptures are traced hitherto. It is however very likely that representations dating from at least the post-Gupta age may be traced of these goddesses.
Parents of the Jinas were accorded special veneration from very early times and the figure representing the Tablet of Aryavati from Mathura seems to have represented the Mother of Mahāvīra.
The scripture (Sruta) was not forgotten by the Jainas and the Goddess of Learning was venerated from very early times, as can be inferred from the famous sculpture of Sarasvati from Kankali Tila which is the earliest known sculpture of the Goddess of Learning, discovered hitherto in India. Śri figures on an arch of a doorway in the Ananta-Gumpha in Orissa and is a proof that from ancient times the Jainas worshipped both the goddess of learning as well as the goddess of wealth.
It is highly probable that at a very early stage, the Jainas also worshipped images of the Sun-god,53 just as they included Indras, Sarasvati, Lakṣmi, Vasudeva, Baladeva and others in their pantheon. It is but natural to expect that the popularity of Sun-worship amongst the masses attracted the Jainas as well. The Jainas have from very early times taken interest in astronomy and amongst the oldest existing works showing the existence of astronomical speculations in ancient India are the Jaina Suryaprajñapti and the Jyotiskarandaka. Padalipta in the first or second century A.D. wrote a commentary on the Jyotiskaraṇḍaka, a manuscript of which was discovered by Muni Śri Punyavijayaji, a few years ago from Jesalmer. This shows the interest of the Jainas in Astronomy and we would not be wrong if we infer the existence of sun icons amongst the Jainas at Mathura in at least the Kuṣāṇa age.
Towards the close of the post-Gupta age, the growth of the pantheon obtained a further impetus and a separate yakṣa and yakşini were evolved for each of the twenty-four Tirthankaras. This growth is due to several factors: one, the growth of Tantric literature in India, two, the growth of smaller states with great ambitions and the revival of Indian art and culture in the post-Gupta age after the Huna onslaught. Another factor was state-support to the Jainas in several provinces. All these factors combined led to further activity in art and literature and the new deities or old Indian deities in new roles appeared in due course. A glance at the list of attendant yakṣas and yakṣiņis will show that some of them are Hindu
Page #76
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
No tes on the Jaina Pantheon
63
deities assigned the role of attendants of Tirthankaras, e.g. the Iśvara yakşa, Brahma yakşa, Kumāra yakşa, Saņmukha yakşa.
As has been shown by Dr. Benoytosh Bhattacharya,54 collective deities form an interesting feature of the Jaina Pantheon. Such deities are the eight Vasus, the twelve Adityas, the eleven Rudras in Hindu mythology or the eight Tärās of the Vajratără Mandala and so on in Buddhist pantheon. The Dikkumaris in Jainism, already mentioned, are group deities. Another class of ancient Jaina collective deities is the Lokäntika gods who like the Indra and the Dik-kumaris are assigned a special role in the life of a Jina. When the proper time for renunciation is ripe, they approach the would-be Tirthankara and inform him accordingly, and request him to renounce the worldly life for the benefit of the world. No. J.354 in the Lucknow Museum obtained from Mathura possibly represents the Lokantikas in an early Jaina Jätaka scene of the incident of the Dance of Nilāñjana which led to the renunciation by Rşabhadeva. The Lokantikas are known to the canons and are said to reside in the krsparājis of the fifth kalpa-heaven called the Brahmaloka. They are: Sarasvatas, Adityas, Vahnis, Varunas, Gardatoyas, Tusitas, Avyåbädhas, Āgneyas (Maruts) and Ristas 55 It will be evident that most of these are Vedic deities and were given a place in the Brahma-loka" at a very early stage. Such an adoption is natural in the history of any sect and is almost inevitable.
The conception of the Lokapalas is common to all sects and we hear of 4 Lokapālas of each of the different Indras, like the four great Maharajas of Buddhism. This conception was later evolved into ten quarter-guardians. The planets came to be worshipped in the post-Gupta age and they obtained a better position than the Dik pālas in as much as they were given a place on the pitha of a Tirthankara image in Western India and on the stella of the Jina figure in the Pala art. The quarter-guardians began guarding the shrine standing on the outer-wall of the sanctum
With the growth of the yakşas and yakşiņis, worship of Vidyādevis seems to have received a setback from which it could not recover properly.
The Kșetrapala was not forgotten and an early image assignable to c. 10th century is seen on a pillar in the Devgadh fort, Central India (Fig. 163).
The Mătrkas must have been incorporated in the post-Gupta age. At Delvådā, Mt. Abu, the Vimala Vasahi contains representations of these goddesses but it is natural to expect that they were given a place in Jaina ritual at some earlier date.56 Jinaprabha súri (in the fourteenth century) recorded his protest against this growing worship of foreign deities, in his Vidhimärgaprapa alias Suvihitä-Sämäcäri.57 A similar process worked in the South also amongst the Digambaras where many a Bhattāraka of the middle ages were originally Brahmin Pandits and where Saivite element was very strong amongst the people. In the South Brahmadeva became popular amongst the Jainas, in the North (properly Western India) Kaparddi (Siva)58 yakşa came to guard the Tirtha at Satrunjaya.
Later on, at least in the fourteenth century, Ganesa also came to be worshipped in Jaina temples and occasionally the Mahi samarddini, images of both of which assignable to the fifteenth century are still available in Jaina shrines. That these images were originally installed by the Jainas can be proved by the fact that a painting of the Mahişåsuramarddini is available in a palm-leaf ms. at Cambay.59A mutilated sculpture in Jodhpur Museum (no. 96/2386) from Rewādā in Jodhpur division, showing lower part of Mahisamarddini, has an inscription on pedestal wherein she is called Saccika. There is a shrine of Saccikä devi on a mound at Ośia where as R.C. Agrawala has shown (Journ. of B.B.R.A.S., vol. 29, part 2) Mahisamarddini is worshipped by Ośwal Jainas as Saccika-devi.
Abstract deities are also obtained, the Santi-devata and the Adhiva sana devi invoked by the ĀcāraDinakara are instances of this process in the evolution of the Jaina Pantheon. But the same Jinaprabha sūri who voiced his protest against foreign elements, had to give a list of 64 Yoginis, obviously because belief in Bhairavas, Viras and Yoginis had become widely current in India.
The Vāstu-Vidhi itself, the rite of consecration of a temple, is not free from such influences. Deities worshipped in the Ekāśiti-pada-vāstu are identical with those in such rituals of the Hindus. The signs of the Zodiac, or the Tithi-devatás were not left out though such deities are not known to have been
Page #77
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
represented. As noted by Dr. Benoytosh Bhattacharya, "the Dhyanas of the twelve signs of the Zodiac certainly have an originality special to the Jainas."60
64
The Jaina Pantheon and especially, the Jaina Tantra is influenced more by the Hindu pantheon and Tantra than by the Buddhist ones, but instances of Buddhist influence are not wanting. Vajraśṛakhalā and Vajränkusi, as their names and their chief recognising symbols suggest, are obviously borrowed from the Buddhists, for, as rightly remarked by Benoytosh Bhattacharya, "the prefix Vajra to the names of Jaina deities is not altogether meaningless, because it shows clearly that these are importations from the Vajrayana School of Buddhism."60a Again, Bhrkuți is Buddhist. Towards the end of the middle ages, attempts were made to introduce Kurukulla and a hymn addressed to her is known amongst the Jainas. 61
A clear indication of Hindu influence on the Jaina ritual is the various samskara-vidhis described by the Acara-Dinakara. The Şaşthi worshipped in the Janma-samskära is of course a very old Indian goddess not necessarily originally Brahmanical. But the Matṛka-pujana is certainly Hindu. Acara-Dinakara also invokes the eight Bhairavas. A brief outline of such very minor deities, the Supernatural Beings in the Jaina Pantheon, was published earlier62 by this writer. Ghantäkarna,63 originally an old non-Aryan deity, was incorporated into the Hindu pantheon as one of the gas 54 and the Jainas comparatively recently attempted to introduce his worship. Late manuscripts of Ghaṇṭākarpakalpa are obtained in Gujarat and Marwar. Manibhadra65 is a deity who has been worshipped more popularly in Jaina temples in Western India, Gujarat, Marwar, and Rajputana and though no definite early text regarding his legend could be traced, yet it seems that his worship as a Jaina deity is as old as the fourteenth or fifteenth century and probably older. It is a peculiar instance of reviving in new garb the worship of the ancient Manibhadra yakṣa, popular with merchant class. It also suggests that a few worshippers and images or shrines of the old Māṇibhadra had existed in these regions upto c. 1200-1400 A.D.
Symbol worship amongst the Jainas is treated separately, 66 and need not be discussed in this outline of the growth of the Jaina Pantheon along with its classification.
Dvarapalas of temples or gate-keepers of the various fortifications of the Samavasarana are interesting. Nowhere are Ganga and Yamuna mentioned as gate-keepers of a Jaina shrine, but Indra, Indrajaya and Iśāna are noteworthy. In the Samavasaraṇa, Tumbaru is one of the gate-keepers. Indra and others, the dvārapālas carved on door-frames facing the four sides of a Jaina shrine, are noted by Silpa works like the Aparajitaprecha, the Rūpāvatira or the Devatamurti-prakarapa.
Goddesses were worshipped as Gotra-devatās or Kuladevatās. A metal image of Ambika in the Museum of the St. Xavier's College Research Institute, Bombay, has an inscription on its back which calls her a Gotra-devata obviously of the donor. Similarly, in the South, Padmavati and Siddhayika are known as Gotra-devatās or Kula-devatās of certain families. Śri-Lakṣmi is worshipped as a Kula-devatā by Hindu and Jaina families who are Śrīmālis by caste, having come from Śrīmāla (modern Bhinmala in Rajasthan) where Śri seems to have been the tutelary city-goddess.
Of later Tantric development the Bhairava-Padmavati-kalpa of Mallişena and the commentary of Bandhusena, or the Vidyānuśāsana of Matisagara (c. 16th century A.D.) provide interesting examples. The Tantric Şat-karmas are available in the Bhairava-Padmavati-Kalpa and amongst the different forms of Padmavati, Tripura is included. The Vidyanuśāsana gives iconographic forms of all the letters of the alphabet, a, a, i, i, etc. and includes sädhanas of Karnapisacini, Cetaka or Uma-ceṭaka, Sugrīva-Vānararāja, Ucchiṣṭapisäsini, Sundari, Randa, Matangi and propitiatory rites of Balagrahas, the Jvälägardabhas (?) and so on. A work on Balagrahas is ascribed to Rävaṇa, another to the famous Jaina versatile genius and monk Pujyapāda ācārya, both of which are incorporated in this monumental Tantric text. Subhacandra's unpublished Ambika-kalpa (c. 15th-16th century A.D.) also contains sadhanas of Karṇapiśācini, Sundari and Randa who are thus included in the Parivara of Ambikā.
Somasena, another Digambara writer of c. 16th century A.D., has composed a work, Traivarṇikācāra which betrays much Brahmanical influence. It may be noted that he gives a new classification of Jaina gods and goddesses. According to him, deities are of four types: Satyadevas, Kula-devas, Kriya-devas and Veśma-devas.
The Satyadevas are the Pañca-parameșthins, who lead to the attainment of mokṣa. The Kriya-devas
Page #78
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Notes on the Jaina Pantheon
65
are deities like fire, who, worshipped with oblations of havya, baked food etc., remove all calamities. The Kuladevatās are divinities worshipped in families from ancient times. Cakreśvari, Ambikā or Kusmāņdini, Padmavati, Jvälini, Rohini, Mahākāli, Kalika, Sarasvati, Gauri, Siddhāyini, Candi, and Durgă are (such) Kula devatās who should be worshipped with profound devotion by those desirous of welfare. The Veśmadevatäs are of four types: the Visvešvaris, Dharadhiša, Sri-devi, and Dhanada or Kubera. The Visvešvaris are the Mothers of the Jinas who should be worshipped by the best ladies in their homes. By worship of the mothers, a housewife, who is barren, is able to bear a child. These Sat-kriya-devatäs (Visvešvaris) worshipped with homa for peace (śänti) are powerful.
Worship of Kubera in a home is said to bring eternal prosperity while worship of the Dhara-Indra (?) is enjoined for having a male child. Worship of Sri-devi protects the life of a child in the mother's womb. They should be worshipped with garments, ornaments, fruits and cooked food.
The author further says that at the end of the worship of all the above-mentioned deities, a housewife should worship the dvärapälas and should perform Pitr-Tarpana with water. 67
With this may be compared the ancient Jaina classification of gods given to Gautama by Mahāvira in two dialogues recorded in the Bhagavati-sūtra. In one answer, Mahavira said that gods were of four classes: Bhavanapati, Vänavyantara, Jyotiska and Vaimānika.68 In another dialogue, Mahavira said that gods were of five types: Bhavyadravya-deva, Naradeva, Dharma-deva, Devādhideva and Bhavadeva. 69 Those souls who are going to obtain Devahood in future are Bhavyadravyadevas. Those who deserve god-like respect amongst human beings are Naradevas, e.g. the Cakravartins. Those who are well-versed in scripture are revered as Dharma-devas, e.g. the different types of Jaina monks. The Devādhidevas are the Arhats who possess the real jñana and darśana. Those who experience the merit (karma-fruit of action) of birth as Bhavanapatis, Vyantaras, Jyotiskas or Vaimānikas, are Bhāvadevas.
It has already been shown that these celestial beings, the Bhavanapatis etc., are divided into ten groups according to their position and function amongst gods, the groups are Indra, Sämänika, Trayastrimśas, Pärişadyas, Atmarakşakas, Lokapālas, Anikas, Prakirnakas, Abhiyogyas and Kilbisakas.
There are no grades nor Indras amongst Vaimānika gods beyond the Kalpa-heavens, in the Kalpātīta heavens, where each inhabitant calls himself an Indra and all are alike. They are therefore known as Ahamindras. The Kalpavasi gods attend the ceremonial worship of each of the five Kalyanakas (auspicious events) of every Tirthankara but the Ahamindras do not go out of their heavens, though they do pay their homage to the Jinas on all such occasions by folding their hands in the añjali mudrā.
A deva is spontaneously born. In each heaven there are many devis, each deva having many wives. Each pair of deva has a big retinue of minor devas, as also vāhanas. elephants etc. Devas or celestial beings have the following eight acquisitions or supernatural powers: animā, laghimā, sakabhā (power to assume any form and number of bodies at one time), vasitva, išitva and prakāmya (power to act at will), corresponding to such powers described in the Yoga system. The devas have fluid or changeable (vaikriya) bodies. 70
Jaina texts describe the lesyäs of each main class of gods and of different types of beings. The doctrine of leśyās or thought-colours is an interesting advancement shown by the Jainas, from ancient times, in the field of psychic research and culture.71
REFERENCES
1. For a detailed account of Jaina Cosmography, see
Kierfel's Die Kosmographie Der Inder, pp. 210ff. This account is mainly based on Trisasi., 2.3.479ff, G.O.S.
II, pp. 1051f. 2. For Jaina Units of Measurements, see Ramachandran,
T.N., Tiruparutrikungam and its Temples, pp. 165ft. Trisasi., I (G.O.S.), p. 103, n.
3. Trişasti.. I (GOS), p. 245 n. Yogaśāstram, 4.103.
Painted diagrams of the Lokapuruşa dating from c. 16th century A.D. are available mainly in Mss. of the Samgrahani Sutra. Kierfel, op. cit., pl. 4. U.P. Shah, Treasures of Jaina Bhandaras, Fig. 93, Jaina Citrakal. padruma, I. Fig. 73. Quite a large number of illustrated Mss. of Samgrahani are available in Jaina Bhandaras,
Page #79
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
66
mostly dating from c. 16th century A.D. An illustrated ms of Trailokyadipaka exists in the Dig. Jaina Bhandara, Bombay. Besides miniatures in such texts on Cosmography, are found pafas or paintings on canvas or paper, with diagrams of the Jaina conception of the Universe or of the two-and-a-half continents (adhăi-dvipa) constituting the manuşya-loka. See Kierfel, op. cit., plates 5-6. The practice of painting such paças is referred to by Santicandra in his comm. on Jambudvi paprajñapri, sūtra 12, p. 72. For some more illustrations of the Samgrahani, see Jaina Citrakalpadruma, I, Figs. 269-271, 273-278 and pp. 95ff. Also see Caillat Collettee, Jaina Cosmology (in French and in English, Paris, 1982). Cf. कटिस्थकरवंशाखस्थानकस्थनराकृतिः ।। द्रव्यः पूर्णः स तु लोक: स्थित्युत्पत्तिव्ययात्मकः ॥
"-Trişaşți., 2.3.478 Also वैशायस्थः कटिन्यस्तहस्तः स्याद्यादृशः पुमान् । argui TRENT ..... ...
-Adipurana, 4.42 4. Also see Tiloyapannatti, 1.137ff, vol. I, pp. 17ff. Cf.
वेनासनसमोऽधस्तान्मध्यतो झल्लरीनिभः । अग्रेम रजसंकाशो लोकः स्यादेवमाकृतिः ।। जगत्त्रयेस्त्वधस्तियंगुर्वलोकविभेदतः । अस्तिर्य गूर्वभावो रुचकापेक्षया पुनः ॥
-Trisasti., 2.3.479, 481 5. Bhagavati sútra, 1.6, Tattvärtha sutra, III 1-2; Tiloya
pannatti, 2.9ff, Vol. I, pp. 52ff. Trisasri (text), 2.3.484,
486-502. 6. Tiloyapannatti, 1.152ff, 2.26f, 362f. 7. Tattvärtha sutra, 3.9-11, pp. 143ff. Trisasi. (text) 2.3.
552-566, Ädipuriņa, 4.49, Harivamsa of Jinasena, 5.4-7;
Jainendra Siddhantakośa, pp. 460-462. 8. Also see tables in Kierfel, op. cit., pp. 215, 218,
Tiloyapannatti, 4.1624ff, Vol. I, pp. 355ff. For Hindu traditions, Ali, S.M., Geography of the
Puranas (New Delhi, 1973), p. 10ff. 9. Tiloyapannatti, 4.2065ff, pp. 408ff. Trisasti., 2.3.577ff. 10. For names see Trişaşti. II (G.O.S.), p. 112. 11. Trisasi. II (GOS), p. 119 for a list of Mlecchas. 12. For a detailed account of Aryas and Mlecchas, see
Ramachandran, op. cit., 176-179. 13. For a list of Vidyadhara cities, Kierfel, op. cit., p. 329.
Jambudvi paprajñapti, sūtra 12, p. 72f; Tiloyapannatti,
4.112-125, vol. I, p. 156. 14. Trisasri, text, 2.3.556-566, GOS, op. cit., pp. 109ff; Tilo
yapannati, 4.1808ff. 15. Tiloyapan arti, 4.15-87, pp. 143ff. For interesting
descriptions of the Jagati, the Padmavaravedikā, the four gates, the god Vijaya superintending over the Vijaya-gate, etc. see Jivajivabhigama, sū. 124ff, pp. 177ff, Trisasti., II, GOS, p. 113, Trisasti text,
2.3.612ff. 16. Tiloyapannatti, 4.45ff, pp. 1477; p. 151. 17. Tiloyapamatti, 4.25ff, pp. 145ff; p. 151. 18. Harivamsa, 5.181, p. 84, Jambudvi paprajnapti, op. cit.,
Vasudevahindi, pp. 25-26, Tiloyapannatti, 5.3748, Vol. II, p. 535. He is the same as anadhi ya, worshipped in the Vardhamana-vidya.
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana 19. Jambudvipaprajñapri, sû. 12-13, pp. 72ff. The Siddhaya
tanas and the Sāśvata-Jina-pratimas are discussed in
Studies in Jaina Art, pp. 40, 52ff, 117-121. 20. Harivamša, pp. 647-680, 122-24; Ramachandran, T.N.,
op. cit., p. 181; Kierfel, op. cit., pp. 253ff. Trisasi., 2-3.704-738, II, GOS, pp. 120ff. Also see Shah, U.P.,
Studies in Jaina Art, on Nandiśvaradvipa. 21. Jivajivabhigama sutra, 3.2, sü, 183, p. 356, for an early
account of the Nandiśvara-dvipa. Patas or plaques representing the 52 shrines on the Nandiśvara are very popular amongst both the sects. The Digambaras represent 52 small figures of the Jinas (suggesting 52 shrines) on a four-tiered platform or in a miniature shrine, both the types being four-faced (sce Ramachandran, T.N., op. cit., p. 181 and pl. xxxi, figs. 3-4). The Svetāmbaras represent 52 miniature shines in tr oups of 13 each, arranged in different ways. A beautiful plaque from Ranakpur was discussed in JISOA, IX (1941), p. 48, pl. V, by this writer. Also see U.P. Shah, Studies in Jaina Art, pp. 11988,
fig. 89. 23. Jambudvipaprajñapti, sūtras 172-173. 24. For example, the inter-continental mlecchas are Ekoru,
Hayakarna, Gajakarna, Gokarna, Saskuli-karpa, Meșamukha, Hayamukha etc., the Karmabhūmija mlecchas are Saka, Yavana, Sabara, Barbara, Kaya, Mur. unda, Udra, Godra, Arapaka, Hūņa, Romaka, Bhilla, Pulinda, etc. The lists vary in some texts. See Prajnapana sūtra for a list of mlecchas; also, Ramachandran, op.
cit., pp. 176-77, Trisasi., II (GOS), pp. 119ff. 25. Trilokasära, verses 687ff. Trisasi., II (GOS), p. 112.
Trilokasára, vv. 711ff give a list of countries in the Arya kşetras of Bharata land; also see Trisasti., op. cit., p. 117. Trisasi text, 2.3.750-79, Jainendra-Siddhanta
Koša, vol. 4, pp. 511-38. 26. Ramachandran, op. cit., p. 184. In Kalpasutra minia
tures, the nirvana of a Jina is usually represented by showing him sitting in padmasana on the Siddhasila, white and shaped like an inverted umbrella (or a
crescent moon). 27. Sthānanga sutra, 4.1, sü, 257, vol. I, p. 198, Jivojivábhi
gama sutra, 3.1, sū. 114ff, pp. 158ff. 28. Tiloyapannatti, 3.9-10, 119ff, vol. I, pp. 111, 126ff,
Jivājivabhigama sūtra, op. cit. 29. Prajñāpanā sūtra, pada 2, sū. 37, vol. I, p. 283;
Brhatsamgrahani of Jinabhadra Gani Kşamasramana, vy. 44ff and in the Samgrahani sūtra, v. 25. See Kierfel, Kosmographie der inder, Section on Jaina
Cosmography. 30. Sthānanga, 10.3, sū. 766. Kierfel, op. cit., p. 264. | 31. See Prajnapanā sĩ tra, pada 2, sũ. 27, Vol. 1, pp. 267ff
and Jiväjivabhigama, comm. on sü. 117, pp. 161-165. 32. For Sixty-Four Indras, see JOI, 34, nos. 1-2, pp. 41ff.
| See Praj mã and sutra, op. cit., sũ. 32f. pp. 274T. 33. Malayagiri's comm. on Brhatsamgrahani of Jinabhadra,
p. 3 saysतथा विविधमन्तरं बनान्तरमादिकमाश्रयरूपं येषां तेब्यन्तराः, तथा हि तेषु तेषु वनान्तरेषु घोलान्तरेषु कन्दरान्तरेषु च प्रतिवसन्तति सुप्रसिद्ध
Page #80
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Notes on the Jaina Pantheon
67
For Vyantaras, see Brhatsamgrahani, v. 58ff, pp. 28/7, v. 163, p. 73; Tiloyapannatti, 6.44ff, Vol. II, pp. 647ff.
Kierfel, op. cit., pp. 270ff. 34. Samgrahani sutra, comm. on v. 30, also see v. 32. 35. Samgrahani sūtra, comm. on v. 30, also see v. 32. 36. It is indeed very interesting to note that both Tara
(Taraka) and Bahuputrikā (Bahuputra) were from ancient times regarded as queens of Indras of Yakşas, i.e. they were Yaksis. It shows that the origin of Tārā as well as Bahuputriká (or Häriti) lies in the ancient Yaksa
cult. 37. Samgrahani sutra, comm. of Devabhadra on v. 30. 38, Prajnapata sutra, sũ. 38, comm. on p. 70. 39. Samgrahani satra, op. cit. 40. Ibid. 41. Prajñāpanā sútra, pada 2, sū. 38. For tables regarding
the Vyantaras (and gods of the other classes) see Kierfel, op. cit., pp. 27281". The following description of the palaces of Vyantara gods may be noted: मालावलोकदल्याद्याः प्रेक्षासनसभागृहाः । वीणाग लताचित्रप्रसाधनमहागृहाः ॥ मोहनस्थानसंज्ञाश्च रम्या रत्नमया गृहाः । सर्वतस्तत्र शोभन्ते व्यन्तरामरसेविताः ।। हंसकौचासनमुण्ड मृगेन्द्रमकरासनः । Fifth di: arieta: 11 दीर्घस्वस्तिकवृत्तस्तविपुलेन्द्रासनैरपि । गन्धासनैश्च रत्नाढ्य युक्ताः सुरमनोरमैः ।।
-Harivamsa, 5.383ff, p. 101 42. Tilo yapannatti, chp. VII, Vol. II, pp. 657ff. Prajñāpanā,
su. 50. 43. Prajñopaná sūtra, pada 2, sū. 51. 44. Tiloyapannatti, Vol. II, pp. 1033ff Table; also see
p. 1032 Table of Kalpatita gods; chp. VIII, Ep. 832ff for
text. For all Vaimánikas see Kierfel, op. cit., pp. 291ff. 45. Harivamsa, 5.390ff, pp. 101f; Jivajivābhigama, sú. 128
129, pp. 201ff 46. Foreign Elements in Jaina Literature, by U.P. Shah,
Indian Historical Quarterly, Sept. 1951. 47. Jambūdvi paprajñapti, 4, Sū. 90, vol. I, pp. 330ff calls
him Apadhiya. 48. Dik-Kumāris, Hrada-Devis and such other minor deities
are treated by U.P. Shah in a series of articles entitled Minor Jaina Deities, published in Journal of the Oriental Institute, Vol. XXXI, no. 3. pp. 275-290; Vol. XXX, no. 4, pp. 371-378: Vol. XXXII. nos. 1-2, pp. 82-98; and Journal of the M.S. Univ. of Euroda, Vol. XXX, no. 1, pp. 75-109 dealing with iconography of Some Minor
Jaina Deities. Mātrkās and Dik palas. 49. Jaina Sahityano Samk sipta Irihisa (Guj.), pp. 18117.
For illustrations and discussion about an ancient painted wooden book-cover of a palm-leaf ms. at Jesalmer, see U.P. Shah & Muni Punyavijaya, Some Painted Wooden Book-Covers from Western India, Journ. of Indian Society
of Oriental Art, New Series, Vol. 1. 50. Also cf. the story of Pedbala, Avakyaka Carni, vol. II,
p. 17518.
51. Discussed by us in JISOA, XIX, pp. 19ff. 52. Shah, U.P., Iconography of the Sixteen Jaina Mahavid
yás, JISOA, Vol. XV (1947), pp. 114ff and plates: and A Peep into the Early History of Tantra in Jaina Literature,
publ. in Bharatakaumudi, Vol. II, pp. 839-854. 53. Smith, Jaina Stupa and Other Antiquities from Mathura,
pl. xxxi, fig. 1 shows a carved pediment with a figure of
two-armed sun-god in a Caitya-window motif. 54. Bhattacharya, Benoytosh, Jaina Iconography- A Brief
Survey', Shree Atmärämji Satabdi Grantha. pp. 114-121. 55. Bhagavati Satra, 6.5. Tiloyapannatti. 8.616ff, Vol. II,
pp. 859f. 56. For Mātkās at Abu, see Shah, U.P., Some Minor Jaina
Deities-- Mätykas and Dikpalas, Journal of the M.S. Univ.
of Baroda, vol. XXX.1 (1981), pp. 75-109 and plates. 57. तटा कज्जारम्भ विणायगाइनामग्गद्दणं...."विवाहे विणायगठवणं
Osta Alvi ...Tigo aftan .....aau देवयाणपूया'... ' ' इमाए मिच्छत्तठाणाई परिहरियम्बाई ।।
--Vidhimärgaprapa, p. 3 It is interesting to note that the Ācāra-Dinakara prescri. bes Vinayaka-puja, Saszhi-puja, Mátrkā-püjā, Mula
aślesa-śānti etc., prohibited by Jina prabha suri. 58. S. Settar, The Brahmadeva Pillars, Artibus Asiae, XXXIII,
1-2, Shah, U.P., Brahma-Sänti and Kaparddi Yakşas, Journal of the M.S. Univ. of Baroda. Vol. VII, no. 1
(1958), pp. 5971. 59. Published in Studies in Jaina Art, fig. 71. Also see Agrawala, R.C., TTSTEST #
Theat TFT, publ. in Jaina Siddhanta Bhaskar, XXI.1, pp. 1-5. Also see M.N.P. Tiwari, Some Unpublished Jaina Sculptures of Ganesa from Western India, Jaina Journal, January, 1975, pp. 90-92 and plates. Dhaky, M.A. in Babu Chhorelál Jaina Smrti Grantha (Calcutta, 1967), The Iconography of Sacciya Deri, pp. 63ff, has shown that very probably originally the Saccika was derived from
the Hindu goddess Ksemankari. 60. Bhattacharya, Benoytosh, Jaina Iconography- A Brief
Survey, Shree Amaramji Satabdi Grantha. pp. 114-121. 60a. Ibid. 61. Jaina Stotra Santuccaya (publ. Nirnayasagara Press,
Bombay) contains a Kurukulla-Stavana by Vadideva
sūri. 62. In Ācārya Anandshankar Dhruva Memorial Volume, part
III (Ahmedabad, 1946). 63. Shah, U.P., Minor Jaina Deities. Journal of the Oriental
Institute, vol. XXXII, nos. 1-2, pp. 95-96. For other Minor Jaina Deities, see Shah, U.P., Minor Jaina Deities, Journal of 0.I., Vol. XXXI.3, pp. 274ff and
XXXI.4, 371ff. 64. According to Vyādi quoted by Hemacandra in his
comm. on Abhidhana-Cintamani, 2-114. p. 89. 65. Shah, U.P., Minor Jaina Deities, JOI, Vol. XXXII,
pp. 82-98, esp. pp. 97-98. 66. Shah, U.P., Studies in Jaina Art, pp. 39-121. Also chp.
on Canons and Symbols of Jaina Iconograph, in Jaina Art and Architecture (ed. by A. Ghosh, New Delhi, 1975), Vol. III, chp. 35, pp. 465-493.
Page #81
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
68
67. Traivarnikácára, adh. 4, vv. 209-213, and end of chp. 5.
For a criticism of this work see Grantha-Pariksa
(Hindi), part III, by Jugalkishore Mukhtar. 68. Bhagavati-sütra, 2.7. 69. Ibid., 12-9, also Sthånănga, 5.1, sů. 401 and comm.,
Vol. II, p. 302. Uttaradhyayana sūtra, 36, 203-247, SBE, XLV, pp. 225ff. Varângacarita (Dig.), chp. 9, pp. 73ff.
Jaina-Rūpa-Mandana 70. Also see Tiruparuttikumram and its Temples, footnote on
p. 228. 71. A very illuminating paper on the same contributed by
A.N. Upadhye is published in the Proceedings of the Seventh All India Oriental Conference, Baroda. Jaini, Padmanabha, The Jaina Path of Purification, p. 114; Basham, A.L., History and Doctrine of the Ajivikas, p. 245.
Page #82
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
A. KULAKARAS
The Brahmanical traditions give a list of fourteen Manus or law-givers, who are also known as propagators of mankind. The Jainas similarly acknowledge a set of first law-givers who flourished in the present Avasarpini Age (in the third division called susama-duhṣama, when beings were born as twins and when the Wishing Trees (kalpa-vrksa) used to provide them with necessary food, light and other necessities of life). The age of the Kulakaras was a primitive one, when arts and sciences were not known, and crime and punishment were in infancy.1
In course of time, the Wishing Trees failed to give proper service and man was obliged to protect himself against wild animals etc., and quarrels over properties arose. In difficulties such as these, man could approach the Kulakaras of his times for proper guidance, protection and dispensation of justice. Kulakaras were thus the first law-givers in Jainism.2
According to the Svetambaras, Rṣabha, the first Tirthankara, was the last Kulakara, while according to the Digambaras, Nabhi, the Father of Rṣabha, was the last law-giver. The Bhagavati, the Sthānanga and the Samaväyänga sutras and the Avaśyaka Niryukti representing earlier Svetambara traditions, give a list of seven such law-givers of the present Avasarpiņi and are followed by later writers like Hemacandra.3 The Avaśyaka Niryukti and the Acaradinakara further give the complexions of these Kulakaras. The Kala-Lokaprakāśa gives different complexions. Below is given a table showing complexions of Kulakaras and names of their wives according to these texts:
Svetambara List
Kulakara
5.
6.
7.
1.
2. Cakṣuşman
3.
4.
Vimalavāhana
CHAPTER SIX
Kulakaras and Salākāpuruṣas
Yasoman (Yasasvin)
Abhicandra
Prasenajit
Marudeva
Nabhi
Wife
Candrayasa Candrakantā
Complexion acc. to Ava. Nir. and Aca. Di.
Golden
Black
Black
White
Black
Suropa
Pratirüpå
Cakṣuḥkäntä
Śrikäntä
Marudevi
(Wives of all the Kulakaras are black in complexion.)
Golden
Golden
Colour acc. to Loka P.
But the Jambudvipaprajñapti differs from other Agama texts by giving the following list of fifteen Kulakaras instead of the usual seven noted above: 1. Sumati, 2. Pratiśruti, 3. Simankara, 4. Simandhara, 5. Kṣemankara, 6. Kṣemandhara, 7. Vimalavähana, 8. Cakṣuşman. 9. Yaśasvin, 10. Abhicandra, 11. Candrabha, 12. Prasenajit, 13. Marudeva, 14. Nabhi, 15. Rṣabha.
Golden
Golden
Golden
Black
Golden
Golden
Golden
Page #83
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
The Paumacariyam of Vimala sūri, assignable to c. fifth century A.D., regarded as a work of their sect by the Svetämbaras, gives a list of fourteen Kulakaras, omitting the last one (Rşabhanātha) from the above list. The text generally follows the same order, with slight changes.
In this list, the name of Yaśasvin is omitted which shows that a verse, before the names of Vimalavāhana and the rest in v. 55, has fallen out from fater manuscripts, which inference is supported by the order in the Digambara Padmacarita. In v. 56, the author of the Paumacariyam expressly says that there were fourteen Kulakaras.
Curiously enough, this Svetāmbara belief obtains support in the Digambara tradition which gives a list of fourteen law-givers. The Tiloyapannatti gives the following details useful for our subject:
Complexion
Golden
Name 1. Pratiśruti
Sanmati
Kșemankara 4. Kşemandhara
Simankara
Simandhara 7. Vimalavāhana
Cakşuşmān
Yaśasvin 10. Abhicandra
Candrābha Marudeva
Prasenajit 14. Nābhiraja
(?) Golden
Wife Svayamprabha Yasasvati Sunanda Vimala Manohāri Yasodhara Sumati Dhārini Kantamālā Srimati Prabhāvati Satya Amitamati Marudevi
13.
The Adipurāna however adds that Rşabha, the son of Nābhi, was both a Jina and a Kulakara, and that Bharata, the son of Rşabhanātha, was both a Cakradhrt and a Kuladhst. It would thus seem that the author wants to raise the number of Kulakaras from 14 to 16. Varängacarita10 explicitly says that there were sixteen Manus, and gives a similar list. They are called Vamsakaras or propagators of race and Bhumipālas or Kings and law-givers.
The above analysis show's that there are two distinct traditions in Svetämbara literature and that the second one recorded by Jainbūdvipaprajnapti and the Paumacariyam is followed by the Digambaras. But the names given in the shorter list are common to both the traditions. Jinabhadra gani kşamāśramana was aware of both the traditions amongst the Svetämbaras and made unconvincing attempt to explain away the obvious contradictions. Sänticandra, the commentator of the Jambūdvipaprajñapti, also made another attempt.11 This analysis is a pointer to the fact that some of the Digambara traditions, though recorded in works later than the Svetainbara Agamas, are based upon older sources not always known to us.
The Sthi nănga sūtra 12 further gives lists of seven Kulakaras of the Past Utsarpini, ten of the Past Avasarpini, seven of the Future Utsarpini and ten of the Future Avasarpini.
Representations of Kulakaras have not been discovered, but looking to the popularity of the conception there are hopes that they may be discovered at a future date, either in a group or separately though the latter is less likely. There is however a class of sculptures showing a male and a female sitting under a tree, with a child usually on the female's lap, which has not been satisfactorily identified so far. They are discussed separately in this work as Parents of the Tirthankaras where it is shown that the presence of a bull symbol in one and of an attendant Yakşa couple in another specimen points to their being sculptures of Parents of different Jinas rather than the Kulakaras sitting under a Kalpavskșa. The Kumbharia panel with names of Parents further supports our view.
The Kelpavrkşas of Jaina ryti:clogy may however be noted since we find them mentioned in accounts
Page #84
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
71
Kulakaras and Salákāpurusas of the Kulakaras. The Tiloyapannatti gives the following list: Pāņānga (Pānānga), Turiyanga (Tūryānga), Bhusaņānga (Bhūşananga), Vatthanga (Vastrānga), Bhoyanga (Bhojanānga), Alayanga (Alayanga), Diviyanga (Dipakanga), Bhāyaṇanga (Bhajanāóga), Mālanga (Mälānga), Tejarga (Tejānga) with excellent drinks, music, ornaments, garments, edibles and ready-made dishes, mansions to live in, lamps, utensils and garlands of flowers respectively while the last type, namely Tejanga, seems to be selfluminous, serving the purpose of heavenly luminaries. 13
The Paumacariyam gives a similar list with slightly different titles but signifying the same characteristics of these Wish-fulfilling trees. 14 The Sthänănga sūtra 15 gives the following names: Mattangatā (Mattānga), Bhiyanga (Bhstānga), Tuditanga (Truţitānga), Divanga (Dipanga), Joti-anga (Jyotişanga), Cittanga (Chitranga), Cittarasă (Chitrarasāh), Maniyanga (Manianga), Gehāgāra (Gehākara), Anitaņā or Anianga (Anagnakā).
The Jivăjivābhigama sūtra elaborately describes the functions of each of the types of wishing trees mentioned above. Thus they provide the Yugalikas (twin-born) with wives and intoxicants, utensils, music and musical instruments, (serve the purpose of) small lamps, (also of the bigger) heavenly luminaries, (and supply people with) garlands, edibles, riches and ornaments, mansions and residential quarters, and garments to cover the privy). It would be interesting to note that sculpture of the Surga age, especially Bharhut and Sanchi, shows representations of this type of Kalpavskṣa motif. Garlands, ornaments etc. hung from creepers are found depicted in several specimens. Sri Sivaramamurti has referred to such specimens, in another context, in his work entitled Sculpture Inspired by Kalidāsa, 16 and has referred to descriptions of such motifs in his essay. The consensus of opinion does not agree with his dating of Kalidasa in the first century B.C., but the evidences collected by him help us now to conclude that the motifs remained popular upto the fifth century A.D., which again is the age of the latest edition of the Sve. Jaina canon. The descriptions of the Kalpavīksas, however, are so detailed that we are inclined to regard them as older than the age of Kalidasa and it would not be wholly unwarranted if we regard them at least as old as the first two centuries of the Christian era if not as old as the first or second century B.C. As shown by Moticandra, 17 the Riyapaşeņaiya gives a very realistic description of the Jaina stūpas of the Kuşāņa Age. This description of the Kalpa trees is another evidence to show that most of the available Anga and Upānga text portions are not later than the age of Arya Skandila of the Mathura council in early fourth century A.D. Belief in the Kulakaras, which is closely associated with the descriptions of the Primitive Man and the Kalpavíkşas, is also not later than the fourth century A.D. It is difficult to fix up an upper limit for the tradition. 18
B. SALĀKĀPURUŞAS
The Jaina conception and evolution of the Salákāpuruşas has been discussed in the Chapter on Notes on the Jaina Pantheon giving classifications of Jaina deities. Salākāpurusas are 63 according to both the sects. As shown before, in the earlier stage there were only 54 Saläkāpuruşas and the nine Prati-Vāsudevas came to be regarded as such great men only at a later stage. The following pages will give an account of the twelve Cakravartis, the nine Vasudevas, the nine Baladevas and the nine Prati-Vasudevas, only so far as it concerns our study. Details about their lives are not within the scope of this work.
The Näradas. the Rudras, or the Kamadevas, excepting only Bahubali, the first Kamadeva, are minor deities and except Bahubali, have no place in Jaina temple worship, nor are they regarded as Salākāpuruşas.
Representations of some scenes of Cakravartin's conquests and of fights between Vasudeva and Prati-Vasudeva were carved in relief on some Jaina temple walls of the mediaeval period but these require a special study. Unfortunately this writer could not do so. However such scenes, especially from the Jaina versions of the Rāmāyana, are found on walls of Jaina temples in Western India. The whole story of Bharata and Bahubali is depicted in the dome of the porch in front of the sabhimandapa of the Vimala Vasahi, Delvāda, Mt. Abu.
Recently a set of two long painted wooden book-covers of a palm-leaf manuscript, assignable to the
Page #85
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
72
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana thirteenth century A.D., are found by Muni Silavijaya. The paintings depict, in a continuous narrative, scenes from the previous births and the life of Tirthaðkara Såntinātha who also was a Cakravartin. In this narration Anantavirya Vasudeva and Damitari Prati-Vasudeva and Aparajita Baladeva are painted. Two wooden book-covers of a palm-leaf ms. in the Jaina Bhandara at Jesalmer contain representations of all the 63 Saläkäpuruşas. They date from the twelfth century A.D. and are discussed with illustrations by Muni Punyavijaya and U.P. Shah in Some Painted Wooden Book Covers from Western India, Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art (New Series), Vol. I, Special No. on Western Indian Art, pp. 34-44 and plates.
Twelve Cakravartins
Cakravartins are Universal Monarchs or World Conquerors. The Jaina Purāṇas give a list of twelve such Cakravartins who flourished in this Avasarpiņi. 19 Golden in complexion, they all belonged to the Kāśyapa gotra.
The first amongst them was Bharata, the son of Rşabhanātha, who gave his name to this land, which is called Bharata-bhūmi or Bhārata.20 His chief queen was Subhadrā.
Sagara, the son of Sumitra and Yaśomati of Ayodhyā, and a contemporary of Ajitanatha, was the second Cakravarti. Bhadra was the queen.21
Maghava, the third, was the son of Samudravijaya and Bhadrã and ruled from Srāvasti in the interval between the fifteenth and the sixteenth Tirtha karas. Jayā was the queen.
Sanatkumara, the fourth, was born in Hastinapura to Aśvasena and his wife Sahadevi in the same interval. Vijayā was the queen.22
The three Tirthankaras, namely, Santinātha, Kunthunātha and Aranātha, were the fifth, sixth and seventh Cakravartins respectively.23 The eighth, Subhūma, lived in Hastinapura and was the son of Kstavirya and Tārā. The queen was Padmasri. Jaina accounts give a different version of the Hindu mythology of Parasurama. King Anantavirya of Hastināpura was the grandfather of Subhūmna. The queen of Anantavirya was a sister of Renukā, the wife of Jamadagni. Once Jamadagni gave Renukā a bambhanacaru and her sister a khuttiyacaru to eat but the two sisters exchanged their dishes. Renukā gave birth to Rama and her sister to Kļavirya. Rama killed Anantavirya and gave the throne to Kļavirya but later on killed the latter also. Subhūma, the son of K stavīrya, took revenge on Rāma who was a Brāhmana and slew him and was satisfied after slaying Brahmaņas of the earth twenty-one times.24
The next Cakravarti was Mahāpadma or Padma, son of Padmottara and Jvälā who lived with his queen Vasundhara in the city of Vārāṇasi.
The tenth, Harişena, son of Merā and Mahāhari, lived in Kampilya in the interval between Munisuvrata and Naminātha. Devi was his chief queen.
The eleventh Universal Monarch was Jaya or Jayasena, son of Vijaya and Vaprā, who reigned with his queen Lakşmivati from Rajagrha in the interval between Naminātha and Neminātha.
The last Cakravartin of this Avasarpiņi age was Brahmadatta, the son of Brahma by Cūlani, who ruled from Kāmpilya with his queen Kusumavati in the interval between Neminātha and Parśvanātha. He had alliances with the king Diha of Kośala, Kada ya of Käsi, Kanerudatta of Gajapura and Pupphacūla of Campa. After Bambha's death, king Diha (Dirgha) is said to have managed the affairs of the kingdom of Kampillapura. Later on a battle ensued between Brahmadatta and Diha in which the former killed the latter. References to Brahmadatta in Hindu and Buddhist literatures suggest the possibility of Brahmadatta being a historical personage. 25
The mother of a Cakravartin sees some dreams at the time of conception. According to the Adipurāna, Bharata's mother saw the sun and the moon, the mount Meru, the lake with swans, cartli and the ocean.26 According to Hemacandra, Summangalā, the mother of Bharata, sees fourteen great dreams.27 Accounts of world conquests by these different Cakravartins are almost similar in the Jaina Purāņas. Bharata, for example,28 started on his conquests, with his cakra-jewel preceding the army, followed by the bearer of the staff-jewel, the senapati (another jewel of a Cakravarti), the horse-jewel, the priest
Page #86
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Kulakaras and Salākāpurusas
73
jewel, etc., and conquered the Māgadha-tirtha in the east of Jambūdvipa, the Varadama in the south, the Prabhāsa in the west, and the goddess Sindhu, the Veyaddha mountain and the Timisa-cave (guhā). Crossing the river Sindhu by the carma-jewel, he conquered the Simhalas, Barbara, Anga, Cilaya, Javanadiva, Arabaka, Romaka, Alasanda, the mlecchas known as Pikkhura, Kalamuha and Jonaka, the mlecchas residing on the south of the Vaitādhya, and in the south-west the region upto the Sindhusāgara and finally the most beautiful Kaccha. Then, marching through the Timisaguha, Bharata ordered his general to open its southern gate. Then, crossing the rivers Unmagnajala and Nimagnajalā, he defeated the rich, arrogant and powerful Cilayas known as Avāda, dwelling in the northern half of the Bharata land. Next, he conquered Culla (kşudra) Himavanta mt. and proceeded to Rsabhakūta mt. where with his kāgani (käkini) jewel, Bharata inscribed his name as the first universal monarch. When he went to the north of the Veyaddha (Vaitadhya) mountain, Nami and Vinami, the two overlords of the Vidyadharas, offered him the gift of a stri-ratna (woman-jewel), Subhadra by name.29 Next, Bharata conquered the river Gangā along with the cave Khandaprapata on its western bank, where, opening the northern gate of the cave, he obtained the nine nidhis or treasures, namely, Naisarpa, Panduka, Pilizcilu, Sarvaratna, Mahapadma, Kala, Mahakala, Mänavaka and Sankha.30
Thus attended by the fourteen jewels, the Cakravarti returned to his capital Vinītā where his coronation as a universal monarch was performed with due pomp and splendour.
According to both the sects, every universal monarch obtains ratnas or jewels amongst human beings and amongst symbols, weapons or animals. They are: Cakra (disc), Danda (staff), Asi (sword), Chatra (umbrella), Carma (hides), Mani (diamond), Käkini (cowrie), Aśva (the horse), Gaja (the elephant), the Commander-in-Chief, the Home Minister, the Architect (Varddhaki), the Priest and lastly the Queen.31
As already noted, Cakravartins have a golden complexion, and the mark of the Srivatsa symbol, formed of hair, adorns their chests.32
Representations of Cakravartins as separate sculptures32a are difficult to obtain. Hitherto only four such sculptures of Bharata, the first Cakravartin, could be obtained. Of these, one from a small shrine in Devgadh is illustrated here in Fig. 156. On his two sides are shown his fourteen ratnas. Another sculpture, illustrated in Fig. 160 is from temple no. 2 at Devgadh, showing Bharata in kayotsarga mudra. The ratnas are distributed on his two sides and on the pedestal. The third sculpture belongs to the Svetāmbara tradition. It is preserved in one of the cells in the compound of the main Adinātha shrine on the mount Satrunjaya (see Fig. 47). Bharata is here represented as standing in meditation in the kāyotsarga posture. On one side of Bharata stands a male with a sword in hand, on another side is another male figure carrying a noli (money-bag) with two hands. Possibly he is a donor. The image is inscribed in the year 1391 v.s. and helps us to identify the sculpture as representing Bharata. Two small cakras are shown just near the fingers of both the hands of Bharata, and a cakra is shown in the centre of the pedestal suggesting that Bharata is a Cakravartin. There is one more sculpture at Devgadh.
But representations of the march of a Cakravarti are not unknown on Jaina temple walls. Usually they are on exterior walls of the main shrine, in the part reserved as Nara-thara. A battle scene between Bharata and Bahubali is available in the front ceiling of the Rangamandapa of the Vimalavasahi at Abu, as also in a ceiling of Santinātha temple at Kumbharia.
Ratnas or jewels of a Cakravarti are usually represented in miniature paintings of the Samgrahani sutra. For representations in miniatures of Bharata's conquests, see for example Brown, op. cit., fig. 129.
The Jaina traditional accounts of the conquest of a Cakravarti are of special value for students of ancient geography. The oldest accounts of these are reminiscent of some old traditions. The Timisa guhā for example is interesting. The Prabhāsa-tirtha is well known, but Varadāma tirtha should be located.
Nine Vasudevas
Jaina mythology describes lives of nine Vasudevas or Naravanas who are also called Ardha-Cakrins as they ruled over three parts of the earth and enjoyed half the power of the Cakravartins. Belief in
Page #87
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
Väsudevas and their step-brothers Baladevas is very old as they are referred to in the earliest traditions represented by the Agama texts and the works attributed to Bhadrabāhu. Both the Svetāmbaras and the Digambaras give identical lists of Vasudevas which fact shows that the belief antedates the final crisis between the two sects and is probably much earlier.
The Samavāyānga sütra33 gives the following list of Vasudevas along with names of their parents: (1) Triprstha, son of Prajapati and Mrgāvati, (2) Dviprstha, son of Brahma and Umā, (3) Svayambhu, son of Soma and Prthvi, (4) Purusottama, son of Rudra and Sitā, (5) Purusasimha or NȚsimha, son of Siva and Ammaya, (6) Purusapundarika, son of Mahāśiva and Lakşmivati, (7) Datta, son of Agniśikha and Sesavati, (8) Nārāyana, 34 son of Dasaratha and Kekayi and (9) Kșsna, son of Vasudeva and Devaki.35
As already noted, the Digambara texts give the same list.36 According to both the sects, all the Vasudevas are black and wear garments of yellow colour.37 The Väsudeva has a chowrie-bearer attending upon him, while an umbrella is held over his head. On his banner is seen the mark of an eagle.
The following seven are the weapons and symbols of a Vasudeva, according to the Svetambara traditions: (1) the conch pañcajanya, (2) the disc Sudarśana cakra, (3) the club Kaumodaki, (4) the bow Sarriga, (5) the Nandaka sword, (6) the jwei kriuwn as Kaustubha mani, and (7) the long garland of flowers, known as the Vanamala,38 The Praśnavyäkarana sútra however adds the sakti in the above list. 39
The following from the Uttarādhyayana is especially noteworthy as the passage refers to only three weapons of Väsudeva: "As Vasudeva, the god with the conch, discus and club, who fights with an irresistible strength, (has no equal), neither has a very learned monk.'40 This is indeed an early tradition of the iconography of Väsudeva-Vişnu. The fourth hand is usually held in varada mudra.
The Sve. text Pradyumna-carita says that Krsna, the lord of Dvārika and the enemy of Kansa, was dark in complexion and wore yellow garments. Four-armed, he carried the conch Pancajanya, the Nandaka sword, the Sārniga bow and the Kaumodaki club in his hands.41
The Digambara traditions give the following seven weapons of a Vasudeva: Bow, Conch, Discus, Staff, Sword, Sakti, and Club.42
Both the sects agree in regarding all Vasudevas as dark in complexion and having the eagle as their banner-mark. Besides, all the Väsudevas are said to have been born in the Gautama gotra, except the eighth who belonged to the Kāśyapa gotra. After death, the Vasudevas go to hell while the Baladevas are said to have obtained emancipation or heaven. This Jaina conception about life after death of the Väsudevas and the Baladevas stands in contrast with the Hindu accounts of Krsna and Balarāma or of Rāma and Lakşmaņa. But the iconographic resemblance between the Jaina Vasudeva and the Hindu Krsna is quite obvious and unmistakable. The variations from the Hindu mythology, obtained in the Jaina versions of the life stories of Rāma or Krsna, are generally due to the new background of Jaina faith.
The Vasudevas, Baladevas and the Prati-Vasudevas or enemies of Väsudevas were amongst the earliest of the Brahmanical deities who found a place in the Jaina Mythology.43 It is well known, from the find of the famous Besnagara inscription of Heliodorus, the Ghosundi and Hathibada inscriptions, or of the image of Balarāma from Mathura assignable to the first or second century B.C., and from the image of Visnu from Mathura assignable to the first century A.D., that the cult of Vasudeva and Balarama was popular in Mathura, Vidiśä, Nagari (Madhyamikā) and other places 44 and incorporation of the KrsnaVasudeva cult was necessary if Jainism aimed at appealing to the masses of India. Besides, this cult, based on the doctrine of Bhakti, was in itself a reform on the older Vedic ritualistic faith and the antiVedic Jaina writers found it easier to incorporate the belief in Vasudevas rather than other deities invoked in Vedic sacrifices. 45
Nine Baladevas
According to both the sects, each Vasudeva has a step-brother, white in complexion and known as Baladeva. Nine in number, they are intimately associated with the exploits of Väsudevas, and are
Page #88
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Kulakaras and Salákāpuruşas
75 depicted as superior to them in as much as the first eight Baladevas obtain emancipation and the last of the list is said to have obtained one of the heavens. The Vasudevas, as already shown, go to one of the different hells after death.
The Samaväyånga sūtra gives the following list of the Baladevas and their mothers, who lived in the present Avasarpini age: (1) Acala, Bhadrā; (2) Vijaya, Subhadrā; (3) Bhadra, Suprabha; (4) Suprabha, Sudarsanā; (5) Sudarśana, Vijayā; (6) Ananda, Vaijayanti; (7) Mandana, Jayanti; (8) Padma, Aparājitā; (9) Rāma, Rohini.46
The Digambara texts give the following list: Vijaya, Acala, Sudharma, Suprabha, Sudarśana, Nandi, Nandimitra, Ráma, and Padma.47 .
According to both the sects, they wear garments of dark-blue colour. On their banners is seen the mark of the palm-tree (tala).48 They carry the bow, the plough, the pestle and the arrow according to the Svetāmbara tradition 49 while the Digambaras describe the following symbols: the club, the garland of jewels, the plough, and the pestle. The Tiloyapannatti however notes the following iconographic marks of a Baladeva: the plough, the pestle, a chariot and a garland of jewels (ratnāvali).50
Like the Vasudevas, the Baladevas have their parallels in the Hindu mythology, although of course, changes have been made in the Jaina accounts to suit their own environment.
Images of Baladevas and Väsudevas, installed for worship in Jaina temples, are not known hitherto, but scenes depicting their stories are sometimes available in temple carvings. Again, a Baladeva and a Väsudeva are seen on two sides of a Jina, one on each side, especially during the Kuşāna age at Mathura, and this fact helps us to identify the Jina as Neminātha since, in Jaina mythology, both Krsna (Vasudeva) and Baladeva or Balarama are regarded as cousin brothers of Neminátha. Sculpture no. J.47 in the State Museum, Lucknow, shows Neminātha standing in the centre and to his right is standing Balarāma with snake-hoods overhead and holding the gadā and the hala (plough) in his two upper hands and the wine-cup in one of the two lower hands. To the left of Neminātha is Kļşna, four-armed, wearing a vanamála and showing the gadā, the abhava mudrā, etc.51 In sculpture no. J.121, in the same Museum, also from the Kankali Tila, Mathura, we find Krsna showing the gada, the sankha (conch), etc., while Balarama with seven snake-hoods overhead is two-armed. The symbols shown by Balarama are not distinct. The sculpture dates from the Gupta age, c. fourth century A.D., for illustration of J. 121 see Shah, U.P., Evolution of Jaina Iconography and Symbolism, Paper no. 6 in Aspects of Jaina Art and Architecture, fig. 6. Figure 7 in the same paper, no. J.117, State Museum, Lucknow, is identified as Neminātha by some scholars but the figure on his right with snake-hoods has both his hands in the añjali mudrā and the figure on the left is also a two-armed figure with both the hands in the uñjali mudri. This figure has no snake-hoods and should be regarded as a Yaksa while the figure to the right of the Jina represents a Nāga figure. In the descriptions of the Saśvata Jina Pratimas in Jaina canons we find Yaksa and Naga figures accompanying the Jina figure. No. J.60 in the same museum also has a Nāga and a Yaksa as attendants. They are not Baladeva and Vasudeva.
This practice of showing Balarama and Krsna with Neminātha lingered on even upto the tenth or eleventh century in U.P. and M.P. as can be seen on a sculpture of Neminātha in Temple no. 2 at Devgadh and another sculpture, probably from Mathura, is no. 66.53 in the State Museum, Lucknow. and dates from c. eleventh century A.D. In both the above sculptures, Krsna and Balarāma are fourarmed (for illustrations, see M.N.P. Tiwari, Jaina Pratima Vijñana (Hindi), figs. 27-28). Figure 55 illustrated here is preserved in the Lucknow Museum. In the centre of the pedestal, on the right of the dharmacakru is a bull which shows that the Tirthankara sitting in padmasana must be Rşabhanātha. The head of the Jina is lost. The sculpture hails from Orai in U.P. and may be assigned to c. cighth century A.D. The Jina is attended upon by a camaradhara-vaksa on each side. Beyond the Yaksa on the right is a four-armed standing figure of Balarama with the guda (?) in his right upper hand, the winecup in the right lower one and the plough (hala) in the left upper hand. The left lower is placed on the kati. On the corresponding left side of the Tirthankara is standing four-armed Krsna-Vasudeva showing the mace and the cakra in the right and the left upper hands respectively and the conch in the left lower one. The right lower hand is held in the abhaya mudra. The sculpture is published as figure 98 in
Page #89
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
76
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana Vincent Smith's Jaina Stupa ... A sculpture of Tirthankara Munisuvrata, illustrated here as Fig. 72 (no. J.776 in the Lucknow Museum), has on top a miniature figure of a Tirthankara with Balarama and Krsna on his two sides. Perhaps this miniature figure of the Jina was meant to represent Neminātha. Incidentally it may be noted that there are two crowned figures standing in the kayotsarga posture on two sides of the central Jina and the vidyadhara pairs. They are Jivantasvämi images.
Since no Vāsudeva or Baladeva is connected with the life history of Rşabhanátha, the sculpture from Orai discussed above is especially noteworthy. Figures of Balarama and Krsna seem to have been introduced as attendants to or in a position inferior to the Jaina Tirthankara Neminātha in order to underrate Hindu gods, just as Išvara, Garuda, Şanmukha and others were later introduced as Yaksas or Sāsanadevatäs of different Tirthankaras. Mathura, the birth place of Krsna, was a stronghold of Krspa worship and the Pancarätra cult. Only Krsna and Balarama are introduced as cousins of Neminātha. No other relatives of other Tirthankaras are introduced on Jaina sculptures of the Kusana age. It is therefore reasonable to infer that figures of Krsna and Baladeva were introduced on sculptures of Neminátha in order to counteract Hindu influence in image worship amongst the masses.
In a ceiling in front of Devakulikā no. 5 in the Vimala Vasahi, Delvada, Mt. Ahu, we have a relief slab showing the water-sports (jalakrida) of Krsna, his queens and his cousin brother Neminātha. This is according to the Jaina accounts of the life of Neminátha. Similar scenes are also depicted in the miniature paintings of the Kalpa-sútra. The Kalpa-sútra miniatures also include scenes of trial of strength between Neminátha and Krsna (for these different types of scenes see Brown, W. Norman, Miniature Paintings of the Kalpa Sūtra, figs. 102, 104, 105, 106; Nawab, S.M., Jaina Citra-Kalpa-Druma, figs. 212, 213).
One of the ceilings in front of the Devakulikās at Vimala Vasahi contains a beautiful big relief sculpture showing the scene of Käliya-damana by Krsna. Another such ceiling shows the killing of Hiranyakaśipu by the Nasimha incarnation of Vişnu. Both these reliefs clearly demonstrate Brahmanical Pauranika influence in Jaina literature and art (see Jaina Art and Architecture, vol. II, chapter 23, and plate 186, figs. A & B).
A mutilated slab from Kankali Tila, Mathura, being a part of a Tirtha:kara sculpture, dating from the Kuşäna period and described by V.S. Agrawala,52 shows a figure of Balarama on one side and suggests that a figure of Krsna-Vasudeva must have existed on the other side of the central Tirthankara image now mutilated and lost.
Nine Prati-Vasudevas
The Prati-Vasudevas or the enemies of Vasudevas are also nine in Jaina Purānas, each Vasudeva having one such opponent.
Both the sects give the same list 53 They are Ašvagriva, Taraka, Meraka, Madhukaitabha, Niśumbha, Bali, Prahlada, Rāvana or Lankeśa and Jarasandha or Magadheśvara.54
The first eight are supposed to have been Vidyadharas while the last was a man of the earth.56 The Prati-Vasudevas, fighting with the cakra-weapon, perished from their own cakras, which went into the service of the Vasudevas at the last moment.56
Names of rivals of Vasudevas are met with in Hindu mythology also where they are generally called rākşasas or asuras. Täraka was killed by Kumāra or Karttikeya, while Madhu, Bali, Rāvana or Jarāsandha are well known opponents of gods and men and are usually killed by incarnations of Vişnu in the Hindu accounts. The name of Prahlada figuring as an enemy of Vasudeva in Jaina accounts is especially noteworthy as he is a great saint and a devotee of the first rank in the Bhagavata cult.
It may be noted that the introduction of these nine arch enemies of Vasudevas in the lists of Saläkäpurusas or Great Men seems to be a later conception in Jainism, although of course they figured in the accounts of Vasudevas as their opponents. Silanka, for example, called his work a CaupannaMaha-Purisa-Cariyam, thus acknowledging only the twenty-four Tirthankaras + the twelve Cakravartins + the nine Vasudevas and the nine Baladevas as the 54 Salákāpuruşas or Great Men. The
Page #90
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Kulakaras and Salākāpuruşas
Jambūdvīpaprajñapti, 2, sū. 34,57 and the Sthānānga, 3.1, sū. 14358 also lend support to this belief. It must be noted that the Avaśyaka Niryukti also omits the Prati-Vasudevas 59
REFERENCES
1. For a fuller account of the Jaina divisions of time, the
Golden Age and the Kulakaras, see Hemacandra, Trişasti., I, Transl. GOS, Vol. LI, pp. 93-100; Vasudevahindi, I, 157ff; for Digambara accounts Adi-Puraga, T. ch. 3, v. 53ff, pp. 49ff; Padmacaritam (of Ravisena, Manekchand Dig. Granthamala), ch. 3, vv. 48-88;
Tilo yapannatti, vol. 1.4, vv. 313-503, pp. 184ff. 2. Cf.: Prajánām jivanopayamananämänavo matah
Āryānām Kulasamstyayakrteh Kulakarah ime 221. Kulānām dhåranadete matäh Kuladhara iti Yugādipuruṣaḥ Proktah yugādau prabha vişoavah
212. Vrsabhah Tirthakrccaiva Kulakrocaiva sammatah Bharatah Cakrabhrccaiva Kuladhrccaiva kirtitaḥ
213.
- Adipurana, ch. 3, op. cit. 3. Samavāyanga, pp. 150-155; Sthānanga, 7.3, sütra 556,
Vol. II, p. 398; Bhagavati, 5.3. 4. Avasyaka Niryukti, v. 147-167; Acaradinakara, I,
pp. 33-34. 5. Kalalokaprakaśa, ch. 32, vv. 1-27, 31. 6. Jambudvi paprajnapri, 1, pp. 130ff, ch. 2, sū. 28ff. 7. Paumacar iyam, 3, vv. 48-56, pp. 10-11. 8. Tiloyapantati, I, pp. 204ff, ch. 4, v. 495-503. 9. Adipurāra, 3, vv. 53-216, especially see v. 213 quoted
above in n. 2. 10. Varangacarita, 27, w. 33-36, p. 267. 11. See Sänticandra's comm. on Jambūdvipaprajnapti, I,
pr. 132ff. See the footnote of the editor who notes the comments of Jinabhadra from Visesanavati and from
the Hira vrtti discussion on the problem. 12. Sthānäriga, 10.3.767. p. 518 and 7.3, sū. 556, p. 398.
This shows that the Sthânăriga sutra text, as available to us today, is relatively later and seems to date from a period not earlier than the fourth century A.D. Malavapiya, Dalsukh, Sthandriga-Samara yanga (Ahmedabad,
1955), pp. 687-695. 13. Tiloyapanranti, 1.4, 342-353, pp. 187-188. 14. Paumacari yam, 3.37, p. 10. 15. Sthânäriga, op. cit., 10.7; 10.3.766, p. 517f. 16. Sivaramamurti, Sculpture inspired by Kalidasa, Madras. 17. Journal of the United Provinces Historical Society, Vol.
XXII, pp. 1-2, 64-80. 18. The detailed descriptions of the various trees given in
the Jivajivabhigama Sutra, su. 3, pp. 264ff, are noteworthy for students of Indian art and culture, since they give lists of different types of wincs, edibles. lamps, utensils, architectures, musical instruments, garments etc. Sce Jambūdvipuprajnapti, I, sū. 20, pp. 995 (with Santicandra's comments on these lists), Jiva sū. 3, pp. 26411 and 145fT.
19. Life stories of different Cakravartins may be studied
from the Trisasrišalákāpuruşacarita of Hemacandra, Harivam sa of Jinasena, Uttarapurana of Gunabhadra, Adipurā ia of Jinasena, Mahapuräna of Puşpadanta, etc. For all Cakravartins of present and future ages,
see Samavā yåriga sūtra, sū. 158. 20. Jambūdvi paprajñapti, 3.41-71; Åvas yaka Cürni,
pp. 182ff; Vasudevahindi, I, pp. 186ff. :21. For a short account of Sagara, see Jain, J.C., op. cit.,
p. 375. Uttaradhyayana Tikā, 18, pp. 233ff; Vosudevahindi, II, p. 303, 304ff. Also cf. the Hindu and Buddhist accounts in Mahabharata, DI, 105ff;
Ramayana, I.38ff; Calavamsa, Ixxxvii.34. 22. Also see Mahabharata, III.188.24; 1.69.24; Dighonikaya,
II, pp. 210ff. 23. Sthônănga, 3.4.231, Vol. I, p. 178. 24. Avašyaka Cürņi, p. 520; Vasudevahindi, II, pp. 235-40,
Mahabharata, II1.1177, XII.48; Rāmāyana, 1.74-77. 25. Uttaradhyayana Tikā, 13, pp. 187ff.
Also see the Mahāumagga Jataka, the Swapnavāsavadatta, and the Rāmāyana, I.33.18ff. The Age of Impe
rial Unity, pp. 20, 591. 26. Adipurana, 15, vv. 100-101, p. 334. 27. Trişasti, I (GOS), p. 148. 28. Jain, J.C., op. cit., pp. 347f. Jambūdvi paprajnapti, 3.41 -
71; Avasyaka Cürni, pp. 182-228; Vasudevahindi, T, pp. 186ff. Schubring, Die Lehre Der Jainas, p. 19f. For the details of an early Digambara version of Bharata's conquests, see Mahāpurana of Jinasena and
Gunabhadra, II, chs. 26-36. 29. The account given here is mainly based on the Svetām
bara version available in the Jambūdvipaprajnapti etc. referred to in the preceding footnote. It may be compared with other Svetāmbara versions like that of Hemacandra and others. For Buddhist belief in Cakravartin's jewels (ratnas), see Digha Nikaya, sutta
17; Anguftara, 5.131; 5.144. 30. Sthånārga, 9.3, sū. 673, pp. 448f. 31. Sthânănga, 7.3, sů. 558, vol. II, p. 398; Jambūdvipa
prajnapti, 3.67, p. 260; Trisasti, I (GOS), p. 262; Tilo yapannatti, 4.1377-82, p. 324; Mahópurana of Jina
sena and Gunabhadra, 337, vv. 84ff. 32. Cf.: 3750747119
faut fag fatza (foto) atat futai qua cut 39: 34 T6 : *
:
-Adipurana, 26, 62ff Also note---afa TeraT FATTOTETT cal!
--Aras raka Nirynkti, sàtha 391 Also see Trisarri, I (GOS), pp. 212, 256, 262. Kalalokaprakasa, 31.20-21: Ayaraka Nir yuk ti, op. cit.; Joubidvi paprajnapti, 3.42, pp. 180-81.
Page #91
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
32a. M.N.P. Tiwari has identified in all five figures of
Bharata at Devgadh. Of these some are portrayed with a Tirthankara and Bahubali as Tri-Tirthika images,
Tiwari, Elements of Jaina Iconography, pp. 106-109. 33. Samavāyanga sutra, pp. 152-58, s. 158-59. Also see
Āvaśyaka Niryukti, gäthäs 375fT. Trisasi, I (GOS),
pp. 350-51 for $ve. lists; the Vasudevahindi gives • accounts of Kanha, Tivitha. Purisapundariya, Purisut
tama and Lakhana. 34. Paumacuri yam of Vimalasuri and Padmacarita of Ravi
sepa especially deal with the life-story of Laksmana, the 8th Vasudeva and Räma, his brother, the 8th Baladeva. For a discussion on the Jaina versions of the Rāma-story, see Narasimhachar, D.L., The Jaina Rama yanas, IHQ, XV, pp. 575-594, Rev. Dr. C. Bulcke, Rama-Katha (Hindi). Kulkarni, V.M., Jaina Ramayanas and their source, The Ramayana
: Asia (Delhi, 1980), pp. 226ff. 35. Krsna-Vasudeva is referred to in the Urtaradhyayana,
xxii (SBE), p. 113 and Nayādhammakahão, 1.xvi, pp. 68, 176f, Nirayavalião, v. 1; also see Krsna in Jaina Legends.
Deshpande, M.N., Jaina Antiquary, X, pp. 25ff. 36. Trilokasära, gåtha 825; Varängacarita, 27, 42, p. 268;
Tiloyapannatti, 1.4.1412, p. 329. 37. Avasyaka Niryukli, gatha 402; Trisasi, I (GOS LI),
p. 350; Trisasi, IV.1.235ff (GOS CVIII), p. 18. Mahapurána of Puspadanta; Adipuräna; Uttarapurana of
Gunabhadra, 57, vv. 9011. Harivamia, 35.35; 41.36-37. 38. Kalalokaprakasa, 31, v. 462-483; Brhat-Samgrahani, v.
304, p. 119; Abhidhana-Cintamani, II. 128-37. Trişusti, IV.1.524ff (GOS CVIII), p. 43. Note the following from Samava yanga, sū. 158, p. 152/: tacitazगरुलकेऊमहाधणुविकट्टया'****"अद्धभरहसामी...""हलमुसलकणकपाणी संखचक्कगयसत्तिनं दगधरा पवरुज्जलविमलगोत्थुभतिरीडधारी कुडलउज्जोइयाणणा पुंडरीयणयणा एकावलिकण्ठलइयवच्छा सिरिवच्छसुलछणा वरजसा सब्बोउयसुरभिकुसुमरचितपलबसोहंतकंतधिकसंतविचित्तवरमाल2699581"*****ferrata luuaste
g a दुवे रामकेसवा भायरो होत्या....| 39. Prašnavyákarana, pp. 250ff: ...fal after
हलमसलकणगपाणी संखचक्कगवसत्तिणंदगधरा पवरुज्जलसुकयविमलकोथूतिरीडधारी कुंडलउज्जोविया गणा पुंडरीयणयणा एगावलीकंठरइयवच्छा सिखिच्छमुलंछणा बरजसा सम्वोउयसुरभिकुसुमरइयपलबसोहतवियसंतविचित्तवणमालरइयवच्छा' ' . 'कडिसुतकनीलपीयकोसेज्जargar EETTI Thus in both the Samavaya and the Pruśta, the descriptions are identical, the symbol of sakti is however the special attribute of Kumāra Skanda in Hindu Icono
graphy. 40. Uttaradhya yana (SBE), p. 113. 41. Pradyumnacarita, 3, vv. 73-76. 42. Tiloyapannatti, 1.4.1434, p. 332; Uttarapura a of Guna
bhadra, op. cit. 43. C. Winternitz. History of Indian Literature, II, p. 487. 44. Jaina Agamas often refer to festivals and shrines of
Indra, Rudri, Skanda, Mukunda, Vasudeva, Nága. Yakşa and others, apparently as beyond the sphere of Jaina worship, but widely current amongst the masses, and the references show their existence probably as early as the age of Mahavira, see Jain, J.C., op. cit., pp. 215-225. Also see Benjamin Presiado-Solis, The
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana Krsna Cycle in the Puranas (Delhi, 1984), chps. 1 and 2.
pp. 1-39. 45. Conversely, later on, when the Hindu Puranas were
recast, Rşabha, the first Jaina Tirthankara, was given a place in the Vaisnava cult as one of the twenty-four incarnations of Vişnu. The Bhagavata Purana reference to Rsabha perhaps shows the spirit of synthesis and assimilation of the Hindu Puranas, or. an ancient Indian deity or sage Rsabha was adopted and assimilated by the Brahmanical faith as well as by Jainas in their Puranas. Rşabha is referred to in Bhagavara, V.3. 20: 4.2; V.4.9, as also in Brahmanda Purana, Purva II.14; Vişnu Purana, 11.1.27-32; Vayu Pu., 31.50-52: Märkarde ya Pu., 50.39-41, Nrsimha Pu., 30.7, Śiva Pu., VII.9.3 etc. However, B.N. Sharma's attempt to prove hoary antiquity of Jaina Rsabha, in his Intro. to the second ed. of B.C. Bhattacharya's Jaina Iconography with the help of Rgvedic passages where the word Rsabha occurs,
is not convincing. 46. Samarāyanga, sū. 159, pp. 153ff. Also, Trişasti I (GOS).
P. 350. 47. Varängacarita, 27.43, p. 268; Tiloyapannatti, 1.4.1411,
p. 328; Trilokasáru, gathả 827. 48. Kalalokaprakāša, vv. 484ff; Saniavāyanga and Prašça
vyakarana passages quoted in the section on Vasudevas; Vasudevahindi, 1.78, 81, 312, 326; Uttarapuraça of Guna
bhadra, 57, v. 93. 49. The Bhăşya-gåthi quoted on p. 237 of Avasyaka-Vrtti
of Haribhadra, shows that Baladevas fought with the plough and the pestle only: hohinti Vasudeva nava anne nilapiakosija, halamusalacakkajohi sarala-garula-jjhaya... Avasyaka Bhasya, verse 39. Also see Abhidhana Cintamani, 2.138f. Also see Samaväyänga sätra, sü158
and Sthanaigu, sū. 672. 50. Tiloyapannatti, 1.4.1435, p. 332, Urtarupurana, 57-93. 51. See Srivastava, V.N., Some Interesting Jaina Sculptures
in the State Museumi, Lucknow, Bulletin of Archaeology and Museums, U.P. (Sangrahálanu Puratasha Patrika), no. 9 (1972), pp. 45-52 and figs. 5, Sa, 5b (no. J.47),
fig. 6 (no. J.117), fig. 7 (no. J.60), fig. 8 (no. J.83). 52. Agrawala, V.S., A Fragmentary Sculpture of Neminarha
in the Lucknow Museum, Jaina Antiquary, VIII.2, pp. 45ff and plate No. J.89 in Lucknow Museum. Also see his paper Some Brahmanical Deities in Jaina Religious Art, in ibid., III. 83-92. Agrawala has referred to no. 2502 of Mathura Museum showing Neminatha with
Balarama and Krsna. 53. Samavāväriga sutrasu. 159, p. 153: Vasudevahindi,
pp. 275-78, 313f, 80ff, 1188. 348f, 240; Trisasi I (GOS), p. 352; Varārgacarita, 27.44. p. 268; Tilo rupanratti,
4.1413, Vol. I, p. 329. 54. The Digambara text Mahapuránu (Gunabhadra) how
ever gives the following Prati-Vasudevas in its accounts: Ašvagrira, Taraka, Madhu, Madhusudana,
Madhuhdu. Nisumbhu Bali. Rarara and Jarasandha. 55. Trilokusāra, gåtha 828. 56. Cr. Trişasti, op. cit. 57. Jambadve puprajnapri, vol. I, p. 164. 58. Sıhandriga sülni, vol. I, pp. 75, 123. 59. Cf. Sänticandra's commentary on Jambudi paprajnapti,
2, sū. 3, p. 161.
Page #92
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
CHAPTER SEVEN
Devādhideva Tirthankara
The supreme object of veneration in Jainism is variously invoked as a Tirthankara, 1. a Jina.2 or an Arhat.3 Hemacandra in his Abhidhāna-Cintamani kośa includes the Tirthankaras un ler une caiegory of Devădhidevas, i.e., God of Gods.
Varahamihira says that the Lord of the Arhatās (followers of Arhats, i.e., the Jainas) is to be represented with the arms reaching the knees (obviously when in a standing posture) and a sri-vat sa mark on the chest. Young and beautiful, he has a peaceful (pleasing) countenance while his garment is verily the quarters (i.e., he wears no garments).
According to the Mānasāra, a silpa text of about the sixth cent. A.D., the image of a Jina should have two arms and two eyes, and the head should be clean shaven and there should be no top-knot (uşnişa). It (the Jina image) should be in a straight erect or sitting posture. The legs should be uniformly straight and the two long arms should be in the same posture. In the sitting posture, the two feet are placed on the lotus-seat, the whole image being in a somewhat stiff attitude and bearing a look meditating on the Supreme Soul. The right and left hands should be placed (one upon the other) with the palm upwards. The image should be placed upon a throne in an erect sitting posture. At its top should be a pinnacle and a crocodile arch. Above, there should be the Kalpa-tree together with the royal elephant and such other figures. There should be no ornaments and no clothes on any part of the body of the Jina image which is usually beautiful. The sri-vatsa mark should be made in gold over the chest.5 Haribhadra Sūrie and others emphasise his pleasing countenance. According to the Digambara text Pratisthă-sároddhära of Pandit Asadhara (1228 A.D.), the eyes of the Jina should be centred on the tip of his nose ... The Jina image should also be accompanied by the eight präriharyas and the yakşas.?
Vasunandi Saiddhantika in his Pratisthāsārasamgraha8 (c. 12th cent. A.D.) referes to the sri-vatsa mark on the chest. The images of a Jina are further said to be accompanied by the eight prātihāryas. The soles of the feet show marks of the conch, the cakra, the goad, the lotus, the yara (oat), the chatra (umbrella), etc. The images of Tirthankaras are either in the standing (kayotsarga) or the sitting (paryarikasana, padmāsana) postures. The Jina figure is young and void of any garments.
In both the Svetāmbara and the Digambara traditions, images of each Tirthankara are obtained in both the postures. In the sitting postures they show the dhyāna-mudra with the hands resting one upon the other on the lap, with palm upwards. The Tirthankaras sit either in the padmasana posture (lotusposture, with legs crossed), or in the ardha-padmāsana (with one leg tucked up and the other tucked up but placed over the first, but not crossed, and the hands in the dhyana-nuudrå as in the padmāsana). The ardha-padmasana posture is mainly popular in South India amongst the Digambaras.
In the kājotsarga posture the Jina stands erect but not stiff, with hands hanging loose, straight and at ease, the eyes engaged in meditation as in the sitting posture.
No distinction is made in the selection of postures, all Tirthankaras being represented in both the postures by both the sects. However, Jaina texts have noted postures of various Jinas at the time of Nirvana. Twenty-one Tirthankaras obtained Nirvana while meditating in the kayotsarga posture whereas three attained it while meditating in the sitting posture. These three are Rşabha, Nemi and Mahavira according
Page #93
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
80
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
to the Svetambara view. According to the Digambara text Tiloyapanṇatti (c. 6th-7th cent. A.D.), these three are. Ṛsabha, Vāsupujya and Nemi.10 According to the Avasyaka Niryukti gāthā 969, the Jinas are represented in this world in the posture in which they left it. But in actual worship this is not strictly adhered to.
Images of Tirthankaras were made of costly gems, metals, wood, clay, precious jewels or semi-precious stones. The Acara-Dinakara, a Svetambara text of the fourteenth century, provides instructions regarding the selection of any of these materials. One may prepare images of gold, silver or copper, but never of bronze (kāmsya), lead or tin. Brass is often used in casting images, though, as a general rule, mixtures of metals are discouraged.11 It is also enjoined that images of iron, stone, wood, clay, ivory or cow-dung or paintings should not be worshipped in private houses by persons desirous of welfare.12 Vasunandi (Digambara), in his Sravakācāra, says that images of Jinas and others (Siddhas, Acāryas and others) should be made according to iconographic formulas (padima-lakkhaṇa-vihi), the materials used being gems, gold, jewels, silver, brass, pearls, stone, etc.13 Vasubindu (Dig.), in his Pratiṣṭhā-pāṭha, adds crystals, and says that the wise praise images accompained by a big lotus-seat,14 the lotus being shown as rising hish.
The Acara-Dinakara, while distinguishing the images to be worshipped at home from those to be installed in temples, adds that one should not worship images whose limbs are mutilated or bent etc. Images made of metals, stucco or plaster deserve to be repaired but wooden and stone sculptures need not be repaired for worship. However, images more than one hundred years old or those installed and consecrated by the best of men must be continued in worship even when they are mutilated. They should be preserved in temples but are not to be worshipped at home. 16
Images made of crystal are seen in many Jaina temples. Tirthankara images made of precious stones like ruby, sapphire, emerald, etc. exist in Jaina shrines at Śravana Belagola, Mūḍabidri, and in some collections in Bihar, Bengal etc. A Tirthankara image in jade, presented to L.D. Institute of Indology by the late Sheth Kasturbhai Lalbhai, is published by us in the Treasures of Jaina Bhandaras. Metal images in brass, bronze, alloys of copper, as also rarely in silver, are available in Jaina shrines. Tirthankara images on wood work of Jaina shrines and private houses are well known.
The State Museum, Lucknow, preserves two old terracotta images of Tirthankaras. A third such terracotta image is preserved in the Ashutosh Museum, Calcutta. Recently, B.B. Lal and S.K. Srivastava have found, during excavations at Ayodhya, a terracotta figure of a Jina, which has been assigned to c. third century B.C. with the evidence of stratigraphy.17 This find further supports our belief that already in the third century B.C., worship of the Jina image had started. This further supports the earlier theory of K.P. Jayaswal, supported by this writer, and by some other writers, that the highly polished torso of a Jina image excavated from the site of Lohanipur (an extension of old Pățaliputra) dates from the Mauryan period. The high polish was known in the Mauryan period. The terracotta Jina excavated by B.B. Lal further shows that it is reasonable to assign the Lohanipur torso of a Jina image to at least the age of Samprati, the Mauryan ruler well-known for his patronage of Jainism.
Jina images painted on cloth, palm-leaves and paper are known. One of the earliest dated Jina image on palm-leaf is dated in v.s. 1157. Earlier paintings on cloth or palm-leaf have not survived in Indian climatic conditions. Wall paintings are known from Ellora. Sittannavasal, Tirumalai etc. The tradition continued from ancient times as is suggested by literary sources.
Tirthankara images are carved and installed in sanctums of Jaina shrines and outside in temple-wall niches, in ceilings, on beams of ceilings, in the interior decorations of domes of temple halls, on tops and/or bases of pillars (e.g. the Kahaon pillar, various types of manasthambhas at places like Devgadh, the Jaina Victory pillar at Chitod in Rajasthan, etc.), on door-lintels of temples, in book-illustrations of Jaina manuscripts, on cloth paintings representing various Jaina Tantric diagrams, and even in CitraPatas, in scroll-paintings like the scroll depicting life of Neminatha from the Digambara collection at Kāranjā, in Vijñapatipatras, on wooden book-covers of palm-leaf manuscripts etc. Some of these bookcovers, discovered hitherto, depict scenes from the previous as well as the last existences of Tirthankaras, Mahavira, Santinatha and Parsvanatha. A set of such wooden bock-covers (kastha-pattikas) show in a
Page #94
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Devādhideva Tirtharkara
81
row the twenty-four Mothers of Tirthankaras of this age, another shows the sixty-three Salākāp urusas while a third one shows the sixteen Mahavidyäs of Jaina Tantrika worship.
An image is called a caitya (ceiya), pratimā, a bimba or an archa. A Jaina temple is called a caitya, an ayatana, a vasahi (basadi in the south) or vasati, a Jinālaya, a deula or devakula, according to Jaina texts and inscriptions.
The Brhat-Kalpa-Sutra-bhâsya, a work of sixth century A.D., refers to a practice in Mathura. The Jina-figures were on lintels of entrance-doors of residential buildings of the Jaina inhabitants.18 Such images were known as margala-caityas. The text classified caityas or images into four types: sādharmikacaityas, śāśvata-caitvas, bhakti-caityas, and mangala-caityas. The last type is explained above. The śāśvata-caityas are images of sasvata-Jinas installed in heavens. We shall refer to them again later in this chapter. Bhakti-caitras are those prepared by human beings for devotion and worship. Sadharmikacaityas are memorials, portraits, of followers of the same sect. The text cites an instance of the image of one monk Värattaka carrying the mouth-piece (muhapatti) and the broom-stick (rayoharana), installed by his son who followed the same doctrine.19
There is another type of image which is called Jivanta-svami-pratima. The term and the use of such images are known from Svetāmbara sources only. It means an image of a person installed in his own life-time and was specially used for a life-time sandalwood image of Mahavira. Later on it came to be used for such images of Mahāvira as showed the iconographic peculiarities of the original Jivantasvāmi image. Still later, such Jivantasvāmi images of Tirthankaras other than Mahavira were also installed. The term was also used in the sense of a life-time image (i.e. installed in the life-time of the person whose image or portrait it is). For example, a stone-image of Merucandra suri in the Cintamani-Pārsvanātha temple at Cambay, installed in v.s. 1393=1336 A.D., is called a Jivantasvämi image of that suri in the inscription incised on the image (see Fig. 177).
Another type of Tirtharkara images is known as images of Viharamāņa Jinas. We shall discuss them later in this chapter.
(A) TIRTHANKARAS OF THE PRESENT AVASARPINI AGE (ARA)
Lives of the twenty-four Tirthařkaras of this age (ārā, according to the Jaina conception of time) are the subject matter of several works like the Kalpa-sútra (Sve.), and the Mahāpurāna of Jinasena and Guņabhadra (Dig.). The Samavayānga sutra, a Jaina canonical Anga-text,20 gives lists of Tirthankaras of the Bharata and Airavata kşetras of the Jambūdvipa.21 The lists are as under:
Bharata Kşetra
Airavata Ksetra
1. Rşabha 2. Ajita 3. Sambhava 4. Abhinandana 5. Sumati 6. Padmaprabha 7. Supārsva 8. Candraprabha 9. Suvidhi (or Puspadanta) 10. Sitala 11. Sreyamsa 12. Vasupujya 13. Vimala 14. Ananta 15. Dharma
1. Candránana 2. Sucandra 3. Agnisena 4. Nandişena 5. Rșidatta 6. Vyavahāri 7. Somacandra 8. Yuktisena 9. Ajitasena 10. Sivasena 11. Buddha 12. Devašarman 13. Asamjala (?) 14. Anantaka 15. Amitapāņi
Page #95
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
82
16. Sänti
17.
Kunthu
18. Ara
19. Malli
20.
21. Nami
22. Nemi
23. Pārsva
24. Mahavira Varddhamana
Munisuvrata
16. Upasanta 17. Guptisena 18. Atipārsva
19. Supariva
20. Marudeva 21. Samakoṣṭha 22. Agnisena
23. Agnigupta 24. Värişena
The Airavata-Kşetra list of the Samavāyānga sūtra is not clear. The Pravacanasaroddhāra (Śve.), verses 296-303, gives a slightly different list for the Airavata-Kṣetra.
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
The Kalpa-sūtra tradition of twenty-four Jinas of this age is certainly older than c. 300 A.D. when Agastyasimha suri commented on it in his Daśa-Curņi. The Caturvimsati-stava or the Logassa-sutta attributed to Bhadrabahu I (170 years after Mahavira's Nirvana) pays homage to twenty-four Tirthankaras. The Nayadhammakahão, a conical text, refers to the life of Mallinatha, the nineteenth Jina. The available text of Nayadhammakahão perhaps dates from c. fourth century A.D. Mallinatha is here described as a princess, which is the Svetambara tradition, whereas the Digambaras regard Mallinatha as a male. (The Digambara sect believes that females cannot obtain the Kevalajñāna. 22) The Sthānanga sūtra refers to various Jinas in sutra 108 and notes their complexions.
The Avasyaka-niryukti (gāthās 949-951) refers to a Jaina stupa of Munisuvrata at a place called Viśālā. Even though the extant text of the Avaśyaka-niryukti does not seem to be earlier than the second century A.D., the stupa referred to must be placed in an earlier period.
Belief in the twenty-four Tirthankaras is also known to the Bhagavati-sūtra, śataka 16, uddeśa 5. This sutra further refers to Munisuvrata in other context, while the Sthānanga refers to Malli, Pārsva and Ariṣṭanemi (in sūtras 229, 381). It may therefore be concluded that belief in twenty-four Tirthankaras existed in the beginnings of the Christian Era and probably dates from at least a century or two earlier. All these Jaina canonical Anga texts are regarded as works of direct disciples of Mahāvīra, but since the texts of the available editions usually follow the Mathura Council edition of c. early fourth century A.D., it is difficult to say how much older is the belief in twenty-four Tirthankaras. The Kalpa-sūtra describes in detail lives of only the first (Rṣabha), the twenty-second (Nemi), the twenty-third (Pārsva) and the twenty-fourth Tirthankara (Mahavira). Details regarding lives of the remaining Jinas given in Kalpa-sūtra are scanty and in stereotyped formula form. Further investigation into the problem is necessary.
During the Kuṣaṇa period, at Mathura, sculptures of the different Tirthankaras showed no cognizances (läñchanas, recognising symbols), excepting Rṣabhanatha who showed locks of hair on back and shoulders, and Parsvanatha who had a canopy of seven snake-hoods overhead, all other Jina images could be identified only with the help of their names mentioned in the votive inscriptions on their pedestals.
During the Kuşāņa period at Mathura we find evidence of worship of at least a few of the list of the 24 Tirthankaras, namely, Rṣabhanatha, Sambhavanatha, Munisuvrata, Neminatha, Pārsvanatha and Mahavira.23 The famous pedestal of an image once supposed to be of Arhat Nandyavarta and dated in the year 299 (year 199 according to Van Lohuizen-de-Leeuw) is now identified as an image of Munisuvrata (the twentieth Jina) by K.D. Bajpai who has corrected the older reading of the inscription on the pedestal.24 Smith published an image from Kankali Tila, Mathura, which, according to the inscription on it, is of Sambhavanatha, the third Jina, installed in the year 9. Image no. J.19 in the Lucknow Museum is of Sambhavanatha according to the inscription on it. Fig. no. J.8 in the same museum has an inscription which calls it an image of Aristanemi. Some more images of Arişṭanemi, partly mutilated, also from Mathura, have been identified. Often one finds in sculptures of Arişṭanemi a figure of Kṛṣṇa standing on one side and of Balarama standing on the other side of the central figure of Neminatha.
Page #96
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Devàdhideva Tirtharkara
83 Thus the list of twenty-four Tirthankaras was either already evolved or was in the process of being evolved in the age of the Mathura sculptures in the first three centuries of the Christian Era.
As noted above, lives of only four Jinas-Rşabha, Nemi, Päráva and Mahāvira-are described in detail in the Kalpa-sutra. These probably formed the theme of the original text. A glance at the stock treatment, the summary treatment of the lives of the remaining Tirthankaras lends doubt to their antiquity and would suggest their later addition in the Kalpa-sutra. The absence of images of about eighteen Tirthankaras at the Kankali Tila, Mathura, cannot be advanced as an argument in favour of later introduction of these names in the list of 24 Tirthankaras as it is a negative evidence but it would suggest that at least these eighteen Jinas were perhaps less popular in Jaina image-worship of the Kusana period, at Mathura. They could have been relatively later additions in the list. One can say with confidence that at least before the time of the Mathura Council (Mathuri Vacana) in the early part of the fourth century A.D., belief in the twenty-four Tirthankaras was firmly established. 25
Images of different Tirthankaras are generally identified with the help of lañchanas or cognizances usually carved below their seats, on top of the simhasana and sometimes on the lower end of the pedestal. Both the Digambara and the Svetāmbara sects give lists of such recognising syin bus. However they are not obtained in any early texts. None of the Agamas (canonical texts), not even the Kalpasütra which gives lives of the twenty-four Jinas, nor even the Niryuktis, nor the Bhasias and the Cürnis give a list of these cognizances. Only the Avaśyaka Niryuk ti at one place refers to the fact that Rşabha was so called because he had the sign of a sabha (bull) on his urus (thighs).26 But it gives no lañchanas of other Jinas. And this Niryukti, as available today, is not regarded earlier than the second or third century A.D. The Vasudevahindi, assigned to c. fifth century A.D., which gives lives of several Tirthankaras (namely, Rsabha, Santi, Kunthu, Ara and others), makes no mention of their cognizances or their attendant Yaksas and Yaksinis. Amongst the Digambaras, carlier works like the Varängacarita of Jatāsimhanandi (c. sixth cent. A.D.), or the Adipurana and the Uttarapurana of Jinasena (c. 750-840 A.D.) and his pupil Gunabhadra (c. 830 A.D.) respectively, or the Padmacarita of Ravişena (676 A.D.), or the Harivamsa of Jinasena (783 A.D.) do not give lists of lånchanas. The Tiloyapannatti does give a list, but the text, as it is available today, seems to have later interpolations as is evident from the fact that it refers to Balacandra Saiddhantika at one place. Hence the evidence of the Tiloyapanpatti is to be treated with caution, even though A.N. Upadhye, the editor of the text, assigned the present text to c. sixth century A.D.
Cognizances are not mentioned in the ancient lists of atiśayas (supernatural elements and beings) attending upon and accompanying a Tirthankara. The canonical list of thirty-four atisayas (mainly supernatural qualities of a Jina includes some which are later separately described as aşa-maha-prátiharyas, i.e., eight chief accompanying attendants, including the Aśoka tree, the deva-dundubhi (celestial drum), the heavens scattering flowers (symbolised in art by flying garland-bearers), the triple-umbrella, the fly-whisks, the lion-)seat, the divya-ellivani (supernatural or celestial voice or music and the bhamandala, radiating lustre or aura behind the head." The earliest known text describing the atiśavas of a Jina is the Samavāyānga Sutra, sū. 34. The Vasudevahindi (pp. 343f), the Tiloyapannatti (4.896ff: 4.915-927). Adhidhana Cintamani (1.57-64) and several other Jaina works describe these. There are a few variations in the Digambara and the Svetambara lists, which are of minor importance. But especially noteworthy is the fact that the group of eight Prätiharyas so familiar in the evolved iconography of Tirthařkara images of both the sects is not separated in the Samavāyanga list. The emphasis on eight atiśayas (out of the list of 34 atisayas) as Maha-Prātiharyas came with the emergence of the full-fledged parikara of Tirtharkara images of both the sects. Those atisayas which came to be utilised in representations were grouped together as Maha-Prätiharyas. But the evolution was gradual as is evident from the sculptures obtained from Mathurā, Vārānasi, Rajgir, etc. of the Kuşāņa and early Gupta periods.28
Page #97
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Jaina-Rūpa-Mandana
Tirthankaras of this Age--Complexions and Cognizances
No.
Tirthankara
Complexion1
Cognizance2
1
Rşabha Ajita Sambhava Abhinandana Sumati
Golden Golden Golden Golden Golden
Bull Elephant Horse Monkey Kraunca (Sve.) Koka (Dig.) Lotus Svastika (Sve.) Nandyävarta (Dig. TP)
Padmaprabha Supăráva
Red Golden (sve.) Harita (Dig.) Greenish White White
Candraprabha Puşpadanta (Suvidhi) Śitala
Golden
Sreyamsa
Golden
Väsupujya Vimala Ananta
Red Golden Golden
Crescent Moon Crocodile (Sve.) Crab (Dig.) Srivatsa (Sve.) Svastika (Dig. TP) Khadgi (Sve.) Ganda (Dig.) Buffalo Boar Syena, falcon (Sve.) Sahi (TP) Bear (Dig.)5 Vajra Deer Goat Nandyavarta (Sve.) Tagara kusuma (TP)6 Fish (other Dig.) Water-jar
Dharma Sānti Kunthu Ara
Golden Golden Golden Golden
Malli
Munisuvrata
Tortoise
Nami Nemi
Dark blue Nila Black (Sve.) Nila (Dig.) Golden Black (Sve.) Nila (Dig.) Nila (Šve.) Harita (Dig.) Golden
Blue-lotus Conch
Pārsva
Snake
Mahavira
Lion
1. Abhidhana Cintamani, 1.49 and Tiloyapannatti (TP), 4.588-89, p. 217. 2. Abhidhana Cintamani, 1.47-48 and Tiloyapannatti (TP), 4.604-05, p. 209. 3. Svastika according to Pratisthäsäroddhara, p. 9, v. 78. 4. Sridruma according to Pratisthåsároddhāra, p. 9, v. 78. 5. Sedhika according to ibid., p. 9, v. 78. 6. Tagaram according to ibid., p. 9, v. 79.
Page #98
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Devādhideva Tirtharkara
85
Under such circumstances it is necessary to compare the lists of lañchanas given by the two sects. The list, given here, will show that the points of difference are with regard to the cognizance of the fourteenth Jina Anantanätha whose lañchana is the falcon according to Hemacandra, but the bear according to the Digambaras, regarding that of the tenth Jina Sitalanátha whose lañchana is śri-vatsa according to Hemacandra but svastika (Tiloyapannatti) or the sridruma (Pratisthäsāroddhāra) according to the Digambaras, and regarding the cognizance of Aranātha the eighteenth Jina whose cognizance is the fish according to the Digambara tradition29 and the nandyavarta according to the Svetambara sect. Amongst the Digambara writers there are a few differences--the Tiloyapaņņatti gives nandyavar ta for the seventh Jina while the Pratisthāsāroddhāra gives the svastika (thus agreeing with the Sve. tradition of Hemacandra); according to the Tiloyapannatti, the tenth Jina has the svastika lāñchana, but it is sridruma according to the Pratisthāsāroddhāra.
Since the earliest available literary source for lanchanas in any of the two Jaina sects is later than their origin and since there are a few differences in their lists, we must also seek archaeological evidence to arrive at a correct solution regarding the age of origin of the cognizance. So far as the analysis of the literary evidence is concerned, this age must be at least contemporaneous with the age of final separation of the two sects regarding image worship, which age, as we have shown elsewhere, 30 is about the latter half of the fifth century A.D., somewhere near the age of the second Valabhi Council, for otherwise the general concordance between lists of the two sects cannot be satisfactorily explained. This would be the age of finalization of the two different lists and their appearance on pedestals of Tirthankara-images, but not necessarily the date of the origin of the conception of the lañchana. In art they begin to appear by the fifth century A.D. but is that the age of the origin of the conception of the cognizance?
The earliest sculpture, known hitherto, showing a cognizance on the pedestal is the sculpture of Neminātha from Rajgir, first published by Ramaprasad Chanda.304 The head is separated and badly defaced, but the rest of the sculpture is well-preserved (Fig. 26). The pedestal shows, in the centre, a young person standing in front of an oblong cakra both beautifully carved, in the unmistakable style of the Gupta age. This is the Cakrapuruṣa, a typical Gupta period conception in art. The dharmacakra in the centre of the pedestal is here personified. On each side of the dharmacakra is a conch which is the cognizance of Neminātha according to both the sects. A partly preserved line of an inscription on the edge of the pedestal, as read by Chanda, refers to Candragupta, whom he has identified with Chandragupta Il on the evidence of the script of the inscription.
Cognizances of Tirthankaras are not found on sculptures of the Kusana period, but they do appear on sculptures of the Gupta period at Rajgir, Sira Pahari, Varanasi, etc. However, their postion on the pedestal, or in the parikara of a Jina was not finally fixed.
A post-Gupta sculpture on the Vaibhāra hill, Rajgir, dating from c. seventh-eighth century A.D., representing Adinātha, shows, on the pedestal, the dharmacakra flanked by a bull on either side (vide Jaina Art and Architecture, Vol. I, ed. by A. Ghosh, pl. 90). The bull is the cognizance of Adinātha who is here further recognised by the hair-locks falling on his shoulders. Later we find two deer flanking the two sides of the dharmacakra while the cognizance is either above the dharmacakra or below it, on the pedestal. This practice of showing the dharmacakra flanked by two deer on pedestals of all Tirthankara images was in imitation of Buddha images.
Two sculptures from Sira Pahari near Nachna Kuthara in Central India, one of standing Rsabhanātha and the other of sitting Mahavira, published as plates 63 and 62 respectively in Jaina Art and Architecture, Vol. 1, show the cognizance on each of the two ends of the pedestal while the dharmacakra is in the centre as usual. The two sculptures seem to represent a stage of transition from the Kuşāna to the Gupta art and seem to date from c. fourth century A.D. Fig. 61 in the same book, from Vidišā, of an unidentified Tirthankara, and having no cognizance, also dates from the fourth century A.D. (also see Fig. 27 in this book). On a bronze image of Rşabhanātba from the Vasantagadh hoard, now in worship in a Jaina temple in Pindawada, we find the bull cognizance on each end of the pedestal while the dharmacukra is in the centre (Fig. 34).
Page #99
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
86
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
Amongst the Rajgir sculptures a very curious specimen is discovered. Here whereas the Tirthankara sitting in the padmasana has seven snake-hoods overhead--and hence he must be Pārsvanātha, or at the most Supārsvanatha, since no other Tirthankara has snake-hoods overhead-the lañchana on each side of the dharmacakra is a conch which is the cognizance of Neminatha. Either there was a mistake of the sculptor or the cognizances were not yet finalised. Fig. 24 illustrated here again is from Rajgir and represents Pārsvanātha in padmasana, with seven snake-hoods overhead. On two sides of the Jina are miniature figures of the eight planets, four on each side, below the celestial mala-dharas, above them are the drums. Below the planets on each side is an attendant flywhisk-bearer. The Jina sits on a visvapadma, a double-lotus, placed on a pedestal. The right side of the pedestal is much defaced so also the central portion which probably had the dharmacakra. To the left is an elephant facing what possibly was the dharmacakra. If this was the cognizance then again we have another proof that in art either the sculptor made a mistake or that in their early stage the cognizances were not universally fixed. This sculpture is an example of Pala art of about the eighth century A.D.
Even though images of not even one of the 24 Tirthankaras are described in the Jaina canonical Arga works, we are able to obtain some conception of the Jina-image from the stock description of the Sasvata-Jina pratimas in the Sasvata-Caityas also called the Siddhāyatanas. Jaina traditions of both the sects refer to the Siddhayatanas, discussed in Chapter One. These Siddhāyatanas contain images of the Sasvata Jinas, four in number, namely, Candrānana, Värisena, Rşabha and Varddhamana.31 They are called Saśvata Jinas because in every utsarpini and avasarpini age names of these four are always repeated and they flourish in any of the fifteen karmabhūmis. A long description of Siddhāyatanas and Sasvata Jinas is found in the Upanga text called the Jivajivābhigama sutra.32 These eternal shrines are found in various heavens and on mountain peaks. The Nandiśvara dvipa, for example, is reported to have fiftytwo Siddhāyatanas in all (Fig. 179).
These descriptions again make no reference to the lañchanas of the various Tirtharkaras. Varāhamihira who described the Jina image did not refer to the cognizance. There was enough scope for introducing the lañchanas in the Samavāyanga-sútra, the Kalpa-sutra and the Sthänănga-sútra in the age of the vacană (edition of the canon) under Arya Skandila in the Mathura Council of c. 300-315 A.D. or even in the Valabhi vacană of c. 453 A.D., but we do not find any mention of them. But still we find the lañchanas being introduced from late fourth or early fifth century A.D. as at Sira Pahari, Rajgir etc. But their position on the pedestal of a Jina image was not fixed nor was the cognizance universally popular in art. What was the basis or the source from which the list of läñchanas was prepared?
In the State Museum, Lucknow, there is a small square pillar, Mu. No. J.268, with low relief carvings on two sides only. It hails from the Kankali Tila, Mathura. A relief on one side shows a male and a female circumambulating a pillar sumounted by a lion. The style of carvings (Fig. 164) suggests an age c. second or first century B.C. Circumambulation of the pillar in this relief shows that this lionpillar was regarded as a sacred object. We are here reminded of the garuda-dhvaja set up by Heliodorus at Vidiśā in front of a Vişnu-temple. We also know of tala-dhvaja capital (which must have been set up in front of a shrine of Balarama) and a Banyan-tree capital probably from a pillar in front of a shrine of Kubera; a makara-dhaja capital probably came from a pillar in front of a shrine of Kamadeva or Pradyumna, one of the Vrsni Viras, of Pancarätra worship.
This Simha-dhvaja (lion-pillar) held sacred by the Jainas of Mathura is a miniature representation in relief of a bigger Simha-dhvaja which might have been erected in front of a shrine dedicated to Varddhamana Mahāvira, since the lion is known to have been the cognizance (lāñchana) of Mahavira. Acārya Hemacandra while listing the lañchanas of the twenty-four Jinas in his Abhidhana-Cintamani kośa calls them Arhatâm dhvajah (the dhvajas or heralds of the Arhats, the signs on the banners of the Tirthankaras).33 This is also the view of the Digambara writer Pandit Asadhara that the herald of the Ksatriya family of each Jina became his lañchana.34 We know from an Ahicchatra terracotta plaque, published by V.S. Agrawala, showing two Mahabharata heroes fighting, that they had two different emblems (boar and the crescent) on their banners (dhvajas).35 According to Jaina traditions, all the Tirthankaras were born in Ksatriya families. So, the emblems or crests on their banners were regarded as their cognizances
Page #100
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Devādhideva Tirthankara
87 which begin to appear from c. fourth or fifth century onwards on pedestals of Tirthaikara images in order to facilitate their identification. This became necessary because all sculptures of various Tiranthankaras, whether standing or sitting, are of a set form and are not portrait sculptures or copies of old. portraits. In the Kusana period the cognizances were not carved on images of the Tirthařkaras and they could be recognised only when their names were mentioned in the votive inscriptions on their pedestals. It was therefore concluded that lanchanas were not known in the Kuşāņa period and were introduced afterwards. But now that we have a simha-dhvaja as an object of veneration amongst the Jainas at Mathura during the Kuşāņa period, it is reasonable to conclude that in the Kuşāna age, and in at least c. first or second century B.C., there existed dhvaja-eniblems on different dlvaja-stambhas for shrines of different Tirthankaras.
On the Ayāgapaļa illustrated in Fig. 11, dedicated by Sihanādika, discovered from Kankali Tila, Mathura (now no. J.249, State Museum, Lucknow), we find the Jina seated in the centre, and on the two sides, towards the ends of the pata, two pillars, one surmounted by the dharmacakra and the other by an elephant. Elephant is the dhvaja or crest or emblem of Ajitanātha, the second Tirthankara. Hence the Jina in the centre is Ajitanātha. On the Ayāgapata set up by Acalā, illustrated here in Fig. 10 (no. J.252, State Museum, Lucknow), we find one pillar surmouted by the dharmacakra and the other by a lion. The Jina in the centre of this Āyagapata must, therefore, be identified as Mahāvīra, whose dhvaja-emblem is the lion. Such dvaja-crests later came to be recognised as cognizances or the lañchanas, on images of the respective Tirtha karas.
Tirtharkaras are said to be of different complexions. According to the Sve. tradition represented by Hemacandra in his Abhidāna-Cintāmaņi kośa (1.49), Padmaprabha and Vāsupujya are red in complexion, Candraprabha and Puspadanta are white, Munisuvrata and Neminātha are black, Mallinātha and Parśva are of nila complexion indigo colour), while the rest, namely, Rşabha, Ajita, Sambhava, Abhinandana, Sumati, Supārsva, Sitala, Sreyāmsa, Vimala, Ananta, Dharma. Sänti. Kunthu, Ara, and Varddhamāna Mahavira are golden in complexion. According to the Tiloyapannatti (4.588-89) representing the Digambara tradition, Supārśva and Pārśva are of harita-varna (greenish complexion) while Munisuvrata and Nemi are of nila-varna (indigo colour, dark-blue in complexion), Candraprabha and Puşpadanta are white and Padmaprabha and Väsupujya are red as in the Sve. tradition while all the remaining Tirthankaras are of golden complexion. Asādhara practically agrees with the Tiloyapannatti. Vasunandi in his Pratişthāsāroddhāra (in mss.) says that Munisuvrata and Nemi have complexions like the marakata gem (emerald, i.e., greenish complexion) while the other Digambara texts mentioned above say that they are of nila varna. The complexions and the lañchanas help us to identify the various Jinas in images or paintings.
Rşabhanātha (Adinātha, the first Lord, the first Tirthaó kara) is further identified on account of the hair-locks falling on his shoulders. At the time of dikşā, i.e., while renouncing the world and becoming a Jaina monk, every Tirthankara plucks out all the hair on his head in five fist-fulls (pañca-muşti-loca) and Indra, who comes to celebrate the dikşa-kalyanaka, collects them in the hollow of palms of his hands. Rsabhadeva's hair were very beautiful and when Rşabha became a monk and pluked out most of the hair in four fist-fulls, Indra specially requested the Lord to allow the back-hair, falling on the shoulders, to remain as they looked very charming 36 All the other Tirthankaras are reported to have removed all the hair on their heads. Ravişena in his Padmacarita37 praises the jara on the head of Rşabha. In art, one finds big iata on the head of Rşabha (see Figs. 25, 32, 57). Rşabha thus obtains close comparison with the form of Siva, who is known to wear jață on his head. Siva's association with his bull vāhana is wellknown in both art and literature. In Jaina iconography we find that the attendant yakşa of Rşabhanātha is a cow or bull-faced yakşa called Go-mukha yakşa. Again the bull or Nandi is the cognizance of first Jina Rşabhanatha. Siva is well-known as Nandikeśvara.
Every Tirthankara obtained Kevalajñāna (Supreme Knowledge) while meditating under a tree. Such a tree. called Caitya-vrksa, being associated with the Kevalajñāna of each Tirthankara, is specified in the texts of both the Jaina sects, and in representation, each Tirthankara is shown sitting under a Caitya-vsksa. In iconography, one would, therefore, expect each Tirthankara sitting under the particular tree associated
Page #101
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
88
Jaina-Rupa-Manḍana
with his Kevalajñāna. But it seems that, when the asta-mahapratihāryas common to all Tirthankaras were fixed, it was the Aśoka-tree which came to be represented as the Caitya-vṛksa over the heads of all the Jinas, so far as image worship is concerned. We must confess, however, that we have not tried to verify in cases of several old Tirthankara sculptures from north and south whether specific Caitya-vrkṣas were ever carved associated with different Jinas.
Tree-worship, popular in ancient times, noticed in the Vedas, found to have existed in the Chalcolithic period (as can be seen from representations on some of the Indus-Valley seals), formed an important part of the religious beliefs and practices of the masses with whom Buddha and Mahavira were mainly concerned in their opposition to the Vedic priestly class and its rituals involving animal-slaughter. The spirits dwelling in the trees were Nagas, Yaksas, Gandharvas, Bhutas etc.,38 easily approachable without undertaking complex sacrificial rituals. It is the Caityas, with udyānas (parks and forest-groves) having Caitya-vykṣas in them, that Mahavira is generally reported to have visited and stayed in during his wanderings. People used to sit in meditation under such trees and in such moments Buddha and Mahāvīra are said to have obtained enlightenment.39
Since the Buddha was not represented in human form in early Buddhist worship, Rodhi-Tree attained greater importance in Buddhist art, while the Jainas were more or less satisfed with recording of the Caitya-trees of different Tirthankaras and giving them only a secondary importance in art. Possibly on account of its age-long existence as an object of worship (not only in India but even amongst other countries and cultures-cf., for example, the tradition of the Christmas Tree), the Caitya-vrksa was introduced in relief sculptures of Tirthankaras, sometimes by showing well spread full foliage and at other times by showing a couple of twigs or branches with a few leaves. Also perhaps because of the intimate association of Yakṣas etc. with trees and because the followers of Mahavira were mainly from his audience of masses worshipping the Yaksa-Caityas or Yakṣa-ayatanas, Caitya-vrksas were introduced in sculptures of the Devadhideva-Tirthankara. But the Jainas and the Buddhists gave a new meaning to the Tree-Worship. Trees were worshipped, not because they were haunted by spirits, but specially because their patriarchs obtained enlightenment under shades of such trees.
That the Caitya-tree was given importance due to the ancient and primitive Tree-Cult of the masses is proved by the fact that even now, in the villages and towns of India, trees like the Asvattha tree or the Vata tree are held very sacred and worshipped. Often, as of old, there is a wide big platform constructed around it which is used by villagers as a meeting place. Also, in both north and south of India one finds small idols or figures of horses etc. placed under such trees near the trunks. As already noted, in some relief sculptures of Tirthankaras, Caitya-trees under which they sit are prominently depicted. Compare, for example, the beautiful rock-cut relief of a Jina sitting under a big Caitya-vrkṣa, at Kalugumalai, illustrated by this writer in his Studies in Jaina Art, figure 72; figure 73 (in the same book) is another similar example, from Patan, North Gujarat, of a big Caitya-tree, while figure 75 is another such evidence from Surat.
With the introduction of the lañchanas on pedestals of sculptures of different Jinas the Caitya-vykṣas have lost much of their value in identifying images of different Tirthankaras. A list of Caitya-trees of the 24 Tirthankaras of this avasarpiņi ārā in the Bharata Kṣetra is given below.
41.
The parikara or the paraphernalia of a Jina or the group of attendant figures on a Jina image was evolved gradually. No. J.60 in the Lucknow Museum, originally from Kankali Tila, Mathura, shows on each side of the Jina an attendant with folded hands and not a flywhisk-bearer (camaradhara) yakṣa. No. J.7, Lucknow Museum, representing a standing Jina from Kankali Tila, Mathura, and dating from the Kuşaṇa period, has a big tree carved on the back and, on four sides below, near the legs, we find figures of a monk, a nun, a male worshipper (śrävaka) and a female worshipper (śrävika) with a child. No. 161 in the Bharata Kala Bhavana, representing Mahavira, from Varanasi, is a beautiful Jaina sculpture of the Gupta period, which again does not show the triple umbrella, or the heavenly music, the devadundubhi, etc. Such examples demonstrate the gradual introduction of the various members of the parikara on a Jina image. Perhaps the parikara with aṣṭamahapratihāryas was evolved in about sixth century A.D., as is suggested by a beautiful sculpture of Pārsvanatha from Gyaraspur in Madhya Pradesh, now preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.40
Page #102
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Devádhideva Tirtharkara
Caitya-Vkşas of 24 Jinas of this Age
No.
Tirtharikara
Svetambara
Digambara*
1. Rşabhanātha 2. Ajitanātha 3. Sambhavanātha 4. Abhinandana 5. Sumatinātha 6. Padmaprabha 7. Suparśvanātha 8. Candraprabha 9. Puspadanta (Suvidhi) 10. Sitalanātha 11. Sreyamsanatha 12. Vasupujya 13. Vimalanātha
Anantanātha
Dharmanātha 16. Santinātha 17. Kunthunatha 18. Aranātha 19. Mallinātha 20. Munisuvrata 21. Naminātha
Neminátha 23. Pārsvanātha 24. Mahavira
Nyagrodha Saptaparna Sāla (Shorea Robusta) Piyaka or Priyaka Priyangu (Panicum italicum) Caturäbha (Anethum sowa) Sirişa (Acacia sirisha) NāgaMaii Pilankhu Tinduga Patala (Bignonia Suaveolens) Jambu (Eugenia jambolana) Aśvattha Dadhiparņa (Cletoria ternatia) Nandi (Cedrela toona) Tilaka Amra Asoka Campaka (Michelia Campaka) Bakula (Mimusops elengi) Vetasa Dhātaki (Grislea tomentosa) Sala
Same as in Sve. Same or Sala Same or Prayāla Sarala or Priyangu Same or Sála Priyangu or Chatrā Same as in Sve. Same as in Sve. Akşa or Sali Dhüli or Priyangu Paläsa or Tanduka Tenduva or Patala Pāçala or Jambu Same or Asoka Same as in Sve. Same Same
14.
Same Same
Same Same Meşaśộnga or Vetasa Dhava or Dhātaki Same as in Sve.
*The alternative names in Digambara list are from Tiruparuttikunram and Its Temples, pp. 195-196.
Several experiments were made in the evolution of the parikara from about the late Gupta period. In the post-Gupta age, especially in Eastern India (Bengal, Bihar, Orissa), when belief in astrology and planetary influence might have been very popular, an attempt was made to represent the eight planets on two sides of the Tirthaikara, as we find in Figs. 24 and 25, even though planets have no place amongst the asta-mahāpråtihāryas or amongst the atisayas.
The Samaväyänga sūtra, referred to before, giving a list of the various atiśayas, includes seven of the eight mahăpråtiharyas (except devadundubhi the eighth), but does not separately specify them.
The Āvasyaka Niryukti41 says that, in the Samavasaraña of a Jina, the Vanamantara gods create (1) the caitya-tree, (2) the simhasana with picha (redestal), (3) the chatra-traya (triple umbrella), (4) the cámaradharas (flywhisk-bearers), and (5) other necessary things. The last item, as explained by Haribhadra sūri in his comm., is the dharmacakra resting on a lotus. It should be remembered that while the Āvašyaka Niryukti gives only five, later traditions describe all the eight mahärrätiharyas as originating in the Samavasarana.
Paumacariyam (c. 473 A.D.),42 describing the various arisayas created by gods when Mahavira obtained Kevalajñana, says that lotuses were placed before the Jina to place his footsteps on. Mahavira
Page #103
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
90
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
used the Ardhamagadhi speech, a simhasana was created for him, heavenly drums (devadundubhi) were beaten, and celestial flowers were scattered over him, a beautiful sound arose (divyadhvani) for a yojana on all sides. The text further says that Mahāvīra was attended upon by eight prätihäryas. While describing the Samavasarana of Rşabha, the same text specifies, amongst other atisayas, the triple-umbrella, the nimbus, the kalpa (aśoka) tree, the heavenly drum, the shower of flowers.
The Avašyaka cũrņi of Jinadāsa (676 A.D.), 43 describing the Samavasarana of Mahāvira, refers to the following only: Asoka-tree, triple-umbrella, camaradharas, simhasana with pitha, and dharmacakra placed on the lotus. Mahavira faces the east while on the three sides gods install his likenesses. This fact is referred to by the Avasyka Niryukti as well.
The Harivamśa-purāņa of Jinasena (783 A.D.)44 refers to 8 prätiharyas and 34 atiśayas. According to this Digambar text, the eight celestial accompaniments (prätihāryas-lit. gate-keepers, here attendants) of Neminátha are: sura-puspa-vrsti, divya-dundubhi, Asoka-vykşa, chatra-traya, câmaradharanām samühah (host of flywhisk-bearers), bhamandala, simhasana and bhāsā (speech) of the Jina understandable to all creatures.
The Adipuriņa 45 refers to these eight prātiharyas in the Samavasarana of Rsabha, the last one is called divya-dhvani. Both the Harivamsa and the Adipurāna differ from the Tiloyapannalist in Owy one point, that is, the last one-divya-dhvani. The Tiloyapannatti says that Ganas (ganadharas or the different followers of ganadharas) attend upon the Jina with folded hands, and omits the divya-dlani.46 These early Digambara traditions omit the dharmacakra in the list of the eight prátiharyas though of course it is not omitted in the description of the congregation (samavasarapa) of the Jina or in the separate list of 34 atiśayas as shown above.
The Vasudevahindi 47 (c. fifth century A.D.) while describing the Samavasarana of Santinātha, includes all these elements and adds that a dharmacakra was placed near the feet of the Jina. The bhåmandala (halo) is however not mentioned while the divya-dhvani seems to have been understood when the author says that the Gandharvas began singing and the Bhūtas issued a cry (of victory) resembling simhanāda (lion's roar). These have not been specified as asta-mahápratihāryas.
It is thus obvious that the conception of the eight maha-prätiharyas took its final form at the end of the Gupta period, probably in the post-Gupta age. Though earliest lists of atiśayas included almost all these elements, they were not classified as such upto c. fifth century A.D. According to the Samavāyanga sūtra list. the dharmacakra moved in the sky in front of the Jina. This early tradition is followed by Hemacandra in his list of atisayas. In representations, the Wheel of Law is always placed in the centre of the simhasana or the pedestal. It is not included in the stock list of the asia-mahá-prátihāryas. 18
The Acāra-Dinakara49 describes the parikara (lit. paraphernalia, attendant elements) of a Jina image as follows:
Below the figure of a Jina is the simhasana, with figures of elephants and lions; on two sides of the Jina (in the centre, sitting in padmasana or standing in the kayotsarga posture) are two chowrie-bearers (camaradharas) and two attendants with folded hands (anjali-kara). Over the head of the Jina are, in order, the triple-umbrella having on two sides two elephants carrying golden pitchers in trunks and surmounted by beaters of Zarzara, a kind of cymbals ((evidently representing the sura-dundubhi ?); over these are the garland-bearers (sura-puspa-vrsti), over them the conch-blowers (representing divya-dhvani ?) and on top of the whole sculpture, the kalasa (water-pot) finial.
The bhämandala, though not mentioned here in the parikara of a Jina, was presumed by the author since the practice of representing a halo behind the head of a deity is both ancient and common to all sects in India, and since it is found behind Tirthankaras from ancient times. The two attendants with folded hands (anjalik aras) remind one of the Tiloyapanpati tradition of astaprätiharyas which included ganas with folded hands. Some Tirthankara images from Mathura, dating from the Kuşana age, have shown Näga figures standing with folded hands on two sides of the Jina. And in the case of the standing Jina-image, no. J.7 in the Lucknow Museum, one each of the four members of the Jaina samgha (srūvaka, śrävikā, sådhu, sådhvi) stands near the legs with folded hands on each end of the pedestal.50
The Acara-Dinakara further adds that, according to another tradition, the dharma-caka, flanked by two deer, and the planets on its two sides, was to be carved in the centre of the simhasana. This would
Page #104
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Devădhideva Tirtharikara
91
also suggest that the dharma-cakra etc. were sometimes carved either on top of the simhasana or at base (i.e., on the pipha on which the lion-throne is placed). In the Kuşana period, the dharma-cakra was placed in the centre of the lion-throne and on two sides were shown the monks, nuns, śrāvakas and śrāvikās constituting the tirtha or the four-fold Jaina Samgha.
No early texts refer to the deer on each side of the Wheel. It may therefore be safely concluded that the motif of the two deer flanking the sides of the dharma-cakra on pedestals of Tirthankara images is a later innovation in Jaina iconography. Archaeological evidence from all over India has shown that this deer-motif in Jainism was started somewhere near the beginning of the mediaeval period, probably towards the end of the transitional post-Gupta age in Indian art-history. This motif is in imitation of the Buddhist one symbolising Buddha's first sermon in the Deer-park. Its presence in Jaina iconography cannot be explained.
Figure 27 installed by Mahārājadhirāja Rāmagupta, dating from fourth century A.D., shows the Wheel in the centre of the simha sana but no lanchanas nor the deer-motif are shown. Figure 26 from Vaibhara giri, Rajgir, shows the dharmacakra with the cakrapuruşa in the centre of the simhasana. The Wheel of Law is flanked by conches, the cognizance (anriana) of Jina Neminātha. The sculpture dates from the fifth century A.D. Figure 25 from Musee Guimet, originally perhaps from Orissa, shows the bull cognizance in the centre of the pedestal, four planets seated on each side of the standing Jina, a halo, the triple-umbrella, two heavenly garland-bearers (surapuspavrşti), a pair of hands beating the drum and a pair of hands playing the cymbals (divyadhvani), lotus below the feet of the Jina, two attendant standing camaradharas but no sim/:āsana and no dharmacakra. The sculpture dates from c. 10th-11th cent. A.D.
Figure 49 from the ceiling of a shrine in Kambadahalli, Karnataka, shows Mahāvīra sitting on a simhasana with two lions at two ends and one in the centre. This central lion figure represents the cognizance of Mahāvira. This relief sculpture shows a fully evolved parikara from south Karnataka. The Jina has a halo, a triple-umbrella over his head, and over it the Asoka tree, and two heavenly beings on each side in the sky. Of the four camaradaras, two are Nāgas and two others are Yakşas. To the right of the lion-throne is the two-armed pot-bellied Sasana-Yaksa and on the corresponding left is the Säsana-Yaksi.
Figure 55 probably from Mathura, illustrated by Smith in his book on the Jaina Stupa, now preserved in the State Museum, Lucknow, dates from c. eighth century A.D. It is an interesting specimen as the simhāsana shows the dharmacakra in the centre with a devotee on each side of the Wheel, also there is the bull cognizance on the right side of the Wheel while on the left is a figure of a deer. The deer is in imitation of the Buddhist motif while the bull would suggest that the Jina sitting on the throne represented Rsabhanåtha. The head is mutilated and lost. On each side of the Jina is a camaradhara standing on a lotus. To the right of the Jina is a four-armed Balarama with snake-hoods overhead and a standing attendant (female ?). To the corresponding left of the Jina is kopa four-armed and a two-armed female attendant. The presence of Balarama and Krsna would have suggested that the Jina figure represented Neminátha, the cousin brother of Kisa according to Jaina Puranas but the bull cognizance and traces of hair-lock on the shoulder of the Jina show that the Jina is Rşabhanātha. The introduction of Krsna and Balarama is here due to the influence of Vaişpavism.
Equally interesting is no. J.776 in Lucknow Museum, illustrated here as Fig. 72, which shows dharmacakra in the centre of the lion-throne below which in the centre of the inscribed pedestal is the tortoise (kūrma) the cognizance of Munisuvrata. Above the triple-umbrella is a small sitting Jina flanked by Krsna and Balarama. The sculpture shows a very evolved parikara and two Jivantasvami figures.
In Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh the Planets are shown below the lion-throne, either on top of the pedestal or on the face of the pedestal or on the lower end of the same, see Figs. 87, 189; also Fig. 74 in Studies in Jaina Art.
That the dharmacakra is an ancient motif or symbol worshipped by the Jainas is supported by archaeological evidence from Kankali Tila, Mathura, etc. and by the Avasyaka Niryukti51 tradition that Bahubali established, at Taksasilā, the dharmacakra, on the spot where Rşabhanātha had stayed for one night.
Images of Tirthankaras are worshipped in only two principal varieties, namely, standing or sitting,52
Page #105
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
92
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana Both these varieties show the Tirthankara either with parikara or without it. The CeiyavandanaMahābhāsa of Santi sűri tried to account for the parikara. The Jinas were liberated souls, where was the propriety for a parivara (paraphernalia) accompanying them? According to some, this form of the image, showing the parivära, represented the form of a Jina giving his Sermon (sitting on the simhasana in the dhyāna mudra) in a samavasarana. According to the author of the Ceiyavandana-Mahābhāsa53 this was the popular explantation (vyavahāra) but the real significance (paramartha) was that the three stages (avastha-traya) in a Jina's life, namely, Chadmastha, Kevali and Siddha avasthäs were suggested by such a representation. The explanation is not convincing but an explanation became necessary firstly because a liberated soul, a siddha or mukta, needed no attendants and secondly because the parikara was being shown around standing figures as well. It seems that originally the introduction of parikara was based on the conception of the atisayas rather than on anything else.
The Vástusära of Thakkara Feru, composed in v.s. 1372 (1316 A.D.), describes the parikara of a Jina image.54 According to it, the simha sana has a yakși and a yakşa on its two extreme ends while between the two are two lions, two elephants and two chowrie-bearers, 55 one on each side, and in the centre of the seat is the goddess Cakreśvari, riding on the eagle. Below her figure is the dh -- - with a deer on each side. The lañchana of the Jina is carved in the centre of the gādi (Gujarati, cushion) placed upon the simhasana. The back-slab in front of which the Jina-figure is placed shows in high relief) chowrie-bearers and other standing Jina figures on both the sides. Over the standing Jinas are two (smaller figures of) Jinas in the sitting posture, above which is a torana motif. The Jina in the centre (the chief deity in such a sculpture) has a triple umbrella overhead, an aureole behind, and on two sides of the chatra are two garland-bearers, two conch-bearers, two elephants surmounted by Harinegameşin and the drum-beaters. The parikara described by Thakkara Feru is of a Pañca-Tirthika sculpture, that is, a sculpture which represents five Tirthankaras in all (cf. Fig. 69). If the two sitting Tirthaokaras are omitted then it would be a Tri-Tirthika sculpture, i.e., a sculpture which has images of three Tirthankaras (they may be sitting and/ or standing, cf. Fig. 26) while a sculpture with 24 images of Jinas will be a Caturvimšati-pafa (or a Covisi in modern usage). The sculpture would be a Pañcatirthi or Tri-Tirthi or Covisi of Rşabhanātha if the central Jina is Rsabhanātha. In all such groupings usually the lanchana of the main Jina alone is carved on the pedestal.
A noteworthy feature of Thakkara Feru's description is the presence of goddess Cakreśvari in the centre of the asana.56 This is a late feature in Jaina iconography. Formerly the place was reserved for the dharmacakra. Again, in a majority of sculptures known hitherto, another goddess, four-armed and riding on the elephant, is seen on the lion-thrones of Svetāmbara sculptures from about twelfth century onwards. The goddess shows the lotus in each of her two upper hands, the rosary and/or the varada mudra in the right lower hand and the water-pot in the left lower. She may be identified as the Sänti-devī57 (see Fig. 168).
But the practice of adding some such figure started about a couple of centuries earlier, though its position was in the centre of the lowermost edge of the pedestal, see Fig. 87. Besides the figure was not the four-armed goddess described above but a two-armed figure,58 either a pot-bellied male figure with a beard, or a two-armed female figure (see Figure 27 in Paper no. 6, Aspects of Jaina Art and Architecture). This female figure shows the water-pot in one hand. Perhaps the male figure was intended to be Sarvanubhūti. The figure of four-armed Sinti-devi represents a later stage.
The Nirvāņakalika (Sve. c. 11th century A.D.) refers to eight prātihāryas, the Yaksa, the Sāsana-devi (Yaksi), the motif of dharmacakra with two deer and the ratna-dhvaja (jewelled banner possibly signifying the Indradhvaja).59 It omits any reference to the devi noted above and the introduction of this goddess cannot be assigned to a period much earlier than that of the Nirvanakalikā.
Vasunandi (c. 12th cent. A.D.), author of the Digambara text Pratisthä-sarasamgraha, describing the parikara, refers to the prätiharyas, the Yaksa on the right of the seat and the Yaksi on the corresponding Jeft. The lañchana is to be placed below the pada-pipha (foot-stool or the pedestal ?).60 Pandit Asadhara (v.s. 1285= A.D. 1228) follows the above tradition in his Pratisthā-säroddhāra.61
Jaina Bhandaras at Patan and Baroda contain copies of relevant Jaina portions of the Silpa text
Page #106
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Devădhideva Tirthankara
93
Aparajitaprccha, whose printed text has some missing portions. The editors of the Kumarapalacarita of Jayasimha sūri printed as Appendix 3 some portion from this work which is not available in the printed text. This portion is published here as Appendix I at the end of this chapter. Verse 12 from it refers to the goddess in the centre of the asana, lotus in hand and described as the Adi-sakti of Jina Rşabhanatha. She is said to be sahaja and kulajā possibly because she is the Gotra-devata or the tutelary mother-goddess of the family (kula) of Rşabhanatha. The description in this portion shows that the elephant and the lion (on the simhasana or the gajasimha motif of the back-seat ?) stand for the eight quarter-elephants. The dharmacakra, the nine planets, the Indra and Upendra holding the fly-whisks, the garland-bearers, the Bharatendras carrying pitchers, the lute and pipe players, the drum-beaters, the triple umbrella, the bhämandala, the Yaksa and the Yakşi are also described. It is said that of the two deer flanking the dharmacakra, one, a male, represents Sattva and the other, a female, stands for Karuna.62
The camaradharas amongst the prätiharyas of a Jina, referred to above, are two yakşas carrying white chowries, according to Hemacandra 63 and all other Svetämbara writers. According to the Digambara tradition represented by Adipurāņa 64 and other texts, sixty-four yakşas attend upon a Jina with flywhisks in hand, in every samavasarana. Un representations both the traditions represent only two male cămaradharas, who must be regarded as yaksas. The view of B.C. Bhattacharya 65 that these represent attendant Ganadharas holding chowries is not supported by any text known to us nor has he cited any text in support of his view. He has further given name of one chowrie-bearer at least for every Tirthankara which again is left unsupported by any reference to texts.66 Then, going against his own theory he says that the chowrie-bearer of Ajitanatha is Sagara-Cakravarti, and thus not a Ganadhara of Ajitanātha.
The earliest known tradition regarding the iconography of a Tirthankara image is however obtained from Jaina canonical texts. True it is that references to images and temples of Tirthankaras on this earth are extremely rare and their genuineness is sometimes suspected. Even though images of not even one of the twenty-four Tirthankaras are described in the Jaina Agamas, we are able to obtain an early conception of the Jina-Image from the stock description of the Sasvata-Jina-Pratima.
Both the Jaina sects refer to Siddhayatanas (lit. shrines of the Siddhas, also called Sasvata-Caityas or Eternal shrines) containing images of Tirthankaras known as Sasvata-Jinas. These images are of four Tirtharkaras known as Candrānana, Várişeņa, Rşabha and Varddhamāna.67 The Nandiśvara-dvipa, for example, is known to have fifty-two such Siddhayatanas in all.
Description of the Siddhayatana in the N.E. of the Sudharmā-Sabha of Saudharma Indra, as given in the Jivājīvábhigama-sūtra,68 is as follows:
Like the Sudharma Sabhā, it has three gates (entrances) in the east, south and north. Situated in front of these gates are the mukhamandapas while the prekşāmandapas are erected in front of the latter. In front of preksämandapas are Caitya-sfüpas with images (pratima), then are situated the Caitya-vrk şas, then the Mahendra-dhvajas (shafts in honour of Indra), then the Nanda-puskarinis (extensive reservoirs of water, tanks, with flights of steps) and so on.
In the centre of the extremely beautiful Siddhayatana is a very big manipīļhikā (jewelled platform). A Devacchandaka of jewels is erected on the manipīshika. This sanctum of the gods has 108 life-size images of the Tirtha karas installed therein.
The traditional description of these images is the same in all Agama texts. These Sasvata-pratimas are described as having the palms of hands and soles of feet made of gold, nails of Anka jewels and Johitaksa jewels; the shanks, the knees, the thighs, limbs of the body, navels, nipples, and the Srivatsa mark on the chest all made of gold. The line of hair on the body, the retina of the eyes, eye-lashes and eye-brows are said to have been made of the Rişta-jewel while the lips are of coral and the teeth of crystals. The tongue, ears, forehead, cheek etc. are made of gold.
At the back of these idols of the Jinas are figures of umbrella-bearers gracefully holding white umbrellas, wreaths and garlands of korapia flowers, extremely white and lustrous like the snow, silver, jasmine and the moon. On each side of the image of the Jina are two figures of the camaradharas, holding in their hands chowries having golden handles. In front of the Jina is a pair (one on each side) of nāga-figures, of vaksas, bhūtas and of the kundadharas bowing and falling at the feet of the Lord. In front
Page #107
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
94
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
of the images of the Lord are placed bells, candanakalašas (the same as mangalakalaśas ?), auspicious pots made of sandal-wood, bhľngåras (jars), mirrors, dishes, vessels, seats, empty jars, boxes of jewels, necks of horses, elephants, men, kinnaras, kimpurusas, mahoragas, gandharvas, bulls, caskets (cangeri) of flowers, garlands, flowers, unguents, etc. or mops of peacock-feathers, baskets of flowers, garlands, powders (cūrna), etc., 108 each of the lion-thrones, umbrellas, fly-whisks, oil-pots (samudgaka), and pots of kostha, coyaka, tagara, haritala, hingula, manahsila, collyrium and 108 banners.69
On tops of the Siddhöyatanas were placed numerous figures of the auspicious eight symbols (aşta-margalas).70
Though the set of astantahápratihāryas is not given the term astamahaprätiharya is not known to the Agamas), some of them do figure in the above description. The conception of assamangalas is however an ancient one since it is already known to the Agamas.
But the above description obtains interesting comparison with Tirthankara images of the Kusana age obtained from Mathura (nos. J.7, J.60, J.117, Lucknow Museum, J.268, B.63, Mathura Museum, no. 161, Bharata Kala Bhavana, Varanasi, illustrated by us in Aspects of Jaina Art and Architecture, paper no. 6, figures 3. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10-12). We find here, on each side of Jina, a chowrie-beare- a Nang standing with folded hands, and occasionally a maladhara on each side at top of the sculptu.e; kundadnaras, according to commentators, are minor gods who are issued orders (ajñādhārins), but if kunda was understood as a type of water-vessel in those times, then we have a parallel in Mathura where sometimes an attendant figure on one side carries a water-pot as in the well-known inscribed headless image of Sarasvati from Kankali Tila, Mathura. The triple-umbrella is also shown on Mathura sculptures, as also the Caitya-tree, and in rare cases, an umbrella-bearer or the Caitya-tree on the back of the Jina images.
The above description makes no mention of the lañchanas or the attendant Yakşas and Yakşinis (Sasanadevatās). These motifs are absent in Mathura sculptures of the Kuşāna period. Especially noteworthy is the Sri-vatsa mark on the chest mentioned by the canons and almost invariably obtained on Tirthařkara images of the Kuşāņa age. It seems that marks on soles of feet and palms of hands and Sri-vatsa mark on the chest--which are amongst laksanas of a Mahapurusa-were regarded amongst the chief characteristics of a Tirtha kara image. The canonical description does not refer to any garment on the Saśyata-Jina-Pratimă which is also the case with all the Jaina images in India, of the Kuşana or earlier periods, known hitherto.
But nowhere in the above references from Svetāmbara as well as Digambara texts do we come across a reference to those figures on the simhasana (or pedestal) of a Jina which we find in a number of sculptures of the Kuşana period from Kankali Tila, Mathura.
Firstly, the dharmacakra, shown in the centre of the lion-throne, is often placed on top of a pillar, sometimes with the rim facing us and sometimes with the broader side with the spokes shown. In a rare case we have a dwarf holding the Wheel of Law above his head. In a few cases the Wheel is placed on a tri-ratna symbol.
Secondly, to the right of the Wheel of Law we have a monk with a rajoharana (broom with a handle, a broom-stick) held in his right hand and a broad piece of cloth on the wrist of the left hand held in such a way that the privies are shielded from view. All the Jaina monks on these pedestals and even in the Tablet of Ascetic Kanha (Fig. 21) hold this piece of cloth in this fashion and are otherwise naked. To the right of the monks are found in order figures of one or more monks and/or figures of lay Jaina male devotees in full attire. To the left of the dharmacakra is usually a Jaina nun with a long coat-like garment and an under-garment, and carrying a rajoharana in one of her hands.71 Next to her are either one or more nuns and/or standing female lay worshippers carrying long objects which are either garlands or purses. Sometimes some dwarfish figures accompany the śrävikäs. They may be children or attendant servants.
Obviously, the earliest known tradition showed, in the parikara (or parivāra ?) of a Jina, the four-fold Jaina Samgha (constituted by the sadhu, the sādhvi, the śrävaka and the sråvikä) on two sides of the dharmacakra. In the case of the standing figure of Aristanemi (no. J.18, Lucknow Museum, and Fig. 19 in Evolution of Jaina Iconography and Symbolismi, Aspects of Jaina Art and Architecture, Paper 6), there is a
Page #108
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Devādhideva Tirthankara
95
śravaka standing near the right leg, a śravikā near the left leg and on the pedestal a gaṇadhara to the right of the wheel and a nun to the left. No. J.20 in the Lucknow Museum72 is the pedestal of the image of Arhato Munirsurvrata (Arhat Munisuvrata) as correctly read by K.D. Bajpai and not of Arhat Nandyavarta as read formerly. The pedestal shows the Wheel on a Triratna symbol to the left of which all the standing females seem to be Jaina śrāvikās.
It appears that traditions about the parikara of the Jina-image were crystallised after the Kuṣāņa and Gupta periods. Perhaps the tradition of aṣṭa-maha-pratiharyas was also finalised later and its application to the image was certainly not finally settled till the end of the Gupta period as suggested by a study of images in the Mathura Museum, Lucknow Museum, at Sira Pahari near Nachana in Madhya Pradesh, the famous sculpture of Neminatha at Rajgir mentioning Candragupta, and the three images installed by Mahārājādhirāja Rāmagupta, obtained from a place near Vidiśā.
The description of the Sasvata-Jina-Pratimas makes no mention of the lanchanas of the Jinas nor do we find any reference to the Sasana-devatās or the attendant Yakṣa and Yakşi figures. These motifs are absent on Jina images in Mathura during the Kuşaņa period. Especially noteworthy is the śri-vatsa mark on the chest mentioned by the canons and almost invariably obtained on Tirthankara images of the Kuşăṇa period. But the canonical reference also cannot be certainly regarded as older than the age of the Mathura Council of the early fourth century A.D. The śri-vatsa mark is not seen on the polished Mauryan torso of a Jina image from Lohanipur near Patna nor is it seen on the standing Parsvanatha bronze in the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay, which we have assigned to a period c. 1st cent. B.C. or earlier. It seems certain that like the motif of the two deer on the sides of the dharmacakra borrowed from the Buddhists, the śri-vatsa motif was introduced under Vaiṣṇava Pañcaratra influence at Mathura. This motif is absent on early Jaina sculptures in the South where the Jainas seem to have penetrated from about the third cent. B.C. In the South even in later periods the śrī-vatsa motif is only occasionally seen. This very fact suggests that originally the motif was absent on Jaina images and was introduced under strong Vaisnava influence probably at Mathura.73
It seems that marks on soles of feet and palms of hands and the śrī-vatsa mark on the chest, etc. taken from the ancient tradition of Mahāpurușa-lakṣaṇas came to be regarded as chief characteristics of a Jina image. The texts describing the saśvata-Jina-pratimas do not refer to garments on the figure of the śāśvata-Jina. No early Jaina text refers to the lists of (thirty-two) Mahāpuruṣa-lakṣaṇas so common in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit texts and other Buddhist works. However, the Aupapatika sutra, an upānga Jaina Agama text (assignable to c. third or fourth century A.D.), giving the stock description (varnaka) of Mahavira's body, gives a very interesting account, which agrees, often in similar phraseology, with the Mahapurusa-lakṣaṇas of early Buddhist texts.
According to the Aupapātika sūtra description of Mahavira's body,74 Mahavira's height was seven cubits and the frame of his body as strong as the vajra, his breath fragrant like the lotus and he was handsome to look at. The body was free from sweating and such other defects. The front of his head (agraśiras) was strong and high like the peak (kūtākāra), and the hair on the head being dark and of thick growth, lying in schematic curls (pradakṣiņāvartta). The scalp of the Lord, resembling a bunch of pomegranate flowers, was pure and smooth like gold; his head was shaped like an umbrella (chatrākāra); his unsullied forehead (lalața) possessed the lustre of the new-moon, ears lovely, proportionate and good, the cheeks healthy and full. His eye-lashes thin, dark and smooth, looked beautiful like a bent bow, the wide eyes resembled the full-blown white-lotus, each eye-lash having a white hair; his nose was long, straight and uplifted like that of an eagle; his lower lip looked lovely and red like the coral, the cherry or the bimba-fruit; the rows of teeth, lustrous like the white moon, conch, milk, etc., were complete, indistinct, unbroken and smooth; his palate and tongue shone like the red-hot gold; his beard and moustache were well-dressed and grown in proportion to his age. His chin was well-set and well-developed like that of a lion; his neck, four angulas in length, looked like the conch (kambu-grīvā). His shoulder was broad and rounded (pratipurna) like that of a buffalo, the bull, the lion, the boar and the elephant; his round, well-developed, muscular arms, with steady joints, were long like the latch of a city-gate; his hands, big and strong, looked like a cobra with expanded hood; his palms were soft and muscular, red and
Page #109
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
96
- Jaina-Rupa-Mandana endowed with auspicious marks and had webbed-fingers with no intervening space in between (acchidrajäla-pani): the fingers again were both thick and soft with nails red and shining like copper. His palms showed marks of the moon, the sun, the conch, the cakra and the svastika, etc. He had a broad chest. well-developed and even, shining like a bar of gold, and having the mark of the sri-vatsa; his back was strong with bones invisible under the muscles. He had a beautiful healthy body shining like gold.
His sides were well-developed, beautiful and symmetrical; the hair on his body was pure, soft, slight, oily, delicate and charming. His abdomen was strong and well-developed (pina) like that of the fish and the bird, his belly like that of the fish, all the organs of his body pure and defectless; his navel, deep and developed like the newly-blossomed lotus, was spiral inside like the whirling wave of the Ganga. The torso or the middle of his body was like the tripod, the pestle, the mirror or the thunderbolt, broad at the ends and narrow in the middle; his hips were like those of the best horse or the lion; his privies like those of a horse, clean and well-formed. He had the gait of the best of elephants; his thighs were shaped like the trunk of an elephant: his knee-joints were invisible as if under the lid of a spherical box; his shanks were like those of a deer; his ankles were well-set and invisible under muscles: his feet, beautiful and good-looking and well-built like those of the tortoise, looked beautiful with closi-set fingers having copperred nails. The soles of his feet, soft and red like the lotus-leaf, showed marks of a mountain. a city, crocodile, ocean, disc, etc. Brilliant like a glowing fire, the lightning flash or the rising sun, Mahāvīra possessed all the one thousand and eight marks of the best of human beings.
All the Tirthankara or the Buddha images are based on the fundamental conception of the Mahapuruşa-laksaņas. The Jaina account given above seems to suggest the uşnişa (though not clearly stated) but not the urna. Hardly half a dozen Tirthankara images so far known or published would show the ürnă, but we do get the circular tilaka mark in a few cases.75 The uşnişa is often seen but images without it are also known from Mathura and other sites.
The Jaina description of Maha-puruşa-laksanas wonderfully agrees with the conception of the Buddha figure in the Ratna-gotra-vibhāga of Sthiramati.78 An ideal abridged description of the Jina-body is also obtained in the Vasudevahindi which is also a work of the early Gupta period.
In Jaina worship perhaps more common are single images of each of the twenty-four Tirthan karas, installed either as chief deity in the sanctum or as additional images for worship in the sanctum or in the adioining cells and devakulikäs. Such images are either with or without the parikara carved in relief around them. But Tirthankaras are also worshipped in groups of two (Fig. 79), three (Fig. 26), four (Figs. 14. 21), five (Fig. 69), six (Fig. 87), seven, eight, nine, eleven, twenty-four (Figs. 57, 86), fifty-two seventy-two, one hundred and eight, one thousand and eight (sahasrakūļa sculptures), 77 and so on. But the more common are groups of two, three, five, four, and twenty-four Jinas. Sāntyācārya in c. Ilth century A.D. has referred to such practices and has attempted to explain the significance of such groupings.78 According to him, a Tri-Tirthika image (three Jinas in one sculpture) signifies the worship of Jñana, Darśana and Caritra,79 A Panca-Tirthika image symbolises the worship of the Five Paramesthins: Covisis or Caturvimśati-patļas are carved out of respect for the Jinas of the Bharatavarşa, of this ārå, at the end of the Kalyānaka-tapa in honour of Kalyanakas (chief auspicious events) in the lives of Tirthankaras celebrated in the Bhäratavarşa. A person desirous of wealth installs a plaque of 170 Jinas, which is the maximum number of Jinas born in any age amongst human beings. 80
Tirthankaras in groups of two are found only amongst the Digambaras, often they are the first and last Tirthankaras standing near each other with their cognizances on the pedestals, all in one slab of stone, 81 Tri-Tirthika images and Panca-Tirthika images are found in temples of both the sects, but the former grouping is very popular. Four Tirthankaras are represented on four sides of a Caumukha (Caturmukha, the Pratimā Sarvatobhadrikā of Mathura inscriptions of the Kuşāņa age) sculpture and might have suggested the Samavasarapa in such cases. Camukhas are very common in temples of both the sects. A deviation however from the main concept of a Caumukha is seen from very early times.81 Even amongst finds from Kankali Tila, Mathura, we find, not one and the same Jina on each of the four sides of a Caumukla but a different Jina on each side (Fig. 14). Groups of six and eight seem to be rare. Groups of seven and nine are very rare but groups of seven or eleven are available amongst the
Page #110
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Devādhideva Tirtharkara
97
Digambaras, though of course rarely. Groups of twenty are popular amongst the Svetā mbaras but such a group represents, not 20 Jinas out of the 24 Jinas of this age, but the twenty Viharamāna Tirtharkaras, a conception which will be explained later on. Covisis, groups of 170 Jinas, or 1008 Jinas are known to both the sects but the group of 24 Jinas is the most popular amongst both the sects. Such groupings are not known from early sculptures discovered hitherto, and may be said to date from post-Gupta period onwards. Only four-fold images (Caumukhas) and single Tirthankaras are known to the Kuşana age. In the Tablet depicting Kanha Sramana (Fig. 21) we have two Jinas sitting on each side of the Stupa in the upper panel. In the Neminátha sculpture from Rajgir (Fig. 26) we find two more Jina figures in padmāsana on the pedestal, thus making a group of three Jinas (including the main figure of Neminātha). The sculpture is assigned to early fifth century A.D. Grouping of different Tirthankaras in one sculpture was known as a Pata or Patta in inscriptions, thus a Tri-Tirthika-pata, a Caturvimšati-pata and so on.
A Pata of 96 Jinas, installed in V.S. 1503 (A.D. 1446) is preserved in the Pārsvanātha temple at Delvāda near Eklingji and Udaipur. It comprises images of 24 Past (atita) plus 24 Present (vartamāna) plus 24 Future (anāgata) plus 20 Contemporary (viharamāna) plus Four Eternal or Ever Repeating (śáśvata) equal to 96 Jinas. The Pajo was installed by Somasundara süri of Tapägaccha of the Svetambara sect.81) A Pata of 72 Jinas, of c. fitteenth century A.D. is installed in the Lunavasahi, Delvada, Mt. Abu. A Pata of metal, illustrated in Fig. 183, is in worship in a Jaina shrine in Surat. In the centre is a Pañcatirthika image with parikara and all around in thirteen horizontal rows are miniature figures of 180 Jinas sitting in padmāsana, dhyāna mudră. Thus in all there are 185 Tirthankaras on this metal plaque. Figure 85 illustrates a sculpture, cylindrical in shape, showing in the uppermost row a Jina with two attendant cámaradharas. In the seven rows below are miniature figures of standing Tirthankaras. Perhaps on account of the eight rows in all, the sculpture is regarded as a representation of the Jaina mythical mountain asfăpada. Obtained from Sat Deulia, Burdwan district, West Bengal, the stela is curvilinear at top (height 43 cms, breadth 23 cms). The total number of Jinas standing in the kåyotsarga mudra in the seven rows is 148. If the standing Jinas represent 72 Jinas of the Past, Present and Future Arās plus 20 Viharamāna Jinas plus 4 Saśvata Jinas plus 52 Jina images from the 52 shrines of the Nandiśvara dvipa, then the total would be 148 Jina figures. P.C. Das Gupta, who first published it, suggested that this interesting stela, assigned to c. 10th century by him, was a symbolic representation of the eightterraced Astăpada-giri.82
After the Nirvana of Rşabhanátha, the first Jina, on Mt. Kailash, his son Cakravarti Bharata erected on this mountain a shrine called Simhanişadya Caitya and installed therein images of 24 Jinas of this age. The belief seems to be old since the Acāranga Niryukti, the Jambudvipaprajnapti and the Vasudevahindi refer to Astăpada as a place of pilgrimage. Identification of Astăpada is not certain and it is also identified with Mt. Satruñjaya in Saurastra, Gujarat. Hemacandra ācārya tells us that Bharata also installed statues of his ninety-nine brothers who had also obtained Nirvana on this mountain along with Rşabhanātha. He also raised a statue of himself listening attentively like a faithful devotee. In order to save these from future damage at the hands of mortals, he placed mechanical iron guardsmen and cutting off the projections of the mountain, he made it steep and straight and impossible for men to climb. He then made eight (asta) steps (pada) around it in the form of terraces impossible for men to cross, each step being one yojana apart from the next one. From that time the mountain was called Aştāpada.
Gautama the first Ganadhara of Mahavira was told by his Master that whoever is able to reach the top of this mountain and worship the Caityas thereon obtains emancipation. Gautama, therefore, with his supernatural powers, climbed it like a flash of light. Some tåpasas (Brahmanical monks) were attempting to do so but could not go beyond the third terrace. At the sight of Gautama they obtained enlightenment and liberation. Reaching the top and entering the Simhanişadya Caity'a by the South Gate, Gautama first saw the four Jinas beginning with Sambhava and worshipped them. At the West-entrance he worshipped eight Tirtharikaras beginning with Supārsva, entering by the North gate the could worship the ten Jinas beginning with Dharmanatha. From the Eastern doorway of the shrine he worshipped the first two Tirthankaras, Rşabha and Ajitanātha.83
Page #111
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
98
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
Thus it will be seen that the Simhanişadyā Caitya is a Caumukha shrine with four doorways and having in the centre a platform on which the Jinas are represented in the order described above and worshipped by Gautama. In Svetămbara Jaina shrines sometimes a cell is dedicated to Aştāpada represented in the way shown above. A representation of Aştāpada of this type, with Gautama shown climbing and the täpasas on the way is in worship in a shrine on Mt. Satruñjaya in Saurastra. A simple representation of the Jinas on the four sides of a pitha in above order is in worship in a Svetambara shrine in Surat. Figure 180 illustrates an elaborate sculpture of Aståpada, showing eight horizontal rows of Tirthankaras, installed on the second storey of the Valänaka north, Dharanavihāra shrine, Ranakpur, Pali district, Rajasthan. The sculpture was installed in v.s. 1551 = A.D. 1495. Vastupāla and Tejapala are said to have built an astăpadaprasāda and a temple of Ādinātha at Prabhāsa. påtana.84 The Vastupalavihāra at Girnar in Saurastra is a triple shrine built by minister Vastupala. An inscription on a stone slab behind the temple shows that Vastupala built in V.S. 1288 (A.D. 1231) a temple of Adinātha adorned with a temple of Kapardi Yakṣa at the back. In front of this to the north-west he built a temple of Sammeta-Sikhara adorned with images of 20 Jinas and to the south he constructed an Aştā padaprāsāda with images of 24 Jinas. The Säntinātha temple at Kumbharia also has a sculpture of Aștāpada in a chapel with entrances on all the four si.cs. There is an inscription dated V.S. 1266 (A.D. 1209).85
Representations of Sammeta-Sikhara, obtained sometimes in Jaina shrines, depict 20 Jina figures because in all twenty out of twenty-four Tirthankaras of the present age obtained Nirvāṇa on this mountain. Such representations are known as avatāra or uddhāra of a particular tirtha. A stone plaque representing avatāra of the two Tirthas of Satruñjaya and Girnar now in worship in a Jaina shrine at Varakhāņa in Rajasthan is illustrated in Fig. 186. Representations of the five (Panca) Meru mountains of five different dvipas, showing a Siddhāyatana (suggested by a Caturmukha Jina image) on each tier, one above the other in five tiers and surmounted by a finial, are very popular with the Digambara sect. One such Panca-Meru is also obtained in a Svetāmbara shrine, in the Hastiśälä of the Lūnavasabi, Mt. Abu. The five Meru mountains are Sudarśana in the midst of Jambūdvipa, Vijaya in eastern Dbátakikhanda-dvipa, Acala in western Dhātakikhanda-dvīpa, Mandara in eastern Puskarardha-dvipa and Vidyunmāli in the western Puşkarārdha-dvipa. According to Digambara belief there are in all 80 Siddhayatanas on the five Merus. A Digambara Panca-Meru bronze, installed in v.s. 1513 (A.D. 1456), is illustrated in Fig. 180, from a Digambara Jaina shrine in Surat, Gujarat.
Certain common facts about the lives of each of the twenty-four Tirtharkaras have to be borne in mind for a proper understanding of Jaina Jātaka scences and paintings.
A soul after passing through various births as animals and human beings ultimately becomes fit for being born as a would be Tirthankara. He is then said to have acquired Tirthankara-nāma-karma. 86 His last birth is in one of the heavens from which he descends into the Mother's womb and becomes a Tirthakara in that birth. This descent from heaven is a subject of Jaina miniatures when he is usually represented as sitting in one of the heavens.87 All the Tirtharkaras are born in Ksatriya royal families. Munisuvrata and Neminātha were born in the Harivamśa, Dharma, Ara and Kunthu in the Kuru-vamsa, Parśva and Mahāvira in the Ugra-vamsa, and the rest in the Ikşvāku-vamśa. 88 According to the Svetāmbara tradition, Munisuvrata and Neminātha were born in the Harivamsa while the rest descended in the Iksvaku families. 89
At the time of descent from heavens into the Mother's womb, the Mother of every Jina sees fourteen dreams according to Svetāmbara traditions and sixteen according to the Digambaras. The dreams are represented on stone and in metals as well as paintings (Fig. 187).90 The Mother immediately gets up from bed and breaks the news to her husband. Next morning the dreams are interpreted by astrologers (svapnapathakas or nimitta-pathakas) as shown in miniatures of the Kalpa-sutra. Jaina texts always note the naksatras of the birth (and other chief events) in the life of a Jina. This is because when the birth dates of Mahavira and Pārsvanatha were first recorded the rāśis or zodiacal signs were not known.
Several extraordinary events take place when a Jina is born. The 56 Dik-kumaris come from various regions and perform the duties of a nurse (sutika-kārma) and attend upon the Mother and the Child with
Page #112
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
99
Devādhideva Tirthankara mirrors, fans, music etc. Meanwhile the throne of Sakra (Indra) shakes and he comes in a heavenly car with a host of gods to celebrate the birth-bath ceremony ( janma-kalyanaka) of the newly born Jina. With his magic (avasvāpinividya) the Saudharma Indra induces the Mother into deep sleep when the baby-Jina is carried by gods to the top of the Meru mountain where an elaborate bathing ceremony is performed by gods with the Jina seated on the lap of the Indra who assumes more forms and in paintings we find him doing the lustration (abhiseka) in the form of two bulls.91 Then the Indra performs thirty-two types of dances before the Lord and ultimately brings the Jina back to his mother's side. This and the descent are the first two auspicious events known as the Cyavana and the Janma Kalyānakas, in the life of a Tirthankara.
The Jina grows up and obtains training in various arts and sciences and is sometimes said to marry a princess. Some Tirthankaras do not marry at all. According to the Digambara sect, Mahavira did not marry while the Svetămbaras hold a contrary belief.
As in the life of the Buddha, Jaina traditions often describe some incidents in the lives of Tirthankaras which precipitate their decisior to renounce the worldly life. The Digambaras, for example, say that while Rşabha was seeing the dance of Nilāñjanā (sent by Indra for the purpose) she suddenly disappeared and Rşabha realised the transitoriness of human life (Fig. 18). In the case of Pärsvanatha, it is said that he saw a pata depicting the life of the preceding Tirthankara Neminātha which roused in him the desire to turn a Jaina monk. The Lokäntika gods appear before the Jina to-be and respectfully inform him that the time for taking dikşă had approached and pray to him to save the afflicted humanity by founding the Jaina 'tirtha'.
Then for full one year the would-be Jina gives handsome charities (called vārșika or varsi-dana in Kalpa-sútra miniatures) at the end of which period, he is carried in a palanquin to a park outside his city-gates where he plucks out his hair in five fistfuls (pañca-muști-lonca), removes all ornaments, garments, etc., and turns a Jaina monk. Indra and other gods attend and perform the cermony, Indra catches the plucked out hair in a costly piece of cloth and throws them in the milk-ocean. This is the Dik şa-kalyanaka in the life of every Jina.92
The Jina then begins his austerities, sometimes he fasts, and for all times he bears all hardships. Jaina texts always mention the name of the fortunate donor who was the first person to give alms to the Jipa (for breaking his first long fast). At the end of wanderings and austerities for some years the Jina obtains Kevalajñāna while he is standing or sitting in meditation under a tree. Such trees become holy trees and are called caitya-vskşas.
The Saudharma Indra comes to know that the Jina has obtained kevalajñāna or highest knowledge, omniscience. Again he comes with all the retinue and celebrates this auspicious event known as the Jñana-kalyānaka. Gods erect a special extensive structure, a sort of an amphitheatre, big like a city, with three fortifications and a central dias for the Jina to sit on and deliver his first Sermon to the congregation (Samavasarana) of celestial and human beings and animals assembled in this structure which is called the Samavasarana (Fig. 182).93
For several years again the Jina wanders from place to place and preaches the doctrine, organising the Jaina Tirtha or Sargha constituted of sädhus, sådhvis, sråvakas and śrāvikas. Ultimately he gives up food and drink, sits or stands in meditation and discards his last bondage, namely, the earthly body and becomes a Siddha. The Siddha has no physical body (Fig. 185). His soul ascends to the lşatprāgbhåra world on top of the Loka, where there is a crescent-shaped platform (siddha-sila) whereon stay all such liberated souls.94 This auspicious event is the Nirvana-kalyanaka which is generally represented by showing the Jina sitting on the Siddha-sila. Again Indra and other gods come at the time of Nirvana and celebrate the event. They lay the body of the Jina on a sandal-wood pyre, perform the cremation rite, collect the Jina's bones and return to heavens where they install the bones (dadha) in round diamondboxes on top of Mänavaka-Sthambhas (pillars) and worship them.95
Belief in Kalyanakas is very old. The Kalpa-sūtra text suggests that its main object was the narration of the various kalyánakas or chief auspicious events in the lives of Rşabha, Nemi, Parsva and Mahā. vira. The conception has its parallel in Buddhism where representations of the main events in the life of
Page #113
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
100
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana Buddha on one and the same sculpture had become a favourite theme with the artists of Gandbara and elsewhere. Attempts to represent the Kalyāņakas in sculptures after the fashion of the Buddhists are not known in Jainism where one sculpture usually represents one idea. But in ceilings at Abu and Kunbharia we have beautiful big long panels depicting all the main events in the lives of Tirthankaras like Mahāvira, Parśvanátha, Santinātha, Rşabha, Neminātha and others.96 In paintings, scrolls, amongst book-illustrations, murals or frescoes and wooden book-covers of palm-leaf manuscripts, the practice of depicting scenes from the lives of Tirthankaras is very old.97 The famous Mathura relief showing Bhagava Nemeso on a throne might have been part of some Jaina mythological story on stone. The partly mutilated relief from Mathura, preserved in the Lucknow Museum and depicting the dance of Nilāñjană and renunciation and monkhood of Rşabha (Fig. 18) suggests the popularity of such stone reliefs with the Jainas as well in c. first century B.C. since Fig. 18 dates from first century B.C. It seems that representations of the kalyanaka scenes were not unknown to Jainism in the Kuşāņa period. Sites associated with the events of the kalyanakas were regarded holy as can be seen from the Acāranga Niryukti.98
The Digambara sect also believes in the celebration of five kalvinakas, namely, Garbhävatarana, Janma, Tapa (diksā), kevala-jñana, and mokṣa (nirvana) kalyanakas. The ati$thasar oddhāra refers to the ritual regarding each of these in the Pratișthāvidhi of a Jina image.99
(B) SASVATA JINAS AND THE VIHARAMĀŅA JINAS
We have referred to the Sasvata-Jina-Pratimas in the Siddhayatanas or Sasvata-Caityas mentioned in Jaina canonical works. According to texts like the Pravacanasāroddhāra (11th cent. A.D.) these Sasvata-Jina-Pratimās represent four Tirtha karas, namely, Vrşabhasena, Candrānana, Värişeņa, and Varddhamāna. 100 They are called Saśvata Jinas because in every Utsarpini or Avasarpini era names of these four Tirtharkaras are always repeated and they flourish in any of the fifteen karmabhumis. Belief in Śāśvata Jinas and Siddhayatanas is fairly old as a long description of these is available in the upāöga canonical text called the Jivājivabhigama sutra.101 These Siddhayatanas are found in various heavens and on several mountain peaks. The Nandisvara-dvipa, for example, is reported to have fifty-two such Siddhayatanas. 102
Since Tirthankaras are born in the 2 continents there are even at present Tirthankaras amongst them. They are therefore called Viharamāņa or contemporary Tirthankaras living at present. In this age there are twenty such Viharamana Jinas, four in the different Vijayas of the Mahavideha kşetra of Jambūdvipa, eight in the Dhátaki khanda, and the remaining in the half Puşkarävarta-dvipa. According to the Svetāmbara tradition, their names are as follows: 1. Simandhara, 2. Yugandhara, 3. Sri Bāhujina, 4. Subảhu. The above four in the Jambüdvipa. 5. Sujāta swami, 103 6. Svayamprabha, 7. Rşabhanátha, 8. Anantavirya, 9. Suraprabha, 10. Visala, 11. Vajradhara, 12. Candrānana, in the Dhătaki khanda, 13. Candrabahu, 14. Bhujanga, 15. Isvara, 16. Namiprabha, 17. Värişena or Virasena, 18. Mahābhadra, 19. Candrayaśā, 20. Ajitavirya, in the Ardha-Puškaravarta-dvipa. 104
This is the minimum number of Viharamana Jinas while sometimes there flourish a greater number in the different kşetras, the maximum possible number being 170 Jinas. Patas of 170 Jinas have been referred to above. A Pata of 20 Viharamana Jinas in a shrine on mount Girnar is also referred to before. The Jagatcintamani-caityavandana stotra amongst the Pratikramana sūtras of the Svetambara Jainas pays homage to the 20 as well as the 170 Jinas. 105
The conception of Viharamāna Jinas is known to the Digambara sect also, though it is not so popular as amongst the Svetāmbaras. Amongst both the sects, earlier representations of Viharamāna Jinas are not known, but the conception of Viharamāna Jinas is certainly pretty old. The Vasudevahindi, for example, refers to Simandhara at present living in the Apara-videha-kşetra. 106 Simandhara seems to be the most popular Viharamāna Jina with both the sects and images and temples dedicated to his worship are available (Fig. 175) though none of them are earlier than the mediaeval period. No cognizances of these Jinas are known in the Svetambara tradition. The Digambara tradition's list of Viharamāna Jinas is as under: 107
Page #114
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Devadhideva Tirthankara
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Viharamāņa Jina
Simandhara
Yugandhara
Digambara Tradition
Bahu
Subähu
Samyataka
Svayamprabha
Rṣabhanatha
Anantavirya Suraprabha
Viśālakirti
jradhara Candranana Candrabahu
Bhujangaprabha
Jsvara
Nemiśvara
Virasena or Vārişeņa
Mahān
Devayasa Ajitavirya
The above list appended by the Brhat-Jaina-Sabdarnava-kośa is based upon Prakrt, Sanskrt and Hindi works later than 1500 v.s.108 The Trilokasära of Nemicandra109 however does refer to the belief in the maximum number of 170 Jinas and the minimum number of 20 Viharamāņa Jinas.110
(C) TIRTHANKARAS OF THE PAST AND FUTURE AGES (ĀRĀS)
Both the Svetambaras and the Digambaras believe that twenty-four Tirthankaras lived in the Utsarpini age preceding our present Avasarpiņi age and that an equal number will be born in the future Utsarpini following our present ārā. But the lists given by the two sects differ. The following were the Tirthankaras of the Past Utsarpini:
Svetombara111
Kevalajñānī Nirvāņi
Sāgara
Mahāyasab
Vimala
Sarvānubhuti Śridhara
Datta
Damodara Sutejaḥ
Swāmi
Cognizance
Bull
Elephant
Deer
Monkey
Sun
Moon Hari or lion
Elephant
Sun
Moon
Conch
Bull
Lotus
Moon
Atita Jinas
Sun
Bull
Airavata elephant Moon
Svastika
Lotus
101
Digambara111
Nirvana
Sagara
Mahāsādhu
Vimalaprabha
Śridhara
Sudatta
Amalaprabha
Uttara
Angira Sanmati
Sindhu
Page #115
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
102
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
Munisuvrata Sumati Sivagati
Stāga
Nimiśvara Anila Yaśodhara Kftártha Jineśvara Suddhamati Sivakarah Syandana Samprati
Kusumañjali Sivagana Utsäha Jñāneśvara Parameśvara Vimaleśvara Yaśodhara Krsna Jñanamati Suddhamati Sribhadra Atikrānta Santa
Anagata or Bhavi Jinas Svetambara113
Digambara114
Padmanabha or Mahāpadma Suradeva Supärśva(ka) Svayamprabha Sarvānubhati Devaśruta or Devagupta Udaya or Udaka Pechala or Pedhālaputra Pottila Satakirti115 Munisuvrata Sarvavid Amama Niskasaya Nispulāka Nirmama Citragupta Samadhi Samvara Yasodhara or Anivetti Vijaya Malla or Vimala Deva or Devopapāta Anantavirya Bhadra
Mahapadma Suradeva Supārsva Svayamprabha Sarvātmabhūta Devaputra or Srideva Kulaputra Udanka Prosthila Jayakirti Munisuvrata Aranatha or Araha Nispapa Nişkasaya Vipula Nirmala Citragupta Samadhigupta Svayamvara Anivrtti Jayanātha Sri-Vimala Devapala Anantavirya
Both the sects give the names of persons of the present age who are going to be born as Tirthankaras in the next age. Thus king Srenika of our age is going to be the first Future Jina.
Such lists were multiplied. Thus a hymn composed by Devendrasuri116 (V.S. 1450) gives names of Tirthankaras of the Past, Present and Future ages in the Bharata and Airavata kşetras.
The atita, varttamana and bhavi Tirthankaras of our land are often worshipped in various hymns recited every day. Representations of all the 72 Tirthankaras were carved on stone slabs and installed for worship in Jaina temples.
Page #116
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Devādhideva Tirthankara
103
In a samatala ceiling of a side aisle of the rangamandapa of the Mahavira temple at Kumbharia are carved four series of panels showing representations of the Past (atita) Tirthankaras in two rows and the Future (anāgata) Tirthankaras in two more rows. A part of these rows is illustrated in Fig. 84. All the rows have labels inscribed below each figure.
An interesting sculpture is preserved in the British Museum, London, 117 Here a male and a female are seated side by side in an architectural design of a niche or vimana on top of which is placed in the centre a smaller figure of a Tirthankara sitting in the padmāsana dhyāna mudra. The male and the female figure are nicely attired and adorned with ornaments etc. Each of them carries a citron in one hand which would suggest their yakşa character since a number of Jaina yakşas and yakşi is carry the citron in one of their hands. Below, on the lower portion of this sculpture, is carved the title "Anantaviryo" in characters of c. 9th cent. A.D. Nowhere in the available Jaina texts of both the sects do we come across a yaksa Anantavirya for any Tirtharkara. Hence the label is obviously intended for the Tirthankara Anantavirya who is the twenty-fourth Future Tirthankara according to the Digambara list given above. Anantavirya is the twenty-third Future Jina in the above Svetämbara list but if Sarvavid or Sarvabhåvavid is not taken as an adjective of Munisuvrata in the list given by the Samavåyånga sutra. sutra 158, but the Jina next to Munisuvrata, then in the Svetämbara list also Anantavirya would be the twenty-fourth Future Jina and Bhadra would be his epithet. The Jina to whom the label is referred to is smaller than the figures of the royal pair sitting in the vimāna whose names are not inscribed. In fact the pair reminds us of the type of figures we have identified as Parents of Jinas. And even in the panels at Kumbharia referred to above and illustrated in Fig. 84, each Past and Future Jina is shown with his Parents. We might therefore identify this sculpture in the British Museum as representing the Future Jina Anantavirya, with his Parents.
The Future Jinas belong to the coming Utsarpiņi, the ascending era, whereas our present era is Avasarpipi. the descending one. So, the last Jina of our era and the first Jina of the Future era would be similar in height etc. and the last Jina of the Future Utsarpiņi will be as great as Rşabhanátha, the first Jina of our present Avasarpini. We can thus understand why the Future Jina Anantavirya is represented in the sculpture under consideration.
APPENDIX 1
सुमेर शिखरं दृष्ट्वा गौरी पृच्छति शंकरम् । कोऽयं पर्वत इत्येष? कस्येदं मंदिर? प्रभो ॥ १॥ कोऽयं मध्ये पुनर्देवः? पादान्ता का च नायिका? । किमिदं चक्रमित्यत्र? तदन्ते को मृगो मृगी? ॥ २ ॥ के वा सिंहा? गजाः के वा? के चामी पुरुषा नव? । यक्षो वा यक्षिणी केयं? के वा चामरधारकाः? ।। ३ ।। के वा मालाघरा एते? गजारूढाश्च के नराः? । एतावपि महादेव! को वीणावंशवादको? ।। ४ ।। दुन्दुभेदिकः को वा? को वाऽयं शंख वादक:? । छत्रत्रयमिदं कि वा? किं वा भामण्डलं प्रभो! ॥ ५ ॥ ईश्वरो (र उ ) वाचश्रुणु देवि! महागौरी! यत्त्वया पृष्टमुत्तमम् । कोऽयं पर्वत इत्येष? कस्येदं मन्दिरं? प्रभो! ॥ ६ ॥ पर्वतो मेरुरित्येष स्वर्णरत्नविभूषितः । सर्वज्ञमन्दिरं चैतद् रत्नतोरणमण्डितम् ॥ ७॥
Page #117
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
104
अयं मध्ये पुन: साक्षात् सर्वज्ञो जगदीश्वरः । त्रयस्त्रिंशत्कोटिसंख्या, यं सेवन्ते सुरा अपि ॥ ८ ॥ इन्द्रियन जितो नित्य केवलज्ञाननिर्मलः । पारंगतो भवांभोषे-य लोकान् सत्यम् ॥ १ ॥ अनन्तरूपो यस्तत्र कषायैः परिवर्जितः ।
यस्य चित्ते कृतस्थाना, दोषा अष्टादशापि न ।। १० ।। सिङ्गरूपेण वस्तत्र पुंरूपेगाव वर्तते ।
रागद्वेषव्यतिक्रान्तः स एष परमेश्वरः ॥ ११ ॥ आदि शक्तिजिनेन्द्रस्य आसने गर्भसंस्थिता । सहजा कुलजा घ्याने, पद्महस्ता वरप्रदा ।। १२ ।। पक्रम देवि! धर्मप्रवर्तकम् ।
1
सत्त्वं नाम मृगस्सोऽयं मृगी च करुणा मता ॥ १३ ॥ अष्टौ च दिजा एते गजसिंहस्वरूपतः । आदित्य एते नवमः स्मृताः ॥ १४ ॥ यक्षोऽयं गोमुखो नाम आदिनाथस्य सेवकः ।
"
यक्षिणी रुचिराकारा नाम्ना चक्रेश्वरी मता ।। १५ । इन्द्रोपेन्द्राः स्वयं भर्तु जताश्चामरधारकाः । पारिजातो वसन्तश्च मालाधरतया स्थितौ ।। १६ ।। अन्येपि ऋतुराजा ये, तेऽपि मालाधराः प्रभोः । भ्रष्टेन्द्रा गजमारूढाः कराग्रे कुंभधारिणः ॥ १७ ॥ स्नायं कर्तुं समायाताः सर्वतापनाशनम् । कर्पूरकुकुमादीना धारयन्तो जलं बहु ।। १८ ।। यथा लक्ष्मीसमाक्रान्तं याचमाना निजं पदम् । तथा मुक्तिपदं कान्त-मनन्तसुखकारणम् ।। १६ ।। मानी तो वीणावंशवादको
अनन्तगुणा गायन्ती जस्तो प्रभोः ॥ २० ॥ वाद्यमेकोनपञ्चाशद्भ ेदभिन्नमनेकधा ।
चतुविधा अमी देवा, वादयन्ति स्वभक्तितः ।। २१ ।। सोऽयं देवो महादेवि यादवादकः । नानारूपाणि विभ्राण एककोऽपि सुरेश्वरः ।। २२ ।। जनस्तु प्रभोः । अमी च द्वादशादित्या जाता भामण्डलं प्रभोः ।। २३ ।। पृष्ठलग्ना अमी देवा वायन्ते मोक्षमुत्तमम् ।
एवं सर्वगुणोपेतः सर्वसिद्धिप्रदायकः ।। २४ ।। एक एवं महादेवि सर्वदेवनमस्कृतः ।
गोप्याद्गोप्यतरः श्रेष्ठो व्यक्ताव्यक्ततया स्थितः ।। २५ ।। आदित्याचा भ्रमन्त्येते यं नमस्कर्तुमुद्यताः ।
कालो दिवस रात्रिभ्यां यस्य सेवा विधायकः ।। २६ ।। वर्षाकालादिशीतकालादिवेषभूत्।
-
यत्पूजार्थ कृता धात्रा, आकरा मलयादयः ।। २७ ।। कामीरे कुकुमदेवि! त्वं विनिर्मितम् । रोहणे सर्वनानि भूवणकृते व्यधात् ।। २८ ।।
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
.
Page #118
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Devádhideva Tirtharkara
105
रत्नाकरोऽपि रत्नानि यत्पूजार्थं च धारयेत् । तारकाः कुसुमायन्ते भ्रमन्तो यस्य सर्वत ॥ २६ ।। एवं सामर्थ्यमस्यैव नापरस्य प्रकीर्तितम् ।। अनेन सर्व कार्याणि सिध्यन्तीत्यवधारय ।। ३० ।। . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . जानुद्वयं शिरश्चंव यस्य धृष्ट नमस्यतः । जिनस्य पुरतो देवि! स याति परमं पदम् ॥ ३४ ॥ इति श्रीविश्वकर्माविरजिताऽपराजितवास्तुशास्त्रमध्ये श्रीजिनमूर्तिश्लोकाः ।
APPENDIX II
(जिनबिम्बलक्षणम्)
[From Traivarnikācāra of Somasena Bhattaraka (A.D. 1610), adhyaya 6, verses 25-41, pp. 160-162]
कक्षादिरोमहीनाङ्गश्मश्रुरेखाविजितम् । स्थित प्रलम्बितहस्तं श्रीवत्साढयं दिगम्बरम् ।। २५ ।। पल्यङ्कासनं वा कुर्याच्छिल्पशास्त्रानुसारतः । निरायुधं च निःस्त्रीकं भ्र क्षेपादिविजितम् ॥ २६ ।। निराभरणकं चैव प्रफुल्लवदनाक्षिकम् । सौवर्ण राजतं वापि पैत्तलं कांस्यजं तथा ।। २७ ।। प्रावालं मौक्तिक व वैडूर्यादिसुरत्नजम् । चित्रज च तथा लेप्यं क्वचिच्चन्दनजं मतम् ॥ २८ ॥ प्रातिहार्याष्टकोपेतं सम्पूर्णावयवं शुभम् । भावानुरुपविद्धाङ्ग कारये ब्दिम्बमहतः ।। २६ ।। प्रातिहार्य विना शुद्ध सिद्धबिम्बमपीदृशम् । सूरीणां पाठकानां च साधूनां च यथागमम् ।। ३० ।। .. वामे च यक्षीं बिभ्राण दक्षिणे यक्षमत्तमम् । नवग्रहानधोभागे मध्ये च क्षेत्रपालकम् ॥ ३१ ।। यक्षाणां देवतानां च सर्वालङ्कारभूषितम् । स्ववाहनायुधोपेतं कुर्यात्सर्वाङ्गसुन्दरम् ।। ३२ ।। लक्षणैरपि संयुक्न बिम्ब दृष्टिविजितम् । न शोभते यतस्तस्मात्कुर्याद् दृष्टि प्रकाशनम् ।। ३३ ।। अर्थनाशं विरोध च तिर्यग्दृष्टयं तदा । अधस्ताद् पुत्रनाशं च भार्यामरणमूर्ध्वदृक् ॥ ३४ ॥ शोकमुगसन्तापं सदा कुर्याद् धनक्षयम् । शान्ता सौभाग्यपुत्रार्थ शान्तिवृद्धिप्रदानदृक् ॥ ३५ ।। सदोषा च न कर्तव्या यतः स्यादशुभावहा । कुर्याद्रौद्री प्रभोनांश कृशाङ्गी द्रव्यसंक्षयम् ॥ ३६ ।। संक्षिप्ताङ्गी क्षयं कुर्याच्चिपिटा दुःखदायिनी।। विनेत्रा नेत्रविध्वंसी हीनवक्त्रा त्वभागिनी ।। ३७ ।।
Page #119
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
106
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
व्याधि महोदरी कुर्याद हृद्रोग हृदये कृशा । अङ्गहीना सुतं हन्याच्छुष्कजवा नरेन्द्रहा ॥ ३८ ॥ पादहीना जनं हन्यात्कटिहीना च वाहनम् । ज्ञात्वव पूजयेज्जैनी प्रतिमा दोषवजिताम् ॥ ३६ ।। प्रतिष्ठां च यथाशक्ति कुर्याद् गुरूपदेशत: । स्थिरं चानुचलं बिम्ब स्थापयित्वात्र पूजयेत् ॥ ४० ॥ द्वादशाङ्गलपर्यन्तं यवाष्ठांशादित: क्रमात् । स्वगहे पूजये ब्दिम्बं न कदाचित्ततोऽधिकम् ।। ४१ ।।
REFERENCES
Tirthankara because he helps to cross the ocean of samsara or because he establishes the Tirtha constituted of the four-fold Samgha made up of the Sadhu, the Sadhvi, the rāvaka and the Sravika.CO.: तीर्थते संसारसमुद्रोऽनेनेति तीर्थ', तच्च प्रवचनाधारश्चतुर्विधः सङ्घः प्रथमगणधरो वा -Yogaśästra of Hemacandra with his own commentary,
___p. 218 This explanation of Tirtha is based on the following passage: तित्थं भंते! तित्थं तित्थगरे तित्थं? गोयमा, अरहा ताव नियमं तित्थकरे, तित्थं पुण चाउवन्ना इमे समणसंघो, तं जहा समणा, समणीओ, सावया, सावियाओ।
--Bhagavati Sutra, 20.8.15 Also see avasyaka-Vrutti of Haribhadra, pp. 58ff. 2. The word Jina was also used for the Buddha. It was
only later on that the sense of the word was restricted to connote the Jaina Tirthańkara. Cf.: सर्वज्ञः सुगतो बुद्धः धर्मराजस्तथागतः ।। समन्तभद्रो भगवान्मारजिल्लोकजिज्जिनः ।।
-Amarakosa The title Jina is explained as follows: रागद्वेष मोहान्जयन्तीति जिनाः सर्वज्ञाः, उक्त' च, रागद्वेषस्तथा मोहो जितो येन जिनोह्यसौ । अस्त्री शस्त्रो क्षमालत्वादह न्नेवानुमीयते ।। -Abhayadeva's Commentary on the Sthananga Sutra,
p. 191 3. Cf.:
अर्हति देवाधिकृतां पूजामित्यहत् अथवा नास्ति रहः प्रच्छन्न येषां प्रत्यक्षज्ञानीत्वात् ते अर्हन्तः ।
lbid., p. 191 जितकोहमाणमाया जितलोभा ते जिणा होति । अरिहा हंता न्यं हता अरिहंता तेण वच्चति ।। -Avasyaka Niryukti, gatha 1087 in Avasyaka Curni, II,
pp. 8-9 असोगादि पाडिहेरपूजां अहंन्तीति ते अहंन्तः ।
-Ibid., p.4 Avasyaka Vrtti of Haribhadra, p. 406. Also see Varangacarita, 25.88-91, pp. 252f; Mulacara, 7.41, p.394.
4.म.नुलम्बबाहः यावन्साङ्कः प्रशान्तमूर्तिश्च । दिग्वामास्तरुणो रूपांश्च कार्योऽर्हतां देवः ।।
-Brhat-Samhita (Biblio. Indica ed.), 58.45, p. 320 5. Manasāra, LV.36-42,71-85. 6. Cf.:
प्रशमरसनिमग्नं दृष्टियुग्मं प्रसन्न वदनकमलमङ्कः कामिनीमङ्गशून्यः । करयुगमपि यत्ते शस्त्रसम्बन्धवन्ध्यं तदसि जगति देवो वीतरागस्त्वमेव ।।
-Dhanapāla 7. शान्तप्रसन्नमध्यस्थनासाग्रस्थाविकारदृक् । सम्पूर्णभावारूढानुविद्धाङ्ग लक्षणान्वितम् ।। रौद्रादिदोषनिर्मुक्त प्रातिहाल्कयक्षयुक् । निर्माप्य विधिना पीठे जिनबिबं निवेशयेत् ।।
-Pratisthāsāroddhāra, 1.61-62, p.7 8. अथ बिम्ब जिनेन्द्रस्य कर्तव्यं लक्षणान्वितम् ।
ऋज्वायतस्तु संस्थानं तरुणाङ्ग दिगम्बरम् ।। १ श्रीवृक्ष (श्रीवत्स) भूषितोरस्क जानुप्राप्तकराग्रजम् । निजाङगुलप्रमाणेन साष्टाङ, गुलशतायुतम् ॥२
कक्षादिरोमहीनाङ्गं श्मश्रु लेखाविवजितम् ।। ४
पादयुग्मं सुसंश्लिष्ट कार्य निरिच्छद्रसुस्थितम् । शयाचकाकुशाम्भोजयवच्छन्नाधलङ्कृतम् ॥ ६४
प्रातिहार्याष्टकोपेत सम्पूर्णावयवं शुभम् । भावरूपानुविद्धाङ्ग कारयेबिम्बमहत: ।। ६६
-Pratisthāsārasamgraha, chp.4 (in ms.) 9. ऋषभोऽरिष्टनेमिवीरः पल्यङ्कस्थिताः सिद्धाः ।
अवशेपास्तीर्थकराः ध्वंस्थानेनोपयान्ति ।। ८० यत्मस्थानं त्विह भवं त्यजतश्चरमसमये । आसीच्च प्रदेशधनं तसंस्थानं त्विह तस्य ।। ८१
--(Sanskrit chāya) Caiyarandana mahabhasa, vv.80-81 10. Tiloyapannatti, 4.1210, p. 302; Varangacarita, 2.7.90,
p.272. 11. बिम्ब मणिमयं चन्द्र सूर्यकान्तमणीमयम् ।
सर्व समगुणं ज्ञेय सर्वामी रत्नजातिभिः ।।
Page #120
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Devadhideva Tirthankara
स्वर्ण रौप्यताम्रमयं वाच्यं धातुमयं परम् । स्वयं कदाविकारयेत् ॥ तत्र धातुमये रीतिमयमाद्रियते क्वचित् । निषिद्धो मिश्रधातुः स्याद्रीतिः कैश्चिच्च गृह्यते ॥ -Acara-Dinakara, II, verses 4-6
Also see verses 6-11, p. 143. 12. लोहाश्मकाष्ठमृदन्तचिन गोविड्मयानि च । कुन हे पूजयेत् स्वचित् ॥ -Ibid., II, vv. 2-3, p. 142
13. मणि-कणय रयण रुप्पय वित्तल-मुत्तालोपलाईहि । पडिमा लक्खण विहिणा जिणाइपडिमा घडाविज्जा | -Vasunandi-Sravakäcära (ed. by Pandit Hiralal Jain, Kashi, 1944), v. 390, p. 123 14. स्वर्णरत्नमणिरोप्यनिर्मित स्फाटिकामलशिलाभवं तथा । उत्थितां बुजमहासनाङ्गितं जैनबिम्बमिह शस्यते बुधैः ॥ Vastbindu-Pratisthapatha, v. 69, p. 17
Also cf.:
सौवर्ण राजतं वापि पैत्तलं कांस्यजं तथा ॥ प्रावाल्य मौक्तिकं चैव वैडूर्यादिसुरत्नजम् । चित्रजं क्वचिच्चन्दनजं
॥
-Jina-Yajña-kalpa, quoted in Jaina Siddhanta Bhaskara.
vol. II, p. 12 showing a big
15. Cf. Akota Bronzes, pl. 27b and pl. 40 lotus seat with a long stalk..
16. धातुलेप्यमयं सर्वं व्यङ्गं संस्कारमर्हति ॥ ५
काष्ठपाषाण निष्पन्नं संस्काराहं पुननं हि । यच्च वर्षशवातीतं यच्च स्थापितमुत्तमः ।। ६ तद् व्यङ्गमपि पूज्यं स्याद् विम्बं तन्निष्फलं न हि । तच्च धायं परं चेत्ये गेहे पूज्यं न पण्डितैः ॥ ७
-Acara-Dinakara, II, p. 142 Also see Brhat-Kalpa-sutra with Bhāṣya, gåtha 2504, p. 708.
17. Lal, B.B. and Srivastava, S.K., Perhaps the Earliest Jaina Terracotta so far excavated in India, published in Madhu (Recent Researches in Archaeology and Art History), pp. 329-31. The Lucknow Museum has two terracottas, one the bust of a Jina, no. 67.7 in the Museum, dates from Kuṣāņa period, the findspot is Srävasti. The other, no. 53.69 from Lakhimpur Kheri in U.P., is of a Jina in padmasana, dhyana mudra and may be of late Gupta age.
18. Brhat-Kalpa-Sutra with Bhasya etc.. gathā 1776 and comm., vol. II, p. 524.
19. Ibid., gåthas 1774-1779, vol. II, pp. 523-24. The comm. refers to Avasyaka Niryukti, v. 1303
ar etc. in connection with the account of the sage Vārattaka.
20. For a list of Jaina canonical texts, see Jain, Jagdish Chandra, Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jaina Canons (Bombay, 1947), pp. 1ff; Jaini, Padmanabha, The Jaina Path of Purification (Delhi, 1979), pp. 47-87; Jaina, Hiralal, Bharatiya Samskyti me Jaina Dharma kä Yogadāna (in Hindi, Bhopal, 1962), pp. 49-118. 21. Samavayanga sutra, sutras 157-158. Also see Bhagavati sutra (Vyakhyaprajñapti sutra), 20.8.58-59, 16.5; Kalpa sutra, 2.18.203; Paumacariyam, 1.1-7, 5.145-148.
107
In Paumacariyam, Candraprabha is called Saśiprabha, and Suvidhi or Puspadanta is called Kusumadanta. The practice of translating names or giving their other words is often resorted to in Jaina literature and accounts. Thus Arya Syama became more famous as Arya Kalaka and his grand-pupil Arya Samudra later became famous as Arya Sagara or Sagara Śramaņa.
About the name of the twentieth Tirthankara of Bharata Kşetra, it may be noted that perhaps the name was Muni (monk) (called) Suvrata. He seems to have been an ancient great monk, since the Jaina Canon refers to an ancient Stupa, dedicated to him, existing at Visala (Avasyaka Niryukti. verses 949-51; Haribhadra, Av. Vrtti, p. 437; Av. Curni, p. 567). Suvrata, as an ancient Rși, is referred to in the Puranas. see PrâcinaCaritra-Kosa (in Marathi, ed. by Siddheśvara Sastri Chitrav, Poona, 1932), p. 635. For Rṣabha, see Vedic Index, Vol. I, p. 115. The attempt of many Digambara writers and B.N. Sharma to read reference to Rsabhanatha in several verses of the Rgveda is not at all convincing.
Nemi is a shortened name of Aristanemi.
For Jambudvipa and Airavata-kṣetra, see Collette Caillat, The Jaina Cosmology (Paris, 1981), pp. 142ff and plates.
22. Even though Mallinatha was a male according to the Digambaras and a female according to the Svetambaras, a noteworthy feature in Jaina iconography is the complete agreement in both the sects about the names of the twenty-four Tirthankaras of this age in the Bharatakşetra.
The sex difference of the nineteenth Jina Mallinatha is based upon the main point of Svetämbara and Digambara difference, namely, the acelakattva fer Jaina monks later on reflected in the worship of idols of the Tirthankaras. The real crisis on this point seems to have come in c. fifth century A.D. when perhaps some of the texts might have been adjusted to suit the requirements of each sect. According to Digambara belief. Mallinatha as a princess cannot attain Kevalajñāna because females would not discard clothes, and clothes mean parigraha. The Digambaras do not believe in Stri-mukti.
However, we must remember that in the Kusina age at Mathura both the sects worshipped Tirthankara images which are without any garment on their person, and we do find on the pedestals Jaina monks who are nude and who hold only a piece of cloth in front of their privies. But we also find well-dressed Jaina nuns on these pedestals. The question of acelakattva had not yet reached its crisis which resulted in a wider schism.
All Svetambara images, from about the middle or end of the fifth century A.D., show a lower garment on the person of every Tirthankara. No mark is shown on the person of Mallinatha image in the Svetambara sect which would immediately help us to reccgnise Malli as a female. There is only one image so far discovered which represents Mallinatha clearly as a female with somewhat developed breasts and a vent of hair at the
Page #121
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
108
back. The head of this image, preservea in the State Museum Lucknow (no. J.885 from Unao in U.P.), is lost.
The Digambara stand on stri-mukti seems to be a later offshoot in the history of the Jaina Church since in the lists of heads list of Iryikas (nuns) who were direct disciples of various Tirthankaras is carefully maintained by both the sects. Possibly there was no such bar on the fair sex according to the original doctrine, the discarding of garment being optional even for the male sex (monks).. 23. See Luders List of Early Brahmi Inscriptions in Northern India. Epigraphia Indica. Vol. X, Appendix.
The pedestal is preserved in the Lucknow Museum, no. J20. For different views on the date of the image, see J.E. van Lohouizen-de-Leeuw, The Scythian Period, FP 281ff. For the corrected reading of the inscription, see Bajpai, K.D., New Reading of the Inscription on Jina Image J.20 in the Lucknow Museum, J.U.P.H.S., 1958. For the age etc. of different Jaina Councils, see Muni Kalyanavijaya, Vira Nirvana Samvata aur Jaina Kalasana (in Hindi). Belief in 24 Jinas is known to Bhagavati sutra, 16.5, 20.8.58-59. Rajapraśnṇiya sutra refers to images of Jinas. Paumacariyam, 11.2-3, 28.3835. 33.89 refer to images of Jinas, but Paumacariyam should date from 530-57-473 A.D. The text of Rajaprasiya, as available today, contains art data of the Kusana period. Bhagavati sūtra text, as available today, also cannot be earlier than the age of the Mathura Council of c. early fourth century A.D.
saka Niryukti, V. 1080; Avasyaka Vrtti of Haribhadra, p. 502. Hemacandra, in his comm. on Ana Cintamani, 1.47-48, writes:
चविंशतिः अहंतां ऋषभादीनां ध्वजाः चिह्नानि । एते च निवेशिनो लाञ्छनभेदा इति ।
Also of:
कृताकार महंतां लाञ्छनं भवेत् ।
यावयवं वृषेभनुरगादिकम् ।।
--Lokaprakasa of Vinayavijaya, III.32.224 Tre current Digambara verse describing the Eight haryas is:
सुरपुष्पवृष्टि दिव्यध्वनिश्चामरमासनं च ।
A.s2.
56.115ff;
दुन्दुभितपत्रं सत्प्रातिहार्याणि जिनेश्वराणाम् ॥ Harivamsa of Jinasena, 9.212; pira, 23.25-73. The Svetâmbaras give a similar s. see Pravacanasaroddhara, v. 440, p. 106. See Shah, U.P., Evolution of Jaina Iconography and sm, Aspects of Jaina Art and Architecture, pp. 52gs. 3-14. -akusuma of Tiloyapannatti (TP), 4.605. Tagara of Troddhāra. The editors of TP have taken suma fish, which is supported by the Table of Ramachandran, Tiruparuttikunram and its Temples, -194, based on Digambara Tamil and Kannada
6.
S. UP., Age of Differentiation of Svetambara and mara Images, Bulletin of the Prince of Wales
. Bombay, Vol. 1, no. 1 (1951).
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
30a.. ASI, AR, 1925-26, pp. 125-126, pl. lvi, b. Shah, U.P., Studies in Jaina Art, pl. VII, fig. 18, p. 14.
31. Sthanänga sutra, 4, sū. 307; Jiväjivabhigama sūtra, sū. 137, pp. 225f.
32. Jivajiväbhigama sutra, sū. 139, pp. 232-33. For Siddhayatanas at various places according to Digambara tradition, see Harivamsa (Manikchand Digambara Jaina Granthamala, Bombay), 5-6, pp. 70-140.
33. Cf.:
34.
वृषो गजोऽश्वः प्लवगः क्रौञ्चोऽब्जं स्वस्तिकः शशी । मकरः श्रीवत्सः खड्गी महिषः सूकरस्तथा || श्येनो वच्च मृग छागो नन्द्यावर्तो घटोऽपि च ।
कूर्मो नीलोत्पलं शङ्खः फणी सिंहोऽहं तां ध्वजाः ॥
-Abhidhana Cintamani, I.47-48 For lists see Pravacanasäroddhara, 381-82; Tiloyapanṇatti, 4.604-605; Pratisṣṭhäsäroddhāra, 1.78-79.
वंशे जगत्पूज्यतमे प्रतीतं पृथग्विधं तीर्थकृत्तां यदन । तल्लाञ्छनं संव्यवहारसिद्धयै बिम्बे जिनस्येह निवेशयामि । -Pratisthāsāroddhāra, 4.214, p.
115
35. Agrawala, V.S., Terracottas from Ahicchatra, Ancient India, no. 4, pl. LXVI.
36. Jambudvipaprajñapti, sūtra 30, p. 135; Avasyaka Vrtti of Haribhadra, p. 142; Trişaṣṭisalakāpuruşacarita, 1.3.66
71.
37. Padmacarita, 3.283; Harivamsa, 9.99; Adipurana, 17.200. 38. Also see Rhys Davids, Buddhist India, p. 232.
39. Cf. Bhagavati sutra, 3.2, sū. 144 which describes
Mahavira as meditating under a tree on a Prthviśilapata. Also see Shah, U.P., Studies in Jaina Art, pp. 70ff.
40. For illustrations, see Shah, U.P., Evolution of Jaina Iconography and Symbolism, Aspects of Jaina Art and Architecture, pp. 49-74, figs. 5-13.
41. Avasyaka Niryukti, v. 553 in Haribhadra's Avaśyaka Vytti, p. 232.
42. Paumacariyam, 2.31ff.
43. Avasyaka Curni, p. 235.
44. Harivamsa, 9.212, 56.115-118.
45. Adipuräna, parva 23, 25-73, pp. 542-49. The Kalyanamandira stotra, ascribed to Siddhasena Diväkara, follows this list, see Mahaprabhavika Navasmarana, pp. 460-488.. For later Digambara lists following the same tradition, see Pratisthāsāroddhāra, 4.205-213, pp. 114-115. 46. Tiloyapanṇatti, 4.919-927, p. 267. Also see Padmapurana of Ravişena, 2.149-154, p. 21 and p. 17, v. 101. 47. Vasudevahindi, p. 341.
48. The stock list is: Aśoka tree, shower of celestial flowers, divine music (divyadhvani), flywhisks, lion-throne, nimbus, celestial drum-beating and triple-umbrella.
49. Cf.:
बिम्बाध गजसिंहकीचकरूपाङ्कितं सिंहासनं, पार्श्वयोः चामरधरौ तथोबहिश्च मस्तकोपरि क्रमोपरि तु छत्नत्रयं तत्पार्श्वयोरुभयोः काञ्चन
fgegn shog werfenicuwa: gvaregrist मालाकरी शिखरे शङ्खध्मास्तदुपरि कलशः । मतान्तरे सिंहासनमध्यभागे हरिणयता रेणा (?) ङ्कितधर्मचक्रं तत्पार्श्वयोः ग्रहमूर्तयः ॥
-Acara-Dinakara, 11, p. 205
Page #122
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Devādhideva Tirtharkar a
109
50. The Ayaga paja of Sivaghosaka, Smith, Jaina Srapa
pl. X, Studies in Jaina Art, fig. 12, shows, in the centre, Parsva attended by a Ganadhara on each side. No. J.19 in the Lucknow Museum, installed in the year 9, obtained from Kankali Tila, Mathura, shows a monk and a nun attending upon a standing Jina. No. J.117, Lucknow Museum, obtained from Kankali Tila, shows, on one side of the sitting Jina, a Näga with folded
hands. 51. Avasyaka Niryukti, 322, 335; Haribhadra's Vriti,
pp. 144-148.
52. Cf.:
ऊर्ध्वस्थानस्थिता अथवा पल्यङ्क संस्थितास्ताः । मक्तिगतानां तेषां यत्ततीयं नास्ति संस्थानम् ॥ ७६ ॥ यत्संस्थानं त्विह भवं त्यजतश्चरमसमये। आसीच्च प्रदेशघनं तत्संस्थानं त्विह तस्य ॥ ८१॥ --Sanskrt Chāyā of original PKT, Ceiyavandana
Mahābhāsa, p. 15 53. Cf.:
मुक्तिपदसंस्थितानामपि परिवारः प्रातिहार्यप्रमखः । प्रतिमानां निर्माप्यतेऽवस्थाविकभावनानिमित्तम् ।। ८२ यत्पूनर्भणन्ति केऽपि अवसरणजिनस्य पमेतत्त् । जनव्यवहार एष परमार्थ ईदृशोऽन्न ।। ८३ सिंहासने निपण्णः पादौ स्थापयित्वा पादपीठे। करधृतयोगमुद्रो जिननाथो देशनां करोति ॥ ८४
- Ibid., p. 15 Also see Pravacanasäroddhāra, v. 70, p. 12 and comm., p. 14 describing the three avasthås, namely, Chadmastha, Kevali and Siddha. These correspond to the Pindastha, Padastha and Rūpåtita dhyānas of the Jaina system of
Yoga. 54. Vastusara, pp. 93ff. 55. This is an uncommon feature on the simhāsana of Jaina
images hardly obtained in sculptures discovered hitherto. Possibly it was a local tradition of the age of Thakkar Feru and soon died out as there were already two bigger
camaradharas in a parikara. 56. See the drawing by Pandit Bhagawandas, the editor, in
Vastusāra, opposite p. 96. 57. For Sänti-Devi, see Shah, U.P., Minor Jaina Deities,
Journal of the Oriental Institute, Baroda (JOI), vol.
XXXI, no. 3, pp. 281-286, figs. B, C, D. 58. Obtained on Svetämbara Jaina bronzes of c. 9th-10th
cent. A.D. 59. Cf.
ॐ नमो भगवते अहंते सुरकृतातिशयान् शरीरे स्थापयामि स्वाहा । ॐ यक्षेश्वराय स्वाहा । ॐ ह्रां ह्रह्रीं शासनदेव्यै स्वाहा । ॐधर्मचत्राय स्वाहा । ॐ मृगद्वयाय स्वाहा । ॐ रत्नध्वजाय स्वाहा । ॐ नमो भगवते अर्हते जिनप्राकारादिनयं स्थापयामि स्वाहा ।।
इति अतिशयानां मन्त्राः ।
--Nirvă akalikā, pp. 23-24 The raina-dhwaja and the präkära-traya are obviously
meant for a representation of the samavasarana. 60. Cf.:
छनत्रयमशोकं च प्रभामंडलदुंदुभी॥ ७४
आसनं पुष्पवृष्टि' च चामरेन्द्रादिकं तथा । यथाशोभं यथोक्तषु सर्वस्थानेषु योजयेत् ।। ७५ यक्षं च दक्षिणे पावें वामे शासनदेवताम् । लाञ्छन पादपीठाधः स्थापयेधस्य यद्भवेत् ।। ७६
--Pratisthāsārasamgraha (in mss.), chp. 5, 74-76 61. Pratishāsároddhāra, adh. 1, v. 76-79, p. 9. 62. This description of the parikara of a Jina image seems
to apply to images of c. 11th cent. A.D. or later. The parikara was not so elaborate before 9th-10th cent. A.D. nor was the adyasakti introduced so early. See Kumarapalacaritam, published by Godiji Jaina Upasraya, Bombay, 1926, app. 3, p. 221a. This is attached here as
an appendix. The passage is from Aparăjitaprocha. 63. Trisasi., I (transl. in GOS, vol. LI), p. 192 for descrip
tion of samavasarana of Rşabhanatha. 64. Adipurāņa, 23.50-59 (Jnanapitha ed.), pp. 546-547. 65. Bhattacharya, Brindavan C., Jaina Iconography (first
ed.), p. 41. 66. See B.C. Bhattacharya's discussion on iconography of the various Tirtharkaras in ibid., pp. 48-49.
In ibid., p. 85, Bhattacharya says that the Magadhan king Srenika, better known as Bimbisára, acts as the
chowrie-bearer of Mahāvīra. 67. Sthanäriga sutra, 4, sū. 307; Pravacanosároddhära, 491,
p. 117. Also for a very early list, see Jiväjivabhigama süfra, sū. 137, p. 225. For Siddhāyatanas at various places according to Digambaras, see Harivamia of Jinasena, parvans 5-6 (Manikchand Dig. Jaina
Granthamala edn.), pp. 70-140. 68. Jivāji räbhigama sutra, sū. 139, pp. 232-233.
Old images of Sāśvata-Jinas are not traced hitherto; possibly for want of recognizing symbols, they could not be identified. These images do not show any iconographic difference from those of other Jinas. A few later inscribed images of Sāśvata-Jinas are noted in the Jaina Lekhasamgraha, Part 1, edited by Buddhisagara suri, and in the Tirtharaja Abu, vol. I (in Gujarati) by
Muni Jayanta vijaya. 69. The Svetāmbara conception can be compared with a
similar but very concise description in the Digambara Harivainsa, parva 5, vv. 361-365 giving the parivāra of the Siddha-akytrima or Śasvata images in the Siddhaya
tana. 70. They are: Svastika, Srivatsa, Nandyavarta, Vardhama
naka (powder-flask), Bhadrâsana, Kalasa, Darpana and
Matsya-yugma, according to Aupapatika sūtru, sū. 31. 71. Dress of the Jaina nuns is prescribed in the Jaina
canonical texts. "In all four clothes were used for the nuns according to the Icaranga sutra, II.5.1.1 (also Thânäiiga, p. 1866). One of them was two cubits broad (duhartharitthāram), two of them were three cubits broad, and the fourth was four cubits in breadth" (Deo, S.B., History of Jaina Monachism, p. 479.).
Numerous other details are available in the Nir yukris and the Byhar-Kalpa-Bhasya. The Oghaniryukti (671 - 678) gives a complete list of as many as eleven clothes to be worn by the nun and the Bhar Kalpa-Bhasya (vol. IV, vv. 4080ff) also confirms the same number. Out of
Page #123
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
110
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
these eleven clothes six were worn on the lower part of the body. Of the latter calani or calanika was upto the knees (janupramāna) and was worn after the manner of bamboo-top dancers and was unsewn.
The Oghaniryukti-bhasya, 317 and the Byhat-KalpaBhāsya, IV, 4088-91 refer to the kañcuka among clothes worn on the upper part of the body of a Jaina nun. It was probably unsewn. The standard consisted of twoand-half hands in length and one-hand in breadth, and varied according to the body of the persons wearing ...
(Deo, S.B., ibid., 480-481). 72. Shah, U.P., Evolution of Jaina Iconography and Symbol
ism, Aspects of Jaina Art and Architecture, Paper 6,
fig. 21. Also see ibid., figs. 16-20 and 28. 73. The Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions on rock-beds in various
caves and caverns in Tamil Nadu prove the penetration of Jaina monks in the South (esp. Tamil Nadu), possibly through Andhra, Orissa and Pratişthānapur, as early as the 3rd cent. B.C. They carried with them the tradition of the Jina image which was current in the North in the 3rd cent. B.c. or a little earlier. This tradition did not include the Sri-vatsa motif as suggested by the Lohanipur torso. Hence the absence of the Sri-vatsa on
Jina images in the South. 74. Aupapātika sätra, sūtra 10 and comm. of Abhayadeva,
pp. 26-42. A paper giving analysis of the Jaina and Buddhist descriptions was read by this author before the International Congress of Orientalists which met in New Delhi in 1964, and was sent for publication in the Vogel Commemoration Volume, which unfortunately is still not published. A free translation of the Aupapatika account is given above because of its obvious impor
tance. 75. See Jaina Art and Architecture, vol. I, p. 110, fig. VI and
plate 48. The irá is seen on Mathura Museum no.
12.268, ibid., pl. 47b, but the face is later retouched. 76. Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society', vol.
XXXVI, pp. 1-119 and chp. III, v. 17-25; Agrawala,
V.S., Thirty-two marks of the Buddha-body, Journal of the Oriental Institute, Baroda (JOI), vol. I, no. 1, pp. 20
22. 77. Studies in Jaina Art, fig. 64 from Patan; Jaina Art and
Architecture, vol. III, pl. 311A. Ibid., pl. 310A is a stone Caumukha from Gwalior; pl. 310B is a bronze Caumukha with 72 Jinas from a Digambara Jaina shrine, Surat. while pl. 311B is a bronze Caumukha with 24 Jinas from the Indian Museum, Calcutta. A four-faced Sahasraküța stone sculpture is in worship at Satrunjaya, see Acharya Kanchanasagara suri, Shri Shatrunjava Giriraju Darshan in Sculpture and Architecture (Kapadwanj. 1982), fig. 119. Studies in Jaina Art, fig. 63 is a fourfold (Caumukha) Nandi svara-bimba in bronze with 13 sitting Tirthankaras on each side (52 Jinas in all). Ibid., fig. 76 represents a big bronze Samavasarana dated in 1065 A.D., originally from Sirohi now in a Jaina shrine in Surat. It shows four Tirthankaras on four
sides in the Gandhakuļi at the top. 78. Cf.:
जह एग जिबिंब तिन्नि व पंच व तहा चउच्चीस ।
सत्तरसय पि केई कारेंति विचित्तपणिहाणा ॥ २६ जिणरिद्धिदसणत्थं एग कारेइ कोइ भत्तिजुओ। पयडियपाडिहेरं देवागमसोहियं चेव ।। २७ दसणनाणचरित्ताराहणकज्जे जिणत्ति केह । परमेट्रिनमोक्कार उर्जामयं कोई पंचजिणे ॥ २८ कल्लाणयतवमहया उज्जयिं भरहवासभावित्ति । बहुमाणविसेसाओ केइ कारेंति चउवीसं ।। २६ उक्कोससत्तरिसय नरलोए विहरइ त्ति भत्तीए । सत्तरिसयं पि केइ बिबाण कारइ धणटो ।। ३०
-Ceiyavandaramahābhāsa, pp. 5-6 79. Such images with three Tirtharkaras are listed as Rarna
traya in Digambara Jaina Catalogues of images. Images with five Jina figures are sometimes worshipped and
listed as Panca-Parameşthins. 80. A stone plaque with 170 Tirthankara figures is in wor
ship in a suin at Satrunjaya, see Acharya Kanchanasa
gausu suri, op. cit., fig. 120. 81. See Studies in Jaina Art, fig. 35 from British Museum,
London, originally from Orissa. 81a. For Camuha or Caturmukha images, see Sudhin De.
Caumukha, a Symbolic Jaina Art, Jaina Journal, vol. VI. no. 1, pp. 27-30 and plates; Studies in Jaina Art, pp. 226, 26, 95, 117, 120.
For the beginning of the concept of a four-faced shrine (a temple with entrances facing four different quarters) and of a four-fold image, see Shah, U.P., Jaina Anusrutis about Kalaka and some recent discoveries in Jaina Art, Moti Chandra Memorial Lecture, Journal of Indian Museums, vol. 34 (1978), pp. 1-33 and plates, and Shah, U.P., Iconography, Jaina Art and Architecture. vol. III, chp. 35, pp. 483-485; Symbol Worship in Jain Temples, published in Proceedings of the Seminar on Symbolism
in Temple Art and Architecture (Bombay, 1982). 81b. Jaina Lekha-samgraha (ed. by Buddhisăgara sūri), part 2,
no. 19 (Caturvimšati-Jina-Patah karital). dated vis. 1219; also see ibid., nos. 35, 109, 112, 135, 140, etc. and no. 199 for the pata of 96 Jinas installed by Soma
sundara sūri. 82. Das Gupta, P.C., A Rare Jaina Icon from Sat Deulia,
Jaina Journal, vol. VII, no. 3, pp. 130-132 and plates. 83. Trişastišalakāpuruşacarita, I, transl. in G.O.S.. vol. LI.
pp. 358-370; Abhidhana Cintamani, IV.94; Vasudevahindi, p. 301: Jambidvipaprajnapti. sutra 33. The Acaränga Niryukti says: अट्टावय मुज्जिते गयग्गपद धम्मचक्के य ।
पासरहाक्त्तनग चमरुपायं च वदामि ।। 84. Harihara Singh, Jaina Temples of Western India
(Varanasi, 1982), p. 15; Dhaky, M.A., Prabhasapaananán Pracina Jaina Mandiro (in Gujarati), Svadhyaya,
vol. III, no. 3, p. 328. 85. Harihara Singh, op. cit., p. 154 for the Astăpada sculp
ture at Vastupalavihara, Girnar and p. 127 for the
Astăpada in the Säntinátha temple, Kumbharia. 86. Tattvärtha Sutra, VI.23. 87. Nawab, Sarabhai M., Jaina Paintings, Vol. I (Ahmeda
bad, 1980), colour pl. 37 and 31. 88. Tiloyapannatti, 4.550, vol. I, p. 210. For a slightly
different Digambara tradition, see larangacarita, 27.86.
Page #124
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Devădhideva Tirtharkara
111
89. Abhidhana Cintamani, 1.35. The Avašyaka Niryukti,
gäthả 381 merely gives gotra names which suggest the
same vamsas as suggested by Hemacandra. 90. Nawab, Sarabhai M., op. cit., colour plates 52, 53, 86,
87. 91. Ibid., colour plates 36, 56, 57, 91 and fig. 305. For
Dik-Kumaris, see Shah, U.P., Minor Jaina Deities, JOI,
vol. XXXI, no. 3, pp. 277-281 and fig. 1. 92. Nawab, Sarabhai M., op. cit., colour plates 28, 48, 88. 93. Ibid., colour plates 29, 35. 94. Ibid., colour plate 34. 95. For the Nirvana-Kalyanaka of Rsabha, see Jambūdvi
paprajnaprisitra, sutra 33; Adipurana of Jinasena,
chapter 47 96. Harihara Singh, op. cit., pp. 115, 124-125 (Kumbharia);
pp. 63, 64, 66 etc. (Abu). Shah, U.P., Jaina Stories in Stone at Abu Na Kumbi aria, Jaina Yuga Journal, Bombay, for September 1959, November 1959, and January 1960. See Nawab, S.M., Jaina Citrakalpadruma, vol. II; Muni Punyavijaya, Jesalmer ni Citrasamrddhi; Sarabhai
Na wab, Jaina Paintings, Vol. I. 98. See note 83 above. Acārānga Niryukti, v. 331-332
quoted in the Acarariga Vrtti of Silanka, pp. 418-419. 99. Pratisphäsároddhāra, 4.25-221, pp. 89-115. Harivamsa,
Adipura a and other puranas describe these events in the lives of different Tirthankaras.
For information on different Tirthakaras, esp. see Malavaniya, Dalsukh, Sthanariga-Samavāyanga, pp. 696
745. 100. Sthânäriga sitra, 4, sü. 307; Pravacanasároddhāra, 491,
p. 117. For an early list, see Jivajivabhigama sutra, sū. 137, p. 225. For Siddhāyatanas at various places according to Digambara tradition, see Harivainsa, parvans
5-6, pp. 70-140. 101. Jivajivabhigama sätra, sū. 139, pp. 232-233. 102. See notes 68 and 69 above 103. Sometimes the epithet **Svămi" (Lord, Master) is
applied at the end of names of Tirthankaras, e.g., Mahavira svami, Munisuvrata svåmi, Yugandhara
svami, Simandhara svami, Jivita-svāmi and so on. 104. Pratikrama a sutra, Prabodha Tikä, pp. 255ff. The
names are also given in Sri-Vimsati-Jina-stavanam, published in Sanskrta-Präkrta-stavana-sandoha, pp. 38-39,
hymn 27. 105. See note 104 above. 106. Vasudevahindi, p. 84. 107. Brhat-Jaina-Sabdarnava-koša, vol. I, p. 264. 108. Ibid., pp. 259-60 under Adhai-dvipa-paha. 109. Trilokasära, v. 681, p. 281. 110. It is not necessary to append here for our purpose the
lists of Past, Present and Future Tirthankaras of Airavata-ksetra in Jambūdvipa, or of the Purva and Paścima Bharata-kşetras and Purva . and Paścima Airavata-ksetras in the Dhataki khanda, etc. for which
see Brhat-Jaina-Ś abdár: ava-kosa, vol. I, pp. 265-70. 111. For Svetambara lists, see Abhidhana Cintamani, 1.50-53;
Lokaprakasa, 34.295ff: Pravacanasároddhara, 7th dvära, sutras 280-295; Samavāyārga såfra, sū. 157ff, pp. 150ff, though it gives lists of Future Jinas, curiously omits the
Past Jinas. 112. The Digambara list is based on the list given by T.N.
Ramachandran, Tiruparutrikunyam and Its Temples, p. 190, which is based on a Jayamala. Also see Hindi Jaina Encyclopedia (ed. B.L. Jaina), vol. I, p. 265; Jaina
Siddhanta Samgraha, p. 19. 113. Abhidhāna Cintamani, 1.53-56; Samava yariga sätra, sū.
159, pp. 153-54; Lokaprakāša, 34, vv. 297ff; Pravacana
sároddhara, op. cit. 114. Urtarapuräna by Gunabhadra, 76, w. 471-481; Triloka
sära, gathas 872-876. 115. Samavayariga reads मनिसुव्रत सर्ववित (v.1. सर्वभाववित). If
सर्ववित् is not an epithet of मुनिसुव्रत, then सर्ववित् is no. 12, 3194 becomes no. 13 and so on. The last one then is अमन्तवीर्य and भद्र or भद्रकृत is his epithet. See also Malavaniya, Dalsukh, Sthánäriga - Samavāyanga
(Ahmedabad, 1955), pp. 725ff. 116. Jaina Stotra Sandoha, pp. 54-69 and Intro., pp. 69-72. 117. Chanda, Ramaprasad, Mediaeval Indian Sculpture in the
British Museum, pl. IX, pp. 41-42.
Page #125
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
CHAPTER EIGHT
Iconography of 24 Tīrtharkaras
1. FIRST TIRTHANKARA: RŞABHANATHA
The first Jaina Tirthankara R$abhanātha (or Visobranātha) is variously invoked as Adinātha, Adiśvara. Yugădideva, Nābheya (son of Nābhi), and so on. He was the son of Nābhi and Marudevi ruling from the city of Ayodhya. Näbhiraja was the last of the Kulakaras according to the Svetämbaras. whereas Rşabha, the son of Nábhi (also a Kulakara) was the last Kulakara according to the Digambaras. Rsabhanatha is further addressed as Prathama-rāja (First King), Prathama-bhikṣuka (First Anchoret) and the Prathama or Adi-nätha (First Lord or Tirthankara).1
Golden in complexion, Rşabha descended upon this earth from the Sarvärthasiddhi vimāna (heaven) of Jaina cosmography and was born in the Uttarășădha nakșatra, according to both the sects. The Āyasvaka Niryukti offers two explanations of his name: He was so called because he had the mark of a bull (vrşabha) on his thigh (urū). Or, because the bull was the first amongst the (fourteen-Sve., or sixteen-Dig.) dreams seen by his mother (at the time of his descent from heaven), he was called Vrşabha. 2
Digambara writers generally say that the name of every Tirthaokara was given by Indra at the end of the birth-bath ceremony. In his Adipurāņa, Jinasena offers various explanations. Being the best and the greatest of all in the universe he was called Vrsabha, or because he showered the nectar of Dharma or because his mother had seen a bull amongst the (sixteen) auspicious dreams and so on.3 The bull also became his cognizance according to both the sects.
According to the Adipurāņa of Jinasena, Yaśasvati and Sunandā were the two queens of Rşabha, according to the Harivamśa they were Sunanda and Nanda, while according to Svetambara writers they were Sunanda and Sumangalā. Bahubali, a son and Sundari, a daughter, were born to his wife Sunanda while the other queen gave birth to Bharata and a daughter named Brāhmi. In all one hundred sons were born.
Rsabhadeva first taught people how to kindle fire as also various arts, including the seventy-two arts for females and the sixty-four arts for males. He taught dramaturgy to his son Bharata, as also the various methods of warfare and instructed his two daughters Brāhmi and Sundari in writing (scripts) and arithmetic respectively. Rşabha invented town-planning and divided his people into three classes of Ksatriyas, Vaisyas and Sūdras, on the basis of their professions. Indra built the city of Vinita for Rşabhadeva.
Having enjoyed kingship for an extraordinary number of years, Rşabha renounced the world at the request of Laukāntika gods. Ravisena and other Digambara authors say that after seeing the dance of Nilāñjanā Rşabha's mind turned away from worldly pleasures. It is said Indra had sent the dancer for this very purpose and when, in the midst of dance, Nilāñjanā suddenly disappeared, Rşabha thought of the evanescence of all worldly objects.
Two fragments of a frieze from Mathura, assignable to Sunga age, now preserved in the museum at Lucknow (nos. J.354 +609) seem to represent the scene of the dance of Nilāñjana and Rşabha meditating after turning a monk (Fig. 18). Under a pavilion, a female is dancing in front of a royal personage. The standing figures on the right appear to be Laukāntika gods while the naked figure (half preserved and
Page #126
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
113
obviously of a Jaina monk) may be Rşabhanātha renouncing the world. Towards the right end of the sculpture we find two partly mutilated figures sitting in ardha-padmasana and dhyāna mudra. The panel shows different scenes, one after another, perhaps in some sequence. It seems that the practice of depicting scenes from lives of Tirthankaras was already in vogue in at least the first century B.C.
Daily for one year Rşabha gave away in charity money, gold, etc., at the end of which period, after having properly apportioned his territories amongst his sons, he set out for spiritual conquest.
Reaching a garden outside the city-gates in a palanquin carried by Indra and other gods, he took his seat under an Asoka (Jonesia asoka) tree and "abandoned all clothes, wreaths, ornaments, as well as the passions. Indra placed on the Lord's shoulders a devadūşya (garment or piece of costly cloth)."4 In four handfuls Rşabha tore out the hair on his head. Indra held this hair in the hem of his own garment and requested the Lord not to remove the rest of hair with the fifth and the last handful since these hair at the back, falling in tresses and curls on the Lord's shoulders were extremely beautiful to look at.5 Sculptures of Rşabhanātba unmistakably show hair-locks falling on the shoulders of the Jina. Even in sculptures from the Kankali Tila, Mathura, assignable to the Kuşāņa age, this tradition is followed. Amongst the Digambaras also sculptures of Adinatha show hair-locks on shoulders. But Digambara texts like Adipurāņa, Harivamśa or Padmacarita say that Rşabha plucked his hair in five handfuls (like all other Tirtharkaras), i.e., he removed all the hair on the head. However, Digambara writers like the author of Harivamsa account for the hair-locks by saying that jatá grew over his head when Rşabha was practising penance.?
When Rsabha was practising penance, Nami and Vinami, sons of Kaccha and Mahākaccha (royal princes who had turned ascetics along with Rşabha), approached him with a desire to obtain some share in the territories distributed by Rşabha, and stood on his sides, sword in hand, when the Lord was engaged in deep meditation. Dharana, Indra of the Nāga-kumaras, saw Nami and Vinami, and gave them Lordship over Vidyadharas and gave them 48,000 Vidyās, Gauri, Prajñapti and others. As directed, Nami and Vinami founded two rows of cities on the sides of the Mt. Vaitadhya and ruled over them. Figure 40 from Satrunjaya is a rare sculpture depicting Nami and Vinami standing by the sides of Rşabha meditating in kāyotsarga mudrā.
Rsabha obtained kevalajñana while he was standing in meditation under a banyan tree (Ficus Indica) in a big garden near the city of Purimatāla. Rşabha had a following of several thousands of sādhus, sādhvis, śrāvakas and śrävikas; of his eighty-four ganadharas or chief disciples, Vrsabhasena, also known as Pundarika-swāmi, was the chief one, while Brāhmi was the head of aryikās (nuns) of the order of Rşabhadeva.
Rşabha obtained Nirvāṇa while sitting in meditation in the samaparyanka posture (padmāsana) on the Mountain called Astäpada or Kailāśa. Indra and other gods performed the cremation rites while Bharata is said to have erected, on the site of cremation, a Stūpa and an Ayatana (shrine) with images of all the 24 Jinas, the sons of Rsabha and of some followers. 9
Both the sects describe the bull as the cognizance of Adinātha and Gomukha and Cakreśvari as his attendant yakşa and yaksiņi respectively. Gomukha, as the name suggests, has the face of a cow or bull (vrşabha) and is also said to ride on the bull vehicle. This bull-faced attendant of Rsabha closely resembles Nandi the vähana of Siva. Rşabha, with his beautiful jatà (matted hair) over head and hair-locks falling on shoulders, having the bull as his cognizance, closely resembles the conception of Siva with the bull vehicle (see Figs. 22, 25, 28, 32, 34, 55, 57). Digambara writers address Rşabhanātha variously as Sadyojāta, Vāmadeva, Tatpuruşa, Aghora and also as Hiranyagarbha, Svayambhu and so on. It is also noteworthy that Rşabhanātha is said to have obtained Nirvana on Mt. Kailāśa. Of course, the Kailäśa, also called Aştāpada, is variously identified. 10 Mt. Satrunjaya in Saurashtra is especially associated with Rşabhanātha. 11
A hymn, Sopärakastvana, is addressed to Rşabhanátha image worshipped at Sopāraka (ancient Sürpāraka tirtha, modern Sopärā near Bombay). Authorship of this hymn is not known but it shows that at the ancient port of Sürpāraka, a big Caitya dedicated to this Jina and enshrining images of Jaina monks like Nagendra and others existed. The city of Sopāraka is here described as an ornament of
Page #127
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
114
Kunkaṇadeśa.12 It is said that in the Saiva temple of Kuḍungeśvara at Ujjain, Siddhasena Divakara chanted a hymn before Śiva at the end of which the linga burst open and an image of Rṣabha came up. Vikramaditya gave a grant of certain villages for the worship of this Jina.13 Shorn of all magic elements, the legend suggests existence of, a Rṣabha-shrine at Ujjain with the image possibly consecrated by the great ācārya Siddhasena Diväkara."
Jinaprabha süri notes: "At Satrunjaya is worshipped (the image of Adinatha, installed by Sri Vairaswami (Vajraswami), as also the chief deity on this mount Nandivardhana Yugādinātha, installed by the Pandavas, Sri Kalasa Sri Puṇḍarika-swami installed by Sri Santinatha (the sixteenth Jina), another image known as Pūrṇakalasa (possibly an image of Pundarika the chief Ganadhara of Rṣabha) installed by Śri Vairaswami. On this mount is also worshipped an image of Santinatha, installed in the Jina's life-time and known as Sudha-kunda-Jivitaswami. Here is also worshipped the first person to obtain mokşa, the mother of Rṣabha-Marudeva-swamini."14 Amongst other well-known sites of Rṣabha shrines are the temple of Kesariyāji near Udaipur, Rajasthan, the temple of Kulpaka in Madhya Pradesh,15 and the temple of Adinatha built by Vimala Saha on Mt. Abu, and the Adinatha temple at Khajuraho.
An image of Rşabhanatha, belonging to the Kusana period, from the bank of the Balabhadra kunda, Mathura, discovered by Pandit Radha Krishna, is preserved in the Curzon Muzeum, Mathura. An inscription on its pedestal, dated in the year 84 of Vasudeva, records that it is a pratimă (image) of Bhagavan Arhat Rṣabha (Bhagavato Arahato Rṣabhasya). 16 Head and the upper portions of the sculpture are lost. There is a śrīvatsa mark on the chest of the Jina and a cakra and a padma mark on the soles of his feet. Pedestal shows a devotional scene: a dharmacakra surmounted on a pillar with a few male figures on the right and a few females on the left. The first two males standing near the Wheel appear to be Jaina sādhus and the first two females are Jaina nuns. The rest represent Jaina laymen and laywomen. No. B.36 in the Mathura Museum, also of Kuṣaṇa period, is an image of Rsabha. Nos. J.26 and J.69 in the Lucknow Museum are images of Rsabha of the same age from Mathura. Of the bronzes from Chausa in the Patna Museum, 17 nos. 6538 and 6539 are figures of Rṣabha standing and dating from the Kuṣāņa period. Nos. 6553 and 6554 from the Chausa hoard in the Patna Museum show Rṣabha in padmasana and are of a later period. Nos. 6551 and 6552, identified as Candraprabha, also represent Rṣabha. Of the Kuşāņa age, images of Rṣabha are also found on the four-fold images known also as Pratima-sarvatobhadrika in inscriptions. One of the four Jinas represents Rṣabha who is identified with the help of hairlocks falling on his shoulders.
Of the Gupta period we have a few sculptures of Rṣabha in the Mathura Museum (Fig. 28, also see figures 25, 26, 27 in Studies in Jaina Art). One of these, no. B.7 in the Mathura Museum shows two more sitting Jina figures on the pedestal on the sides of the dharmacakra and thus this sculpture of Rsabhanätha, sitting in padmasana, is a Tri-Tirthika image. Mathura Museum no. 268 is a standing figure of Rṣabha with the face and hair possibly retouched later. The inscription on its pedestal calls him Ṛsabha. According to the inscription on its simple pedestal with only the dharmacakra in centre, this image of Rṣabha was dedicated by Samudra and Sagara to Sangaraka. The image is assigned to early fourth century A.D. The sculpture is illustrated by us in Aspects of Jaina Art and Architecture, Paper no. 6, figure 4. The upper corners of this sculpture are occupied by a pair of garland-bearing celestials and the lower ones by a pair of fly-whisk bearing attendants and the margins on the sides by undulating creepers.
Several bronze or brass images of Rṣabha, assignable to different ages are obtained in the Akota hoard. Of these two belonging to the fifth and sixth centuries are especially noteworthy. The first, dating from the fifth century (Fig. 22) shows the Jina standing in the käyotsarga mudra. Beautiful hair-locks on his shoulders make the identification possible. The pedestal which perhaps had an inscription is lost. The eyes of the Jina, concentrated in dhyana on the tip of the nose, are studded with silver and the lower lip is shown red with copper inlay. The hair on the head are in schematic curls and with a prominent uşnişa The image is a rare specimen of great importance since it is the earliest image discovered so far showing the lower garment on the person of a Tirthankara. The second bronze (Fig. 35) showing the Jina with a dhoti (lower garment) was installed by the famous Jaina pontiff Jinabhadra (gani) Vacanācārya (same as Kṣamäśramana) according to the inscription on the back, and dates from c. latter half of the sixth
Jaina-Rapa-Mandana
Page #128
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
=
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
century A.D. It is the earliest known datable Jaina image showing introduction of attendant Yakşa (Sarvanubhuti) and Yakşi (Ambikā). Hair-locks are clearly visible on the shoulders of the Jina. If the two deer flanking the dharmacakra stand for cognizance, then this image is of Santinātha. 18
An interesting metal image of Rṣabhanatha, from Vasantagadh hoard, age c. sixth century A.D., illustrated in Fig. 34, shows the dharmacakra (without deer) in the centre of the pedestal and having on each end (in line with the dharmacakra) a bull facing the Wheel of Law. The bull is the cognizance of Rşabhanatha. Similarly, on the pedestal of the standing sculpture of Rṣabhanatha at Sira Pahari, M.P., published by us in Jaina Art and Architecture, vol. I, plate 63, a bull is shown at each end of the pedestal with the dharmacakra in the centre and a worshipper (donor ?) on each side of the Wheel. It is interesting to note here that the bulls do not face the Wheel of Law. Ṛsabha has hair-locks on his shoulder. The sculpture dates from c. sixth century A.D. Two beautiful rock-cut relief sculptures of Rṣabha, one in the sitting posture and the other adjoining one in the kayotsarga mudra, published by us in Jaina Art and Architecture, I, plate 60B, date from c. end of the sixth century or early seventh century A.D. Of about the same period is the rock-cut standing Rṣabha, published in Studies in Jaina Art, figure 31, hailing from Dhank, Saurashtra.
A beautiful standing metal image of Rṣabha, from Vasantagadh, cast by the artist Śivanāga in V.S. 744 A.D. 687, is published in Lalit Kala, nos. 1-2, pp. 56f, pl. IX, figs. 1-2. Of c. 7th cent. A.D. a beautiful inscribed bronze image of Adinatha, from Sirpur in Khandesh, now in the L.D. Institute, Ahmedabad, is published by us in the Treasures of Jaina Bhandaras, while a standing metal image of Rṣabha from Bhinmal, Rajasthan, dating from c. seventh century and showing heavy jață-locks on shoulders, is published in Akota Bronzes, fig. 35b. Figure 27a in the same book is a bronze image of Rṣabha gifted by Guna, and has two-armed Sarvanubhuti yakṣa and the two-armed Ambika on the right and the left respectively of the Jina. On the pedestal are eight small standing figures representing the eight planets. Figure 31b in the same book is another bronze of Adinatha sitting in the padmāsana. Both the bronzes are assigned to the seventh century A.D. and show similar iconographic features. From Akota hoard were discovered two more bronzes of Rṣabha dating from c. eight century. But the more attractive image is a Covisi of Rsabha standing, gifted by Saraṇikā, published in Akota Bronzes, fig. 59. Also, a Şat-tirthika bronze with a torana in front, showing Ṛsabha sitting in padmāsana, with Sarvanubhuti and Ambika as attendant yakṣa and yakṣi, with two figures of two-armed Sarasvati and five figures of Tirthankaras in different compartments of the torana, and eight planet heads on the pedestal, obtained from the same hoard, was installed by Droṇācārya in c. 975 A.D. (vide Akota Bronzes, fig. 61, pp. 57ff). Of about 1000 A.D. are two more bronzes of Rṣabhanatha from Akota, ref. Akota Bronzes, figs. 64-67.
115
Images of Rṣabha were very popular in Gujarat and Rajasthan, as in other parts of the country.. From Godhra, Pancha-Mahals, Gujarat, is obtained a beautiful bronze (partly mutilated) of Rṣabha, now preserbed in the Baroda Museum. From Lilva Deva, Pancha-Mahals, North Gujarat were obtained seven Jaina bronzes (now in the Baroda Museum)19 of which one is a tri-tirthika image and another is a covisi or Caturvimsati-patta of Rṣabhanatha, both the images dating from c. 10th century A.D. Mt. Satruñjaya is a famous temple-city mainly associated with the worship of Rṣabhanatha. Vimala Saha in the eleventh century built a temple dedicated to Rṣabhanatha, on Mt. Abu. The Vimala vasahi at Abu has a few more sculptures of Rṣabhanatha with Gomukha and Cakreśvari as attendant Yakṣa and Yakşini. In some cases the old pair of Yakşa Sarvanubhuti and Yakşi Ambika are shown (as at Akota in images referred to above).20 M.N.P. Tiwari has noticed a sculpture of Rṣabha in dhyana mudra and with Sarvanubhūti and Ambika, carved on the ardhamanḍapa of the Mahavira temple at Osia.21 U.P. Shah published a beautiful brass or bronze Caturvimsati-patta of Rṣabha, installed in v.s. 1151=A.D. 1094, preserved in a Jaina temple at Pindawada and possibly from the Vasantagadh hoard in Rajasthan.22 V.S. Srivastava has noticed two metal images of Rsabha (age c. 11th-12th century A.D.) preserved in the Ganga Golden Jubilee Museum, Bikaner, and hailing from Amarasara.23 The famous magnificent temple at Ranakpur, Rajasthan, is a Caumukha temple, dedicated to Adinatha. The temple known as Kesariyāji. dedicated to Ṛṣabhanatha, situated near Udaipur in Rajasthan, is a famous place of pilgrimage both for the Svetämbaras and the Digambaras.
Page #129
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
116
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana A beautiful bronze of Rşabha in padmāsana on a big padestal with dharmacakra and two deer in the centre of the pedestal and the attendant Yaksa and the Yaksi to the right and left of the Jina lost. dating from c. 8th century A.D., obtained from Vasantagadh hoard, was published by us in the Lalit Kala, no. 1. Another beautiful brass image of the first Jina in padmāsana with only the Ambika Yakşi on his left preserved was published by us in our paper on the Iconography of the Jaina Goddess Ambikā (as figure 33).24 The image, from a Jaina temple in Sadadi, Rajasthan, dates from c. 8th century A.D. From Amarasara, Rajasthan, a hoard of Jaina bronzes was obtained which is now preserved in the Government Museum at Bikaner. The hoard includes a bronze Pañcatirthi of Rşabha sitting in padmasana. On his right side near the pedestal is the two-armed Yaksa Sarvānubhūti and on the corresponding left is a two-armed Yakşi showing the varada mudra and the citron in her right and the left hands respectively. The Yaksa carries the citron in his right hand and the money-bag in the left one. The bronze dates from c. tenth century A.D.
At Varmána. Rajasthan, in the Mahāvira Jinālaya,25 is a stone sculpture of Adinātha sitting on the simhasana. In the centre we have the dharmacakra with a bull on each side. To the right of the simhasana is a figure of two-armed Sarvānubhūti Yakşa showing the abhaya with his right hand. To the corresponding left is a figure of a two-armed Yaksi. The symbols in aer hands are not distinct. The sculpture dates from c. 800 A.D.
A partly mutilated beautiful sculpture of Adinātha was discovered from Udai, district Gangapur, Rajasthan. Here Adinātha sitting in padmāsana is accompanied by 48 small miniature figures of Jinas, a few of these figures from the upper part of the sculpture are mutilated. These Jinas are arranged in four rows on two sides of the beautiful ornamental halo. Hair-locks on shoulders, uşnişa on head, but no jață. In fact, generally the Adinātha figures in Rajasthan and Gujarat do not show the prominent jață as in images from Eastern India. The Jina sits on a simhāsana and in the centre is the dharmacakra with a bull on each side in this Udai sculpture. The Yaksa on the right end is a two-armed Sarvanubhūti while the Yakşi figure on the left end is mutilated. This sculpture, belonging to the Digambara sect, is a fine specimen of the Gurjara-Pratihara art of c. 9th century A.D. A beautiful sculpture of Rşabha, partly mutilated, was lying in the courtyard of the Ukha Mandir, Bayana, Rajasthan. The head of the Jina is lost. On the right end of the simhāsana is a figure of a two-armed cow or bull-faced Gomukha Yakşa, while on the corresponding left end we find four-armed Yakşi Cakreśvari with her symbols broken. The Yaksa carries in his right hand a mace (gadā) while the symbol of his left hand is not distinct. It may be noted that when a Sasanadevatā pair was first introduced as attendants in the parikara of a Tirtharkara image, the pair was common to all the twenty-four Tirtha karas and was represented by a two-armed Kubera-like male Yaksa who was invoked variously as Sarvänubhūti or Sarvänha by the Jainas and a twoarmed Yakşi called Ambika who carried a mango-bunch or a lotus in one hand and who held a son with the left hand. 26 The Yakşi, as we shall see later, was reminiscent of and evolved from some ancient concepts like that of Anaitis or Nānā on the lion, the Durgā, Hariti, etc.27 Later on, from about the ninth century A.D., separate yakşiņis begin to appear for the 24 different Tirthankaras. The Bayana sculpture shows the later evolved Yaksa pair for the Ādi-Jina. The sculpture dates from c. 1000-1050 A.D.
But perhaps the most beautiful sculpture of Rşabhanātha, of mediaeval period, from the whole of Western India, is a marble image from the site of the old city of Chandrāvati (near Mt. Abu), now preserved in the Rietberg Museum, Zurich, Switzerland.28 The Jina is standing in the käyotsarga mudra and wears a very fine dhoti. He has the usnişa on head and the srivasta mark on the chest. A full parikara is shown but without the Sasanadevatās or the attendant Yaksa and Yakşi. The sculpture dates from c. 10th century A.D.
From Sanauli in the Alwar area of Rajasthan were discovered a few Jaina bronzes a few years ago. Shri Krishna Dev kindly brought them to my notice and gave me some photographs. Amongst them is a beautiful bronze, elaborately cast with several small figures in the parikara, including figures of seven other Tirthakaras. Rsabhanātha sits in padmāsana in the centre on a simhasana. Below the dharmacakra is the bull cognizance in the centre of the pedestal with four planets and a devotee on each side. The bronze has an inscription on the back giving a date v.s. 1070= A.D. 1013. On the right lower end is a figure of wo-armed cow-faced Goinukha Yaksa showing the citron in his right hand while on the corresponding
Page #130
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
117
left end is a two-armed Yakşi Cakreśvari with the cakra in her left hand. The symbol of the right hand is indistinct.
But a bronze Covisi of Rşabhanātha obtained from a hoard of bronzes at Ghogha, Saurashtra, shows a four-armed Gomukha Yakşa riding on the elephant and showing the goad, the noose (?), the citron and the bag along with a four-armed Cakreśvari Yakşi riding on the Garuda and showing the cakra in each of the two upper hands and the abhaya mudrā and the citron in her right and left lower hands respectively. The bronze is dated in v.s. 1123=A.D. 1067. This shows that at least by about the middle of the eleventh century A.D. the evolved forms of Gomukha and Cakreśvari had begun to appear on sculptures of Rşabhanātha. On a bronze Covīsi of Rşabha in the Berlin Museum we find a two-armed Gomukha with a fourarmed Cakreśvari. The bronze is dated in a year equal to 1144 A.D.
In the National Museum (New Delhi) Caturvimsatipatta of Ādinātha (Museum no. 47.109/173), assignable to c. 9th century A.D., hailing from Gujarat or Rajasthan, a two-armed Sarvänubhūti Yakşa and a two-armed Ambikā figure as the Sāsanadevatās.
In a bronze Covisi of Ādinātha from the cellar of the famous Caumukha Temple at Ranakpur, Rajasthan 29 the Yaksa is two-armed with the human face and shows the abhaya and the bag while the Yakşi is a four-armed Cakreśvari riding on the eagle and showing the cakra in each of the two upper hands and the abhaya and the citron with the right and the left lower ones. The bronze can be assigned to the eleventh century A.D.
Worship of Rsabhanātha remained popular throughout the ages in Western India. In the Pittalahara temple at Delvada, Mt. Abu, the main image in the sanctum is a big brass image of Rşabha 30 with full parikara and four-armed Gomukha Yaksa and a four-armed Cakreśvari Yakşi as the Sāsanadevatās.
One very interesting bronze Pañcatirthi of Rşabhanātha from Sanauli in Rajasthan is noteworthy. The bronze belongs to the Digambara tradition. Adinātha sits in the padmasana on a simhasana with the bull symbol shown in the centre. On the pedestal are small figures of nine planets including Ketu shown as a snake. Below at the end of the pedestal, in the centre is the dharmacakra to the right of which is a small two-armed figure of Ambikä while to the left of the Wheel stands a small two-armed figure of a Yaksa. On the right side of Rşabha and a standing Tirthankara, at the end, on a full-blown lotus, is an eight-armed Cakreśvari on Garuda. On the corresponding left end of this image is a twoarmed Ambikā on lion holding an amralumbi with the right hand and her son with the left. An inscription on the back gives a date Samvata 1068 - A.D. 1011.
A figure of Rsabha is carved on one of the faces of the Caumukha preserved in the Son Bhandar Cave, Rajgir, Bihar.31 Here Rşabha is standing under a simple arch supported by two pillars. On each side of the Jina is a chowrie-bearer yakșa and a flying malādhara (garland-bearer) on top of each pillar. The Caitya-vrkça is represented by way of a twig on each side forming an arch over the Jina's head. This appears to be a common characteristic of all the Tirtharkara images of its age found at Rajgir. The image dates from the early mediaeval period and is a specimen of Pala art. There is a triple umbrella on top of the arch with a defaced motif of two hands beating a drum and representing devadundubhi. On the pedestal is a dharma-cakra with a bull on each side. In the mediaeval period, usually the dharmacakra is accompanied by a deer on each side but in many sculptures from Bengal and Bihar, dating from the post-Gupta and mediaeval periods, the cognizance appears on each side of the dharma-cakra.
A beautiful sculpture lying in the brick temple at Vaibhara giri, Rajgir, was described by Rama Prasad Chanda.32 The Jina sits in padmāsana on a big lotus, resting against a plain back-rest, with a plain halo behind head. He wears a beautiful jață overhead with hair locks falling on shoulders. He is attended upon by two cámaradhara yakşas, and garland-bearing gandharva pairs on top near the halo. The halo is surmounted by a triple umbrella, two hands coming up from its sides hold cymbals. In the centre of the pedestal is the dharmacakra with a bull facing it from each side. The sculpture dates from the eighth century A.D.
At Suissa, Bihar, are several Jaina sculptures of the mediaeval period. Many such Jaina sculptures from Bihar show the Jina in a miniature shrine suggested by an amalaka on top and a trefoil arch under which a Tirtharkara stands in meditation. One such sculpture from Suissa shows Rşabha with a high
Page #131
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
118
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
cap-like jață standing in kayotsarga pose, on a double lotus, under a trefoil-shaped arch. In the centre of the pedestal is the bull cognizance. The sculpture is a Covisi image with other Tirthankaras represented in miniature forms on two sides of Ṛsabha. A Covisi sculpture of Rṣabha from Manbhum is preserved in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. A sculpture of Rsabha with a similar big jață, attended by two chowriebearers, and with four planets on each side is preserved in the National Museum (no. 74.64). Here too the bull is shown in the centre of the pedestal and just below the double-lotus beneath the feet of Ṛsabha. The image seems to have hailed from Bihar. All images of Rṣabha from Bihar, Bengal and Orissa show a big jață on the head tied high like a big cap. A beautiful sculpture of this Jina, with lower half mutilated, probably from Orissa, shows the Jina standing in the käyotsarga mudra (National Museum no. 74.67). Ṛsabha sitting in padmasana with the typical jața overhead, hailing from Mayurbhanja, preserved in the National Museum, is published in Jaina Art and Architecture (henceforth referred to as JAA), vol. I, p. 163, pl. 88. The sculpture dates from c. tenth-eleventh century A.D. R.P. Mohapatra published33 an image of Rşabhanatha, from Hatadiha, in Jeypore sub-division of Cuttack district, with the usual characteristics of Rsabhanatha images of tenth century from Orissa. The back-slab is relieved with figures of Tirtnaakaras in two rows of 12 each. Figure 25 represents a standing Rṣabha with two rows of planets on the two sides, a triple umbrella above with leaves on its sides suggesting the caitya tree. On each side of the halo is a celestial garland-bearer and hands beating the drum. Rṣabha has the usual big jafă and stands on a viśva-padma (double-lotus) below which is the bull symbol. The sculpture is now preserved in Musee Guimet, Paris, and seems to have come from Orissa.
During the mediaeval period, Khandagiri was perhaps a very important Jaina centre, in Orissa. Here a few caves, excavated earlier for residence of Jaina monks were converted into shrines with the addition of relief sculptures carved on the walls. Cave 7, called the Navamuni, has an inscription of the time of Udyotakesarin of Somavamsi dynasty (eleventh century) which refers to a Jaina monk Khalla Subhacandra of the Desi-gana. Images of seven Tirthankaras are carved in a row in low relief on the back wall, along with their Sasana-devis in a lower row. They are Rṣabhanatha and Cakreśvarī, Ajitanatha and Rohini, Sambhavanatha and Prajñapti, Abhinandana and Vajraśṛnkhala, Väsupujya and Gandhārī, Pärśva and Padmavati, Neminatha and Ambika. The row of Sasana-devis is preceded by a figure of Gaṇeśa. Again on the right wall are carved in high relief figures of Rşabha and Pārśva, both in standing posture and nude, but without their attendant yakṣis. The sculptures date from c. tenth-eleventh century A.D.34
Cave 8 called Barabhuji has on its walls relief carvings of 24 different Tirthankaras, each with his Sasana-yakṣi and a figure of Parsvana tha on the back-wall this time without the yakṣi. There is no śrivatsa mark on the chest of any of the Tirthankaras in both the caves. In cave 9 there are three standing images of Rsabhanatha in chlorite, installed on pedestals. On top of the hill is a modern Jaina temple preserving some old Jaina sculptures including a few of Rṣabhanatha.
In the State Museum at Bhuvaneśvara, Orissa, are a few Jaina bronzes obtained from Bănpur. Amongst them is a beautiful standing Rşabhanatha with the high jata-bhara on head and the bull cognizance in the centre of the pedestal. A similar iconographic type is a beautiful bronze of standing Ṛsabha from Kākaṭpur, now preserved in the Indian Museum, Calcutta (see Fig. 32).
Arun Joshi has brought to light certain interesting Jaina sculptures from the Khijjinga area. 35 He has published a beautiful sculpture of Rsabha in the sitting posture with two attendant chowrie-bearer yaksas and the bull cognizance in the centre of the simhasana. The sculpture, now in Baripada Museum, dates from c. 8th-9th century A.D. Another sculpture published by him, also from Khijjinga, dates from c. 10th century A.D. and shows Rṣabha standing with two smaller Tirthankaras standing on each side. He wears a big crown-like jata, has an attendant camaradhara yakṣa on each side but no sasana-yakṣa and yakși are shown. The bull symbol is in the centre of the pedestal. In the mediaeval sculptures from Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, so far discovered, Sasanadevatās (yakşa and yakşi) do not usually accompany images of Tirthankaras as in Western India and Madhya Pradesh, nor do we always find the dharmacakra in the centre of the pedestal. The sculpture described above is a Pañcatirthi of Rşabhanatha. Arun Joshi has also published a Covisi of Rṣabha from the same area.
From Podasingadi in the forest region of Baula hill ranges in Anandapur division, Keonjhar district,
Page #132
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
Orissa, Jaina images of c. 8th cent. A.D. have been discovered. An inscribed image of Ṛşabhanatha from Podasingadi is now in the State Museum, Bhuvanesvara. Rṣabha sits in padmasana. There is also a standing Rṣabha from the same site in the State Museum. He has a jață over head with tufts of hair falling on shoulders. In the same museum there is also an image of Rṣabha in kayotsarga mudra from Charampa, Balasore, Orissa. The Jina has a big jață, a single umbrella (not triple) and is accompanied by eight small planet figures.36
It must be remembered that most of these Jaina sculptures from Bengal, Bihar and Orissa belong to the Digambara tradition. From Achutarajpur close to Banpur, district Puri, Orissa, was dug out a hoard of Buddhist and Jaina bronzes, published by Debala Mitra.37 The hoard, now preserved in the State Museum at Bhuvanesvara, contains a beautiful bronze of Adinatha (Acc. no. 257) sitting in padmasana on a big lotus placed on a pedestal in front of which is shown the bull cognizance. Ṛsabha has a big jață over the head and a big oblong prabhamaṇḍala behind, topped by triple umbrella. The bronze dates from c. eighth century A.D. From Jeypore sub-division in Koraput district, Orissa, have been discovered a number of Tirthankara images. Umakanta Subuddhi has published a Caturvimsati Patta of Rsabhanatha from Koraput in Jaina Journal, XVI, 1, pp. 24f. The sculpture was foun from Bhairayasinghpur village in Boriguma tahsil of Jeypore sub-division. Rṣabhanatha sits in the padmasana dhyāna mudra and has a śrivatsa symbol on the chest. Images from Orissa follow the traditions of Bihar and Eastern India and represent the Tirthankaras in padmasana (when shown in sitting postures) and not in the ardha-padmasana as in further south. In this sculpture Rṣabha is flanked by two camaradharas and accompanied by 23 other Tirthankara figures, each of whom is shown with his lanchana. The bull lanchana of Rsabha is shown below his seat. No yakṣa and yakși are represented on the right and left ends of the pedestal, but in the centre, at the bottom of the relief is a female deity sitting in meditative posture, which Umakanta Subuddhi has described thus: "The deity has two hands, one of which is in varada mudra and the other is holding a citrus or bijapuraka. She should not be mistaken as yakṣiņi Cakreśvari of the Digambara order, for she has two hands while Cakreśvaris are generally found having four or eight or twelve hands." We might add that even though a two-armed Cakreśvari is known, as she does not hold the disc she is not likely to be Cakreśvari. But she is one of the ancient yakṣis whose identity is not known. Since this sculpture dates from c. 9th century A.D., this female figure offers a problem. We will see later on that in the mediaeval period, in Western India, first a male figure and then a female figure begins to appear below the dharmacakra at a lower end of the pedestal. Later on, with the Svetämbaras of Western India, this female deity is worshipped as four-armed Santi-devi. So far as this two-armed female deity on the Bhairavasinghpur Rṣabhanatha sculpture is concerned, we must await more such specimens from Orissa. If a guess is permitted, there is a possibility that the donor's Gotra-devi was represented.
In the Jaina Journal, vol. XVI, 3 (1982), pp. 119ff, Umakanta Subuddhi has published two more sculptures of Rṣabhanatha from the same site. His figure 2 is a Caturvimsati-Patta of Rsabha sitting in padmasana. His bull lanchana is shown below the seat, on the pedestal. "In the middle of the pedestal is seen a four-armed Cakreśvari, seated in lalitasana and riding a Garuda. She holds a citrus, noose, and thunderbolt in her three hands while the fourth hand is laid in varada-mudra." In the photograph published, the female figure is not clearly visible. The identification of the devi as Cakreśvari is perhaps based on the Garuda vahana, but it is surprising that the devi does not hold the cakra in any of her hands. The sculpture dates from c. 8th century A.D.
The second image, published as figure 1 in Subuddhi's plate, looks more beautiful. It is assigned by the author to a date between the seventh and the ninth century A.D. Rṣabha here sits in the padmasana and is flanked by a camaradhara on each side. The Jina wears a jațămukuta arranged beautifully in three parts with hair-locks falling on shoulders. "The Lord's lañchana, the bull, is seen sitting at the bottom of the seat held by two leogriffs facing opposite sides. Between the leogriffs and just below the seat of the Lord is seen a six-armed Cakreśvari riding a Garuda and seated in lalitasana. The Sasanadevi is holding a citrus, noose, vajra, disc, and an arrow in five hands while the sixth hand is in varada mudrā. On the right side bottom of the image is found a standing figure of Yakṣa Gomukha. He is as usual
119
Page #133
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
120
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana bull-faced, pot-bellied and four-armed. He holds a noose, hatchet, rosary in his three hands while the fourth hand is in varada pose." The sculpture dates from c. 9th-10th cent. A.D.
The old Manbhum district of Bihar is now divided into the districts of Purulia (West Bengal) and Dhanbad (Bihar). Anai-Jambad or more popularly Paresnath or Paresnath Mahadev-Beda or Mahadev-Beda is a place situated under the Purulia (Mofussil) P.S. of the Purulia district of West Bengal where Sri Sarak Jaina Samiti of Kharkhari, Dhanbad has constructed a modern temple over the ruins of an ancient Jaina settlement. This temple houses six unique images of Jaina Tirtha karas discovered from mounds around the area. They include a Pañcatirthika sculpture of Rşabhanātha, and another one of Rşabha standing in kâyotsarga on a double-lotus placed on a tri-ratha pedestal which has in the centre the bull lanchana flanked by crouching lions. The saviour is nude, his hair dressed in a tall jațámukusa with curls of hair falling down on shoulders. On either side stands a male chowrie-bearer while on the back slab are shown in bold relief the eight planets, four on each side of the Jina, Ketu being omitted. Behind the head of the Jina is the halo surmounted by triple umbrella. Above the planets are garland-bearing vidyadharas as also a drum and a pair of cymbals struck by disembodied hands. The sculpture is assigned to c. tenth centur A .
Pratip Kumar Mitra, writing on the sculptures from Anai-Jambad,38 states: “The sculptural wealth of South-West Bengal as represented or expressed in by the examples of early mediaeval sculptures recovered from this area requires to be treated as a separate entity. The region roughly covering the erstwhile district of Manbhum, the district of Bankura, the north-western part of Midnapore, with extensions into the districts of Singhbhum and Ranchi of the Chhotanagpur subdivision of Bihar, represents a characteristically common trait in icono-plastic art, which is somewhat removed from the main stream of Pala art... In respect of modelling of the body these sculptures are in general more robust and forceful than merely graceful or lyrical ..."
From Surohar in Dinajpur district, Bangladesh, was discovered a beautiful sculpture representing Rşabha sitting in the padmāsana with small figures of the other 23 Tirthankaras around him on three sides. The Caturvimšati-pafta of Rsabha dates from c. tenth century A.D. The bull cognizance of Rsabha is shown in the centre of the pedestal. Rşabha has a beautiful big jatäbhära on head which reminds one of the figure of Siva (Fig. 57).39
An elaborately carved sculpture of Rşabhadeva from Kukkuramatha, Mandla district, old Central Provinces, shows the Jina sitting in padmasana with a beautiful prominent jatābhāra on head and hairlocks adorning the shoulders. In a perfectly balanced yogic posture the figure at once reminds one of Siva of the Brahmanical Trinity. In the background, in the upper part of the sculpture are shown, in two rows, beautifully modelled miniature figures of the planets. The ornamental halo, the graceful modelling with the classical touch etc. suggest a date around ninth century A.D.
Images of Rşabha are obtained also from Bhelova, Dinajpur, from Sank, Purulia district, Pakbirra and from Sitalpur and Bhangra villages in the same district. Purulia was once part of Manbhum district, Bihar; Manbhum is identified with the ancient Rādhadeśa visited by Mahävira. Sculptures of Rşabhanätha are also obtained from Ghateśvara and Dharapet in W. Bengal, from Mandoil, Rajshahi district, Bangladesh, from Bhagalpur in Bihar and from places like Palma and Bhavanipur etc. 40
A hoard of Jaina bronzes of the Digambara sect, from Aluara, Bihar, dating from c. 11th-12th cent. A.D., includes two standing figures of Rşabha with the prominent jață and the bull lañchana and one figure sitting in the padmasana (Patna Mu. nos. 10680, 10681 and 10687).41 There is also a dvi-tirthi with Rşabha and Mahavira standing side by side (Patna Mu. no. 10682). A similar dvitirthi in stone, much more beautifully modelled, is preserved in the British Museum and seems to have hailed from Orissa (Studies in Jaina Art, fig. 35 and Ramaprasad Chanda, Mediaeval Indian Sculpture in the British Museum, pl. XXII and p. 71).
The first Tirthankara was also very much venerated in U.P. and Madhya Pradesh.42 Few Jaina antiquities are as yet found from Haryana and Punjab. A beautiful sculpture of Rşabhanātha (?) with full parikara found from Bhatinda in Punjab is now preserved in the Archaeological Museum at Chandigarh (JOI, vol. 31, no. 3, last cover page).
Page #134
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharikaras
121
The Lucknow Museum preserves a sculpture of Adinātha from Kankali Tila, Mathura (Museum no. J.78), 43 illustrated here as Fig. 55. The simhasana shows the dharmacakra in the centre with a worshipper and a bull figure on each side. The bull cognizance definitely proves that the Jina sitting in padmasana (head lost) is to be identified as Adinātha. Traces of hair-locks can be seen on the shoulders. On the right side of this Jina is a four-armed standing male figure with snake-hoods overhead and holding a cup (wine cup) in his right lower hand. The left lower is placed on the kați (girdle region) while the left upper seems to have carried the plough. The figure represents Balarāma of Hindu mythology. To the left of the Jina is another four-armed male standing and carrying the mace (gadā) and the lotus (padma) in his two upper hands while his left lower hand holds the conch (sankha) and the right lower is held in the abhaya mudrā. Evidently he represents Krşna-Vasudeva identified with Vişou. The presence of Krşqa, who in Jaina Purāņas is described as a cousin brother of Neminātha, the twenty-second Tirthankara, has led some scholars to identify this Jina figure as representing Neminātha. But another explanation can be offered for the presence of Krsna and Baladeva with Adinātha. Firstly, Jaina mythology admits nine Baladevas and nine Vasudevas of whom only one pair of mors flourished in the age of Neminātha. However none of them was contemporary of Adinātha. Secondly, Mathura which is the findspot of this sculpture is well-known as the centre of Kșsa-Vāsudeva worship, at least from about the second century B.C. Our sculpture dates from about the seventh century A.D. when Vişņuism or the Bhagavata cult had already been very popular. It is obvious that an attempt was made to show the Hindu deities in the subordinate position of attendants to the Jaina Tirthankaras. Even the presence of Kļşņa and Balarāma on Mathura sculptures of Neminātha dating from the Kuşāņa age should be interpreted as an attempt to show Brahmanical deities in a subordinate position. We have a small figure of Ganesa on an early mediaeval sculpture of the Jaina Ambika, No. D.7 in the Mathura Museum. The sculpture of Adinātha under review has a figure of two-armed Sarvānubhūti Yaksa on its right end and a figure of two-armed Ambikä on the corresponding left end. The presence of Ambikä need not tempt us to identify this Jina as Neminātha because, as we have demonstrated long ago, this Yakşa-Yakşi pair was a pair common to all the Tirtha karas from c. sixth century A.D. to about the ninth-tenth century A.D.
A somewhat later sculpture of Rşabha, from Orai, district Jalaun, U.P., preserved in the State Museum, Lucknow (no. 0.178) is noteworthy.44 The Jina has an uşnişa and stylised schematic curls of hair over head and hair-locks on the shoulders. In the centre of the simhasana is the dharmacakra to the left of which can be seen only a part of a boldly carved figure of the vrşabha lāñchana. The upper parts of the beautiful sculpture are mutilated but the remaining small figures of sitting Tirthankaras in two rows on each side of the Jina suggest that this was a Caturvimšati-paļļa of Rşabhanātha. The pedestal of the sculpture is noteworthy. On the right of the simhāsana is a beautiful figure of two-armed Kubera-like Yaksa with a money-bag in his left hand and a pot of money (nidhi) below the left leg. Kubera-like, he is the Yaksa Sarvānubhūti of Jaina traditions, found as the Sasanadeva of the various Jinas. On the corresponding left end is Cakreśvari eight-armed riding on the eagle. To the right of the dharmacakra is a small figure of Lakşmi partly mutilated, while on the left is a small figure of Ambikā.
Temple no. 4 at Devgadh, M.P., has a big Pañcatirthi sculpture of Adinātha (Studies in Jaina Art, fig. 43). Below his seat are two figures of Rşabha's gapadhara (or an äcārya) and his disciple with a sthapan, between them. Just above the sthāpanā on the end of a cloth hanging is the bull cognizance of the Jina. What is more interesting here is that on the right side of the simhāsana we find a figure of twoarmed Ambikā instead of the Sasana Yakşa, while on the left end we have a figure of four-armed Cakresvari riding on the eagle. M.N.P. Tiwari45 has noted one more such example. In the Jardine Museum, Khajuraho, on a sculpture, Acc. no. 1651, Cakreśvari and Ambikä are carved on two sides of the dharmacakra and a figure of Lakşmi with lotuses in two upper hands at left corner of the throne. We have already noted above a similar case of Cakreśvari and Ambika figuring on two ends in a bronze from Sanauli, Rajasthan.
A Pañcatirthi of Rşabhadeva from the temple of Adinatha, Khajuraho (DGA's negative 142 of 1923-24) shows a small figure of the bull läñchana near the dharmacakra. The Jina has uşnişa on top of the head but no jață; there are traces of hair-locks on the shoulders. On the right of the simhasana
Page #135
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
122
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
is a small figure of pot-bellied two-armed Yaksa with the cup and the money-bag in his right and left hands respectively while on the left end of the sculpture is a small figure of four-armed Cakreśvari with the Garuda-vāhana and a cakra in each of the two upper hands. The sculpture dates from c. late tenth or early eleventh century A.D. There is another Pañcatirthi of Adinatha with similar iconography in the Khajuraho Museum (DGA's negative 179 of 1923-24). An elaborately carved Caturvimśati-Pasta sculpture of Rşabhanātha in the Adinātha temple at Khajuraho has the same iconographic type of the Yakşa and the Yaksi. The Jina has prominent hair-locks on the shoulders, a mutilated bull lañchana on the right side of the dharmacakra. The Jina is sitting in padmāsana on a cushioned decorated seat with a lotus bud in front of the central diamond motif and one lotus bud on each end (DGA's negative 143 of 1923-24). These three lotus buds placed in this position do not signify the lañchana of the Jina since the Jina in this case is unmistakably Rşabhanātha but we meet with such instances in other sculptures where there is no other lanchang shown and where the Jina has no hair-locks. In all such cases it would be difficult to identify the Tirthankara as Padmaprabha with the padma lañchana or as Naminātha with the nilotpala Inc . In such cases we must await further research.
One more Covīsi of Rşabhanātha in the Archaeological Museum at Khajuraho needs consideration (DGA's negative 123 of 1908-09). The sculpture was collected from the ruined Ghantai temple at Khajuraho and in the photograph we find Ghantai written with chalk on the lowermost end of the pedestal to mark its findspot. Rşabhanātha here sits in padmāsana on a decorated cushion and wears a jata overhead. On the pedestal are eight planets with the bull cognizance placed in the centre. On the right end of the simhasana is the four-armed Gomukha Yakşa while on the corresponding left end is a fourarmed Cakreśvari on the eagle. The sculpture seems to date from late eleventh century A.D.46
In the Khajuraho Museum there is another big sculpture from Ghantai temple. Elaborately carved are in all 52 figures of Tirthankaras including a big central figure of Rşabha standing in the kāyotsarga posture. The total of 52 Jinas signifies that this group symbolises the worship of 52 shrines of the Nandıśvara-dvipa. The Yaksa is two-armed Sarvānubhuti on the right end while on the left end is a four-armed Cakreśvari (DGA's negative 1633/60). In another sculpture in the Jardine Museum at Khajuraho, Mu. no. 1651, one finds figures of Lakşmi and Ambikā also besides the usual Säsanadevatä pair.
The Pārsvanātha templo at Khajuraho was originally dedicated to Ādinātha, so also the ruined Ghantai temple. Worship of Rşabha was indeed popular in Khajuraho. At Devgadh fort in Madhya Pradesh images of Rşabha were widely worshipped, more than fifty images of Rşabha are known to have survived at the site. Here we find Rşabha with a jasa in some images. On the simhasana of one Rsabha image in temple no. 12 is found a four-armed goddess showing the lotus in each of the two upper hands and the abhaya mudra and the kalasa in the two lower ones. This is identified by some as Lakşmi. In Svetambara traditions such a goddess figuring in the centre of the simhasana is identified as the Santidevatā, the Goddess of Peace.
In the courtyard of the Jaina temple at Budhi Chanderi, M.P., is a beautiful sculpture of Rşabha in padmasana with eight more small figures of Tirthankaras. Rşabha has hair-locks falling on his shoulders but no japā. Rşabha images at this site show Gomukha and Cakreśvari as the Sasana devatās. A well-preserved sculpture of seated Rşabhanātha from Garh, Rewa district, M.P., now preserved in the Tulsi Sangrahālaya, Ramvan, Satna, M.P., shows the same Yakşa pair. The sculpture dates from c. 11th cent. A.D. A sculpture of Rşabha in the Dhubela Museum (Museum no. 38), dating from c. Ilth century A.D., shows no figures of Sasanadevatás but in the centre of the simhâsana we have a four-armed goddess like the one on the Rşabha image in temple no. 12 at Devgadh which can be identified as fourarmed Cakreśvari.
A Covisi of Rşabha standing with the head and upper part of the sculpture mutilated is preserved as no. G.322 in the Lucknow Museum. The sculpture, of c. 11th century A.D., came from Mahoba in Hamirpur district, U.P. On the right end of the pedestal we have a figure of four-armed Cakreśvari, but the Yaksa figure was not carved, and on the corresponding left end of the sculpture we find a small figure of a Jina in padmāsana. Similarly a Covisi (?) sculpture of Rsabha, partly mutilated, hailing from Jaso, Satna. M.P., now preserved in the Allahabad Municipal Museum (no. 505) shows only a two-armed
Page #136
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
123 Yakşi at the right end while there is figure of Pārsvanātha sitting at the left end. Rşabha here wears a prominent jață on his head. The sculpture may be assigned to the tenth century A.D. It will be seen that the full parikara is not shown here even though the parikara was already evolved. There is another sculpture of Rşabha, a Pañcatirthi, from Jaso in the Allahabad Museum (Museum no. 520), illustrated on pl. CXXI by Pramod Chandra in his Stone Sculpture in the Allahabad Museum. Here we have the two camaradharas, the triple-umbrella, the mālādharas, the simhasana with the dharmacakra in the centre and small figures of the Gomukha Yaksa and Cakreśvari Yakşi at the two ends of the back slab. Here also Rşabha is adorned with a big jață-jūța on his head. The sculpture may be assigned to late tenth or early eleventh century A.D. In this museum is a standing Rşabha from Gayā showing a big jafa.
Another sculpture of Ādinātha with a group of 23 more Jinas hails from Sahet Mahet, the site of ancient Srāvasti. Here also the full parikara is not seen, only two cămaradharas, the halo, the triple umbrella, the elephants and a drum-beater on top of the chatra are shown while the garland-bearers are omitted. Such instances show that even though the eight prātihāryas were known and acknowledged, in actual representations one or more could be easily omitted. Another noteworthy, feature in this sculpture is the omission of the Yakşa and the placing of the figure of akresvati Yaksi on the right end instead of her more common position on the left end. The sculpture is published by B.C. Bhattacharya in his Jaina Iconography, 2nd ed., pl. IV.
B.C. Bhattacharya, op. cit., pl. V, has also published a richly decorated sculpture of Adinatha, in padmāsana, from Tripuri, M.P., now preserved in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. There are prominent hair-locks on shoulders, and an uşnişa but no jață on the head. Two-armed Yaksa Sarvänubhūti is shown near the left end of the simhāsana while the beautiful Yaksi figure on the right end is much damaged.
There is an interesting sculpture of Rşabha from Gyārasapur in the old Gwalior State, M.P. Old Gwalior State was a centre of Digambara Jainas for the area is rich in sculptural finds belonging to this sect. This figure (Negative no. 13/93, Dept. of Archaeology, Old Gwalior State) is noteworthy, firstly because it is group of eleven Tirthankaras and secondly because of the simple parikara containing only the two chowrie-bearers, the triple-umbrella and the simhasana with the Wheel of Dharma. The position of the camaradharas represented as flying in the air is interesting and rare. Sculptures of Adinātha are obtained from several sites in the Old Gwalior State. There is a big figure of Adinātha from Tumain, district Esargadh, which is worshipped as Baithadeva. The simhāsana etc. are very much mutilated but the sculpture is a fine specimen of c. 9th cent. A.D. A black stone image from Golakot in the Gwalior area is a beautiful example of Jaina sculpture, finely carved with figures having graceful limbs delicately modelled (Negative no. 1012 of Old Gwalior State). The Yaksa here is four-armed Gomukha while the figure of Cakreśvari is not fully visible in the photograph. The Jina has a full parikara including a pair of mālādharas, elephants with pitchers, a conch-blower on top of the triple-umbrella, the bhamandala (halo), two câmaradharas standing on elephants, the lion-throne, the dharmacakra, the bull cognizance, the Yaksa and the Yaksi. The Jina sits on an embroidered big round cushion. Marks of lotuses are visible on the soles of his feet and palms of hands. Compare Klaus Bruhn, The Jina Images of Deogarh, figs. 187-8, 211-13.
A sculpture in the Gwalior Museum shows Rşabha in padmāsana with uşnişa on head and hair-locks on shoulders. The dharmacakra in the centre of simhāsana has a female devotee on each side. There is no lañchana. Beautifully modelled figure of the Jina is attractive (Gwalior Museum no. 5/C 20, DGA's neg. no. 1573/63). The sculpture dates from c. 9th cent. A.D. and probably came from Vidiśå. Another beautiful sculpture in the Gwalior Museum is a Covisi of Rsabha sitting in the padmāsana on simhāsana. The sculpture is partly mutilated, the Yaksa is a two-armed Sarvânubhūti while the Yaksi figure is mutilated (Old Gwalior State Dept. of Arch., neg. no. 63/93). The sculpture dates from c. 9th cent. A.D.
There are over fifty sculptures of Rşabhanātha in the group of Jaina temples at Devgadh. Somes how Rsabha in the kavotsarga mudra with full parikara and Sasanadevatās or with few elements of the parikara and without the Sasana Yaksa and Yaksi. For illustration see Klaus Bruhn, The Jina Images of Deogarh (JID), figs. 44, 81, 82, 83, 86, 87, 88, 94, 95, 97, 108, 257, 258. Similarly we have sculptures with Rşabhanāthe sitting in padmāsana, see, for example, Bruhn, ibid., fig. 24 (showing two-armed Yaksa Sarvinubhūti
Page #137
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
124
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana to the right of the dharmacakra and two-armed Ambika Yakşi on the left), fig. 187 from temple 15 (showing Sarvānubhūti on the left of the simhāsana and Ambikā on the right), fig. 192 from Temple no. 2, fig. 195 from Temple 2 (Tri-tirthika sculpture of Rşabhanātha with full parikara showing two-armed cowfaced Yakşa on the right end of the simhasana and a two-armed Yaksi on the left end). This figure is dated in Samvat 1051 A.D. 994. The Yakşa shows the abhaya and the water-jar in his two hands, the Yaksi shows the disc and the fruit in her hands. In Fig. 207 from Temple no. 4, there are in all thirteen Tirthaókaras, including the central figure of Adinatha with his bull cognizance. No Yaksa and Yaksi are shown. The sculpture seems to be of the same age as Bruhn's fig. 206, image no. 248 dated in v.s. 1095, see Bruhn's page 165, Fig. 211 from Temple no. 21 where the Yakşa is two-armed with the human face and the Yakşi is two-armed showing the abhaya and the fruit in her two hands. Bruhn's fig. 212 from Budhi Chanderi shows the Cakreśvarı Yakṣi while the Yakşa figure is indistinct; we have already described above Bruhn's fig. 213 from Golakot. These figures are in general similar in conception and perhaps not much removed in age from each other and we may assign Bruhn's figs. 207, 211-213, 214-218 to the same perind around Samvat 1095 (A.D. 1038). Fig. 218 is from Siron Khurd and seems to be somewhat later in his group. It shows four-armed Gomukha Yaksa and four-armed Cakreśvari as the Sāsanadevatās of Rşabhanātha. Fig. 231 from temple 4 is already discussed before. Figures 239 and 239 A belong to the same class as figs. 211-218. Figs. 261-263 also show Rşabha in the sitting posture.
Bruhn has discussed on his pages 198f a typical Pārsva image from Temple 6, Devgadh. It is illustrated by him in his fig. 260. It will be obvious from the illustration that hair-locks touch both the shoulders of Pārsvanātha. In Jaina iconographic traditions only in the case of Rşabhanātha images the hair-locks can be depicted falling on the Jina's shoulders. We have another instance also of such an irregularity. Sculpture no. B.23 in the Nagpur Museum (DGA's negative no. 1659/62) shows Pārśvanātha, canopied by seven snake-hoods, sitting in the padmasana on a double lotus with the snake cognizance also shown in front of the lotus in its centre. Triple hair strands on each shoulder are clearly marked out.
Pratapaditya Pal has published a colour plate of a beautiful bronze in his Sensuous Immortals, fig. 50, p. 86, and described it as a Jaina Tirthankara. Hair-locks from the back of the Jina's head are prominently displayed in a curly way all over his both shoulders. But the lāñchana in the centre of the pedestal, much worn out, looks more like a goat or an antelope than a bull in the beautiful plate published in the book. Pal feels that it looks more like an antelope. Pal has assigned the bronze to seventh century; provenance is supposed to be Bihar. On each side of the Jina is standing a male cămaradhara yaksa. The bronze is gold-plated and is a very fine early Jaina bronze. This is another instance which shows that sometimes, perhaps through mistake, other Tirthankaras were also shown with hair-locks adorning their shoulders.
Worship of Adinātha was popular in U.P. and Madhya Pradesh. We need not refer to many more sculptures of Ādinātha from the Lucknow Museum, the Mathura Museum, the Jhansi Museum etc. The worship remained popular through the ages. In a shrine in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh is a bronze image of Rşabha sitting in the padmasana with full parikara and the bull cognizance below simhasana on the pedestal. A pair of feet by the side of the bull show the Carana-pūjä which is an ancient custom amongst all the sects in India. Below are planet-heads. Still below in the centre is an unidentified two-armed standing male. He is not the donor since small figures of the donor male and female occur on an upper level of the pedestal. On the right end of the pedestal is the goddess Padmăvati, two-armed, with three snake-hoods over her head. To her left is the Gomukha Yakşa, two-armed. Symbols held by the figures are not distinct. On the corresponding left end is a two-armed Yakşi carrying a kalaša in her left hand. The other symbol is not distinct. To her left is a figure of two-armed Ambika. The bronze is dated in Samvat 1527=A.D. 1470 and belongs to the Digambara tradition.
A beautiful bronze of Rsabha sitting in the padmāsana, now preserved in the Punyavijaya Collection of the L.D. Institute, Ahmedabad, was published in Treasures of the Jaina Bhandaras. The bronze was given as a gift by the Jainas of Sirpur in Khandesh. There is an inscription on the back which refers to the Vägendra kula. The Yaksa to the right of the Jina is mutilated but what remains shows that he was riding on the elephant and held a money bag in his left hand. Obviously the figure was of two-armed
Page #138
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
125
Sarvānubhūti. On the corresponding left end was the Yakṣi whose figure is lost but her lion mount remains. She must have been two-armed Ambika Yaksi. The bronze is assigned to the seventh century A.D. Another beautiful bronze of Adinātha with 23 other Tirthankaras comes from Chahardi in Khandesh and is preserved in the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay. Rşabha here is standing in kāyotsarga mudra. The Jina has hair-locks on his shoulders (Jaina Art and Architecture, vol. III, pl. 351, and pp. 568-69). The two-armed Sarvänubhūti, with the citron and the nakulika (purse) in his right and the left hands respectively, is shown on the right lower end while on the corresponding left end is the two-armed Ambikā Yaksi. Age, c. ninth century A.D.
In the same museum there is another beautiful bronze of Rşabha sitting in padmāsana on a simhasana placed on a pedestal. The attendant Yaksa and Yaksi are two-armed Sarvānubhüti and Ambika (JAA, vol. III, pl. 353B and p. 570).
The Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay has some beautiful Jaina sculptures from Maharashtra and Karnataka, besides bronzes from Vala, etc. in Gujarat and a very early bronze of Pärávanātha whose findspot is not known. A Tri-Tirthika stone sculpture, from Ankai-Tankai, Nasik district, Maharashtra. is published by Moti Chandra and Gorakshakara in JAA, vol. IIT, PI: 347A ind a Panca-Tirthika from the same site in ibid., pl. 347B, p. 566. Three standing Tirtharkaras in a row in each of these sculptures show hair-locks on the shoulders. The authors mentioned above write: "It may be observed here that the hair-locks falling on shoulders, which generally helps in identifying Rşabhanātha, appear as a cliche in the Ankai sculptures, for even Pārsvanatha has been depicted with hair-locks falling on the shoulders. Circa ninth-tenth century."
The same practice of showing hair-locks on shoulders of Tirtharkaras other than Rşabhadeva is seen in other parts of Maharashtra. In the Nagpur Museum is a sculpture of a Tirtha nkara with the horse cognizance on the pedestal but showing hair-locks on the shoulders of the Jina. The sculpture came from Barsi Takli, Akola district. In the Nagpur Museum there is a stone sculpture of Pārsvanatha (Mu, no. B.23). Here Pārsva with seven snake-hoods overhead is sitting in padmāsana. His snake cognizance is shown in centre-front of his lotus seat. Pärśva has prominent hair-locks on his shoulders.
The Nagpur Museum preserves a hoard of beautiful Jaina bronzes from Rajnapur Khinkhini in the Akola district, Maharashtra.47 of these one is a Caturvimšati-Pafta of Adinātha sitting in ardha-padmasana in the centre on a big lotus. Below on the lower end of the pedestal is a small male figure carrying the lotus and the citron in his right and left hands respectively. On his left, close to him sits a female holding the citron and the lotus in the right and the left hands respectively. Are they donors of the bronze? Since they are holding a citron-like fruit in one hand each they seem to be the earlier Yaksa pair of Jaina traditions or the Parents of the Jina. The latter alternative is less likely in this case. From near the top of the pedestal springs a lotus on each side, on the right side sits a four-armed human-faced Yaksa holding the purse and the fruit in his two left hands while the symbols of the right hands are not distinct. On the corresponding left end of the pedestal sits the Yakși Cakreśvari holding the cakra in each of her two upper hands, and the fruit in her left lower hand while the right lower is held in the abhaya mudra. Age, c. tenth century A.D.
The hoard contains another bronze of Rşabha sitting on a lotus placed on a simhāsana. The workmanship is poor. He has a two-armed Yaksa and a two-armed Yaksi on the right and left ends of his pedestal. He is identified as Rşabha with the help of hair-locks on his shoulders. Two crudely rendered lion figures below the lotus seat may signify the simhasana or as an alternative this Jina is Mahavira and not Rşabhanātha. But there is another such Eka-Tirthika bronze of Rşabhanatha with the dharmacakra in the centre of the pedestal and a bull to its right. The Jina shows hair-locks on the shoulders. The hoard also includes two bronze Pañcatirthis of Rşabha with hair-locks on his shoulders.
A beautiful stone sculpture, a Caturvimśati-patta of Adinātha was published long ago by Cousins, from a Jaina temple in Aminbhavi in the Dharwar district, now in Karnataka (Panorama of Jaina Art, fig. 205. also fig. 17). Rşabha is standing in the kayotsarga mudrā with hair-locks on his shoulders. near his right leg is sitting a four-armed Yaksa with human face and holding the rosary and the axe in his right and left upper hands and showing the varada mudra and the fruit with the corresponding lower ones.
Page #139
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
126
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
He is the Gomukha Yakşa of the Digambara tradition but without the cow-face. To the left of the Jina is sitting the Cakreśvarı Yakṣi with cakra in her two upper hands, her right hand showing the varada mudrā and the left holding an object which is indistinct. Karnataka is full of Jaina temples including those of Adinatha. In the Pañcakūta-Basti group at Kambadahalli there is a shrine dedicated to Adinatha. So also there is one such Adinatha shrine in the Kattale-Basti group at Sravana Belagola. The Pañcakūta Basti at Markuli is for Adinatha, Neminatha, Pärśvanatha, Puspadanta and Supärśvanatha and has a fine twelve-armed sculpture of Cakreśvari, the Yakşi of Rṣabhanatha. At Halebid there are three large temples, in one compound, dedicated to Parsvanatha, Adinatha and Santina tha.48
A figure of Adinatha from Kaṭṭale Basti, Śravana Belagola, shows the Jina seated in the ardha-padmasana, dhyāna mudra. The hair-locks are arranged in a straight line over the shoulders. There is a simple halo behind the head of the Jina, over which is the triple chatra. The Jina rests against a back formed of a horizontal bar ending in makara-heads and resting on two small pillars. A vyāla also supports the bar on the outer side of each pillar and from this back emerge two male yakṣas holding a citron in one hand and carrying a camara (chowrie) with the other. An inscription on the pedestal shows that the Basti was constructed by Dandanas aka Gangarayya. According to Hiralal he was the Commander in the service of Hoyasala king Visnuvardhana (c. 1118 A.D.). This Gangaraja was patron of an artist-architect and sculptor-Gangachari also called Vardhamanachārī who fashioned the Adinatha image worshipped in the Cavuṇḍaraya Basti, Sravana Belagola. Gangaraja is stated to have built the Kaṭṭale Basti and the Sasana Basti. In the Sasana Basti the main image in the sanctum is of Adinatha, seated in the paryankasana, on a lion throne. The image bears an inscription which states that this Indrakulāgṛha (abode of Laksmi) was built by Gangaraja. The shrine has images of Ambika Yakşi and Sarvanha Yakṣa. The Eradukatte Basti, built by Lakşmidevi, wife of Gangaraja, in c. 1117 A.D., also was dedicated to Adinatha.49
At Venur in south Karnataka, in a Jaina temple are preserved stone images of all the twenty-four Tirthankaras with their cognizances on the pedestals and their Yaksas and Yakşiņis standing by the sides of the Jina's legs. These sculptures are later than the set of 24 Tirthankaras in the Bhandara Basti at Śravana Belagola. The Venur set perhaps dates from c. 14th century A.D. or a little later. At Venur the sculpture of Adinatha shows the bull läñchana on pedestal. The Yakṣa is four-armed, has a human face and not cow-face, and carries the rosary, the axe, the goad, and the citron in his four hands. Yakşi Cakreśvari is twelve-armed and carries the vajra in each hand of the uppermost pair of hands, four pairs of hands in the middle all carry a disc each, while the lowermost pair shows the lotus and the varada mudrā.50 A sculpture of Adinatha in worship in the Settara Basadi, Mudabidri, Karnataka, also shows the same type of Yakşa and Yakşi. However, the twelve-armed Cakreśvari here has a slightly different set of symbols.51 The Bhandara Basti set of Tirthankara images dates from 1159 A.D. and the images are good examples of Hoyasala art of the period. The Jina stands under an ornamental wavy torana-arch supported by two pillars. The Jina stands under a triple-chatra and has a plain halo behind his head. The sign of his lanchana is engraved in the centre of a plain pedestal on which the Jina stands in kayotsarga mudra. All the sculptures at Sravana Belagola are of Digambara sect. The Yaksa of Rsabha here is four-armed with a human face and holds the goad and the rosary in his right and left upper hands respectively; while the right lower hand holds the citron, the left lower is held in the varada pose. Cakreśvari, also standing, shows the disc in her two upper hands and the vajra in the middle pair of hands. Her left lower hand holds a conch while the right lower hand is held in the varada mudra.
The set of 24 Tirthankara images in the Suttalaya of Gommata dates from c. late twelfth century A.D. Here no. 5 from the beginning is Adinatha. The Yakşa is four-armed with a human face while the Yakşi Cakreśvari also has four arms.
In Northern Karnataka also the worship of Adinatha has remained popular. In the Kannada Research Institute, Dharwar, is preserved a beautiful sculpture of Rsabha sitting in the paryankasana (same as the ardha-padmasana) with hair-locks shown on his shoulders. The head has schematic curls of hair but no jață and no usniṣa. The sculpture is carved in the round. The pedestal below the Jina's big lotus-seat is lost. There is no parikara. The sculpture was recovered from the famous Jaina site called Lakkundi (Panorama of Jaina Art, fig. 252).
Page #140
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
127
There is a beautiful bronze of Rşabha in paryankasana resting against a back made of two pilasters surmounted by a horizontal bar from behind which are springing, as it were, two male câmaradharas. The Jina has hair-locks on shoulders carefully marked. He sits under a triple-umbrella. Leaves of the Caitya-tree are shown on both the sides of the chatra. The bronze seems to date from c, tenth century A.D. It is preserved in the Malli Jinālaya at Halli, Jewarji Taluq, Gulbarga district, Karnataka (Panorama of Jaina Art, fig. 333).
Another beautiful bronze, a Caturvimśäti-patta, shows Adinātha sitting in padmāsana on a simhāsana below which is the bull cognizance and below the lañchana seems to be standing a two-armed kşetrapāla. At the right end of the simhasana is a four-armed bull-faced Gomukha Yaksa and on the left end of the simhasana is the four-armed Cakreśvari Yaksi. At the farther right end of the bronze is a small figure of four-armed Padmavati while on the corresponding left end is a two-armed Ambikā. The bronze is in worship in a Jinälaya at Ergal in the Sindgi Taluq, Bijapur district. This beautiful bronze is in the north Indian style and might have come from Maharashtra or Gujarat. The bronze dates from late eleventh century.
In the Government Museum, Madras, is a bronze Caturvimšati-pata from Kogali, Harpanahalli, Bellary district. The bronze is assigned to c. 9th or 10th century. In the centre stands a big figure of a Tirthankara with hair-locks falling on his shoulders. The bronze is partly mutilated on top right end (Mu. no. 36-2/35). The bronze is wrongly identified as a Covisi of Mahavira. On the right end is a twoarmed pot-bellied Sarvānubhùti while on the left end is a two-armed Ambikā (C. Sivaramamurti, Panorama of Jaina Art, fig. 317).
In the same Museum is a stone sculpture of Adinātha standing in the centre with 24 miniature figures of Tirthaakaras sitting in paryarkasana on all the three sides of Adinātha. Adinātha is recognised by hairlocks on his shoulders. There is no cognizance, nor are there any Sāsanadevatās. No elements of the parikara are shown. Museum no. 2511, findspot unknown. Age, c. 14th century A.D.
In the Puddukottai Museum, Tamil Nadu, is a small bronze Caturvimšati-pața, with Adinātha standing in the centre. He has hair-locks on his shoulders, but no jață and no usnisa. The attendant Yakşa is cow-faced and four-armed while the Yakşi is four-armed Cakreśvari. The bronze was dug out from the site of the Maharaja's College at Puddukottai. T.S. Sundaran published it in Lalit Kala, 1-2, pl. XX, fig. 2, p. 79. The bronze can be dated around 1000 A.D. Art style of the bronze suggests that it might have come originally from some area under the rule of Rastrakutas or the Kalyani Calukyas.
A beautiful sculpture of Rşabhanātha, carved in the round, from Warangal, A.P., is now preserved in the National Museum, New Delhi. The Jina sits in the paryarkāsana and his hair are shown as if they are combed, with parallel lines going upwards. Hair-locks on his shoulders help us to identify the Jina as Rşabhanátha, as in the case of the Lakkundi Adinātha noted above. The sculpture can be assigned to c. 10th-11th cent. A.D. and has some Karnataka influence (Panorama of Jaina Art, fig. 19).
In a brick-shrine on top of Bodikunda, Ramatirtham, Vizagapattam district are two Jaina sculptures assignable to 10th century A.D. One of them is a beautiful sculpture of Adinātha with a jatä on his head and a back-rest with two câmaradharas springing as it were from the horizontal bar of the back. The Jina sits on a viśvapadma (double lotus) below which in front of the pedestal is prominently carved the bull cognizance (negative no. C.13, Southern Circle, Madras, Arch. Survey of India) (C. Sivaramamurti, Panorama of Jaina Art, fig. 284).
Sivaramamurti, in his Panorama of Jaina Art, has illustrated some single figures of Ādinátha, e.g., fig. 20 from Talkad, Dharwar, Karnataka. There is no lañchana and the Jina has the hair-locks on shoulders but no jață. Again, his figure 230 is a seated Tirthankara from Halebid, Chalukyan influence, c. 11th-12th cent. A.D.
Sivaramamurti has illustrated some fine ornate sculptures showing Adinātha sitting in the paryankasana and resting his back against a cushion placed in front of a back-seat made of two pillars and topped by a horizontal bar. There are two camaradharas at the back and the triple-umbrella and the caitya-tree are shown. A beautiful example is illustrated in Panorama of Jaina Art, fig. 270 from Sedum, Gulbarga, Chalukyan, c. 11th cent. A.D. Another noteworthy example is his fig. 440 from Aland, Gulbarga district.
Page #141
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
128
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana A third example is his fig. 470, Adinātha, from Gudigeri, Dharwar district, Western Chalukyan, 12th cent. A.D.
Our Fig. 178A illustrates a bronze figure of a nude standing Jina in the Madras Museum. It was discovered from a place called Tindivaram, in Tamil Nadu. An inscription on its back shows that this is a figure of the Adi-Jina. It may be noted that no hair-locks on shoulders are visible. The bronze is a specimen of Chola art of 12th century A.D.
Scenes from the life of Rşabhanātha are available in the ceilings of the Sāntinātha and Mahāvira temples at Kumbharia, N. Gujarat. M.N.P. Tiwari has identified a few such scenes on the walls of a Devakulikā near the main Jaina shrine at Ośia. The earliest known representation is the frieze depicting the Dance of Nilāñjana, Fig. 18, referred to before. We also get some scenes in miniature paintings of Kalpa-sūtra.
2. SECOND TIRTHANKARA: AJITANATHA
Ajitanatha, the second Jina, the son of king Jitaśatru and queen Vijayā of Ayodhyā (Vinita-Säketa), was born in the Rohini naksatra, having descended upon the earth from Vijaya Vimāna, according to traditions of both the sects.52 According to Hemacandra, the king gave the name Ajita to his son because the mother could not be defeated in gambling by the king, so long as the Jina was in the Mother's womb,53 The Digambara text Uttarapurāna explains the name in another way: he was called Ajita because he could not be conquered by sin or by all heretics.54
Both the sects agree in calling him golden in complexion, having the elephant as his cognizance. He obtained Kevalajñāna under a Saptaparņa (Alstoma Scholaris) tree.55 He is said to have obtained Nirvana on the Mount Sammeta Sikhara (Mt. Pärasanatha) in West Bengal.
The second Jina had 90 ganadharas, Simhasena being the chief amongst them. Falgu (Svetāmbara) or Prakubjā (Digambara tradition) was the chief Aryikā or the leader of his order of nuns. 56
Mahāyakșa was his attendant Yaksa and Ajitā (Sve.) or Rohiņi (Dig.), the attendant Yakşiņi.57 Sagara, the second Cakravartin of Jaina Purāņas, was his cousin brother. The elephant, which is the chief distinguishing mark of this Jina, also becomes the vāhana of his yakşa, while the attendant yakşi, Ajita, seems to have been named after the name of Ajitanätha.
The earliest known image of Ajitanātha is in the āyāgapata from Mathura illustrated in Fig. 11. A figure of standing Ajitanātha from Sārnāth dates from Gupta age.58
In the Son Bhaņdār Cave, Rājgir, is a Pratima-Sarvatobhadrikā of stone, with a standing Tirthankara carved on each face. The quadruple image has a domical top and the stela on each side shows a dharmacakra with a symbol on each side, carved on the base. On one side, two elephants flank the wheel, on another are two monkeys. On the third side is shown a horse on each side of the cakra. Thus these animals represent cognizances of different Jinas represented on the four sides. Ajitanātha is here represented with the elephant symbol on two sides of the dharma-cakra; he stands on a lotus in the kayotsarga pose under a Caitya-tree represented by two twigs on the sides of the Jina's head. Near the legs is standing an attendant male chowrie-bearer on each side. The sculpture is assignable to c. 7th-8th century A.D. The Jina is represented as standing under an arch supported by two pillars on tops of which are two divine garland-bearers. Above the arch is a triple-chatra while two hands beating a drum represent divine music.
The sculpture is a noteworthy specimen marking a stage in the development of the parikara (Prātihärvas) of a Jina. The Asoka tree, or the Caitya-tree, the divine garlands, the divine music, the divine câmaradharas, the asana (here it is understood by the marking of the lotus below the feet, as the Jina is represented in a standing pose), the dharma-cakra, as well as the triple-umbrella and halo are shown. The parikara is fully developed so far as its constituents are concerned. At a later stage, the mode of representation of the divine music changes, and the grouping becomes more ornamental.
But the mode of representation of the lånchana or symbol of the Jina is especially noteworthy. In later sculptures, the dharma-cakra is generally flanked by the two deer, obviously in imitation of the Buddhist symbol. Here, one of the earliest stages of the mode of representation of the symbol of a
Page #142
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
129 Tirthankara is obtained. The symbol is placed on each side of the Wheel of Law. A still earlier specimen of this type, assignable to the Gupta age, c. fifth century A.D., is the sculpture of Neminātha from Rajgir, discussed by R.P. Chanda. Here the conch symbol of Neminātha is placed on each side of the dharmacakra in the centre (see Fig. 26).
Our sculpture represented an intermediate stage, between the parikara of the Kuşāna period and the fully evolved, stereotyped parikara of the mediaeval ages. The attendant yakṣa and yakşipi are absent here, though a pair common to all Tirthańkaras was already evolved before this sculpture was carved.
This sculpture helps us to identify some other sculptures of the post-Gupta age where the dharmacakra on pedestal is flanked by a deer on each side. In such cases, one need not suppose that the dharmacakra +2 deer is the general representation of the Wheel symbol only as in later or mediaeval sculptures. but it is advisable to treat the deer as the cognizance of Säntinātha on the basis of this and other such Tirthankara sculptures from Räjgir. Thus for example, the big bronze of a Jina from Mahudi (North Gujarat) can now be identified as representing the Jina Sāntinātha, since the pedestal shows the Wheel flanked by two deer. 59
It is not easy to ascertain when this mode of representating the Symui was given up. But it would seem that it was done so in c. 8th-9th century A.D. The Mahudi sculpture, a beautiful example of bronzecasting, comparable with some excellent specimens from Nälandā, is certainly not later than c. 700 A.D. In the centre of the pedestal the dharmacakra is flanked by two deer. Here the deer represent the cognizance of Sāntinātha. But a post-Gupta stone specimen from Rajgir shows a Jina sitting with snakehoods above head and the dharma-cakra below his seat has a conch on each side. A peculiar case, going against the known canons of Jaina iconography, and since the sculpture does not seem to be older than the Ajitanatha or Säntinātha discussed above, no explanation of the departure is possible. The symbol for every Jina was already fixed in the age in which this figure is supposed to have been carved.
In the light of the above discussion, a bronze figure of a Jina sitting in a padmāsana on a high pedestal, obtained from Vasantagadh discussed in Lalit Kala, 1-2, pl. XI, fig. 5, may be considered. Here the pedestal shows the dharma-cakra flanked by two deer. Hair-locks falling on the shoulders of the Jina would suggest that he is Adinatha. There is no inscription on the bronze, the evidence from style would be uncertain, but the sculpture seems to be assignable to late seventh or early eighth century A.D. There were attached to it, on two ends, figures of the attendant yakşa and yaksini, as can be inferred from the wire end on one side. Here, on the basis of the line of argument noted above, the Jina would have been identified as Sāntinātha but the prominent hair-locks show that he is Adinatha. Either it is a case like the second Rajgir sculpture discussed above, showing exceptions to the rule, and a mistake on the part of the artist who represented hair-locks on Santinātha as the image looked more beautiful thereby, or that in Western India, the practice of representing the symbol on two sides of the Wheel was given up at an earlier stage than in Bihar.
I am inclined to propose the following tentative identifications. The Mahudi image represents Santinātha, the Vasantagadh bronze also may represent Santinātha.
An early sculpture of Ajitanātha standing, obtained from Varanasi, is now preserved in the State Museum, Lucknow (no. 49.199). R.C. Sharma described it thus: “The pedestal represents his Lanchana. i.e., elephants who are standing face to face. Curiously enough the forehead of the deity is marked with a flower-shaped Tilaka. The mark of the Sri-vatsa has not been given at its proper place, while the halo has been shown by an incised line. On the whole the image has been crudely modelled. It may be assigned to the late sixth or early seventh century A.D."80 The sculpture seems to be still later.
In the Son Bhandara cave, Rajgir, is carved in relief a figure of a Jina sitting in padma sana. The asana has two elephants in place of the lions of a simhasana and hence the elephants may be regarded as cognizances of the Jina above. There are two camaradharas and two garland-bearers. The sculpture is assigned to c. 9th cent. A.D.
No. 85 in the Bharata Kala Bhavana, Varanasi, is a beautiful Jaina Caumukha (Caturmukha) sculpture probably from Varanasi (or Sarnath ?). On one side is a figure of Ajitanatha standing (Fig. 33) on a lotus below which on the pedestal is the dharmacakra in the centre with an elephant on each side. The
Page #143
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
130
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana head of the Jina is lost but the elephant cognizance on the pedestal helps us to identify the Jina as Ajitanātha. A small sitting Tirthaokara figure is shown on each side of the Jina. The sculpture dates from c. late sixth or early seventh century A.D.
At Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, in the open air museum adjacent to the Adinātha temple there are about four sculptures of Ajitanätha. One of them, no K.22, shows the Jina standing in kayotsarga mudrā. No yaksa and yakşi figure on the sculpture. The elephant cognizance is shown below the dharmacakra. The head of the Jina is lost. The sculpture dates from c. 12th cent. A.D. No. K.43 in the same museum, assignable to c. 11th century A.D., has the yakşa-yaksi pair. Symbols of the yaksā on the left end are hidden under plaster while the yakşi on the corresponding right end holds the sword in her extant right hand. If a guess be allowed, the missing hand might have held the shield. The Jina is sitting in the padmāsana dhyāna mudrā. The sculpture is a Tri-Tirthika image with a small figure of standing Jina over the head of camaradhara on each side. No. K.59, damaged on one corner, was perhaps a Caturvimšati-Pasta, with Ajitanātha sitting in padmāsana. No yakşa-yakși pair. No. K.66 also shows the Jina in sitting posture without the yakşa-yakşi pair, with the elephant cognizance shown on the left of the dharmacakra. There are in all seven Jina figures on this sculpture, including the main figure of Ajitanātha in padmasana.
M.N.P. Tiwari has published a paper entitled A Unique Tri-Tirthika Jina Image from Deogarh' on a sculpture, from Temple no. 1, Devgadh, in which are represented two Jinas on its front and the third one on its left side face. All the three Jinas stand in the kāyot sarga pose on simhasana over which hang ends of covering carpets with cognizances of the Jinas shown on them. The two frontal Jinas are Ajitanātha and Sambhavanātha with their elephant and horse lañchana respectively. At the right extremity of the image, beside the figure of Ajitanātha, stands a four-armed Sarasvati depicted in the same size as the standing Jina. Such a representation with Sarasvati is rare which makes this a unique image.61
Bruhn's Fig. No. 144, from Wall section XII, Devgadh, is a beautiful sculpture of Ajitanätha sitting in the padmasana on a cushion placed on a simhāsana. The figure of the elephant cognizance is shown just below the wavy lines of an end of a carpet placed on the simhasana below the cushion-seat. The elephant is shown just above the dharmacakra in the centre of the simhāsana. On the right end of the simhāsana is a two-armed standing sasana-yaksa Sarvānubhūti with a purse in left hand and the raised right hand seems to be in the abhaya mudra. Symbols in the hands of the standing two-armed yaksi on the corresponding left end are not clear.
A Tri-Tirthika image of standing Ajitanātha from Temple no. 21, Devgadh, is illustrated by Bruhn in his book as figs. 202, 202A, and 203. The sculpture dates from c. 10th cent. A.D. No yakşa-yaksi are shown. M.N.P. Tiwari has referred to an image of Ajitanatha in Temple 29, Devgadh, having fourarmed Säsana yakşa-yakşi pair and with figures of málādharas and kumbhadharas shown near the cámaradharas.
From Bihar, besides the sculptures from Rajgir, we find a bronze image of standing Ajitanätha with the elephant cognizance on the simhasana. The bronze, obtained in the Aluara hoard in Manbhum district, dates from c. 11th cent. A.D., and is now preserved in the Patna Museum (Patna Museum No. 10697).
In the Orissa State Museum at Bhuvaneśvara is an Ajitanātha scpluture from Charampa. In the Nayamuni. Bárábhuji and Trisula caves at Khanda giri, Orissa, are obtained sculptures of the second Tirthankara Ajitanātha. From Palma in Manbhum district also comes a sculpture of Ajitanātha (JAA, Vol. II, plate 158B). The Jina stands within a shrine fronted by a trefoil arch and surmounted by a śikhara with āmalaka on top. This image is of colossal size (now preserved in the Patna Museum) and shows the elephant lañchana of the Jina in the centre of the pedestal, just below the double-lotus on which the Jina stands. Twelve miniature figures of Tirthankaras are shown on each side of the Jina.
In Madhya Pradesh, the Shivpuri Museum has an interesting collection of Jaina sculptures, mainly from Narwar. A sculpture represents Ajitanatha standing in the käyotsarga posture under a triple umbrella. The Museum also has some Dvi-Tirthika images, in which two Tirtharkaras are represented as standing by the side of each other, represented on one slab. One such sculpture shows Ajitanatha and Sam bhavanátha grouped together. At Padhavali are two separate sculptures of Tirthankaras standing
Page #144
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
131 on simhāsanas and identified as Ajitanåtha and Sambhavanātha on the basis of small figures of their lañchanas shown on the ends of decorated cloth hanging from the top of the simhāsanas.
For a Dvi-Tirthi of Ajita and Sambhava from Karitalai in Raipur Museum, Madhya Pradesh, see JAA, Vol. III, plate 373B.
In the Nagpur Museum is a stone sculpture with full parikara representing Ajitanätha sitting in padmāsana on a simhāsana. On the hanging end of the cloth on which the Jina is sitting is shown the gaja-lāñchana of Ajitanatha. On the right end of the simhäsana is a two-armed yakşi showing the abhaya mudrā with her right hand and carrying the kalasa in her left hand. On the corresponding left end is a two-armed pot-bellied yaksa with the citron in his right hand. The symbol of the left hand is mutilated. The sculpture dates from c. 10th cent. A.D. and hails from some part of Maharashtra.
In Gujarat and Rajasthan, Ajitanātha was also worshipped in stone and metal images. The National Museum, New Delhi, has a metal image, No. 48.4/19, which shows Ajitanātha sitting on a cushioned lion-throne mounted on a terraced pedestal. The deity is flanked by two seated and two standing Tirthankaras and an attendant on either side. The śāsana yakşa Mahāyakşa and the yaksi Ajitabalā are shown on the pedestal. The inscription on the back of the image is dated in Somyat 1471 -A.D. 1414.
However a bigger and beautiful earlier metal sculpture of Ajitanaca is preserved in a Svetāmbara Jaina shrine in Ahmedabad. The Jina stands under an arch supported by two long pillars. Near the legs of the Jina are the two camaradharas. The lanchana as well as the yakşa-yakşi are not shown but the inscription on the pedestal identifies the Jina as Ajitanatha, installed in Samvat 1110 A.D. 1053. First published by N.C. Mehta, 62 this beautiful brass or bronze image is a typical example of the metal art of the period.
In the Pārsvanātha temple at Kumbharia is a beautiful big stone sculpture of Ajitanātha standing on a pedestal with the elephant shown as his cognizance. No yakşa-yakşi are depicted but on the toranastambhas on two sides of the Jina are shown, in separate compartments, the Vidyādevis Apraticakra, Purusadatta. Mahäkāli, Vajraísokhala, Vajrānkuśā, Rohiņi and a goddess which looks like the Santi-devi but which may also be one of the Vidyadevis.
In the sanctum of Mahavira temple, Kumbharia, North Gujarat, are two large saparikara images of Tirthańkaras placed against the south wall; both are standing in the kāyotsarga mudra, one is Såntinātha with the deer lañchana while the other is Ajitanātha with the elephant as his cognizance. Both the images are dated in Samvat 1118=A.D. 1061.
According to inscription no. 8, published by Muni Viśālavijaya in his Gujarati book entitled Sri Kumbhariaji Tirtha, a pair of standing Ajitanätha images was installed in the Neminātha shrine at Kumbharia in Samvat 1314-A.D. 1257 (inscribed on the sculpture showing this pair).
In the devakulikā to the left as you enter the shrine of Neminätha at Kumbharia there is a saparikara image of Ajitanātha enshrined in v.s. 1335A.D. 1278 according to an inscription on the image (Inscr. no. 10 in Sri Kumbhāriäji Tirtha, p. 25).
In cell no. 37 of the Lunavasahikā, Delvada, Mt. Abu, was installed an image of Ajitanātha by merchant Khetala in v.s. 1287 = A.D. 1230 (Insc. no. 343 at Abu).03 According to Inscr. no. 142 at Abu, an image of Ajitanātha was installed in cell no. 42 of Vimala Vasahi, Abu, by Devacandra süri, pupil of Yaśodeva sūri in Samvat 1245=A.D. 1188.
Kumarapāla built a big shrine dedicated to Ajitanātha, on the Tarangā hill in Gujarat. The shrine is still standing though the main image in the sanctum was destroyed and later another image had to be installed. Inside the garbhagha of this temple is a colossal white marble image of Ajitanatha sitting in the padmāsana, dhyana mudrā; the image was consecrated in A.D. 1422 by one Govinda probably after the original was desecrated by Muslims. On two sides of the mūlanayaka and placed against the north and south walls are two images in white marble of standing Jinas, dated 1297 A.D., brought from a nearby village. The garbhagıha also contains two small images of Ajitanatha, one of 1247 A.D. and the other of 1248 A.D.
Ajitanātha was worshipped at Satrunjaya also. According to inscription no. 141, in deri (cell, devakulikā) no. 884/34, on the Mt. Satruñjaya,64 an image of Ajitanātha was installed in Samvat 1675=A.D.
Page #145
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
132
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana 1618 by some donors from Rājanagara (Ahmedabad). In deri no. 228/2 was installed a Panca-Tīrthi of Ajitanātha in Samvat 1523 A.D. 1466, as shown in inscription no. 184 on this image. Similarly a Pancatirthi of Ajitanātha was installed in deri no. 13/1 in Samvat 1542=A.D. 1485, as per inscription no. 302. Another such image was installed in deri no. 630/2/2 in v.s. 1446.
Instances can be multiplied from hundreds of stone and metal images of different Jinas in worship in the various Svetāmbara and Digambara shrines all over the country. We have not attempted to make an exhaustive study of any site or of Jaina images in any particular State or region. Our study was more or less one of the pioneer types covering almost the whole of India and of both the sects of the Jainas. It was intended to solve some of the unsolved problems of Jaina iconography and to prepare a standard work for identifying Jaina images. We will therefore not pile up lists of all Tirthankara and other images in different temples nor describe them all. We have nowhere claimed to have made such exhaustive studies.
Merely visiting museums and some well-known temple sites will not provide a complete picture regarding the number of images of any deity worshipped in any State of India. We have visited a number of Jaina temples still continued in worship. They are full of stone and metal images, some old, some relatively new. Even tå fodern temple one would find a very old image brought from some extinct temple and reinstalled. 65 Detailed studies of individual sites and temples are expected from future young scholars. Our object was to provide a fairly reliable basic study with the help of published works and works in mss., supported by archaeological evidence and as far as possible to tabulate the results. One must always remember that Jainism is a living religion in India and as in the study of Hindu iconography it is difficult to exhaust every aspect of the study of Jaina iconography in one life.
An early bronze of Ajitanatha, of c. 8th cent. A.D., was obtained in the Akota Hoard from Gujarat and published by us in Akota Bronzes, fig. 41B. In the centre of the pedestal is the dharmacakra flanked by elephants. The yaksa and yakşi figures are of the early pair of Sarvänubhūti and Ambikā.
In the south we do have sculptures of Ajitanātha in sites like Sravana Belagola, Veņūr, Müdabidri, etc. where all the twenty-four Tirthařkaras are installed in a temple. In the Suttālaya of Gommata at Śravana Belagola we have Ajitanātha in the whole group of Jinas installed in late 12th century A.D. (Fig. 59). The sculpture in the Bhandara Basti set at Sravana Belagola dates from 1159 A.D. The Venur set is later and dates from c. fourteenth century A.D. In all such sculptures the Jina is standing in the kāyotsarga mudra under an arch and Mahāyaksa the yakşa of Ajita, and Rohini, the yaksi, accompany him and attend upon him near the legs. The cognizance figure is incised on the pedestal. Instead of the male câmaradhara figures being carved near the legs, a cámara (chowrie) is placed symbolically on each side of the Jina on top of the pillar supporting the arch under which the Jina stands. The chowries are usually near the shoulders of the Jina. In all these three sets the full parikara is not given, only the triple umbrella, the halo, the yakşa-yakşi pair and the cognizance are shown.
3. THIRD TIRTHANKARA: SAMBHAVANATHA
Sambhava was born as the prince of king Jitāri (according to Sve. tradition) or DỊdharāja (according to Dig. tradition) and queen Senā or Suşeņa of the city of Srāvasti, in the nakşatra known as Mrgaśiras. Sambhava descended (upon this earth, into his mother's womb-cyavana) from the Sudarśana Vimāna of the first Graiveyaka heavens.66
Sambhava was so called because, when he was in his mother's womb, grains increased in his father's kingdom. Hemacandra, giving a second explanation, says that he is called Sambhava because happiness (sam) increases (bhavati) by offering prayers to the Jina.67
Sambhava obtained Kevalajñāna under a Sāla tree (Shorea robusta). Cāru (Sve.) or Cärusena (Dig.) was his chief Ganadhara, while the chief Aryikā (head of the nuns' order) was known as Sämä or Syāmā (Sve.) or Dharmāryā (Dig.).
Golden in complexion, Sambhavanatha, the scion of the Ikşvāku family, has the horse as his diraja (cognizance, lanchana). Trimukha and Duritāri (Sve.) or Trimukha and Prajnapti (Dig.) are his sasana Yaksa and yaksini respectively.68 Sambhava obtained nirvāṇa on Mt. Sammeta Sikhara.
Page #146
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
133
The earliest known image of Sambhava hails from Mathura of the Kuşāņa age and is dated in Samvat 48=146 AD. It is preserved in the Lucknow Museum (no. J.19). The Jina sits in padmāsana on a simhasana in the centre of which is the dharmacakra placed on a tri-ratna symbol. A male and a female worshipper stand on the right and the left respectively of the Wheel of Law.
The Lucknow Museum has two more sculptures of later periods (nos. J.855 and 0.118) both from U.P. No. J.855 represents this Jina with a chowrie-bearer on each side, the attendant on the left being mutilated. A celestial garland-bearer on each side, a triple-umbrella over the head and a dharmacakra flanked by two horses on the pedestal are the only members of the parikara carved in this sculpture. The long ear-lobes and the absence of the halo may be noted. It seems that the image belonged to the early Gupta period. The findspot is not known but the sculpture seems to have been influenced by the Mathura School.
A figure from Banpur Khas, Jhansi district,69 an example of a different style of sculpture of Sambhava, assignable to c. seventh century A.D., is another known early sculpture of Sambhavanātha. The high caps of the attendant male flywhisk-bearers and the ekávali Aucklace worn by them may be noted. The Jina stands on a lotus. A group of Tirtha karas are calved in miniature reliefs on two sides of Sambhava standing in the centre. A small figure of the horse symbol is seen on the right side of the pedestal. The sculpture is mutilated at the top.
In the Moti Katara Panchayati Digambara Jaina Mandir, Agra, is an image of Sambhavanātha which, according to an inscription on it, was originally installed in v.s. 1147 (1090 A.D.). The Jina sits in padmāsana on a cushion. There is no parikara.70 There is an image of a Jaina Tirthankara at Pärasanātha Killa, Bijnaur, which has an inscription dated in Samvat 1067 - 1010 A.D. Some scholars identified the image as representing Sambhavanāthal on the evidence of a paper by K.D. Bajpai.72 But K.D. Bajpai has identified the image as that of Varddhamăna svami (Mahāvīra) and has given the reading of the inscription thus: Sri Viruddhamana Sami devah sma 1067 Rāņalasutta Bharatha pratima prathapi. Obviously the inscription, engraved in incorrect Sanskst, refers to Varddhamana Svāmi.
At Devgadh there are about eleven images of Sambhavanatha, all showing the Jina standing in the käyotsarga mudrā. In a few cases the yakșa and yakși are based upon an old now lost tradition which shows them two-armed and showing the abhaya or the mace (or sometimes the purse ?) in one hand and the fruit or the kalasa in the other. This whole tradition requires further exploration and research. So far as we know, no literary tradition has been traced as yet for this. By this time already the new set of forms of yakşas and yaksinis had also come into vogue but in art the new traditions were not yet universally followed. In Devgadh temple no. 15 we have an image of Sambhava, assignable to c. 11th century A.D., which has a four-armed yaksa and a two-armed yaksi. In a later image of Sambhava in temple no. 30 at Devgadh we have both the yaksa and yaksi with four arms each.
M.N.P. Tiwari has made an exhaustive study of Jina images at Khajuraho.73 As shown by him, the image of standing Sambhava in temple no. 27 is dated in Samvat 1215 but has no accessory iconographic details. In the remaining three sculptures of Sambhava at Khajuraho the Jina is shown sitting in the padmasana, with the horse cognizance generally shown in or near the centre of the simhāsana. No. K.50 in the Open Air Museum does not show a figure of the śāsana yakşa. Both the ends of the throne are occupied by two identical figures of two-armed goddesses seated in lalitásana and holding a sword and some indistinct object in their hands.74 The image is assigned to c. eleventh century A.D.
The yaksa and yakși of another image, Acc. no. 1715 in the Archaeological Museum, Khajuraho, are noteworthy. “The yakşi on the left corner shows the abhaya mudra and a lotus respectively in her right and left arms. The yakşa of the corresponding right end holds probably a skull cup in his right hand and a mongoose-skin purse in the left.'75 Such a purse is called Nakulikā, Nauliã or Noļi.
In the Archaeological Museuin at Jhansi there is Tri-tīrthika stone sculpture with heads of all the Tirthankaras mutilated possibly by art thieves. In the centre sits Adinātha while on his left stands Sambhava with an attendant câmaradhara on each side and a devotee with folded hands. On the pedestal is the figure of a running horse. On the corresponding right side of Ādinātha is standing Santinātha with. the deer symbol.
Page #147
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
134
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana At Padhavali is a sculpture of standing Sambhava with the figure of his horse lañchana shown on the hanging end of the carpet below the Jina's feet. The simhāsana has the dharmacakra in the centre. There are cámaradharas, fiying mälädharas and a drum-beater on top of the triple-umbrella. No yakşa and yakși are shown; the sculpture can be assigned to eleventh century A.D.
A beautiful sculpture of standing Sambhava from Narwar, Shivpuri district, M.P., is preserved in the Shivpuri District Museum (Acc. no. 3). The sculpture, like the one from Padhävali discussed above, belongs to the Digambara tradition. The very artistic simhāsana of the Jina shows two ferocious lions, and in the centre, in a small niche, is a small figure of a Jina or an acārya in padmāsana with the dharmacakra shown below his seat. On two sides are small figures of male and female devotees with folded hands. At the lower end of the simhasana is the tiny figure of horse cognizance. There is also a DviTirthika image of Sambhava and Nemi standing, from Narwar, now in the Shivpuri Museum.
No. 406. Rani Durgavati Museum, Jabalpur, represents a standing Sambhavanatha, assignable to c. eleventh cent. A.D., from Tewar in the Jabalpur district. The Jina stands on a simhāsana with câmaradharas, ma doares, ple-umbrella, and elephants with kalašas in the parikara but no yaksa and yaksi are shown.
In Orissa, at Khandagiri, caves 7, 8, 9, called Navamuni, Bārābhuji (Fig. 53) and Mahavira gumpha respectively, are in all three rock carvings, one in each cave, of Sambhava sitting in the padmāsana under a triple umbrella and with a standing camaradhara on each side. In one case there is a flying mālādhara on each side of the umbrella while in two cases are cymbals being played by two disembodied hands. The Jina sits on a big full-blown lotus placed above the simhāsana with the horse symbol shown on one side. None of Tirthankaras in these caves have the śri-vatsa on their chests. The Jinas usually have a rather prominent jață top on their heads instead of the usnīşa. In two cases we have a figure of the yakşini of this Jina carved separately below the Jina's figure.
Temples and sculptures of Sambhavanātha are also known from Rajasthan and Gujarat. There is a temple dedicated to Sambhavanātha at Kumbharia. The original image seems to have been mutilated and later replaced by a new one. In Radhanpur, North Gujarat, is a shrine dedicated to Sambhavanātha. According to an inscription on the main image in the sanctum, it was installed in Samvat 1682=1625 A.D. The inscription on the image of Sambhavanātha, in the Mahavira temple at Kumbharia, says that the image was the gift of one śrávikā named Pahini, mother of Bhändägārika Jinduka, (installed) in samvat 1142 - A.D. 1085. In the famous Lūnavasahi temple built by Tejapāla at Delvada, Mt. Abu, are two ornamental niches, khartakas, flanking the gūdhamandapa and placed against its west wall, popularly known as Gokhaläs of Derāni and Jethâni. The image in the proper right khattaka is of Santinātha while that in proper left one is of Sambhavanātha. At Satrunjaya also there are some inscribed stone and metal images of Sambhavanatha.76
In the Digambara Jaina Samgrahālaya at Ujjain there are a few sculptures of Sambhava obtained from places like Sundarsi, Jamner, Badnawar etc. in Malwa region.
in the south, in Karnataka, at Venür, in the set of 24 different Tirthankaras in Jaina temple, we have Sambhava standing under an arch and a triple umbrella overhead, with the Trimukha Yaksa and the Prajñapti Yakşi standing by his sides. The figure of his horse lañchana is incised on the plain pedestal below. In the Bhandara Basti set and in the set of Suttalaya of Gommata we also have sculptures of Sambhava with Trimukha Yaksa and Prajñapti Yakşi standing by his sides near the legs and the horse cognizance carved on the pedestal. These two sets at Sravana Belagola belong to the Hoyasala period.
4. FOURTH TIRTHANKARA: ABHINANDANA
Abhinandana, the son of king Samvara or Svayamvara and queen Siddhārthā of the city of Ayodhyā, was born in the Punarvasu nakṣatra, having descended from the Jayanta Vimāna.77 As he was honoured (abhinandyate) by gods he was called Abhinandana.78
Golden in complexion, Abhinandana became a monk after ruling over his kingdom for some time. and, practising penance, obtained kevalajñāna while meditating under a Piyaka or Piyala (Sarala) tree. 79
Page #148
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
135 He is said to have obtained nirvāņa on Mt. Sammeta. Yakşeśvara (Dig.) or Yakşanāyaka (Sve.) and Vajraśrókhala (Dig.) or Kälika (Šve) are the attendant yaksa and yaksini respectively who are said to protect the śäsana or the Jaina Samgha of this Tirthankara. The chief ganadhara of this Jina was Vajranābha while Ajitä was the chief äryikā. Abhinandana had the monkey as his dovaja or lañchana. B.C. Bhattacharya, in his Jaina Iconography, writes: "In treating of his symbolism, we encounter some difficulties. His main symbol is a monkey. If we interpret hari, one of the dreams of Jina's mothers, to stand for a monkey, the propriety of the emblem is explained. Hari also means a lion, which makes it a symbol of Mahāvira. The real nature of his Yaksa and Yakşiņi may, to some extent, help us to get at the meaning of the symbols. Yakşa, as we have seen, is Isvara and Yakşiņi is named Kali. Clearly they are Saivite deities borrowed from the Brahmanic pantheon. Thus it is likeliest to connect the ape of the Jina with the apish incarnation of Isvara or Siva."80
The above remarks are too far-fetched. There does not seem to have existed any special connection between the lañchanas and the Sasanadevatās of the different Tirthankaras. Only in the case of Rsabha the similarities of Rsabha-Siva, Bull-Nandi, Gomukha-Nandikeśvara are noticeable. But what about Rsabha's yaksi Cakreśvari who can be equated with Vaişnavi and not with the Saivite Gauri? How can we connect the horse symbol of Sambhava with the Jina's yaksa Trimukha? The relation of Isvara Yaksa and Kāli can be understood but not of these two with the ape cognizance. In fact, the recognising symbols or the lañchanas-the dhivajas-were introduced much earlier than the twenty-four different yakşas and yakşiņis known as Sasanadevatās. There was no inherent significance or background nor was any uniform principal followed in the selection of such names and symbols. We cannot associate Gomukha with Cakreśvari in the same way as we can Iśvara with Käli. To seek any significance in the Jañchanas from the list of fourteen or sixteen dreams seen by the Jina's mother is equally unwarranted.
Images of Abhinandana are not so common as those of Rşabha, Pārsva or Mahāvīra and not many have reached the different museums from old sites. However it would not be proper to state that he was not popular, for, a glance at different articles and works giving inscriptions on the various stone and metal images in worship in different temples and Jaina temple-cities will show that images of all the twenty-four Tirthankaras used to be worshipped.
Abhinandana is represented on one of the four sides of the Quadruple image in the Son Bhandara cave, Rajgir, referred to before while describing images of Sambhavanātha.
A relief sculpture of Abhinandana with the ape symbol also figures on the wall of the Navamuni Cave. Khandagiri, Orissa. Abhinandana also figures on the walls of the Barabhuji (Fig. 53) and the Mahāvira Caves, Khandagiri, Orissa.
Only one sculpture of Abhinandana, with the cognizance of a monkey, is so far known from Devgadh. The Jina is shown in the kāyotsarga mudra. The yakşa and the yakși on the pedestal are of the usual two-armed variety showing the abhaya and the kalasa.
At Khajuraho, a sculpture of this Jina in the sitting posture figures in the Pārsvanātha temple while another image is preserved in Temple 29. In both cases the yakşa and the yakşi, each two-armed, show the abhaya and the fruit or the kalasa.
In the Mālava-Prantiya-Digambara-Jaina-Samgrahālaya, Ujjain, are preserved a few sculptures of Ajitanātha standing in the kāyotsarga mudră with the kapi (ape) shown as his lañchana.
At Kumbharia, an inscription on the pedestal of an image of Abhinandana shows that it was installed in samvat 1142=1085 A.D. The image was installed in the Mahāvira svāmi temple (Viśālavijaya, op. cit., p. 121, inscr. no. 6-69). Similarly in cell no. 22, Pārsvanātha temple, Kumbharia, was installed an image of Abhinandana in samvat 12591202 A.D. In the Santinātha temple at Rädhanpur, N. Gujarat, is in worship a metal Pañca-tirthika image of Abhinandana installed in samvat 1505=1448 A.D. Minister Dhanapāla, a descendent of the family of the elder brother of Vimala Saha, had installed a sculpture of Abhinandana in cell no. 26, Vimala Vasahi, in Samvat 1245.
In the National Museum, New Delhi, No. 48.4/88 is a metal sculp ure of Abhinandana, dated samvat 1610 with figures of Isvara yakşa and Káli yakși on the ends of simhāsana (JAA, III, p. 560).
Sculptures of Abhinandana are obtained in South India in Karnataka in the sets of 24 Tirthankaras
Page #149
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
136
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana at Venūr, Mūdabidri, and in the Bhandara Basti and Suttālaya sets at Sravana Belagola. In all such cases the yakşa and the yakşi stand on the sides near the legs of the Jina. No camaradharas are shown, not even the dharmacakra or the śri-vatsa symbol on the chest of the Jina. The Jina stands under an ornamental arch and there is a triple-umbrella over his head.
5. FIFTH TIRTHANKARA: SUMATINĀTHA
Sumati, the fifth Tirthankara, was born as the prince of king Megha or Megha prabha and queen Mangalā or Sumangalā, at Ayodhyā in the Maghā naksatra. He descended upon this earth from his previous existence as an Indra in the Jayanta Vimana.81
While he was in the mother's womb, his mother's mind and intellect remained good and benevolent (sobhana matih) whereupon he was called Sumati.82
Golden in complexion, Sumatinātha, of the Ikşvāku race, had the red goose (kokaḥ, or krauñca according to some texts) as his dhvaja or lāñchana. T.N. Ramachandran has given the wheel or circle as an alternative symbol vasca on some other tradition not specified.83 Sumati obtained kevalajñāna while meditating under a Priyangu tree (Panicum Italicum).84 He had 116 Ganadharas of whom Camara (Sve.) or Vajra (Dig. Tiloyapannatti, but Camara according to Uttarapurāņa, 51.76, and Carama according to Ramachandran) was the leader; the chief äryikā of his order of nuns was Kāśyapi.
Sumatinātha obtained moksa on the Mt. Sammeta Sikhara, Tumburu officiated as his attendant Yaksa and Puruşadatta (Dig.) or Mahākāli (Šve.) was the attendant Yakşi of his tirtha.
An old sculpture of Sumatinátha, very much defaced, was recovered from Sahet-Mabet, Gonda district, U.P., the site of ancient Srāvasti. The red-goose, the symbol of Sumati, is visible below the dharmacakra in the centre of the simhāsana. There is a group of 23 other Tirthankaras arranged in two verticle rows on two sides of the central figure of Sumati.85
Amongst the Digambaras of Northern India, representation of two Tirthankaras side by side in one sculpture, i.e., the Dvi-tirthika image, was very popular. Compare, for example, the Dvi-tirthi of Rsabha and Mahāvira, now in the British Museum, published by us in Studies in Jaina Art, fig. 35, and Fig. 79 here of Ajitanātha and Sambhavanātha from Narwar, now in the Shivpuri Museum, Shivpuri, M.P. Both the Jinas stand side by side with attendant chowrie-bearers, chatra, etc. for each Jina represented separately. Some of these examples are fine specimens of art. A sculpture from Ghusai, now in the Archaeological Museum, Gwalior, shows two Jinas standing on two beautiful lotuses with small figures of male cāmaradharas by their side. The Caitya-trees are represented by hanging a few leaves from the ends of the triple umbrellas above the Jinas. On the left end of the pedestal is a miniature yaksa Sarvānubhūti (also known as Sarvānha) carrying the citron and the bag. Below him is the small figure of a goose. which shows that the Tirthańkara standing on this (left) side is Sumatinätha whose cognizance is the red goose according to the Digambara texts. The pilaster on the right end is mutilated and lost and along with it the symbol of the Jina on the right end is lost, so he cannot be identified. A sculpture of Sumati standing on a simhāsana with parikara but without the yaksa and yakşi, hailing from Narwar, is in Shivpuri Museum, M.P.
At Khajuraho two sculptures of Sumati are noted by Tiwari, one in the sanctum of the Pārsvanātha temple and the other in temple no. 30. The Jina sits in the padmāsana in both cases. The vaksa and vaksi are of the usual two-armed type showing the abhaya and, the fruit.87 V.A. Smith has also noted the existence of an image of Sumatinátha from Mahoba, assigned to 1158 A.D.88
In the Mälava-Präntiya Digambara Jaina Samgrahālaya, Ujjain, Mu. no. 29 is a standing Sumatinātha with the goose symbol and Tumburu and Mahākāli as his yaksa and yaksini. The sculpture dates from c. fourteenth century A.D. Three more images of Sumati, from Javas, Gondalmau and Guna, are also preserved in the Museum.
At Orissa, Khanda giri, in Caves nos. 8 and 9, we find figures of Sumatinätha sitting in the padmāsana with his goose symbol on the simhasana below his seat (Fig. 54 from Cave 8).86
At Kumbharia, in the Pārsvanātha temple, cell no. 21, an image of Sumati was installed in samvat
Page #150
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
137
1259=A.D. 1202 according to the inscription on the pedestal preserved in the cell (Viśālavijaya, op. cit., p. 133). According to another inscription by the side of the torana in this cell, it was installed in Samvat 1265 by Sājana who is perhaps the same as Sajjana of the earlier inscription just noted. Tiwari has noted that on the torana pillars are figures of Apraticakra, Vajrärkusi, Vajraśrrikhalā. Vairofya, Rohini, Mánavi, Sarvästramahājvālā and Mahāmānsi Vidyādevis but it must be remembered that they have nothing to do with the iconography of the Tirthankara. There are indeed some cases where some Vidyādevis figure as part of the accessory figures as in the Tri-tirthika metal images from Vasantagadh published by us in Lalit Kala, nos. 1-2, but it must be remembered that they are not enjoined as part of a parikara of a Tirthankara image.
In cell 27, Vimala-vasahi, Abu, an image of Sumatinatha was installed in samvat 1245 by the wife of Mahāmatya Pșthvipāla. The image is lost but the pedestal with the inscription is still preserved in the cell. This has happened with the sculptures of most of the Devakulikas (cells) in the temples at Kumbharia and Abu. The yakşa and yaksi on the pedestal in the Vimala-vasahi cell 27 are Sarvänubhūti and Ambikā.
A Pañca-tirthika sculpture of Sumatinātha installed in samvat 170 is in worship in Celt no. 593/2 at Satrunjaya (inscr. no. 225 of Kanchanasāgarasûri, op. cit., p. 57) and another Panca-tirthi of Sumati dated in samvat 1554 is in worship in Cell 600/1, inscr. no 232, at Satruñjaya. There is a similar third sculpture dated samvat 1694 in Cell no. 596/2 at Satrunjaya. A fourth Pañca-tirthi of Sumati in the same site is dated in V.S. 1497, preserved in what is called Kothāra, inscr. no. 238, Satruñjaya, op. cit. There are some more such Pañca-tirthis of Sumati at Satrunjaya. But the inscription no. 273 in Cell no. 613/9/ 10, dated samvat 1530 is more interesting because here the image is called Sri-Jivatasvāmi-Sri-Sumatinåthabimbam. This as we have noted before is a later wrong application of the epithet Jivat-svāmi for images of Tirthankaras other than Mahā vira. Iconography of Jivantasvāmi images of Mahavira was of course believed to have been based on an original life-time portrait statue of Mahavira which is not the case with much later Jivitasvāmi images of other Tirthaó karas.
In the National Museum, New Delhi, there is a metal sculpture of Sumati (No. 48.4/44) with yaksa Tumburu and Mahäkäli yakşi (JAA, III, p. 560), installed in samvat 1532.
In the south as usual we have sculptures of Sumatinātha in the various sets of 24 Tirthaskaras at Sravana Belagola, Venûr, Mudabidri. In such sets all the sculptures are of a uniform type in each set, the differences lying only in the forms of śasana yakşa and yakși and the cognizance on the pedestal.
6. SIXTH TIRTHANKARA: PADMAPRABHA
Padmaprabha was born as the son of king Dharana (Dig.), Dhara or Sridhara (Sve.) and queen Susimā ruling over the city of Kausambi, in the Citrā naksatra, having descended from the UparimaGraiveyaka Vimāna.89
Hemacandra states that his father named him Padmaprabha because his mother had a pregnancywish of (lying on a bed of lotuses while the Jina was still in her womb and secondly because of his lotuslike complexion.90
Shining like red-lotus, Padmaprabha also has the red-lotus as his lañchana or dhvaja. He obtained kevalajñāna under a banyan tree according to the Svetāmbara view represented by Hemacandra. According to the Digambara tradition noted by Ramachandran, the Chatrå (Anethumsowa) was his Caitya-vr'ksa. The Samavāyānga sūtra, which represents an earlier tradition, calls it Chaträbha.91 One hundred and ten ganadharas headed by Vajracamara (Dig.) or one hundred and seven ganadharas headed by Suvrata (Sve.) followed him. Rati or Ratisen, was the leader of his order of arvikās.
He obtained moksa on Mt. Sammeta Sikhara. Kusuma and Acyută were his yaksa and yaksini respectively according to Sve. tradition, while they were known as Mätanga and Apraticakrā (Tiloyapannatti) or Kusuma and Manovega (Vasunandi and other writers) according to the traditions of the Dig. sect.
Early sculptures of Padmaprabha are not yet known. At Khajuraho in the mandapa of the Pārsva
Page #151
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
138
: Jaina-Rupa-Mandana nātha temple is a big sculpture of this Jina sitting in the padmāsana. In the Indian Museum, Calcutta is an image of this Jina obtained from Gwalior and assigned to c. 10th-11th century A.D. Lucknow Museum no. 0.122 is a sculpture of standing Padmaprabha dated in A.D. 1149 and obtained from Chhattarpur. Kamtaprasad Jaina has noted a sculpture of Padmaprabha, from Urdamau, M.P., standing in the kayotsarga posture, and dated in the year equal to 1114 A.D.910 There is a sculpture of standing Padmaprabha in temple 1 at Devgadh.
There is a sculpture of standing Padmaprabha from Narwar in the Shivpuri Museum, M.P. The Jina stands on a lotus placed on a simhāsana in the centre of which is a miniature figure of a Siddha or a Tirthankara in padmasana, dhyana mudrā and below him is the dharmacakra. The cognizance of the Jina is at the lower end of the sculpture, below the dharmacakra. On each side of the Jina stands a câmaradhara. Above the Jina is the triple-umbrella with an elephant on each side, and on top of the chatra is a kalasa. On each side of the head of the Jina is a celestial mālädhara. Almost all the sculptures of standing Tirthaókaras from Narwar in the Shivpuri Museum are of this type.
Rock-cut figures of Padmaprabha are available in Caves 8 and 9 at Khandagiri (Fig. 54). The yaksi of this jina is carved separately below him in cave 8. Mohapatra has published a sculpture of Padmaprabha from a Jaina temple in Cuttack.910
A sculpture on the wall of a rock-cut cave at Kuppalanatham in the Madurai district, Tamil Nadu, shows the Jina seated in the ardha-padmāsana under a triple umbrella and on a simhasana with figures of two lions at the ends and a lotus in the centre. Two male flywhisk-bearers stand by the sides of the Tirthankara. On the left side of this sculpture is carved another separate sculpture representing Mahavira. In the south, the cognizance is carved generally in the central compartment of the pedestal while in the compartments at the two ends are figures of lions of the simhäsana. These two lions at the ends face different directions while the lion in the centre faces the worshipper. Sometimes all the lions might face the worshipper. But in all such cases when there is a central lion figure we feel that the sculpture is to be identified as representing Mahavira whose cognizance is the lion. On this analogy when in the centre we find a lotus we prefer to regard the sculpture as representing Padmaprabha. Unfortunately in sculpture we often find the Wheel of Law carved like an open petalled lotus as we find on pedestals of some of the sculptures at Rajgir etc. But in the south the practice of carving the dharmacakra in the central part of the pedestal or the simhasana is hardly seen.
In the Bhandara Basti set, and the Suttalaya set at Sravana Belagola and in the sets at Müdabidri and Venûr in Karnataka we find sculptures of this Jina with attendant figures of the Puspa (Kusuma) yakşa and Manovega yakşi and the lotus cognizance.
In cell 20 of Pārsvanatha Temple at Kumbharia is preserved the pedestal of a sculpture of Padmaprabha which shows that the image was installed by merchant Sajjana in samvat 1259 - 1202 A.D. Similarly, in the devakulikā no. 7 in the Sāntinātha temple at Kumbharia was installed a sculpture of Padmaprabha in v.s. 1146=A.D. 1089 (Visālavijaya, op. cit., pp. 132, 147). Inscription no. 6, Vimala Vasahi, Abu, on one of the two big metal images in the gūdhamandapa of the shrine shows that this image of Padmaprabha was installed in samvat 1550 - A.D. 1493 by Mantris Alhana and Molhana of Prāgvāta caste. The figure is a big single Jina-image without any parikara (
Muni Jayantavijaya, Sri-ArbudaPrācina-Jaina-Lekhasamdoha, p. 11). In Cell 24 of Vimala Vasahi there is a sculpture of Padmaprabha with full parikara.
Minister Dhanapala, son of Mahāmatya Pșthvipāla in the lineage of Nedha, the elder brother of Vimala Säha, installed images of Santinatha (in Devakulika 24, Vimala Vasahi), Rsabhadeva (in cell 23. same shrine), Sambhavanātha (in cell 25), and Abhinandana (in cell 26, same shrine), in v.s. 1245=A.D. 1198 (Inscriptions nos. 98, 95, 100, 103 of Jayantavijaya, op. cit.). Nämaladevi, wife of Minister Prthvipāla, installed an image of Sri Padmaprabha (in cell 28) and Srimäladevi, wife of Jagadeva, elder brother of Dhanapala, gave an image of Supärśva (cell 29), and Rupiņi, wife of Minister Dhanapāla, installed an image (bimba) of Sri Candraprabha, in the same year, according to inscriptions nos. 104, 106, 108 and 109 respectively. In many cells in the Vimala Vasahi and the Lunavasahi at Abu, and in the temples at Kumbharia, the original sculptures installed are lost and only the simhäsanas or the pedestals
Page #152
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
139
remain. In some cases new images are installed which are not necessarily of the same Jinas. These are installed on the old pedestals preserving the original inscriptions referred to here.
In the temple of Adiśvara at Radhanpur, N. Gujarat, a metal Pañcatirthi of Padmaprabha is in worship. According to an inscription on it the image was installed in v.s. 1570= A.D. 1513.
7. SEVENTH TIRTHANKARA: SUPĀRSVANATHA
Supärśvanátha, the seventh Tirtha okara, was born as the son of king Supratistha or Pratistha and queen Pșthvi of Vārānasi when the moon was in the asterism Visakha. He descended from the madhyama Graiveyaka heaven, Subhadra Vimana.92
In dream, the queen mother of Supārsva saw herself lying on the coils of snakes with one, five and nine snake-hoods respectively when the Jina was in her womb. In the Samavasarana of Supārsva were, on this account, raised by Sakra, similar snake-hoods, like an umbrella as it were, over the head of the Jina.93 The Avaśyaka Niryukti says that Supārsva was so called because his mother's sides looked beautiful (su-pārsva) while he was in the womb.94
He was born with a golden complexion according to the Svetāmbaras but he had greenish appear. ance95 according to the Digambara sect. According to both the sects, his dhvaja or the lañchana is the svastika.96 He obtained kevalajñāna while meditating under a Sirisa (Acacia Sirisa) tree, and moksa on the Mount Sammeta. Vidarbha and Somā or Sumanā were his chief ganadhara and äryikā respectively according to the Svetāmbaras while the Digambaras call them Bala (Baladatta) and Minārya (Minā).
Mätanga and Santa were the sasa nadevatās of his tirtha according to Svetämbara writers, according to the Digambara authors they were known as Varanandi (Vijaya acc. to Tiloyapannatti) and Kali (Purusadattā acc. to Tiloyapannatti).
Pārsvanātha, the twenty-third Tirthankara, is also represented with a canopy of snake-hoods overhead which often renders it difficult to differentiate between images of Pārśva and Supārsva in the absence of an inscription or the cognizance on the pedestal. Usually Pārsva is shown with coils of snake behind his body, while in the case of Supārsva only the snake-hoods overhead are carved or painted. But this is not an unfailing guide since Pārsva is sometimes represented with the snake-hoods only without the coils all over the back. It is not unlikely that because of a certain similarity of names Supārsva also came to be associated with snake-hoods. No early image of the Kuşāņa period representing Supārsva is known as yet from Mathura. At Mathura in the Kuşāna period, in the four-fold images (caumukha or PratimaSarvatobhadrika), we find Ādinātha on one side, another Jina must be Mahavira, the third cannot be identified while the fourth, with seven snake-hoods overhead, has to be identified as Pārsvanatha.97 Figure 23 illustrates a separate image of Parsva with seven snake-hoods from Kankali Tila, Mathura and Fig. 8 illustrates a standing Pärśva from the Chausa hoard.98
Jinaprabha Sūri, a Svetāmbara ācārya of the fourteenth century A.D., refers to a stūpa of Supārsvanátha at Mathura, built by gods (devanirmita).99 As yet not a single image of Supārsva is found or identified from the Kankali Tila site of the Jaina stūpa. An inscription on one of the images obtained from this stūpa site refers to installation of two images (Pratimavo dve) in the stūpa built by gods (thubhe devanirmite). Even though the stúpa of Kankali Tila can be identified as the devanirmita stūpa of Jaina traditions, it is difficult to accept it as a stūpa dedicated to Supārsvanatha. Jinaprabha is the only writer who explicitly said so. 100
A very late but a well-preserved image of Supärśvanātha was obtained from Tonk along with several marble images of other Tirthankaras, all in the same style and without any parikara. The symbols are marked in the centre of cushion seats of these Jinas. Suparsvanatha is here identified with the help of the svastika symbol on his seat. But he has seven snake-hoods overhead. No coils of snake are shown on his back. This case is a pointer to the fact that there are exceptions to the general rule of one, five or nine snake-hoods for Suparsva and three or seven snake-hoods for Pārsvanātha. But Vastuidva, 22.27, as noted by M.N.P. Tiwari101 prescribes three or five snake-hoods for Suparsva and seven or nine for Pärsvanātha.
Page #153
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
140
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana At Paladi, a few miles from Sirohi, Rajasthan, in the Jaina temple, is a standing Supārsvanatha installed in v.s. 1348 = A.D. 1291. The inscription expressly says that this is an image of Supärśva. The beautiful marble sculpture belongs to the Svetambara tradition and shows five snake-hoods over the head of the Jina. There is no lañchana nor are there any snake-coils behind the Jina's body.
In the Neminātha temple, Kumbharia, in the gūdhamandapa is a sculpture of Supärśva standing with five snake-hoods overhead and the svastika cognizance shown on the pedestal. Sarvānubhùti and Ambikä are shown as the attendant yakşa and yaksi, by their sides are figures of Mahavidyas Rohiņi and Vairotyā, each four-armed. In the parikara are shown figures of Sarasvati, Prajñapti, Vajränkusi, Vajraśșókhalā and Sarvästramahājvālā. In the Devakulikā no. 7, Pärśvanātha temple, Kumbharia, is an inscribed sculpture dated in 1202 A.D. with a canopy of five snake-hoods over the head of the Jina who is called Supārsvanātha in the inscription. A mediaeval sculpture in the Baroda Museum also shows five snake-hoods and the svastika cognizance which helps us to identify the Jina as Supärśva.102 Tiwari has noted some figures of Supārsva on the Devakulikās of the Mahāvīra temple at Osia.103
Tiwari has shown that photo no. 59.28 of the American Institute of Indian Studies, Varanasi, is of a sis adise Suparsva from Shahdol with five snake-hoods and is assigned to the tenth cent. A.D. 104 The same Institute has supplied a photograph to this writer, with the no. AAB, Neg. No. 59.28, from "M.P. Singpur, Shahdol District, Pancamatha temple, Pārsvanātha, standing. Mid 10th cent." On the pedestal of this sculpture is a figure of a snake which can also be taken as the tail of the big snake whose coils are shown behind the whole body of the Jina. The snake-hoods over his head are partly mutilated and although five snake-hoods can be marked out it is not unlikely that the two mutilated sides of the snake canopy had one more snake-hood on each side end. If M.N.P. Tiwari is referring to this same photograph then the identification of this image is doubtful especially because an attempt is made to show a serpent or even a tail of the snake on the pedestal, the snake being the cognizance of Pärsvanätha. This would be an instance of Pārsva image with five snake-hoods.
It seems that in northern, eastern and western India Pārsva was almost always shown with seven and not five snake-hoods. This canopy of snake-hoods represents the demi-god Nágakumāra Dharanendra sheltering Pärśvanātha from the attacks of Kamatha (Sve.) or Meghamälin (Dig.). At Mathura during the Kuşāņa period Jina images with a canopy of seven snake-hoods were installed. In Khandagiri, Orissa, we have figures of Päráva with seven snake-hoods. But the rock-cut sculpture of Supärśva in padmāsana in cave 8 (Barabhuji) at Khandagiri shows the svastika cognizance but no snake canopy at all over the head of the Jina. At Ellora also in the scenes of attack of Kamatha on Parśva, the Jina is protected by a canopy of seven cobra-hoods.
But in the famous relief panel of the same scene in Badami Cave IV, assignable to c. late sixth or early seventh century A.D., there is a canopy of only five cobra-hoods over the head of Pārsvanätha. 105 In a similar scene at Anaimalai, Madurai district, amongst the Jaina reliefs cut on a boulder at Samanarakoil is a big relief panel showing the scene of the attack of Meghamālin (Kamatha) on Pärśvanātha. Dharanendra with his canopy of five hoods protects the Jina from the attack. These reliefs from Pandyan territory are assignable to c. eighth-ninth century A.D. Thus the Badami tradition of Parśva with a canopy of five snake-hoods continues even in the eighth-ninth centuries in the south. In the relief panel in the Jaina Cave, Aihole, assigned to the seventh century A.D., showing the scene of attack on Pārsvanätha, Pārsvanātha is shown with a canopy of five hoods only.106
Thus there is this confusion. In some cases at least, and especially in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, we have instances of Parśva with a canopy of five cobra-hoods, though as a general rule Pārsva is often met with as having a canopy of seven hoods. Whenever there is a snake king and a snake queen shown as attending on the Jina, the Jina can easily be identified as Pārsvanātha; there is such a stone sculpture from Godavari district in the Madras Museum. But in this case the Jina has a canopy of seven snakehoods. There is no cognizance shown. In the twelfth century set of 24 Tirthaó karas, we have, in the Bhandara Basti, Sravana Belagola, a sculpture of Supārsva with the svastika symbol and five snake-hoods over the head of the Jina.
So we will tentatively identify the National Museum No. 59.153/176 of a standing Jina with a canopy
Page #154
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
141
of five hoods and the snake coils behind his body as Supārsva. There is no attendant figure. The sculpture is a fine specimen of Cola art of eleventh century A.D. The rock-cut sculpture in the southern wall of the facade of the Sittānnaväsal cave, Tamil Nadu, shows a Jina sitting in the ardhapadmāsana and having a canopy of five snake-hoods over head.107 There is no cognizance nor any scene of attack on the Jina. The sculpture probably represents Supārśva. In the Bellur village a few miles from Bangalore on the way to Kambadhalli, there is a beautiful single image of a Jina with five snake-hoods, said to have been brought there from Nagamangalam. The sculpture is a fine specimen of Ganga art of tenth century. There is no parikara, no pedestal, no cognizance. We are inclined to identify this sculpture as representing Supárśvanātha.
There is a black stone sculpture of a standing Jina from Patancheru, Medak district, A.P., inscribed and assigned to the 12th century A.D. The sculpture is preserved in the Government Museum, Hyderabad, A.P. There are only five snake-hoods over the head of the Jina. Coils of the huge snake are shown behind the whole body of the standing Jina who is identified as Supārsvanātha. There is another standing Tirthankara from Patancheru with coils of the snake behind the whole body of the Jina (though parts of them are now mutilated). The Jina had seven snake-hands as can be easily inferred from the partly mutilated hoods. The sculpture can be assigned to the eleventh century A.D. Thus we have a case of fivehooded Supārśva and a seven-hooded Pārśva from the same spot.
It must be remembered that the yaksa and yakşi of Pārśva alone have snake-hoods over their crowns. The yaksa and yakşi of Supārsva in the Sve. and the Dig. traditions have no snake-hoods over their heads. So the present writer is not in favour of identifying the Lucknow Museum sculpture no. J.935 as representing Supärśvanātha because the yaksa and yaksi on the pedestal have three snake-hoods over their crowns. 108 Unfortunately the upper part of this sculpture is mutilated and lost along with the snake-hoods over the head of the Jina.
Madras Museum No. 2478 is an inscribed Nisidhi stone sculpture from Danavulappadu, Cuddapah district. The Jina in the upper panel sits in the ardhapadmāsana with the coils of snake shown behind his back and a big cobra head with only one snake-hood holding a canopy over the head of the Jina. Below the seat of the Jina, on the pedestal, is a big svastika which is the cognizance of Supārsva. Images of Supärśva with one snake-hood are rare to find.
Images of Supārsva with five snake-hoods are also known from Bajramath, Gyaraspur, Baijanath (Kangda),109 Deogadh and Khajuraho. At Deogadh all the images of this Jina show him in the käyotsarga mudra. In one case the Jina is shown with hair-lock on the shoulders. A sculpture of a Jina in Devgadh temple no. 4, showing the Jina with five snake-hoods, may not represent Supäráva since the yaksa and the yak si here have three snake-hoods over their heads. 120
There is a sculpture of Supärśva standing in temple no. 5 at Khajuraho. Another figure of standing Supārsva is in temple no. 28 at Khajuraho. Here the svastika cognizance is also shown. In both the cases the Jina has a canopy of five snake-hoods.
In the Nagpur Museum there is a beautiful sculpture of a Jina sitting in the padmāsana on a decorated cushion placed on a simhasana. The embroidered cloth hanging over the centre of the simhāsana has the svastika mark which is the cognizance of Supārsva. The upper part of the back slab of the Jina figure is mutilated and so it is difficult to say whether there were any snake-hoods over the Jina's head. But the beautiful sculpture of a seated Jina (with arms broken) preserved as no. 6 in the Shivapuri Museum and hailing from Narwar, is identified as Supārsvanatha on account of the canopy of five snake-hoods over the head of the Jina. The sculpture dates from the twelfth century A.D.
No. B.62 in the Nagpur Museum is from Katoli in Chanda district and dates from the eleventh century A.D. The Jina sits in the ardhapadmāsana and behind his back are coils of a big snake who with his five snake-hoods is holding a canopy over the Jina's head. There is no pedestal, no parikara, no cognizance. But because of the five snake-hoods it is possible to identify the Jina as Supārsvanātha. B.23 in the same museum is a Pañca-tirthi of Pārśva with snake cognizance and seven snake-hoods for canopy.
Page #155
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
142
Jaina-Rūpa-Mandana According to Jinaprabha sūri, Supārsva was also worshipped in the city of Daśapura (modern Mandsor).111
A metal Panca-tirthi of Supārsva, in worship in the Cintāmani-Pārsvanātha temple at Rādhanpur, was installed in samvat 1528 according to the inscription on the back of the image. In samvat 1245, Srimāladevi, the wife of Thakkura Jagadeva, the son of Mahāmātya Pșthvipala, installed a sculpture of Supärśvanātha in cell 29, Vimala Vasabi.
8. EIGHTH TIRTHANKARA: CANDRAPRABHA
Candraprabha, the eighth Tirthankara, is white like the moon. Son of king Mahasena and queen Laksmanā (or Lakşmimati) of Candrapura, he descended from the Vaijayanta Vimāna and was born in the Anuradhā nakşatra. 112
Because the Jina's mother had a pregnancy wish (dohada) for drinking the moon, while he was still in embryo, and because he was white in complexion like the moon, his father named him Candraprapha. 113
to the Uttarapurāna, Indra called him Candraprabba because at his birth the earth as weil as the night-lotus were delighted (blossomed). In the south Candraprabha is now also worshipped as Candranātha.
He obtained highest knowledge while meditating under a Näga-tree (Punnāga acc. to Hemacandra).114 Vaidarbha and Varuņā were his chief gañadhara and äryikā respectively according to Digambara belief; according to the Svetāmbaras they were known as Dinna (Skt. Datta) and Vāruņi.
According to the Svetämbaras, yaksa Vijaya and yakşi Bhşkuți originated as the protectors of the tirtha founded by Candraprabha; according to the Digambaras, the Sāsanadevatās of his tirtha were Syāma (Ajita according to Tiloyapannatti) and Jvālāmālini (Manovegā acc. to Tiloyapaņotti) respectively. Candraprabha obtained nirvāṇa on the Mt. Sammeta in Western Bengal.
Both the sects prescribe the moon (crescent moon) as his cognizance.
A temple dedicated to Candraprabha exists at Somanātha-Pätana in Saurashtra. Jinaprabha sūri states that the image of Candraprabha was brought to Devapattana (same as Somanātha-Patan or Prabhāsa-Pāțan) by air from Valabhi along with images of Ambā and Kşetrapāla. 115 In another context the same author says that an image of Candraprabha made of Candrakānta stone is installed at Prabhāsa, along with an image of Jvälinidevi. The image came from Valabhi where it was reported to have been consecrated by Sri Gautama-svāmi and was the gift of Nandivardhana (the elder brother of Mahāvira). According to Jinaprabha sūri, an image of Sri Candraprabha, installed in the Jina's life-time, existed in a shrine at Näsikkapura (Nasik). An image of this Jina was well-known at Varanasi while another was worshipped in Candravati. 116
The earliest sculpture of Candraprabha, so far discovered, was installed by Mahārājādhirāja Rámagupta, according to an inscription on the simhāsana which has a dharmacakra (without the two deer flanking the Wheel as in mediaeval sculptures) in the centre. 117 The cognizance of the Jina is not shown. On each side of the Jina sitting in the padmāsana is a standing câmaradhara. The head of the attendant on the right is mutilated along with the upper half of the halo and the head of the Jina. The malo camaradhara on the right of the Jina wears a conical crown (reminding one of the later kullah caps!) with a motif like the one found in Kuşāņa headdress. The sculpture is rightly assigned to the fourth century A.D., to the age of the Gupta ruler Rāmagupta, the elder brother of Candragupta II. The Sri-vatsa mark on the chest of the Jina is still of the early type met with in the Kuşāna art of Mathura. Candraprabha is here identified because the inscription on the simhasana gives the name of the Jina.
A stone sculpture of Candraprabha sitting in padmāsana on a big visva-padma placed on a simhasana was found in the Jaina temple at Vaibharagiri, Rajgir. In the centre of the simhasana is a dharmacakra which looks like a full-blown lotus. Above it is the crescent moon, the cognizance of the Jina. Besides a male standing camaradhara there are, on each side of the Jina, three miniature figures of Tirtharkaras sitting in padmasana. Thus this is a Sapta-tirthi image of Candraprabha. There are on top two māladharas, two drums and a triple umbrella. The sculpture belongs to the eighth century A.D. 118
Page #156
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
143 Patna Museum no. 10695 is a standing Candraprabha from Aluara with the crescent shown on the pedestal. The bronze can be assigned to c. 11th-12th cent. A.D. A more beautiful bronze of standing Candraprabha from Achyutarajapura, Orissa, dating from c. 10th-11th cent. A.D., is preserved in the State Museum, Bhuvanesvara. A metal image of standing Candraprabha from Käkatpur, Orissa, is preserved in the Ashutosh Museum, Calcutta. 119 The same museum has a stone Caturmukha shrine from Dewalia, Burdwan, on one side of which is a standing Candraprabha with the moon symbol and figures of standing Rsabha, Mahävira and Pärsvanātha on the remaining three sides. 120 The Indian Museum Calcutta has a beautiful miniature stone shrine of Candraprabha from Bihar showing the Jina standing on a double lotus below which in the centre of the pedestal is his crescent moon symbol.121 There are 23 more miniature figures of standing Tirtha karas. The pedestal shows four-armed figures of his yaksa and yakşi.
Cave 7, Khandagiri, Orissa, has a rock-cut figure of Candraprabha sitting on a big lotus with a long stalk. Below the lotus is a mark of a big crescent. Caves 8 and 9 each also have a figure of Candraprabha in the sitting posture. 122 Candraprabha seems to have been popular in Eastern India in Bihar, Bengal and Orissa.
Allahabad Museum no. 295 is a sculpture of Candraprabha in padmāsana sitting on a big lotus placed on a simhāsana. 123 In the centre of the lotus is the crescent symbol. On the right end of the pedestal is the two-armed yaksa Sarvānubhūti while on the left end is a two-armed yaksi with the lotus in the right hand and the left arm and legs mutilated. The sculpture is assigned to c. ninth cent. A.D.
At Devgadh, Candraprabha was popular. His images are found in temples nos. 1, 4, 12, 20, 21. In the image in no. 21, hair-locks are shown on his shoulders. All the sculptures date from c. 10th-11th centuries. At Khajuraho, one sculpture on the west wall of the sanctum of the Parśvanātha shrine shows him sitting in the padmasana with two more standing Tirtha karas and two-armed yaksa-yaksini. The second image, also showing him in the sitting posture, is in temple no. 32 and is assigned to c. 12th century A.D. Nos. J.880, J.881 and G. 113 in the State Museum, Lucknow, represent the Jina Candraprabha.
On a Pañca-tirthi sculpture of Candraprabha from Padhavali, Gwalior, M.P., the symbol is given at the foot of the pedestal below the dharmacakra while a pot-bellied two-armed yaksa is shown at the right end. The yakşi shown on the left end carries a garland of flowers with both the hands. Since there are two female standing garland-bearers and a male and a female sitting devotee near the feet of the Jina, it seems that the two-armed sitting female on the left end of the simhasana might have been regarded as a yakşiņi. If so, this would be an exceptional form.
In Devakulikå no. 13, Vimala Vasahi there is in worship a Panca-tirthika sculpture of Candraprabha; in cell no. 26 of the same temple is in worship a Tri-tirthika sculpture of this Jina. In cell no. 30, Rūpini, the wife of Mahāmātya Dhanapala, had installed a sculpture of Candraprabha in samvat 1245, according to the inscription on the pedestal preserved in the cell. According to an inscription on a pedestal in the Neminätha shrine, Kumbharia (Muni Višalavijaya, op. cit., p. 104, inscr. no. 31) a sculpture of Candraprabha was installed there in samvat 1335. In the same temple there is an image of Candraprabha installed in v.s. 1338A.D. 1281 (ibid., p. 106, no. 36). A pedestal in cell 18 of the Pārsvanātha temple, Kumbharia, has an inscription which says that this image (now lost which was on the pedestal) of Candraprabha was installed in samvat 1259= A.D. 1202. In the temple of Dharmanatha at Radhanpur there is a metal image of Candraprabha installed in samvat 1306; in the temple of Ajitanātha at Radhanpur there is in worship another metal image of this Jina installed in samvat 1423; in the Cintāmaņi Pārsvanātha temple, Radhanpur is in worship a metal Panca-tirthi of Candraprabha, installed in samvat 1439.
A beautiful sculpture of Candraprabha, of white marble and with full parikara and every detail minutely carved, is preserved in the sanctum of a shrine of Candraprabha at Patan, North Gujarat. The sculpture dates from c. late fifteenth or early sixteenth century A.D. The crescent moon is shown in the centre of the decorated cushion on which the Jina is sitting in padmasana. In the centre of the simhasana is the four-armed Santi-devi, while at the right end of simhāsana is the four-armed Vijaya yakşa and
Page #157
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
144
Jaina-Rupa-Mardana
on the corresponding left end of the throne is the four-armed Brukuți yakṣi of the Svetambara tradition.
At Sravana Belagola, in the set of Bhaṇḍāra Basti (1159 A.D.), Candraprabha, standing in kayotsarga pose, has by his right side the four-armed yakṣa who may be Syama or Ajita and the four-armed yaksi on the left who seems to be Manovega (acc. to Tiloyapanṇatti) and not the Jvälämälini (of other Digambara texts). In Humaca, south Karnataka, we have a standing Candraprabha with the cognizance carved on the pedestal. As usual in Sravana Belagola and other sets here also the Jina has a halo and a triple umbrella and no other member of the parikara except the four-armed yakṣa and yakşi standing on his right and the left sides respectively. In the sculpture of Candraprabha at Veņur we have a four-armed yakşa but the yakşi is six-armed. In the Suttalaya set, at Sravana Belagola, of late 12th century, both the yakṣa and the yakși are four-armed while in the Mudabidri group of twenty-four Tirthankaras, the yakși of Candraprabha is six-armed. This set is later and dates from c. 14th or 15th century A.D. There is a sculpture of Candraprabha standing at Bhatkal in Karnataka. Here the yakṣi is eight-armed Jvälämālinī.
A rather modern example of Candraprabha image, cast in metal, according to Digambara tradition, is in worship in a shrine in Venkundram, North Arcot district, Madras. The Jina stands on a lotus device placed on a pedestal with the crescent symbol of the Jina shown in its centre. The total absence of the śri-vatsa mark in all the south Indian images noted above is noteworthy. In the Venkundram bronze we find a small triangle carved on the right side of the chest of the Jina. We find such a mark on metal images of other Jinas in this shrine.
Candraprabha, also called Candranatha in the south, has been popular amongst the Jainas almost everywhere in India. P. Gururaja Bhatt, in his Studies in Tuluva History and Culture, discussing Jainism in Tulunadu, lists some noteworthy Jaina Bastis in places in Tulunadu. The list shows that there are several Bastis (shrines) with Candranatha in the sanctum at places like Mūḍabidure, Karentitodi, Veņūru, Beltangadi, Dharmasthala, Mardala, Nerenki, Uppinangadi, Panantabailu, Mularappatna, Manjesvara, Omanjuru, Bailballa, Mulki, Madhura-patna, Iruvattur, Humbucha, Angadtyaru, Karkala-Hiriyangadi, Mala, Mülivaru, Keravase, Varanga, etc.
Such a survey of important Jaina shrines in different parts of India, along with the images worshipped therein, is not yet completed for any State or district in a State and so it is not advisable to draw hasty conclusions and say, for example, that maximum number of images of Candraprabha were carved in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. 124 Even if such a statement is with references to States in India Lorth of the Vindhyas, I humbly believe that without a full survey one need not hasten to draw such conclusions. Jaina temples in Patan or Cambay or in Satruñjaya etc. have never been fully surveyed from such a point of view.
A nişidhi stone with a figure of Candraprabha in upper panel along with the cognizance, from Danavulpadu, is preserved in the Madras Museum.
9. NINTH TIRTHANKARA: SUVIDHI OR PUSPADANTA
Both the sects worship the ninth Jina as Puspadanta or Suvidhi. He was born as prince of king Sgriva and queen Mahadevi (Dig.) or Rama (Sve.) of the city of Kākandi (modern Kekind in Bihar). White in appearance and born in the Mula nakṣatra, Suvidhi had descended upon this earth from the Pinata (acc. to Uttarapurana) or Apata (acc. to Hemacandra) heaven. 125
While he was still in embryo, his mother became adept in all rites and arts (Suvidhi-kuśala) and because a tooth appeared from a pregnancy wish for flowers, his parents gave him two names: Suvidhi and padanta,126
Puspadanta obtained kevalajñāna under a Mālūra tree according to Hemacandra (Sve.), but under a Nga tree according to the Digambara text Uttarapurana and under an Akşa tree according to the yapappatti (Dig.). T.N. Ramachandran has noted that it was the Sala tree. 127 Possibly he relied on Varaha or Varahaka Svetämbara traditions,
Kannada tradition. The Samaväyänga sutra states that it was the Mäli tree. Sulasa were the leaders of his gapadharas and aryikas respectively according to
Page #158
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
145
and Vaidarbha (Nāga according to Tiloyapaņņatti) and Ghoşāryā were the leaders according to Digambara traditions.
Ajita was his yakşa according to both the sects. The yakṣi was Sutārå (Sve.) or Mahākālikā (Dig. Uttarapurana). The Digambara text Tiloyapannatti gives Brahma yakşa and Käli as the śāsana yakşa and yaksini respectively of this Jina. Suvidhinātha obtained nirvana on Mt. Sammeta.
In both the traditions, the crocodile (makara) is the dhvaja or lañchana of this Jina. According to a Canarese (Kannada) tradition noted by Burgess as well as Ramachandran, the crab is his cognizance. 128
Images of this Jina are not so common (especially in Museum collections as those of Rsabha. Mahavira, Pārsva or Säntinātha, but they are obtained in temples of both the sects. A sculpture of Suvidhi from some site in the South (not specified, but probably Karnataka) was published by Kamta Prasad Jaina. 129 It represents him along with miniature figures of the 23 other Tirthankaras and belongs to the Digambara tradition. Jinaprabha Sori states that Sri Suvidhinātha is worshipped at Kāyādvära. The identification of this tirtha of Suvidhi is not certain. 130
The earliest image of Puspadanta so far discovered dates from the fourth century A.D. Along with the image of Candraprabha referred to before, this sculpture was al installed by Maharajadhiraja Rāmagupta. The Jina is identified with the help of the inscription on the pedestal. 131 No lañchana is shown. A third image of some unidentified Jina was also found along with the above two images from a village called Durjanapur near Vidisha. Inscription on the third image is defaced and hence the third image cannot be identified. All the three images are now preserved in the Vidisha Museum, M.P.
Hirananda Shastri has referred to an image of standing Puspadanta, of c. 11th cent. A.D., obtained from Chattarpur, and having the makara as the cognizance. 132
At Khandagiri, in caves 8 and 9 we have rock-cut sculptures of Puspadanta in padmasana with the makara as his cognizance. 133
In the Pārsvanātha temple, Kumbharia, in cell no. 9 is an image of Suvidhi with his name inscribed in the inscription on the pedestal dated in v.s. 1276=A.D. 1219 (Viśālavijaya, Sri Kumbhāriyāji Tirtha, p. 50. inscr. no. 9-32). In the temple of Sāntinātha, Kumbharia, is an image of Suvidhi installed in V.S. 1138=A.D. 1081 (ibid., p. 56, inscr. no. 3-37). In the Kalyāna-Pārsvanātha temple at Radhanpur, N. Gujarat, there is in worship a metal Panca-tirthi image of Suvidhi installed in samvat 1464 according to the inscription on the back. Another such Panca-tirthi installed in samvat 1485 is in worship in the Neminātha temple, Radhanpur. There is a Pañca-tirthi sculpture of Suvidhi, with parikara, in cell 31 in Vimala Saha's temple at Abu. In cell 38 of the same temple was installed a sculpture of Suvidhi in V.S. 1245 according to the inscription on the pedestal of the Mülanāyaka image (main image) in this cell.
In the Bhandara Basti, Sravana Belagola, we have a sculpture of Suvidhi with Ajita yakşa standing on his right side and Mahākāli yakşi standing on the left. On the pedestal a figure of karimakara is carved as the cognizance. In the Suttalaya of Gommata at Sravana Belago!a, and at Veộür and Mūdabidri we also find sculptures of Suvidhi standing with his yaksa and yakșiņi by his sides.
10. TENTH TIRTHANKARA: SITALANATHA
Sitalanātha was the son of king Drdharatha of Bhadrapura or Bhaddilā (in the Malaya country) by queen Sunanda and was born in Purvāşadhā nakşatra, having descended from the Acyuta heaven according to Hemacandra and from Ārana heaven according to the author of the Uttarapurāņa. 134
The name Sitala was given to him because the king's body, when it was hot, became cool at the touch of the queen, while the Jina was in her womb. 135
Sitalanátha, says the Uttarapuräna, obtained kevalajñāna under a Bilva-tree; Hemacandra says that it was a Pippala-tree (Ficus Religiosa) while Ramachandran, on the evidence of scme Kannada tradition, says that it was a Priyangu-tree (Panicum italicum). The Tiloyapannatti says it was the Dhūli-tree. The Samavāyanga sūtra calls it Pilankkhu (Priyangu ?) tree. 136
According to the Svetā mbara tradition, Nanda and Suyaśā were his chief ganadhara and āryikā respectively, 137 while according to the Digambara text Uttarapurāna, they were Anagara and Dharaṇā.
Page #159
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
146
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana According to the Tiloyapannatti, they were known as Kunthu and Dharană respectively.
The Sasanadevatäs of the tirtha of Sitalanātha were Brahma yaksa and Asoka yakşi according to the Svetämbara belief and Brahma yakşa and Manavi yakşi according to the Digambara sect. The Tiloyapaņņatti however says that they were Brahmeśvara and Jvālāmālini. Sitala obtained nirvāpa on Mt. Sammeta.
Golden yellow in complexion, Sitalanātha had Sri-vşkşa as his cognizance according to Digambara texts (except the Tiloyapannatti which gives the svastika as his lañchana); the Svetāmbara writers prescribe śri-yatsa mark as his cognizance.
In the Archaeological Museum, Gwalior, is a sculpture of a Jina sitting in padmāsana upon a seat with an inscription on it dated in samvat 1552 (?). In the centre of the seat is the tree symbol. The figure, with the head lost, is placed on a pedestal of another image. The pedestal is a simhasana with two lions, the dharmacakra in the centre and a yakşa and a yakşiņi figure at the right and left ends respectively. At the lowermost end of this simhāsana, below the dharmacakra, is a small figure of the cognizance which looks like a lion. So this simhāsana belonged to another Jina figure, whereas the Jina with the tree symbol is of course raranatha
Tiwari refers to an image of Sitala from Tripuri, M.P., preserved in the Indian Museum. It is a partly mutilated piece with the lower portion constituting the pedestal and part of the top portions broken and lost. The cognizance of the Jina is therefore not known and it is difficult to identify the Tirth ankara represented by the sculpture. 138 However it is a good specimen of art of Tripuri of the mediaeval age.
: According to Jinaprabha sūri, Sítalanātha was worshipped in a shrine in the Prayaga-tirtha (Allahabad).139 The Jainas of Vidisha today regard Vidisha as the old Bhaddilapura, the birth place of Sitala and have a shrine dedicated to this Jina.
In the Khandagiri caves at Orissa, Sitalanātha is shown sitting in Cave 8 and standing in Cave 9.140
In the National Museum, New Delhi, no. 48.4/46 is a metal image of Sitala sitting on a lion-throne. Between the lions is depicted the śri-vatsa which is his cognizance. The simhasana is flanked by yakşa Brahma and yakşi Asoka. On the pedestal are depicted the nine planets, the dharmacakra flanked by two deer and a seated devotee at each extreme. The inscription on the back of the image is dated samvat 1542.
In the Bhandara Basti, Sravana Belagola, we have a standing figure of Sitala with the Brahma yakşa and Manavi yaksi by this sides. We also have a figure of this Jina in the Müdabidri set of Tirthankaras and one figure in the Venur set. P. Gururaja Bhatt has published a white stone sculpture of Sitala standing from Kallu-Basti. Mudabidure. 141 He has also noticed images of Sitala in Eda-Bala-Basti and Ammanavara-Basti at Karkala-Hiriyangadi.
In the Sāntinātha temple, Kumbharia, an inscription on an image of Sitalanātha shows that the image was installed in samvat 1138. Of an image of Sitala in the Pārsvanātha temple, Kumbharia, only the inscribed pedestal is preserved which shows that the image was installed in samvat 1161. In cell 16 of the same temple there was installed an image of Sitala whose pedestal alone dated samvat 1259 is preserved. Inscription on the pedestal of an image of Sitala in cell 37, Vimala Vasahi, Abu, shows that the image was installed in samvat 1245. In cell no. 593/4 at Satrunjaya is a Panca-tirthi image of Sitala installed in samvat 1517 (inscription no. 227, Kanchanasagara suri, op. cit.).
At Chandrāvati, Zálräpațaņa, Rājasthān, there is a famous old shrine of Sitalanātha erected in the tenth century.
11. ELEVENTH TIRTHANKARA: ŚREYĀMSANATHA
Sreyāmsanātha was the son of Vişnuraja and Vişnudevi (acc. to Hemacandra, but Venudevi acc. to Tiloyapannatti) or Nandā (acc. to Uttarapurāna and other Digambara sources), king and queen of the city of Simhapura. Golden in appearance, Sreyāmsa was born in the Sravaņa nakşatra, having descended from the Acyuta or Puspottara Vimana, 142
Page #160
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
147 Hemacandra's two explanations of the name are far-fetched as almost all others for different Jinas are. He has somehow tried to connect Sreyāmsa with śreyas (spiritual good or merit).143
The Jina obtained kevalajñāna while meditating under a Tumbura tree (Uttarapurāņa) or Palāśa tree (Tiloyapannatti). According to Hemacandra it was the Asoka tree. T.N. Ramachandran's Table gives Tanduka as the Caitya tree. The Samavāyānga sūtra reads it as Tinduga.
The cognizance of Sreyamsa is Rhinoceros (khadgi, gandah) according to both the sects. Ramachandran has noted three different traditions about this Jina's cognizance: (1) Rhinoceros, (2) Deer, (3) Garuda. The last two alternatives seem to have been based on some Kannada traditions.
The Jina was followed by a band of 77 gañadharas with Kunthủ as their leader according to the Uttarapurana, but Dharma according to Tiloyapannatti, Gostubha according to Samaväyänga sutra and Kaśyapa according to others. Dharanã (Dig.) or Cāraņā (TP) or Dharini (Sve.) was the head of the order of aryikās of this Jina. Sreyamsa obtained nirvana on Mt. Sammeta.
Isvara and Gauri are his yaksa and yakşiņi respectively according to the Digambara traditions (except the Tiloyapannatti which gives Kumāra and Mahākāli) while the Svetāmbaras invoke them as Yakşet and Mānavi.
Triprstha, the first Vasudeva and Vijaya, the first Baladeva, of Jaina Puranas, lived in this age. According to Jinaprabha sūri, Tirthas (places of pilgrimage) of Sreyamsa existed on the Vindhya-giri and Malaya-giri.
A. Bannerji has noticed an image of Sreyāmsa in kāyotsarga mudrā at Pakbira (Purulia), W. Bengal.144 There is an image of Sreyāmsa in the Indore Museum, M.P.
Sculptures of Sreyāmsa are found in caves 8 and 9 at Khandagiri, Orissa. 145
B.C. Bhattacharya writes, "At Sarnath, in Benares, the traditional place of the Jina, there is a Jaina temple dedicated to this patriarch. An old image of the same Jina may be seen in the Brahmanical sculpture shed attached to the Museum." According to him the image is no. C.62 in the Museum.146 In the Nagpur Museum is a sculpture from Cedi area, Madhya Pradesh, assignable to c. 10th-11th cent. A.D., which has on the pedestal a figure of the cognizance looking like a rhinoceros. It has been published as representing Sreyamsa in the second edition of B.C. Bhattacharya's Jaina Iconography (plate XVI).
In the Provincial Museum, Lucknow, no. J.856 is a Pañca-tirthí sculpture of this Jina from SahetMahet (ancient Srāvasti), district Gonda, U.P. Below the dharmacakra in the centre of the simhāsana is the figure of rhinoceros, the cognizance of Sreyāmsanātha. It may be noted that the Jina has hair-locks on his shoulders which is unwarranted.
No. 8 in the Shivpuri Museum, M.P. is a sculpture of Sreyamsa standing on a simhāsana in the centre of which in a niche is a small figure of an ācārya with his right hand in the vyakhyāna mudra. He is sitting in padmasana and the figure could also represent the Jina giving the sermon. Below the seat of this figure is the dharmacakra below which at the lowermost end of the pedestal is the figure of the cognizance of Sreyamsa. The sculpture came from Narwar, M.P.
In the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay, is a Pañcatirthi brass image of Sreyamsa dated samvat 1525 according to an inscription on its back. In Cell no. 11, Pärsvanātha temple, Kumbharia, is the pedestal of a sculpture of this Jina. Inscription on the pedestal shows that the image of Śreyāmsa was installed in samvat 1202.147 Muni Viśālavijaya (op. cit., p. 56) refers to an image of Sreyāmsa installed in samvat 1138, in the Santinātha temple, Kumbharia.
A Panca-tirthi brass image installed in samvat 1569 is in worship in the Kharatara vasahi temple at Satruñjaya (Kanchanasagara sūri, op. cit., inscr. no. 433).
Sculptures of Sreyamsa are also found in the sets of 24 Tirthankaras at Sravana Belagola, Venur and Mudabidri. In each case the Jina is accompanied by his yaksa and yaksiņi.
12. TWELFTH TIRTHANKARA: VĀSUPOJYA
King Vasupujya and queen Jayā (Sve.) or Vijayā (Dig.) had a prince named Väsupujya who became the twelfth Jina. Reddish in complexion, Vasupujya was born in the Satabhişa naksatra, having descended
Page #161
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
148
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana on this earth from the Mahāśukra Vimāna according to the Uttarapurāna and Pränata according to Svetämbara texts. The buffalo is his cognizance in both the traditions.148
He was called Väsupujya because he was the son of Vasupujya or because he was the object of worship for Indra (Vasu). 149
The Pățală tree (Bignonia Suaveolens) was his Caitya-vskșa according to the Samavāyānga sutra and Hemacandra, but Kadamba tree according to the Uttarapurāņa. The Tiloyapanpatti calls it Tenduva which is the same as Tinduka of Aśādhara. Sixty-three ganadharas headed by Dharma followed him according to the Digambara text Uttarapurāņa. According to Tiloyapanpatti Mandira was the leader of ganadharas and according to other traditions Subhūma was the leader. Senā (Dig. Uttarapurana) or Varasena (Tiloyapannatti) or Dharanidharā (Sve.) was the head of the āryikās of his order.
His father was ruler of Campā (modern Bhagalpur) which was the birth-place of this Jina. Vasupujya became a monk and did not marry, nor did he become a king. He obtained nirvana while sitting in the paryarkāsana (same as padmāsana in Sve. traditions but perhaps ardha-padmāsana in Dig. traditions) and meditating on the Mandara mountain near the river Rajatamulikā.150 Hemacandra says that he died in the city of Camp 152
The yakṣa of Vasupujya was known as Kumāra according to both the traditions and is called Şammukha (which is another name of Kumāra) by the Tiloyapannatti. The yakşiņi is Candā or Candra according to the Svetāmbaras and Gandhāri according to Digambaras. The Tiloyapannatti calls her Gauri.
The second Vasudeva Dviprstha and his step-brother Acalastoka, the second Baladeva, of Jaina mythology, lived in the age of Vasupujya.
Jinapabha süri says that there was a temple of) Viśvatilaka Väsupujya at Campa. 152
Tiwari has referred to a Caturvimšati-patta of Vasupujya from Shahdol, M.P. The sculpture shows the buffalo cognizance and the yakșa and the yakși on the pedestal. 153 Caves 8 and 9, Khandagiri, Orissa, have rock-cut sculptures of Vasupujya.154
A big brass image of Vāsupūjya is in worship in the Jaina temple in the Marfatiã Mehta's pāda, Patan, N. Gujarat. The image (size 28.2 x 18 inches) illustrates the fully evolved parikara as depicted in Gujarat and Rajasthan in the mediaeval period. The image has an inscription on its back giving samvat 1582 (A.D. 1525) as the date of installation. The buffalo cognizance of the Jina is seen in the centre of the seat of Vasupujya. There is a miniature figure of a four-armed Sānti-devi in the centre of the simhasana. Figures of the yaksa and yakși of Väsupūjya are also shown on two ends of the simhasana.
An interesting type of sculpture of Vasupujya from Pañcāsarā Pārsvanātha temple, Patan, was illustrated by us in Studies in Jaina Art, fig. 73. The Jina sits in padmāsana, dhyāna mudra, on a seat placed on a big lotus with a long stalk. On his right a male attendant stands with a chowrie in one hand while on the left a female figure with perhaps a cămara in one hand and the other hand placed on her kați. Over the head of the Jina is the usual umbrella. The upper part of this sculpture is covered with the foliage of a big Caitya-tree, the branch of the tree depicted in a semi-circular arch-like way. Inscription on the pedestal of the sculpture shows that it was installed in samvat 135(6) in commemoration of some penance practised by a certain lay worshipper. The inscription calls this a bimba (image) of Vasupujya.
An important characteristic of the sculpture is the representation of the big Caitya-tree under whose shade the Jina sits and the omission of almost all other members of the usual parikara. Again, instead of two attendant males holding the fly-whisk, a male and a female are generally represented on two sides of the Tirtharkara. Another sculpture of a similar type was illustrated by us as fig. 75 in Studies in Jaina Art. This sculpture, from a Digambara Jaina temple in Surat, Gujarat, is not inscribed and so it is difficult to identify the Jina. The Patan sculpture discussed above belongs to the Svetāmbara tradition. A small sculpture of this type was seen by me years ago in one of the devakulikās of Vimala Vasahi. It was fixed into a side wall and had no inscription nor a recognizing symbol. In Sambodi, Vol. 3, no. 2-3, pp. 21-24, T.O. Shah, M. Vora and M.A. Dhaky published two more such images ---one from Porbandar, Saurashtra, Gujarat and another from Cambay. The Porbandar image is dated in Samvat 1304 and the
Page #162
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
149 Cambay one is somewhat earlier. The authors suggested that the male and female figures represent Asokacandra and Rohiņi who are said to have worshipped Väsupujya.
In cell no. 53, on the left of the mulanäyaka (chief image) is a sculpture of Vasupujya installed in samvat 1401 according to the inscription on it. In devakulika no. 41, Vimala Vasahi, there is still in worship a sculpture of Väsupujya installed in samvat 1245 at the hands of Devacandra suri. In cell 14 of the Parsvanätha temple, Kumbharia, a sculpture of Vasupujya was installed in samvat 1259 (Viśälavijaya, Kumbhariyāji Tirtha, pp. 129-30).
A metal image of Vasupujya (height about 10 inches) is in worship as mülanäyaka in the Dig. Jaina Gujarati Mandir, Naväpura, Surat. The image was installed in samvat 1679. In the same temple there is a smaller metal image of Vasupujya installed in samvat 1617. In cell 612/8/1 at Satrunjaya is in worship a Panca-firthi image of Vasupujya installed in samvat 1517 (inscription no. 272 of Kanchanasägara sūri). Another Pañca-tirthi in worship in Kothära, Satruñjaya, was installed in samvat 1431 (inscription no. 255 of Kanchanasägara sūri).
Sculptures of Vasupujya with his yaksa and yakşi are in worship amongst the different sets in Sravana Belagola, Mudabidri and Venur referred to before.
13. THIRTEENTH TIRTHANKARA: VIMALANÄTHA
Vimala was the son of king Krtavarmā and queen Syāmă of the city of Kampilya. Golden in complexion, the Jina descended upon this earth from the Sahasrara heaven according to the Uttarapurāna and from Mahāśukra Vimana according to others. According to Uttarapurana, the naksatra of his birth was Uttarabhadrapada, but Uttaraşadhā according to others. 155
Vimala's dhvaja or lånchana was the boar according to both the sects. His father called him Vimala because the queen's mind became more pure while, the Jina was in her womb. 156 According to Uttarapurana, Indra called him Vimalavahana.157
He obtained kevalajñāna under a Jambū-tree (Eugenia jambolana) according to Hemacandra, the author of Uttarapurana and others. Mandara was his chief ganadhara while the chief of äryikās was Padma (Dig.) or Dhara (Sve.).
Vimala obtained nirvana on Mt. Sammeta. According to the Svetāmbaras, Şanmukha and Viditā were his sasana yakşa and yakşi respectively; according to Digambara writers, they were known as Şanmukha and Vairoți or Vairotyä. The Digambara Tiloyapannatti however calls them Pātāla and Gandhāri respectively.
Dharma and Svayambhū, the third Baladeva and Vasudeva (also called Balabhadra and Nārāyana) respectively, flourished in the age of Vimalanatha. According to Jinaprabha süri (14th cent. A.D.), temples of Vimala existed at Kampilya, at the origin of the Ganges, and at Simhapura.158
A beautiful sculpture of Vimala (c. 9th cent. A.D.) is preserved in the Sarnath Museum (no. 236). The upper part is mutilated as also the heads of the Jina and his attendant male câmaradharas. The Jina is standing on a lotus placed on a pedestal. The boar cognizance is carved in the centre of the pedestal. The figure belongs to the Digambara tradition. A sculpture of Vimala standing (Dig.) on a simhasana, obtained from Bateśvara (Agra) is preserved in the State Museum, Lucknow (no. J.791). The boar is carved in the centre of the lowermost end of the pedestal. At the right and the left ends of the simhasana are the two-armed yaksa and yakşi respectively, each showing the abhaya mudrā and the water-pot. A sculpture of Vimala in kayotsarga mudra from Narwar, M.P., is preserved in Raipur, M.G.M. Museum (no. 20). The yakșa and yakşi are not shown. The sculpture is assigned to c. 12th cent. A.D.
Amongst Aluara bronzes in the Patna Museum is a small standing image of this Jina (Mu. no. 10674). In Caves 8 and 9, Khandagiri, Orissa, we have sculptures of Vimalanatha, in the sitting and standing postures respectively. 159
A brass Pañca-tirthi of Vimalanätha is preserved in the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay. It was installed in samvat 1686, according to the inscription on its back. A full parikara is shown here. A Pañcatirthi metal image of Vimala inscribed in V.S. 1436 is in worship in the Jaina temple at Chiņi near
Page #163
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
150
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana Baroda. An image of Vimala in the Sāntinātha temple, Kumbharia, was installed in samvat 1138 (Viśālavijaya, op. cit., p. 56). In cell 50, Vimala Vasahi, Abu, was installed a sculpture of Vimala in samvat 1245. Only the pedestal with the inscription now remains (inscr. no. 163, Sri-Arbuda-PracinaLekha-Samdoha, by Muni Jayanavijaya) 160
“The Vimalanätha-basti at Bellur, in Mysore district, has a 76 cm high image of Vimalanatha with an inscription on the pedestal of a date earlier than the thirteenth century."161 For a metal Panca-tirthi of Vimala (from west India) in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, see Jaina Art and Architecture, III, pl. 333.
Images of this Jina are obtained at Srava a Beļago!a, Veņūr and Müdabidri.
14. FOURTEENTH TIRTHANKARA: ANANTANATHA
Ananta was the son of king Simhasena and Suyaśā (or Sarvayaśā) of Ayodhya, descended from the Prāṇata Vimāna (Uttarapurāņa) or the Puşpottara Vimāna (Hemacandra). The Uttarapurāņa further differs from other sourou by giving Jayaśyāmā as the name of the queen mother. The Jina is said to have been born in the Revati nakşatra, according to both the traditions. 162
Golden in appearance, Anantajit was so called because his father could conquer inestimable (ananta) armies of his opponents while the Jina was in the embryo state. 163 The falcon was his lañchana according to Svetāmbaras and the bear according to Digambaras. 164 Pātāla served as his yaksa 165 while Anantamati (Dig.) or Ankuśā (Sve.) officiated as the yakşiņi of his tirtha.
Ananta obtained kevalajñāna under an Asvattha tree (Ficus Religiosa) according to the Digambaras and the Svetämbara text Samavāyanga sutra, but under an Asoka tree according to Hemacandra.166 Yaśa and Anjuyā were the first gañadhara and āryikā respectively according to the Samavāyanga - sutra, Sarvasri was the chief äryikā according to Tiloyapanpatti and Padmã according to other Digambara texts.
Anantanātha obtained nirvana on the Mt. Sammeta. Suprabha and Purusottama, the fourth Balabhadra and Näräyana respectively lived in this age.
Giving a list of famous tirthas of Ananta, Jinaprabha sūri says that Ananta nātha was worshipped at Yamunā-brada in Mathura, at Dvārikā in the sea, and in the city of Sakapāņi.167
In Caves 8 and 9, Khandagiri, Orissa, we find rock-cut sculptures of Ananta in the sitting posturt.168
No. 48.4/52 in the National Museum, New Delhi, is a metal sculpture of Ananta seated in the dhyāna mudrā on a lion-throne and under a triple-umbrella. Pātāla yakşa and Anantamati yakşi flank the simhasana. The image was installed in samvat 1507.169 A Caturvimšati-pasta (Covisi) of Ananta, in metal, installed in v.s. 1477, is in worship in the Jaina shrine in Chāņi, near Baroda. In Cell 33, Vimala Vasahi, Abu, is a pedestal of a sculpture of Ananta installed in samvat 1245.170 An image of Anantanātha was installed in samvat 1145 in the Mahāvira temple, Kumbharia (Viśālavijaya, op. cit., p. 122). A metal Panca-tirthi of Ananta is in worship in the Ajitanätha temple at Radhanpur. It was installed in Samvat 1475.
P. Gururāja Bhatt, in his Studies in Tuļuva History and Culture, pl. 411(b), illustrates a figure of Ananta from Baikanatikāri-Basti, Mūdabidure, and another figure from Padu-Basti, Müdabidure in pl. 412(b).
Sculptures of Ananta are available in all Tirthankara-Bastis in Karnataka where sets of all the 24 Tirthankara images are installed. We find images of this Jina in the Bhandara Basti, Sravana Belagola, and in such sets at Mūdabidri and Venur. For some more images and shrines dedicated to Anantanátha, see P. Gururaja Bhatt, op. cit., pp. 438-439.
15. FIFTEENTH TIRTHANKARA: DHARMANATHA
The fifteenth Jina descended upon this earth from the Sarvārthasiddha Vimāna, his birth naksatra being the Puşya according to both the sects. Golden in complexion, Dharmanātha was born as the prince of king Bhānu and queen Suvrată of the city of Ratnapur.171
Page #164
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
While the Jina was in his mother's womb, the queen-mother had the pregnancy-wish of performing various religious acts (Dharmavidhi), so the Jina was named Dharma by the king. 172 Both the sects give the vajra (thunderbolt) as the cognizance of Dharmanatha. The Jina obtained kevalajñāna under a Dadhiparna (Clitorea ternatea) tree. The Uttarapurana however, against the rest of the Digambara texts, gives Saptacchada as the Caitya-tree.
Dharmanatha obtained nirvāņa on Mt. Sammeta. Arişța or Aristasena was his chief gaṇadhara; Suvrata was his chief aryika according to Tiloyapanṇatti and Uttarapuraṇa, Bhaviyappa according to Samavāyānga and Arthasivă as noted by Ramachandran. 173
Kinnara officiated as the yakṣa of this Jina according to both the sects (except the tradition represented by Tiloyapanṇatti which calls him Kimpuruşa). Manasi was the yakși according to most of the Digambara texts, Solasă (Sulasă) according to Tiloyapannatti and Kandarpå according to the Svetambara tradition.
151
The third Cakravarti Maghavan and the fourth one known as Sanatkumāra lived one after the other during the tirtha-period of Dharmanatha. The latter Cakravarti had an extremely beautiful body and was therefore also known as one of the Kamadevas of Jaina traditions. Sanatkumāra was a popular figure with the Jaina Purāņas.
According to Jinaprabha sūri, a tīrtha of Dharmanatha existed at Raṇavahapura near Ayodhya where (the image of) Dharmanatha was honoured by a Näga.174
A metal image of this Jina, originally installed in the Santinatha-Caitya at Anahillapuri (modern Patan, N. Gujarat) in v.s. 1181 is now preserved in a Jaina shrine at Nadol, Rajasthan. There is a shrine dedicated to Dharmanatha at Radhanpur, N. Gujarat. At Radhanpur are also in worship shrines dedicated to Sitalanatha, Vimalanatha, Vāsupūjya, Sambhavanatha, Ajitanatha, Rṣabhanatha (Ādiśvara), Mahavira, Simandhara svāmi, Śantinatha, Neminatha, Cintamani Pārśvanatha, Sahasraphaṇā Pārsvanatha, Godi Pārśvanatha, Kalyāņa Pārśvanatha, and Kunthunatha. The Dharmanatha temple here is a Caturmukha (Caumukha) shrine.
In cell no. 1, Vimala Vasahi, Abu, was once installed a sculpture of Dharmanatha in samvat 1202= A.D. 1145. Only the simhasana now remains. The yakṣa on one end of the seat is two-armed showing the varada mudra and the citron and riding on the elephant. The yakşi on the other end is a four-armed Ambika with lion as vahana and showing the mango-bunch in three hands while holding with her left lower hand the child on her lap.
In the Shivpuri Museum (no. 10) is preserved a sculpture of Dharma obtained from Narwar, M.P. and assignable to c. 12th cent. A.D. D.B. Diskalkar has noticed a sculpture of this Jina in the Indore Museum. 175 A Dvi-múrtika sculpture of Dharmanatha and Santinātha from Karitalai is in the Raipur Museum, M.P.176
Caves 8 and 9 (Bārābhuji and Mahāvira Gumpha respectively), Khandagiri, Orissa, have figures of Dharmanatha with the vajra lanchana.177 In Karnataka in Śravana Belagola, Müdabidri and Venur sets we have sculptures of Dharmanatha.
16. SIXTEENTH TIRTHANKARA: SANTINĀTHA
Santinatha is one of the most popular of the Jaina Tirthankaras. He was born as the prince of king Viśvasena and queen Acira of Hastinapura, in the Bharani nakṣatra, having descended on this earth from the Sarvärthasiddhi Vimana.178 Golden in appearance, Santinatha had the deer as his cognizance, according to both the sects. Burgess, on the evidence of late Canarese dhyana-slokas, gives the tortoise as the lanchana but this tradition does not seem to have been either old or popular. 179
Because the Jina loved peace, Indra called him Santi at the end of the birth-bath ceremony, 180 According to Hemacandra, the Jina was so called by his father because epidemics, evils and miseries were destroyed in the land when the Jina was in his mother's womb.180 He obtained kevalajñāna while meditating under a Nandi tree (Cedrela toona). Cakrayudha was the leader of his ganadharas. Harisena was
Page #165
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
152
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana the chief äryikā according to all Digambara texts, Rakkhi according to the Samavāyānga sūtra and Suci according to other Svetāmbara traditions.
Santinātha obtained nirvāṇa on Mt. Sammeta. Kimpurușa and Mahämänasi were his yaksa and yakşiņi according to Digambara traditions and Garuda and Nirvāņi respectively according to the Svetāmbaras. Tiloyapannatti seems to follow the Svetāmbara tradition in giving Garuda as the name of the yakşa of this Jina. According to this text the śāsana yakṣi was Mānasi.181
The name of Sāntinātha suggests the idea of peace and tranquillity and hence the Jainas gradually began invoking Sānti-nätha (Santi-peace, nätha-lord) for averting calamities in the form of epidemics, fire, famine, foreign invasion, robbers etc. 182 He was thus specially associated with rites known as Santikarma. When Sakti-worship grew stronger in Indian Tantra, the Svetämbara Jainas also invoked a female deity for Sänti or Peace-rites and addressed her as Santi-deri. This goddess seems to be no other than the attendant yakşi of Santinātha. Note that this yaksi is called Nirvani (the name signifies nirvāņa or final peace and bliss, freedom from all bondage and miseries) in the Svetāmbara traditions. The popularity of Säntinātha seems to he due to this role of giver of peace in the Jaina rituals. 183
A hymn, luown as Ajita-Santi-stava, is well-known in Svetambara Jaina literature, as the work of one Nandişena ācārya. In alternate verses it invokes Ajitanātha and Santinātha. The use of different metres and accurate scientific knowledge of Indian musical terms are some of its special features. According to Pastāvalis, one ancient Jaina ācārya Nandişeņa who lived in 527 B.C. is supposed to have been a disciple of Mahavira. The fact that in the hymn the word Janapada is used for geographical divisons suggests that the hymn is a very old one and probably dates from at least before the beginning of the Christian era, being reminiscent of the Janapada Period of Indian history.
The Laghu-Santi-stava of Mänadeva sūri, composed in c. 7th cent. A.D. is also noteworthy. The whole hymn is fused with Tantric usages, and here the author has, by the use of slesa (pun, double meaning), identified Santinátha with Siva, the Lord of Santā (peace or Pärvati). 184
According to Jinaprabha sūri, tirthas or temples dedicated to the worship of Santinātha existed at Kiskindha, Lanka (and Pātālalankä also according to one ms.), and on the mount Trikāta. 185
Santinātha is one of the five Tirthankaras popular in Jaina worship from olden days. The identification of earlier images of Säntinātha however becomes difficult for the following reason. In the earlier stage of introduction of cognizances, on images of Jinas, these symbols were placed on both sides of the dharmacakra while in the later stage they were represented either somewhere above or below the Wheel. The dharmacakra is accompanied by two deer in all the Jaina images from at least about the tenth century onwards (and perhaps a century carlier) and the cognizance of a Jina is represented separately. It is not easy to determine exactly when this last mentioned practice started in any particular district nor is it easy to lay down exact dates of a large number of loose images whether they may be Jaina, Buddhist or Brahmanical. This practice of showing the dharmacakra flanked by two deer (the cognizance being shown separately) seems to be in imitation of the Buddhist practice where such a depiction signifies the first Sermon of the Buddha in the Deer-park. In Jaina sculptures of the Kuşāna and Gupta periods, the dharmacakra is not flanked by the two deer. When the depiction of cognizance on simhasana or pedestal was introduced (in at least the fifth century A.D.), figures of the cognizances flanked the dharmacakra. In such early cases when we find the deer flanking the dharmacakra in the centre of the pedestal or the simhāsana one has to identifiy the Jina as Såntinātha whose cognizance is the deer.
The Caumukha sculpture in the Son Bhandara cave, Rajgir, figure 58, shows the dharmacakra flanked by the cognizance of the Jina above. Each side has a different Jina with a different cognizance flanking the dharmacakra.186 If this sculpture dates from late seventh or the eighth century then we can say that at least upto the late seventh or the early eighth century in all cases where the dharmacakra is flanked by the deer (and there is no cognizance of the Jina in the parikara or any other thing to identify the Jina) the deer flanking the Jina may be taken as cognizance of Santinātha. This would be true at least for Bihar and perhaps eastern India as a whole including Bengal, Orissa and parts of U.P. So far as western India is concerned we find, in the Akota hoard, a standing Pārsvanatha, inscribed, installed by a śrävikā, and assignable to c. 600 A.D.,187 whose pedestal shows Dharanendra and his queen (half human,
Page #166
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
153 half snake) with their tails entwined in a beautiful knot below the lotus on which the Jina is standing. Below this on the pedestal are eight standing planets and in the centre the dharmacakra flanked by two deer. Here the deer cannot be the cognizance of the Jina standing who is certainly Pārsvanatha identified with the help of the snake attendants on the pedestal and the big coiled snake on the back. So in western India, at least by the beginning of the seventh century A.D., imitation of the Buddhist motif of dharmacakra with the two deer had already started.
The problem is still unsolved because in the case of Rşabhanātha installed by Jinabhadra Vācanacarya (Fig. 35) assigned to middle sixth century A.D., published by us in Akota Bronzes, fig. 11, the Jina was identified as Rşabha on account of hair locks adorning his shoulders. Here the dharmacakra, in front of the feet of the standing Jina, is flanked by two deer. Because of the script of the inscription and because of the identification of Jinabhadra Vācanācarya, the image, assigned to c. 525-550 A.D., cannot be placed later than c. 600 A.D. If the image represented Säntinātha then the hair-locks on the shoulders would be unwarranted. Exceptions to the general practice of showing hair-locks on the shoulders of Rşabhanātha are known and we have cited a few such exceptions while diseussing the iconography of Rşabhanātha but these are rare considering the widespread popularity oi images of Rşabia all over India from at least the first century A.D. This Akota bronze of Rşabha would lead one to believe that in the second half of the sixth century the Jainas in western India had already started imitating the Buddhist motif. But we have in the Akota hoard a bronze of Ajitanātha identified with the help of elephants flanking the dharmacakra on the pedestal, vide Akota Bronzes, fig. 41b. This figure is assigned by us to the middle of the eighth century and it cannot be much earlier. So the practice of cognizance flanking the dharmacakra lingered on upto the eighth century, in western India also.
Such a situation creates problems. The beautiful bronze installed by Jinabhadra, discussed above, should therefore represent Santinātha. The bronze of Rşabha from Vasantagadh, illustrated here in Fig. 34 and assigned to sixth century also shows the cognizance on each side of dharmacakra. Thus the beautiful big metal image of a Jina sitting in padmāsana, discovered by Hirananda Shastri from Mabudi, N. Gujarat, showing in the centre of the high pedestal the dharmacakra flanked by two deer, should be identified as representing Santinātha. There are no hair-locks, jață, snake-hoods or attendant yakşa-yakşiņi to help in the identification. This beautiful bronze from Mahudi dates from the seventh century A.D. 188
A somewhat earlier sculpture in schist, obtained from Khed Brahma, an ancient site in Sabarakānthā district, N. Gujarat, published by me in Journal of the Oriental Institute, Vol. X, pp. 61ff with plate, offers a similar problem. The modelling of the different figures clearly reveals the classical style. The sculpture cannot be later than c. 600+20 A.D. The Jina is attended by figures of Sarvānubhuti yakșa and yakși Ambikā, both two-armed. The dharmacakra is flanked by two deer. No other cognizance or symbol is shown to identify the Jina. I am inclined to identify this figure as representing Santinātha.
A partly preserved inscription on the pedestal of a Quadruple image (Caturmukha, Caumukha, Pratimă-sarvato-bhadrika) from Mathura, assigned to the Kuşāna period and dated in samvat 19, refers (either to a temple or) to an image of the Lord (Bhagavato) Santi (Santi),189 which shows that Santinātha was worshipped in circa second century A.D.
No. B.75, Mathura Museum, obtained from Potra kunda, Mathura, shows the Jina sitting in padmāsana on a big lotus placed on a simhāsana. In the centre of the throne is the dharmacakra flanked by two deer. On the pedestal are the Sarvänubhūti yakşa and two-armed Ambika yakşi. Above the attendant cāmaradharas on two sides of the Jina are the eight planets in two rows above which are the flying vidyadhara-mälädhara pairs. The sculpture dates from c. eighth cent. A.D. The figure may be identified as sāntinātha.
Of about the same age is a sculpture of a Jina sitting in padmasana from Kaušāmbi (modern Kosam) now preserved in the Allahabad Museum (no. 535). 190 The yaksa and the yaksi as well as the planets are absent here. Above the head of each camaradhara is an elephant with a rider. Here too the dharmacakra is flanked by a deer on each side. Perhaps this sculpture and the Mathura Museum no. B.75 discussed above date from the end of the seventh century and both may be identified as images of Santinătha.
Mathura Museum no. 1504 is a sculpture of a Jina from Barasana, U.P. The Jina is sitting in
Page #167
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
154
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana padmasana. There is a row of four sitting miniature Jina figures on the top which makes this a Pañcatirthika sculpture. On the right end of the simhasana, where usually the yakşa figure is shown, we find a figure of the deer lañchana while on the corresponding left end is a figure of a devotee. The sculpture dates from c. ninth century A.D. The Jina is obviously Santinātha. Here the dharmacakra is not flanked by two deer and the deer cognizance is shown separately.
No. G.308, Lucknow Museum is a pedestal of a sculpure of Santinātha. The Jina figure is lost. The dharmacakra is flanked by two decr which suggests the identification. This is supported by a figure of the yakşi carrying lotuses in her two upper bands and the pot in the left lower hand. She is Nirvāņi, the yakși of Santinātha.
A sculpture of Santinātha standing, from Vaibhāragiri, Rajgir, belongs to the post-Gupta period. The Jina has a simple parikara consisting of a chatra, two celestial garland-bearers, and two standing câmarad haras. There is no prabhamandala but the uşnişa on the head of the Jina as also the circular tilaka-mark on his forehead are noteworthy. The Jina stands on a full-blown lotus on the right side of which is seen a figure of a deer on the pedestal. The figure on the left also appears to be the deer cognizance of Santinātha.
Bruhn has referred to an image of a standing Jina from Dudahi,191 assignable to c. tenth cent. and of Digambara tradition, with the two deer on two sides of the dharmacakra. Of about the same period is the figure of a Jina in padmasana in the mandapa of the Maladevi shrine, Gyaraspur, M.P., with the deer cognizance and four-armed yaksa and yaksiņi. This is a Pañca-tirthika image referred to by Tiwari. 192
All the Devgadh Jaina images are of the Digambara sect. The mulanayaka in the sanctum of Temple 12, Devgadh, is an image of Santinātha in the kāyotsarga mudrā. Two images of Säninátha in Temple 4, dating from c. eleventh century, show hair-locks on shoulders. About five figures of Santinātha at Devgadh are in the kāyotsarga mudra. Bruhn's fig. 146, from Temple 17, now shifted to the Dharmaśālā at Devgadh, is a beautiful sculpture of Santi sitting in padmasana on a cushion below which are figures of the planets. The deer cognizance is shown in the centre of the throne. Bruhn's fig. 228 is a seated image of Santinātha dated in v.s. 1052995 A.D. Bhagchandra Jaina in his Devgadh ki Jaina Kala (Hindi, 1974), p. 75, describes an image of Santinātha in padmāsana in Devgadh Temple 13. Bruhn's figs. 235-236 show the Jina in a standing attitude.
Nos. K.39 and K.63 in the Khajuraho Museum are figures of Säntinåtha. There is one more image of this Jina in the Jardine Museum at Khajuraho. In Temple no. 1, Khajuraho, there is a big standing image of Sāntinātha, dated in samvat equal to 1028 A.D., and with four-armed attendant yaksa and yakşiņi. 193
A Panca-tirthika sculpture of Sāntinātha sitting, from Pabhosa, U.P., is preserved in the Allahabad Museum (no. 533). 194 The pedestal shows two-armed Sarvånubhuti yaksa and two-armed Ambika yaksi. In the sanctum of the old Jaina shrine at Arang, M.P., are installed three big images in one row. Beginning from the right, the Jinas, standing in kāyotsarga mudra, represent Santi, Kunthu and Ara, the 16th, 17th and 18th Tirtharkaras respectively. 195
No. 331, Rani Durgavati Museum, Jabalpur, M.P., is a very interesting sculpture of Santinātha standing obtained from Kankhedi, Jabalpur district, M.P. The Jina stands in the kåyotsarga mudrå on a lotus. Near his legs on each side stands a male câmaradhara, from behind the camaradharas peep the figures of the deer cognizance of the Jina Santinātha. Near the legs of the câmaradharas and above their heads are shown, in groups of two each, figures of Jaina devotees. Representation of the deer cognizance standing on each side of the Jina is a unique instance so far known. The composition and grouping of different figures in this sculpture is typical and renders further charm to this sculpture which may be assigned to early eleventh century A.D.
In the Shivpuri district Museum is a dvi-tirthika sculpture of Sāntinātha (on the right side) and Mahavira (on the left) standing side by side but on their own different simhasanas and each Jina having his own parikara of cämaradharas, málädharas, triple-umbrella, etc. A small figure of cognizance of each Jina is engraved on the upper rim of the lion-throne just above the head of one of the two lions of each
Page #168
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
155
throne. All the figures are carved from one stone. The sculpture dates from c. 12th cent. A.D. and was obtained from Narwar, M.P. Shivpuri Museum no. 11 is a loose sculpture of Santinatha standing, obtained from Narwar, and dating from c. 12th century A.D. In the Raipur Museum, M.P., there is a Dvi-tirthika sculpture of Dharmanatha and Santinatha, from Karitalai, M.P. (JAA, III, p. 591). A metal Caturvimsati-patta of Santinatha from West India, in Los Angeles County Museum of Art, is illustrated in JAA, III, plate 334.
Tiwari refers to a sculpture of Santinatha from Paḍhavali and another from Ahar in M.P.196 Balacandra Jaina has reported the existence of an image of this Jina, dated in samvat equal to 1146 A.D., preserved in the Dhubela Museum, M.P.,197 while Niraj Jain speaks of an image dated 1179 A.D. at Bajrangagadh, Guna, M.P.198
A Covisi sculpture of Santinatha standing on a lotus, obtained from Mandoil, is preserved in the Rajshahi Museum. The Jina is identified from the two deer flanking the dharmacakra. On the pedestal are figures of nine planets with a figure of Laksmi lustrated by elephants shown in the centre.
An image from Manbhum, preserved in the Patna Museum, is a typical specimen of a miniature Caitya or shrine. Santinātha stands on a lotus in the centre with miniature figures of 23 other Tirthankaras on the sides. The pedestal shows a deer with a lay worshipper on each side sitting with folded hands. There is a bronze image of Śantinātha standing amongst the Aluara bronzes preserved in the Patna Museum. The deer cognizance is shown on the pedestal.
P.C. Das Gupta refers to a sculpture of Santinatha with the deer lanchana obtained from Rajpara, Midnapur, Bengal. The sculpture is assigned to c. ninth cent. A.D.199 Sudhin De refers to an interesting sculpture of this Jina standing, obtained from Pakbira, Purulia district, West Bengal.200 According to Sudhin De, the Jina "stands on a double-petalled lotus placed on a saptaratha pedestal... The central projection of the pedestal bears the lañchana mark, an antelope. The pedestal is embellished by two lions... Among the miniature figures from the left to the right, a goat-headed male figure is identified as Naigameşin... Besides four sitting female figures in añjali mudra are represented... At the bottom of the pedestal, at the left is a kalasa and at the right a Saiva emblem or a phallus representation-a most interesting feature to note." For illustration see JAA, I, pl. 84A. An image of Santinātha is also reported from Ambikanagara.
In the Bäräbhuji cave (Cave 8) and in the Mahavira gumpha (Cave 9), Khandagiri, Orissa, there are rock-cut figures (one in each cave) of this Jina. A Santinātha from Charampa, Orissa, in the Bhuvanesvara Museum is illustrated in JAA, I, pl. 85B.
In the L.D. Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad, is a big sculpture of Santinatha standing on an inscribed pedestal. The inscription dated samvat 1326-A.D. 1269 calls the Jina as Santinatha. There is no cognizance, no dharmacakra, no simhasana. Other members of the parikara are shown. There are no figures of the śāsana yakṣa and yakṣiņi. The sculpture came from Ladol (Lāṭāpalli), N. Gujarat.
There is a temple of Santinatha at Kumbharia, originally built in the eleventh century A.D. (perhaps before samvat 1087). Originally it was a temple of Adinatha but the inscription on the seat of the present image worshipped in the sanctum speaks of Santinātha installed in samvat 1302. In the gūḍhamandapa of the Parsvanatha temple, Kumbharia, is a stone sculpture of Santinatha standing and installed in 1119-20 A.D., according to the inscription on it which names the Jina as Santinatha. The deer cognizance is also shown on the pedestal. On two sides of the Jina are carved miniature figures of Vajrānkuśā, Manavi, Sarvästramahājvālā, Acchupta, Mahāmānasi and Santi-devi as identified by Tiwari.201 In Cell no. 1, Śantinatha temple, there is an inscribed image of Santinatha with 23 miniature figures of Tirthankaras. Two-armed Sarvānubhuti and Ambika figure as the yakṣa and the yakṣiņi. An inscribed image of Santinatha in padmāsana is preserved in the Rajputana Museum (no. 468), Ajmer.
A superb example of Cahamana art is an elegantly cast bronze image of Santinätha, bearing an inscription dated in samvat 1224-A.D. 1168. The Jina sits in dhyana mudra on a cushioned seat (see frontispiece, Jaina Art and Architecture, Vol. III). Besides the elephant riders and celestial musicians, a number of human figures are carved on the back-frame of this image. The modelling of the human
Page #169
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
156
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana figures and also the decorative designs are all skilfully done. The pedestal and/or the simhāsana seems to have been lost. The bronze is preserved in the V. and A. Museum, London.
In cell 15, Vimala Vasahi, Abu was an image of Santinātha installed in v.s. 1131 (inscription no. 74 of Muni Jayantavijaya). Only the pedestal remained showing the inscription, and a four-armed yaksa carrying the goad and the noose in the right and the left upper hands and the citron and the bag in the corresponding lower ones. The elephant is shown as his vahana. The yakşi is a figure of four-armed Ambika with the lion vehicle and the child held on the lap with the left lower hand; her three remaining hands carry the amralumbi (bunch of mangoes). Cell 24 (inscription no. 98 of Jayantavijaya), Vimala Vasahi has a sculpture of Santinātha installed in v.s. 1245 by Mahāmātya Dhanapāla the son of Mahämātya Pţthvipala. The yakşi is four-armed Ambiká showing the same symbols as described above and the four-armed yaksa Sarvānubhūti showing the varada and the money-bag in his right and left lower hands and the goad and the noose in the corresponding upper ones. There is an image of Santinātha installed (by the right side of the main image) in cell 35, Vimala Vasahi, Abu, in v.s. 1288. In cell 47 was installed in samvat 1378 an image of Sāntinātha (inscription no. 157 of Muni Jayantavijaya).
In Cell 5 of the animalia emple, Kumbharia, was installed in samvat 1138 a sculpture of Santinātha (Višalavijaya, op. cit., p. 141). A brass image of Sāntinātha in padmāsana dhyāna mudrā is preserved in the Sambhavanātha temple, Cambay, Gujarat. The whole parikara and the deer cognizance are shown. It may be noted that the male câmaradhara on each side carries a pitcher with his other hand. The image was installed in samvat 1586 according to the inscription on its back. The Bharata Kala Bhavana, Varanasi, has a Covisi metal sculpture of Santinātha installed in 1510 A.D. The image hails from Gujarat or Rajasthan. There are numerous images in stone and metal as also several temples of Santinātha all over Gujarat and Rajasthan, amongst the Svetāmbaras as well as the Digambaras.
Around A.D. 1192, a fine Jinālaya of the god Abhinava Santināthadeva, called Nagarajinālaya, was erected by some business magnates at Dorasamudra, the capital of Hoyasala kings in Karnataka.202 In A.D. 1154, Pārsvasena Bhatțăraka repaired the ruined Basti of Santinātha at Holakere.203 Earlier still, Rāstrakūta king Khottiga Nityavarşa, who came to the throne in A.D. 968, had, according to a record found in a ruined temple at Danavulapadu, Cuddapah district, caused a pedestal to be made for the bathing ceremony of the god Santinátha,204 General Recarasa set up in the year 1200 A.D. the god Santinātha at Sravana Belagola and made over the Basadi to his guru Sågaranandi Siddhantadeva.205 There was a Santinātha Basadi at Belur also.206
At Sravaņa Belagola, Mūļabidure and Venur in the sets of 24 Tirthankara images we obtain images of Santinătha also.
In the ceilings of the Santinātha and Mahāvira temples at Kumbharia and in a ceiling in front of Cell no. 12 at Vimala Vasahi, Abu, we find scenes of not only the five main events of the life of Sāntinātha (panca kalyānakas) but also scenes from some of the noteworthy previous existences of this Jina 207 Santinátha was a Cakravarti ruler before he became a monk and a Tirthaikara. So amongst such scenes we also find the different ratnas of a Cakravarti emperor. In one of his previous births as king Megharatha, the soul of Santinātha offers his whole flesh to a falcon in order to save the life of a dove who sought refuge with Megharatha. This is a famous ancient theme popular in the Brahmanical as well as the Buddhist and the Jaina literatures. In Brahmanical legend king Sibi protects the dove by offering his whole body to be weighed in balance against the body of the dove. In all the scenes from the life of Santinātha both at Kumbharia and at Vimala Vasahi we do find this scene of king Megharatha weighing his body in the balance. Two long wooden book-covers of a palm-leaf manuscript, painted with a series of scenes from the previous existences and the last existence of Santinātha, are preserved in Dehlānā Upasraya no bhändara, Ahmedabad. The paintings covering all the four sides of these two long pastikās were done in Jalor in Marvad (south western Rajasthan) in the thirteenth century of the Vikrama era,208 in c. 1260 A.D. The scenes include this incident of Megharatha offering his whole body to save the life of the dove.
Page #170
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
17. SEVENTEENTH TIRTHANKARA: KUNTHUNATHA
Kunthu was the son of Surasena and Srikantā ruling in Hastinapura, according to the Digambara text Uttarapuraṇa of Gunabhadra. The Tiloyapanṇatti calls them king Suryasena and queen Śrimati, the names being almost similar to Sura and Sridevi given by Hemacandra. Golden in complexion, Kunthu had descended from the Sarvärthasiddhi Vimana, his birth nakṣatra being Kṛttikā,209
157
Kunthu was so called because, according to Hemacandra, the Jina's mother saw (in dream) a heap of jewels known as Kunthu, while he was in her womb.210
Kunthu obtained kevalajñāna under a Tilaka-tree. Ramachandran211 calls it Bhilaka which is probably a misprint or an incorrect ms. reading since all texts including the Samavāyānga and the Tiloyapannatti read Tilaka. Svayambhu was the chief ganadhara of Kunthu according to Uttarapurana and Tiloyapa patti. Svetambara text Samavāyānga sutra agrees with this tradition. Name Samba given by other Sve. traditions seems to be a later tradition. Both Svayambhu and Samba are appellations of Siva. Kunthu's chief female äryika was Bandhuvati according to Samavāyānga sūtra and Dāminī according to other Sve. traditions. The Digambaras call her Bhavita.
The goat is the dhvaja or cognizance of Kunthu in both the traditions. Gandharva and Vijaya or Jaya were his yakṣa and yakṣiņi respectively according to Digambara traditions except the Tiloyapanṇatti which gives the name Mahāmānasi for Vijaya yakṣi. According to Svetambara writers Gandharva and Balā were the yakṣa and yakşini respectively of this Jina. Kunthunatha obtained moksa on the Mt. Sammeta. He was also a Cakravarti before he became a monk.
According to Jinaprabha sūri, tirthas of Kunthunitha and Aranatha existed near the confluence of the Ganges and the Yamuna,212
Bronze images of Kunthunatha are found in the Aluara hoard of Jaina bronzes now in the Patna Museum (Mu. nos. 10675, 10689 to 10693). All Aluara bronzes are of the Digambara tradition which worships the Jina figures without any garment on them. The goat is shown on the pedestal in the above figures which are in a standing posture. The Aluara bronzes date from about the eleventh century A.D. In Caves 8 and 9, Khandagiri, Orissa,213 we have figures of this Jina sitting in padmasana with the goat symbol in the centre of the simhasana. At Pakbira, W. Bengal an image of Kunthu (c. 10th-11th cent.) is also found along with images of Mahāvīra, Rṣabha, Neminatha and Śantinātha.214
Niraj Jain has referred to a big standing image of Kunthunitha at Bajrangagadha, Guna, M.P., dating from c. 12th century A.D.215 In the Urwahi group of rock-cut sculptures at Gwalior we have two sculptures of Kunthu with the goat cognizance.
No. 85 in the Bharata Kala Bhavana, Varanasi, is a beautiful Caturmukha sculpture of standing Tirthankaras. On one side is Kunthunatha with a figure of a goat on the pedestal. On each side of this Jina is a small figure of a Jina sitting in padmisana. The sculpture dates from c. 7th-8th cent. A.D.
A sculpture of Kunthunatha standing in the käyotsarga mudra, obtained from Narwar, M.P., is preserved in the Shivpuri district Museum (Mu. no. 12). The sculpture dates from c. 12th century A.D. These sculptures from Narwar belong to the Digambara tradition.
In the Rajputana Museum, Ajmere, is a standing figure of Kunthunitha, nude in appearance, installed in samvat equal to 1144 A.D., probably hailing from Arthuna, Rajasthan. The yaksa Sarvānubhuti and the yakşi Ambika stand by the sides of the camaradharas in this sculpture.
At Nagda in the vicinity of the Ekalingji temple there is a Jaina temple known as Padmavati Mandira and two more Jaina temples one of which is known as Adbhudji temple. Of this only the garbhagṛha and the antarala remain containing a colossal image of Sintin itha set up in v.s. 1495. A few more sculptures are lying here of which two were recognised by Cousens as Tirthankaras Kunthunitha and Abhinandana.216
An epigraph from Gudar in Shivpuri district, M.P., dated in v.s. 1206 (A.D. 1149) refers to installation of images of Santinatha, Kunthunatha, and Aranatha.217
Jainism was popular in the early part of the history of the Vijayanagara empire. Several temples of Tirthankaras and Manastambhas of beauty were erected. In the reign of Harihara II in c. 1395 A.D.,
Page #171
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
158
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana Immadi-Bukka, a minister of this ruler, constructed a caityålaya at Kurnool enshrining an image of Kunthu Tirthaikara. 218 Images of Kunthu are found at places like Sravana Belagola, Müdabidri and Veņūr where images of all the 24 Tirthańkaras are set up in some shrines. These shrines are often known as Tirthankara Basadis.
In Tamil Nadu also, the fact that images of all the 24 Tirthankaras singly or in group were installed by donors is known from "the appellation caturvimšati-sthapaka of the donor Vasudeva-siddhānta-bhatarar met with in a grantha inscription near a niche containing the elevation of a Jinalaya with a sculpture of Supārsvanatha on a boulder in the rock called Nagamalai at Veralur in Madhurantakam Taluk, Chingleput district. In a few cases only the names of the Tirthankaras are mentioned in the inscriptions, like Vardhamana from Tirupparuttikunram, Vimala-Sri-Arya-Tirtha (i.e., Vimalanātha) from Kil-Sattamangalam, Pārsvanātha from Aivarmalai and Ponnur, Kunthunātha from Karandai and Adiśvara from Ponnur."219
In Cell no. 33. Vimala Vasahi, Abu, there is an image of Kunthunätha installed as the main image (mülanayaka) in the cell. The image was installed in samvat 1394 (inscription no. 117 of Muni Jayantavijaya). In Cal! 2 90 image of Kunthu was installed in samvat 1245 (inscr. no. 134 of Jayanta vijaya).
18. EIGHTEENTH TIRTHANKARA: ARANATHA
Aranātha, the eighteenth Tirthankara, was the son of king Sudarśana and queen Mitrā or Mitrasenä of the city of Hastinapura in the Kurujangala country. He was born in the Puşya naksatra according to Uttarapurāna and in the Revati nakşatra according to Trişastiśaläkāpuruşacarita. He descended upon this earth from the Jayanta Vimāna according to the Digambara belief and from Sarvarthasiddhi Vimāna according to the Svetāmbaras.220
Since his mother saw in a dream a spoke of wheel (ara) while the Jina was in his mother's womb, the father of the Jina named him Ara.221 Golden in complexion, Aranātha had the cognizance or dhvaja of Nandyavarta symbol according to the Svetambaras and fish according to the Digambaras.222 According to Tiloyapanpatti, the symbol was Tagara-kusuma 223 Ara became a Cakravarti emperor.
Aranātha obtained kevalajñāna while meditating under a mango-tree. Kumbha was his chief ganadhara and Yakşilā the chief äryikā according to all Digambara texts except the Tiloyapanpatti which gives Kunthusenā for Yakşilă. According to the Samavāyānga sutra, they were Kumbha and Puspavati respectively. Ramachandran notes Raksila for Puspavati.
Ara obtained nirvāṇa on Mt. Sammeta. Kubera and Jaya were his attendant śasana devatās according to the Tiloyapannatti, Khendra and Ajitā according to other Digambara traditions and Yakşendra (or Yakseśa or Yakşet) and Dhariņi according to Svetambara writers.
Subhūma Cakravarti lived in the time of Aranātha. Jaina versions of the Parasurama story are available in the accounts of this Cakravarti. Nandisena and Pundarika, the fifth Baladeva and Vasudeva (Näräyapa) of Jaina mythology also lived in this age.
Jinaprabha sūri notes that tirthas of Kunthu and Ara exist at the confluence of the Gangā and the Yamuna.224 This suggests that temples dedicated to these two Jinas existed at Prayāga (Allahabad) and/or Kauśāmbi nearby.
A fragmentary pedestal of a Tirthaikara image from Kankali Tilā, Mathura, preserved in the Lucknow Museum (Mu. no. J.20) was supposed to have belonged to a sculpture of Aranātha since the words Arhat Nandyavarta were read in the inscription on this pedestal. It was argued that since Nandyāvarta is regarded as the lañchana of Aranátha, the pedestal belonged to an image of Aranatha. K.D. Bajpai corrected the reading of the inscription and showed that the Arhat Munisuvrata is referred to 225 Bajpai's reading is correct. I have checked it and am convinced of it. Besides, the earlier interpretation of naming a Tirthankara from his lañchana has no support in Jaina traditions. Again only the Svetambaras give Nandyāvarta as the cognizance of Aranātha while the Digambaras believe that fish was his lañchana. The finds from
Page #172
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
159 Kankali Tila show that they belong to an age when Digambara-Svetambara schism had not much advanced even if it had already started.
V.S. Agrawala describes Mathura Mu. no. 1388 thus: "Pedestal (ht. 8") consisting of crossed legs of a Jaina Tirthankara. On the front side between two crouching lions is a symbol composed of minamithuna heads with open mouths from which a string is pendant. The sign of fish is according to the Digambaras the cognizance of the Tirthankara Aranātha, the eighteenth Jaina Arhat ... Judging from its style the pedestal belongs to the Gupta period. Obtained in the Bajna Excavations in January 1918."*226
No. 861 in the Lucknow Museum, from Sahet-Mahet (ancient Sravasti), U.P. shows the fish cognizance on the pedestal. Niraj Jain has noted that a big standing image of this Jina with the fish lañchana dated in 1145 A.D. exists at Navagadh (Tikamgadh), M.P.227 In temple no. 1 on Madanpur hill there is a standing figure of this Jina inscribed in 1053 A.D., according to Darbarilal Kothia. 228 There is also a standing Aranatha in temple 2 at the same place and dates from 1147 A.D. Niraj Jain has also noted a standing Aranätha at Bajrangagadh, dated in 1179 A.D.229 All the images belong to the Digambara tradition. An epigraph from Gudar in the Shivpuri district, dated in 1206 V.S.=1149 A.D., refers to the installation of images of Santinātha, Kunthunātha and Aranātha. We have already referred to the images of these three Jinas installed in the sanctum of the Jaina temple at Arang, M.P.
At Deoli, Purulia district, there was a pañcāyatana group of temples. From this area was discovered a life-size statue of Aranåtha. 230
In the Barabhuji and the Mahāvīra Caves at Khandagiri, Orissa, we find figures of Aranatha sitting in padmāsana with the fish symbol shown in the centre of the simhāsana.231 All the sculptures in these caves belong to the Digambara tradition.
In Karnataka images of Aranātha are found in the sets of 24 Jina-images at Sravana Belagola, Mudabidure and Venür. In the Madras Museum (no. 2499) is a sculpture of Jina sitting in padmasana with the fish symbol in the centre of the pedestal. The Jina figure represents Aranātha.
19. NINETEENTH TIRTHANKARA: MALLINĀTHA
There are two different Tirtharkaras bearing the title of Mallinātha--one is a male while the other is a female. Unlike the Svetämbaras, the Digambaras do not believe that a woman can obtain moksa or kevalajñāna and hence the nineteenth Jina Mallinātha, a female in the Svetambara traditions, is worshipped as a male by the Digambaras. It is indeed difficult to decide which tradition is older and more reliable, but if the tradition of Nayadhammakahão is to be accepted as more ancient and authentic, then the nineteenth Tirthankara was a female. According to the Nayadhammakahão, Malli was one of the most beautiful princesses of her age.232 Nāyādhammakahāo is a canonical text acknowledged by the Svetämbaras; modern research shows that this canonical text, as available today, is not earlier than c. fourth century A.D., the age of the Mathura council under the leadership of Arya Skandila.
According to the Digambara traditions, Mallinātha was the son of king Kumbha and queen Prajavati of Mithila in the Vanga country. He descended on this earth from Aparăjita Vimana, his birth took place in the Asvini naksatra. He was golden in complexion and kalasa (water-pot) was his dhvaja or cognizance. Uttarapurana says that he was called Malli as he had conquered the wrestler (malla) in the form of infatuation.233
Mallinātha obtained kevalajñāna under an Asoka tree (Jhonesia Ashoka). He had a following of 28 ganadharas with Visakha at their helm while Bandhusena led the community of nuns of his tirtha. Mallinātha obtained moksa on Mt. Sammeta. Kubera and Aparajitā (Varuna and Vijay, according to Tiloyapannatti) were his yaksa and yakşini respectively. In the Svetämbara tradition they are known as Kubera and Vairotyä or Dharanapriya.
In the Svetāmbara traditions, Malli is said to have been the princess of king Kumbha and queen Prabhavati of Mithila, born in the Asvini naksatra. Except the sex, almost all other details about Malli given above are common in both the Jaina traditions.
In the Svetambara tradition, several kings are said to have attacked Mithila with their armies in order
Page #173
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
160
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana to carry off this most beautiful princess but the learned and pious Malli succeeded in dissuading them from this act and reforming them all after which she renounced the worldly life and ultimately obtained kevalajñāna. For reforming these kings, the princess is said to have ordered casting of a life-like golden statue of herself, hollow inside, stuffed with all sweets and eatables covered with a lid at the top concealed under a lotus device on the head of the statue. When the kings were summoned into the hall they first saw the statue which was so beautiful and life-like that they mistook it for the real princess. The princess, entering by another door, opened the lid and the hall was filled with foul smell of rotting eatables in the statue. Giving analogy of this statue Malli told the kings that all appearances were false and that the body of even a beautiful lady was after all constituted of bone, marrow, flesh, blood, pus etc. The lesson carried its desired effect. Nāyadhammakahāo narrates this incident.
In Svetāmbara traditions, Malli is described as bluish (nila) in appearance. She had 28 ganadharas with Kumbha as their leader and Āryā as the chief nun according to Samaväyānga sutra. According to other texts they were Abhiseka and Bandhumati.
According to Hemacandra, this Jina was called Malli because, when she was in her mother's womb, the mother had a pregnancy desire for flower-garlands.234
Padma, the Cakravarti, lived in this age. Nandimitra, the Baladeva and Datta, the Vasudeva also lived in this age. Malli obtained nirvāṇa on Mt. Sammeta. According to Jinaprabha sūri, a tirtha of Malli existed on Mt. Sri-Parvata.
A rare specimen of the female form of Mallinātha is preserved in the Lucknow Museum.235 Unfortunately the head is mutilated and lost. The cognizance, water-pot, in the centre of the seat is much defaced. The dhyāna mudrā and padmāsana posture, and the developed breasts make it quite certain that the sculpture represents Tirthankara Malli according to Svetāmbara tradition. On the back the braid of hair (veni) is well preserved. There are lotus marks on palms of hands of the Jina. The sculpture (no. J.885) was obtained from Unao (Unnava) in U.P. This is the only specimen, so far discovered, of Malli image in female form. It is interesting to note that as yet no Malli image in any Svetämbara shrine is known to have breasts or any mark of a female's braid or dress. And the Lucknow Museum sculpture referred to above does not date from the Kuşāņa or Gupta period. It is generally assigned to c. ninth century A.D.
Nagpur Museum no. B.18 is a sculpture of Mallinātha sitting in padmāsana on a simhāsana. The cloth hanging on the simhāsana shows an embroidered figure of a water-pot. Like other sculptures in the Museum, obtained from different areas of Maharashtra, this figure, of mediaeval period, seems to have belonged to the Digambara sect.
Another stone sculpture of Malli, of c. 10th century A.D., showing him sitting in padmāsana on a simhāsana, is preserved in the Tulasi Samgrahalaya, Ramvan, Satna, M.P. Here also the kumbha lañchana is shown on the cloth hanging. A sculpture of standing Mallinātha, of Digambara tradition, from Narwar, M.P., is preserved in the Shivpuri district Museum (Mu. no. 13) and dates from c. 12th century A.D.
Amongst sculptures from Karitalai, M.P. in the Raipur Museum, M.P., is a Dvi-tirthika white stone sculpture of Mallinātha and Munisuvrata.236 In the National Museum, New Delhi, is a metal Pancatirthika sculpture of Malli (no. 47.109/170). On either side of the simhāsana are Kubera and Dharanapriya, the yakşa couple attending on the Jina. The inscription on the back is dated samvat 1531 (Vikrama) and samvat 1427 (Saka).237
In the Bārābhuji cave and the Mahāvira-gumpha, Khandagiri, Orissa, we have figures of Mallinātha sitting in the padmasana on simhāsana with the pot symbol in the centre of the throne.238 No dharmacakra is shown in these sculptures. In the Khajana Building Museum, Golconda, A.P., Mallinātha carved on highly polished black basalt is shown standing in the kayotsarga mudra. The sculpture dates from c. 12th century A.D.239
In the North Arcot district, T.N., Tirumalai, called Vaikavur in inscriptions, has, on its hill, a Jaina temple complex dedicated to Mallinātha and Nemiśvara 240 At Karkal, Karnataka, there is a famous Caturmukha-Basti built in 1586-87. "Each of its four doors opens on three black stone images of three Tirthankaras, Ara, Malli and Munisuvrata, of identical size and shape."241 There is beautiful image of
Page #174
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tīrtharkaras
161 Mallinātha (c. 12th cent. A.D.) in the Kere-Basti, Mūdabidure.242 Sculptures of this Jina are also available in the Bhandara Basti and the Suttalaya of Gommata at Sravana Belagoļa and in the groups at Müdabidure and Veņür.
20. TWENTIETH TIRTHANKARA: MUNISUVRATA
Munisuvrata was the son of king Sumitra and queen Padmă of the city of Räjagsha, born in the Sravana naksatra, having descended on this earth from Pränata heaven, according to Uttarapurana and Aparājita Vimana according to Svetambara tradition. The Tiloyapanpatti agrees with the Svetämbara and other traditions in giving the above names of Parents of this Jina, but Uttarapuräpa says that the Jina's mother was called Somā.243
Since during pregnancy, the queen-mother was devoted to religious practices (suvrata) like a pious monk (muni-vat), the Jina was called Munisuvrata by the king.241 Munisuvrata obtained kevalajñana under a Campaka-tree (Michelia Champaka). He had a following of eighteen ganadharas with Malli as their head while Puspavati or Puspadatta was the chief nun of his Order 24 According to Samavāyānga sutra they were Kumbha and Amila respectively.246
Munisuvrata had a dark complexion and his recognizing symbol was a tortoise (kūrma) according to both the sects. He obtained nirvana on Mt. Sammeta.
His śāsana yakşa was Varuna (Bhskuți according to the Tiloyapannatti). His yaksini was Bahurupiņi according to Digambara traditions and Naradattā according to the Svetämbaras.
Harişena, the Cakravarti, lived in this age. Rāma (called Padma) and Lakşmana, the eighth Baladeva and Väsudeva respectively and heroes of the Jaina version of the Ramayana story, also flourished in this age.
According to Jinaprabha sūri an idol of Munisuvrata with a crown of priceless gems was worshipped at Bhsgupattana (modern Broach or Bharucha in Gujarat). Tirthas of Munisuvrata also existed at Pratişthanapura, Ayodhya, Vindhya mountain, and Māņikyadandaka.247
A fragmentary pedestal of a sculpture supposed to have been of Arhat Nandyavarta-Aranátha, found from Kankali Tila, Mathura, is preserved in the Lucknow Museum (no. J.20). The specimen shows a bas-relief with a tri-ratna symbol in the centre surmounted by a dharmacakra. The right half of the pedestal is mutilated and lost, only a headless figure of a nude Jaina monk, with a piece of cloth held in the raised left hand covering his nudity, remains. To the left of the tri-ratna symbol are four standing females, three of them, dressed in similar garments, hold in their right hands long purse-like objects with an ornamental lotus-bud or câmara-like tops. The fourth female, younger and of smaller stature, has her hands folded in adoration. There is a two line inscription on the upper rim of the pedestal and a one line inscription at base.248 The date in the inscription is read as 79=157 A.D. by Buhler and others and as 49 by J.E. van Lohuizen-de Leeuw. The last part of the second line in the upper rim reads: Arahato Munisuvratasa pratimă nirvartayati, and the last part of the line in the lower rim reads: pratimăvo dve thupe devanirmite.
Thus the pedestal belonged to an image of Munisuvrata installed in the Devanirmita Stūpa at Mathura, in the year 127 or 157 A.D.
A stupa of Munisuvrata existed at Visälä (Vaiśāli ?) according to the Āvaśyaka Cūrņi which gives the story of the Thubha in illustration of Parinamiki Buddhi. The Avaśyaka Niryukti merely gives the catchword thubha which suggests that the author of the Niryukti knew of the stupa of Munisuvrata at Viśāla 249
An interesting image of a Jina, in the old Jaina temple, Vaibhāragiri, Rajgir, and dating from c. ninth century A.D., has, on a cot below the pedestal of the Jina, a figure of a reclining lady (see Fig. 70 A). On the evidence of a reclining lady shown below the figure of Munisuvrata, in the row of yakşis in the Barabhuji cave, Khandagiri, Orissa, Debala Mitra showed that in the case of the Vaibhāragiri image just described, the Jina should be identified as Munisuvrata 250 Debala Mitra cited a few more images known to her. One of them belongs to Shri Bejoy Singh Nahar of Calcutta, and another of
Page #175
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
162
Jaina-Rūpa-Mandana
Barabhuji cave referred to above. According to Shri Nahar his figure was obtained from somewhere in Bengal by the late Shri P.C. Nahar. Debala Mitra writes: "A third fragmentary sculpture discovered at Rajghat (Varanasi) and now in the Ashutosh Museum of Fine Art, University of Calcutta, shows a lying female below the pedestal of a lanchana-less Jina figure, the upper part of which is missing ... The cognizance immediately to the left of the wheel of the Vaibhāra specimen is too small to be readily noticed ... the relief is so low that it is almost invisible in the photograph published here ..."251
About forty-three years back the present writer had seen one small sculpture in the vicinity of Temple 12, Devgadh, which showed, as in the image in Nahar's collection, a Jina in padmāsana in the upper panel and a lady reclining in the lower panel. The figures were somewhat worn out. Now the Jina can be identified as Munisuvrata in view of what Debala Mitra proved.
Another interesting sculpture, obtained from Kauśambi, and dating from c. ninth century A.D., is preserved in the Allahabad Museum (no. 560). Pramod Chandra, in his Stone Sculpture in the Allahabad Museum, pl. CXXXI, and p. 143, describing it writes: "... The central projection of the pedestal has a cakra flanked by two crouching lions, the recesses at the sides accommodating sunken panels containing images of a pot-bellied yakpa and a yakși. The lotus on which the Tirthankara sits has a narrow rectangular panel in the centre in which is placed the image of a reclining lady ..
What Pramod Chandra described as .yakşi, on the left end of the pedestal, seems to be a female devotee with folded hands and the reclining lady mentioned above may be the yakşi Bahurūpiņi. Thus the Jina from Kauśambi referred to above can be identified as Munisuvrata. In the State Museum, Dhubela, M.P. are some Jaina sculptures from Mau and Nowgong. Amongst them is a black granite image of Munisuvrata,252 seated in padmasana, the upper part being damaged. The pedestal contains an inscription saying that the image was installed in samvat 1119 by one Sulbana of the Golāpūrva-kula. The Jaisinghapura Jaina Archaeological Museum, Ujjain, preserves two black stone images of Suvratanatha (nos. 49 and 56) from Ashta and Karcha, with inscriptions in twelfth century characters.253 Tiwari refers to a sculpture of this Jina in temple 20, Khajuraho.254
In the Raipur Museum, M.P., are Dvi-tirthika images from Karitalai having short inscriptions incised at the bottom of pedestals. Amongst them we have pairs of Ajitanatha and Sambhavanātha, Puspadanta and Sitalanátha, Dharmanatha and Santinátha, and Mallinåtha and Munisuvrata. Dvi-tirthikas of perhaps all the 24 Tirthankaras were installed at Karitalai, just as it seems that individual images of all the 24 Jinas were perhaps installed at Narwar, M.P.255
The Central Museum, Jaipur, preserves an elegant early mediaeval sculpture of black stone representing Munisuvrata standing in the kāyotsarga posture. This and another similar sculpture of standing Neminātha were found from Narhad near Pilani, Rajasthan. The Neminātba image is in the National Museum, New Delhi.256
National Museum no. 48.427 is a metal pañcatirthi of Munisuvrata with Varuna and Naradattā as the yaksa and yakşi on the pedestal. The tortoise cognizance is also shown. On the back is an inscription dated samvat 1509.
Muni Višalavijaya has published an inscription on a Jina image in the Säntinátha temple, Kumbharia, which shows that the image of Munisuvrata was prepared at the instance of Pahada of Prāgvātavamsa, in samvat 1145= A.D. 1088 (Muni Višalavijaya, op. cit., p. 144). Muni Višalavijaya has also published (op. cit., p. 136) an inscription from Devakulikā no. 6 in the Parsvanátha temple, Kumbharia, which says that an image of Munisuvrata was gifted by Sreșthi Āśadhara in samvat 1276.
In cell no. 11 of Vimala Vasabi, there is an image of Munisuvrata with Sarvanubhūti and four-armed Ambikä as yaksa and yakşiqi. The sculpture was installed in samvat 1200 according to the inscription on it. There is also a Munisuvrata Jina in cell 31 of the Vimala Vasahi.
In the Mahävira temple, Kumbharia, there is, at present, a stone slab (sila-pasta) representing the Asvävabodha-samalikavihåra-tirtha. The panel originally belonged to the Neminätha temple, Kumbharia, where half of this slab is still preserved. The patta is dated in v.s. 1338=1281 A.D. by an inscription incised on it. A similar patta is also preserved in cell no. 19 of the Luna Vasahi built by Tejpala at Abu. The Lúnavasahi-pata was installed in samvat 1335 by Asapala of Prägvăța caste, according to an
Page #176
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
163
inscription in cell 18 (see Jayantavijaya, Arbuda-prăcīna-Jaina-lekha-sandoha, inscr. no. 297, p. 124). The pata in the Neminatha shrine Kumbharia also has an inscription on it showing that the Munisuvratabimba with the Asvävabodha-Samalikävihāra-tirthoddhara was installed in v.s. 1338. Except the date the rest of the inscription regarding the donor and the monk installing the sculpture is identical in both the inscriptions (see Arbudacala-pradaksina-Jaina-lekha-sandoha, inscr. no. 31). D.R. Bhandarkar first published the sculpture and gave a detailed account of the story of preaching the Aśva (horse) by the Jina, and the story of the śakunika (bird) who was born a princess of Lanka in the next birth and who came to Broach to pay her respects to Munisuvrata whose shrine existed at the port of Bharukaccha.257
A stone slab (pata) of the type at Abu and Kumbharia exists in the Parsvanatha temple at Jalor, as noted by Tiwari. Long ago this writer published a beautiful marble pața depicting the story of Aśvāvabodha and Sakunikä-vihara from a temple in Cambay. This pața as well as the Abu and Kumbharia patas are now being published by U.P. Shah in the C. Sivaramamurti Memorial Volume.
A valuable interesting sculpture in black stone, found from near Agra, is preserved in the Lucknow Museum (no. J.776). In the centre sits Munisuvrata in dhyana mudra on a cushion-like seat. Marks of cakra are seen on the soles of the Jina's feet and on palms of hands: The Jina has an uṣṇīṣa on top of his head. The triple umbrella is shown over the stem of the Caitya-tree. On each side of the Jina is a male fly-whisk bearer and a standing Tirthankara wearing dhoti (lower garment) thus showing that the sculpture belongs to the Svetambara tradition. Over the standing Jina on each side is a male figure standing in kayotsarga mudra on a lotus and wearing a crown and other ornaments. Obviously they are meant to be represented as Jivantasvami images. Whether both such figures are meant to be of Mahavira as Jivantasvāmi meditating in his home before dikșă or one only of Mahavira and the other of Munisuvrata as Jivantasvāmi, we cannot determine. Over the triple umbrella is a miniature figure of a Jina in padmasana placed in a small cell while on his right stands a four-armed Baladeva and on the left a four-armed Väsudeva carrying the mace in his right hand (Fig. 72).
In the lower section is the lion-throne with the dharmacakra in the centre but without the deer flanking it. On the right side of the simhasana is pot-bellied two-armed yakṣa carrying the citron and the bag in his two hands while on the left side of the throne is seated a two-armed Ambika with a child on her lap. Below the dharmacakra is a tortoise, the cognizance of Munisuvrata. An inscription on the lowermost part of the sculpture says that this image of Munisuvrata was installed in samvat 1063=A.D. 1006.
The Caumukha Basti at Karkal in Karnataka, built in 1586-87 with images of Malli, Ara, and Munisuvrata facing each door, is already referred to before. Munisuvrata is installed in Pathaśälä-Basti in Müdabidure. Images of this Jina are also found amongst the different sets of 24 Jinas at Sravana Belagola, Mudabidure and Veņur noted before.
21. TWENTY-FIRST TIRTHANKARA: NAMINĀTHA
Naminatha descended from the Aparajita Vimāna of the Anuttara heavens, according to the Digambaras and from Pranata according to the other sect. Son of king Śrivijaya or Vijaya and queen Vapra (Vappilä-Uttarapurana) ruling in Mithila, Nami was born in the Svati nakṣatra.258
While the Jina was in his mother's womb, his father's enemies bowed down (praṇam) in submission whereat the king gave the name Nami (from nam to bow down) to the newly born would-be Jina.259 He was golden in complexion.
The recognising symbol of this Jina is the blue-lotus. B.C. Bhattacharya260 writes: "The emblem which is associated with this Jina is a blue-lotus or the Aśoka tree, according to the sectarian view of the Digambaras." Unfortunately he has not cited any text in support of the statement. No text known to us prescribes Aśoka-tree as the recognising symbol of Nami (or Nimi)nätha, nor is Aśoka his Caityatree, for Nami obtained kevalajñāna under a Bakula-tree (Mimusops elengi) according to all traditions. Naminatha was followed by 17 ganadharas with Suprabha (Dig.) or Subha (Sve.) as their leader. The chief aryika was Mārgiņi according to the Digambaras and Anila according to the Svetambaras.
Page #177
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
164
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana Bhrukuți and Cåmundi were his yaksa and yakşiņi respectively according to Digambara sources. The Svetambara texts call them Bhrukuți and Gandhari. The Digambara text Tiloyapanpatti however says that they were known as Gomedha and Bahurūpiņl. Nami obtained moksa on Sammeta-Sikhara.
Jayasena, the eleventh Cakravarth of Jaina mythology, lived in this age. Jinaprabba sūri says that Nami was worshipped at Ayodhyā which is described as a mokşa-tirtha.261
Muni Jayantavijaya, in his Tirtharaja Abu (p. 194), has noted a sculpture of Naminātha being worshipped in a cell in the Sabhamandapa of the Caumukha temple, Acalagadh, Mt. Abu. An inscription on a pedestal preserved in devakulika 45 of Vimala Vasabi refers to the setting of the stone sculpture of Naminátha by minister Yašovira in v.s. 1245= A.D. 1188 (inscr. no. 150, Sri-Arbuda-Präcina-Jainalekhasandoha). In the Pārsvanätha temple at Rohida, near Abu, Rajasthan, are a number of bronzes. Amongst them there is one dated samvat 1493 of Naminātha and another Pañcatirthi metal image dated 1565 samvat, installed by Sri-Samgha in Pattana-nagara (Pra. Sri-Samghena Pattana nagare). It seems that the image was originally installed in Patan and later it seems to have been brought to Rohida (inscriptions nos. 575 and 594 in Arhudorola-Pradakşiņa-Jaina-lekhasandoha). In the bigger Santinātha temple, Radhanapur, North Gujarat, is a metal Panca-tirthi of Naminātha installed in samvat 1517. Images of this Jina are also found at Satruñjaya.
P.L. Gupta in the Catalogue of Antiquities, Patna Museum, has identified a stone sculpture from Palma in Manbhum district as representing Naminātha but S.K. Sarasvati doubts the identification and suggests that the image represents Ajitanatha.262
Kalidasa Datta has referred to a standing image of Naminātha of Svetāmbara tradition found at Mathurapur near Raidighi, Bengal.263 Tiwari has referred to an image of Nami in cell no. 19 of the Lūnavashi, dated in 1233 A.D.264 This cell once contained the Asvävabodha-Sakunikavihära-tirtha-uddhära pata referred to above while discussing the iconography of Munisuvrata. I do not know whether after my visit in 1950-51 some image is transferred to this cell. Muni Jayanta vijaya has not referred to any such inscribed image of Naminátha in Lanavasahi. He might have missed it.
A sculpture of Naminātha sitting is carved on the wall of Barabhuji cave, Khandagiri, Orissa and another rock-cut figure of Nami is seen on the wall of the Mahāvīra gumphā nearby.
We have sculptures of Nami at Sravana Belago!a, Mūdabidri, and Venur in the groups of images of 24 Tirthankaras.265
There is a sculpture of Naminātha in the group of big sculptures of the Urwahi group, Gwalior fort. A water-lily is shown as the cognizance. Bhagchandra Jaina in his Devagadhu ki Jaina Kala (Hindi), p. 74 refers to a big standing image of Naminátha (his fig. 62) at Devgadh, temple 28, with lotus symbol on pedestal.
22. TWENTY-SECOND TIRTHANKARA: NEMINĀTHA (ARIŞTANEMI)
Aristanemi or Neminātha, the twenty-second Tirthankara, descended from the Jayanta Vimana according to the Uttarapurana and from Aparajita Vimana according to Tiloyapannatti and Svetämbara texts. He was the son of Samudravijaya and Siva devi of Sauripura and was born in the Citrä naksatra.266 Neminátha was a cousin brother of Krspa and Balabhadra, the ninth Väsudeva and Balarama of Jaina mythology. Jaina legends of Krşna and Balarama offer interesting comparison with the Hindu accounts of Krsna and Balarama in the Visnupurāna, Harivamsa, Mahabharata and the Bhagavata.
According to the Uttarapurāna, Indra called him Neminātha 267 because the Jina was as it were the spoke (nemi) of the Wheel of True Law. Hemacandra gives a similar explanation. According to another explanation offered by Svetāmbara writers, he was called Aristanemi because while he was in the womb, his mother saw, in dream, a wheel of Arista-jewels.268
Dark-blue in appearance, Neminátha had the cognizance of a conch according to both the sects. Nemi obtained kevalajnana on Mt. Raivataka while meditating under a Vetasa-tree (reed-tree, bambootree) according to the Kalpa-sutra. The Uttarapurana refers to the same tree when it calls it Mahavenu. Tiloyapannatti says it was a Meşaśnga-tree. Nemi had a following of 11 ganadharas (18 acc. to Kalpa
Page #178
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
165 sutra) with Varadatta as their chief according to both the sects. Yakşi or Yakşiņi was the leader of the äryikās. There were besides some well-known asyikās like Rūjimati and Katyayani. Nemi obtained nirvana on Ujjayanta (Urjayanta) or Mt. Girnar, identified as Raivataka of old texts.
According to Tiloyapannatti, Pārśva and Kuşmāņdi were the yaksa and yakşiņi respectively of Neminatha. According to others they are known as Gomedha and Ambika (same as Kuşmändi). The Digambaras sometimes describe Sarvanha as the yaksa of Neminātha.
Jinaprabha sūri says that Neminātha was worshipped at Sauryapura in the Sankha-Jinalaya, in the city called Patala, in Mathura, Dvaraka, Simhapura and Stambhatirtha (Cambay in Gujarat). At Cambay he was known as Patala-linga-Neminātha269
Scenes from the life of Neminātha have been very popular in Jaina art. Nemi (also called Aristanemi), a very brave prince, was, from the very beginning, a person of a pious nature and averse to worldly pleasures. He was reluctant to marry. Ultimately, his marriage with princess Räjimati, daughter of king Ugrasena, was arranged. When the marriage procession was going towards the bridal pavilion, with the bridegroom Nemi in a chariot, Aristanemi saw a large number of animals captured in a yard by the wayside, apparently with a view to kill them for serving the guests with meat. He snuddered at the idea of the impending great animal slaughter for which sin his own marriage was responsible, and decided to give up marriage and instead become a Jaina recluse. He immediately ordered his charioteer to turn back and, going on the Mt. Raivataka (Girnar), took dikşå as a Jaina monk. Räjimati the bride, a pious lady following the Indian ideal of womanhood, regarded Neminātha as her husband though not formally married (but already the engagement has taken place), and following Nemi's footsteps, became a Jaina nun. Rathanemi, a younger brother of Neminātha, also became a Jaina monk.
Once upon a time, on Mt. Girnar, when at dead of night there was a heavy downpour of rains, Rajimati, the nun, took shelter under a cave, and, taking off all her drenched clothes, began drying them. A flash of lightning revealed her naked lovely form to Rathanemi who also had taken refuge in the samo cave. Rathanemi's weak mind was tempted to enjoy sexual pleasure but Rajimati, the pious nun, explained to him that desire to have her was like licking what was vomitted by another person. This saved the situation and Rathanemi repented for his evil thought. This incident between Rathanemi and Räjimati forms the theme of a very old ballad in the Jaina canonical text called the Uttaradhyayana sutra.270 Belief in Aristanemi thus goes back to some centuries before the Christian era.
The historicity of Neminátha or Aristanemi is linked up with that of Kșşņa the hero of Harivamsa, Bhagavata, etc., since both of them are cousin brothers according to Jaina Puranas. The Uttaradhyayana sūtra ballad is certainly an ancient onc as shown by Charpentier.271 An Aristanemi is known to Vedic literature though his identity with the Jaina Tirthankara cannot be confidently asserted.272
As stated before, scenes from the life of Neminātha have been very popular in Jaina art. Paperboard covers to hold mss. for reading have sometimes painted on them the scene of marriage procession of Neminátha. Wooden book-covers of palm-leaf manuscripts are found painted with scenes from the life of Neminātha. We have already referred to such book-covers with scenes from the life of Santinatha. In the collections of the L.D. Institute of Indology are book-covers with scenes from the life of Mahavira as also covers with the scenes from the life of Parsvanātha.
In one of the ceilings of the bhamati of the Lūna Vasahi built in the thirteenth century by Tejpala at Abu, we have scenes from the life of Neminātha, and in another ceiling some scenes from the early life of Krsna at Gokula. In one of the ceilings of the bhamati (corridor) of the Santinátha temple, Kumbharia, we have scenes from the life of Naminātha, carved in the eleventh century A.D. Of the same age is an other ceiling in the Mahāvira temple, Kumbharia, depicting scenes from the lives of Santinātha and Neminátha. In a ceiling in front of cell no. 10, Vimala Vasahi, we have a scene 273 of the water-sports (jala-krida) of Krsna's queens, Krsna and Nemi, and also the scene about testing the valour between Krsna and Neminátha, and the scene of marriage procession etc. The scenes in the Lūnavasahi ceiling are elaborate and include scene of fight between Krspa and Jarasandha besides the marriage procession, a scene of marriage of Nemi and Rajimati in the marriage pandal, and their returning home in a palanquin and the scene of renunciation of worldly life (diksä) of Neminātha etc. 274
Page #179
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
166
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana Scenes of the main events in the lives of Rşabha, Neminátha, Pārsvanātha and Mahavira are also found in the miniature paintings of the Kalpa Sūtra, already described by Coomaraswamy, Brown, Moti Chandra and others. For detailed accounts from the previous lives and the last life of these Tirtha karas one may refer to Trişastišalakäpuruşacarita (Sve.) and the Mahapurana (Adipuräna+Uttarapurana) of Jinasena and Gunabhadra (Dig.) and the Harivamśa of Jinasena. One may also refer to the Paumacariyam of Vimala sūri.
The earliest known images of Neminātha are from the Kankali Tila, Mathura, preserved in the Lucknow and Mathura museums. One of them, no. J.8 in the Lucknow Museum, had an inscription on its pedestal dated in the year 18, expressly stating that the Jina represented is Aristanemi. According to Lohuizen-de Leeuw, this date is with the figure of 100 of the Kaniska's era omitted which means that the image is dated in 118 196 A.D. The cognizance is not shown on the sculpture and the Jina is identified only with the help of the inscription.275 V.S. Agrawala has referred to another sculpture, no. 2502 in the Mathura Museum,276 with figures of Balarāma and Krsna shown on the right and the left side respectively of the Jina. Four-armed Baladeva carries the plough in one hand while another is placed on the kați. Symbols of the two remaining hands are broken. ir tt , remaining hands of the four-armed Krsna, are the gada (mace) and the cakra (discus).
No. J.121, Lucknow is another early sculpture of standing Neminātha dating from c. late fourth century A.D. On the right of the Jina stands a four-armed Balarama with five snake-hoods overhead and carrying the wine cup (cașaka) in one of his hands. To the left stands Krsna showing the gadā and the conch in two hands. Symbols of the other hands are not distinct. No. 37.2738 in the Mathura Museum, dating from c. tenth century A.D., is a similar sculpture of Neminätha with four-armed Balarama and Kệspa standing on his right and left side respectively. Heads of the Jina, Balarama and Krspa are mutilated and lost. As we have suggested in the previous chapter, Nos. J.117 and J.60 in the Lucknow Museum cannot be certainly identified as Neminātha. The snake-hooded figure on the right may be just a någa figure. Besides in J. 117 the figures on the right as well as the left have their two hands folded. We have shown in the last chapter that mälädharas, kundadharas and Nägas are enjoined as attendant figures in a sculpture of a Tirthankara. Mathura Museum no. 2502 is a sculpture of Neminātha since the figure on his right showing a plough can be identified as Baladeva and the one on the left with the gadà and the cakra must be Krsna. No. J.47 in the Lucknow Museum also represents Neminātha sitting in padmāsana. Here the figure on the right shows the plough, the mace and the wine cup, and is therefore Balarāma while the figure on the left, four-armed, shows the gadā, the abhaya mudra, etc. These are sculptures of the Kuşåna period. No. B.77 in Mathura Museum represents Nemi with conch symbol.
The Vaibhāra giri, Rajgir, sculpture of Neminātha sitting in padmasana with the conch cognizance on each side of the dharmacakra (shown as cakrapuruşa, a Gupta period motif) shown in the middle of the simhasana has a small inscription mentioning Mahārājadhiraja Sri Chandra ... and with the help of the paleography of the inscription is rightly assigned by Rama Prasad Chanda to the reign of the Gupta Mahārājädbirāja Chandragupta 11.277
A sculpture on the Vipula giri, Rajgir (Indian Museum Photo-negative no. 635) shows the Jina sitting in padmasana, dhyana mudrā, on a big viśva-padma, with an attendant standing camaradhara on each side. In the centre of the simhasana is a dharmacakra with a conch on each side. A sculpture of a Jina sitting in padmāsana on a big lotus (Photo no. 646, Indian Museum, Calcutta) with a dharmacakra in the centre of the pedestal was found on Udayagiri, Rajgir. On two sides of the wheel are still visible portions of the conch. The Jina has a small uşnişa on top of the head. There is also a sculpture of Neminātha on the eastern wall of Temple no. 1, Ratnagiri, Rajgir. Here also the conch is placed on each side of the dharmacakra in the centre. The Jina sits in padmasana on a simhasana. A plain halo, triple-umbrella and a big cushion at the back of the Jina are shown. Instead of twigs or leaves of a Caitya-tree hanging from two sides of the chatratraya, two ends of what looks like a piece of cloth are shown hanging on both the sides (Indian Museum, Negative no. 641).
Tiwari identifies no. 212 in the Bharat Kala Bhavan, Varanasi, as Neminatha sitting on a sit . sana. This is really placed on top of a tall tree. On one side of the tree is a standing male figure wid
Page #180
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
167
ing a flower or a camara (2) in his right hand while with his left hand he holds a vessel.278 But just below it sits a child with a raised right hand which reaches the vessel. On the left of the tree stands a female with a child held by her left hand and a flower-like object held in her right hand. No lanchana of the Jina is shown. It is difficult to explain the Jina's position above the tree if this is a kalpa-vrksa. It cannot be a caitya-tree if the main object intended here is the Tirthankara because then he would be sitting under a caitya-tree. We believe that perhaps here also the Parents of a Jina are the main objects of worship intended to be represented. What Tiwari seems to have missed is the explanation of a child below the left hand of the male figure.
Tiwari says that since images of Nemi and Mahavira, earlier than ninth century, are not found in Gujarat and Rajasthan, this fact suggests somewhat limited (or relatively less) popularity of these two Jinas than of Rşabha and Pārsva whose images of sixth-seventh century are found at Akota.279 Unfortunately Tiwari is fond of drawing conclusions based on such a negative evidence. He perhaps does not know that there is in worship a beautiful image of Mahavira worshipped as Jivantasvāmi at Nändia, Rajasthan, near Abu and Sirohi area. This beautiful sculpture dates from the seventh century A.D. Here Mahavira is not shown with a crown etc. He is sitting in padmasana. But Svetămbara Jaina tradition worships this image as Jivantasyāmi. Again the find of two very early i.e. one of late fifth and the other of sixth century) images of Jivantasvāmi in the Akota hoard means worship of Mahävira himself in Gujarat. Jaina traditions associate Neminátha and Krsna with Dvārakā and Mt. Raivataka (Girnar). Harivamsa of Jinasena, a Digambara writer, was composed at Wadhavan in Saurashtra according to the author himself. Harivamsa is the family of Kęspa and Neminátha whose account is the subject matter of Jinasena's famous Purana.
There are about eight sculptures of Neminātha, assigned to the mediaeval period, in the Lucknow Museum. All except no. 66.53 belong to the Digambara tradition. When the yaksa and yakşi are shown in these images dating from the tenth to twelfth century, they are the yakșa Sarvānubhūti and the yakşi Ambika. No. J.793 in the museum is a Neminátha obtained from Bateśvara near Agra. Here the Jina is accompanied by Balarama and Krsna, each two-armed. The conch is shown on top of the simhāsana, in the centre. No. 0.123 in the Lucknow Museum is a black stone sculpture of Neminātha standing, from Chattarpur, M.P. with an inscription on the pedestal giving the date of installation as samvat 1208=A.D. 1151. At the end of the small inscription is carved a figure of the conch cognizance. The Jina is standing and wears no garment, but has hair-locks on shoulders.
A sculpture of Neminátha sitting on a simhāsana with the conch lañchana carved on the lower rim of the throne and with cămaradharas, mälädharas, triple umbrella, halo and the Caitya-tree as members of the parikara is preserved in the Mathura Museum. The dharmacakra is shown in the centre of the throne. No yakşa apd yakşi are shown. The sculpture dates from c. 10th-11th cent. A.D. The Lucknow Museum has a standing Neminātha from Maihar, M.P., with Sarvånubhūti and Ambikā as the sasana-devatās on one side of the Jina. In the parikara, as noted by Tiwari, there is a four-armed goddess showing the lotus in two hands and the abhaya mudra and the kalasa in the remaining hands. No. J.936, dated in 1177 A.D., is a figure of a Jina sitting in padmāsana and with Sarvänubhūti as attendant Śāsana-yakşa. There is no yakşi figure, no lañchana. Tiwari identifies this figure as Neminātha simply because Sarvānubhūti figures as the yakşa. This is a rather doubtful procedure because we know that for a long time from c. sixth century upto the eleventh and sometimes a little later yakşa Sarvānubhūti and variations of his form figure as yaksa of any of the 24 Jinas, along with Ambikā as yakşi even at Ellora, Abu, Kumbharia etc. This will be more clear in the chapter on Yaksa Worship in Jainism.
No. J.858 in the same museum shows the cognizance as well as Sarvānubhūti and Ambikā. The sculpture hails from Sahet-Mahet, the site of Sravasti, and is identified as Neminātha with the help of the cognizance.
There are more than two dozen sculptures of Neminātha at Devgadh, all of the Digambara tradition, including several figures showing Neminātha standing in the kāyotsarga mudra. In all cases when the cognizance is not given, nor is there an inscription; then merely on the evidence of Sarvānubhùti and Ambik, we cannot identify such sculptures as definitely representing Neminātha. In our earlier writings
Page #181
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
168
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana on Ambika and on the introduction of Sāsanadevatās in Jainism we have shown the association of this Sāsanadevatā pair with other Tirtha karas.
A beautiful specimen of a figure of standing Neminātha, of c. 10th cent. A.D., is preserved in temple no. 2. Devgadh. Here miniature figures of Balarama and Krsna are also shown standing on the right and the left respectively of the Jina. Lucknow Museum no. 66.53 of standing Neminātha, of Svetämbara tradition has a similar arrangement of the figures of Krspa and Balarama on the sides of the Jina. Devgadh Temple no. 15 was known as Neminātha Jinalaya according to an inscription from this temple as noted by Bhagchandra Jain, op. cit., p. 72 note.
There is a beautiful figure of Neminātha in padmāsana in the Bharatpur Museum. The conch is shown in the centre of his seat. There is no parikara, no throne, no pedestal.
Ac sixth century sculpture of standing Neminātha, obtained from Padhavali, M.P., is preserved in the Archaeological Museum, Gwalior. On the pedestal, the conch symbol is on one side while the cakra is on the other end and between the two, near the cakra is a worshipper (Fig. 52).
A standing Neminātha from Narwar, M.P. is preserved in the Shivpuri district Museum, Shivpuri. M.P. The sculpture is assignable to the twelfth century AD. A beautiful ornate simhāsana of another sculpture of Neminātha, also from Narwar, is preserved in the above museum. There is a small figure of a conch carved below the dharmacakra. Looking to the shape and size of the pedestal, on the analogy of other sculptures from Narwar it may be assumed that this simhasana had on it a figure of Neminātha sitting in the padmāsana.
There is another sculpture from Padhavali in the Archaeological Museum, Gwalior. Here the Jina sits in padmāsana on a simhasana. The conch symbol is carved on the lower end of the simhāsana.
A standing Neminátha from Gurgi, Rewa, is preserved in the Allahabad Museum (no. AM 498). The conch and the yaksa and the yakşi also are shown (Stone Sculptures in the Allahabad Museum, fig. 287). No. K.14 in the Khajuraho Museum represents Nemi in padmasana, with 23 other Jinas around, conch symbol and Sarvānubhūti and Ambikā on the pedestal.
In the Dhubela Museum, M.P., is a sculpture of Neminātha in padmasana, probably from Shahdol (AA. III. pl. 367B). Above him are 21 seated Tirtharkaras in three rows and a standing Tirtharkara by the side of the elephants on either side. Thus this is a Caturvimšati-pasa of Neminātha. The central Jina is recognised with the help of the farkha lañchana on the ornamental pedestal. On the right extremity of the simhasana is a two-armed yakşa while on the left end is a beautiful standing two-armed Ambika with her lion vāhana. The Dhubela Museum has an image of Nemi with his name given in the inscription on pedestal dated in 1142 A.D. Kielhorn bas referred to an image of Neminātha in the Horniman Museum. The image is dated in 1151 A.D. The conch is shown on the pedestal and according to Kielhorn the conch figure occurs on the chest of the Jina also.
of the two images unearthed a few years ago at Narhad near Pilani, Rajasthan, one, of Neminátha, is now preserved in the National Museum, New Delhi (no. 69.132) while the other of Munisuvrata is in the State Museum, Jaipur. Neminātha stands in the kâyotsarga pose and shows camaradhara attendants standing near his feet. The conch cognizance of the Jina is carved on the base in front (JAA, III, plate 336B).
A bronze image of Neminátha, obtained in the Aluara hoard, is in the Patna Museum (no. 10688). Rock-cut figures of Neminātha are found on the walls of the Navamuni, Bäräbhuji and the Mahavira caves at Khandagiri, Orissa. R.P. Mohapatra, in his Jaina Monuments from Orissa, fig. 89, has illustrated a sculpture of Ambika with a Jina above on simhāsana, from Jambhira, district Keonjhar. In cases like this the Jina can be identified as Neminätha because in the mediaeval period when different yakşi is for different Jinas were evolved and worshipped, Ambikä remained the yakşiņi of Neminātha.
Neminātha standing in kayotsarga mudrā on a big conch, from a temple in Müdabidri, is illustrated in Fig. 45. This is a typical representation which reminds of the Sarkha Jinalaya at Sauryapura referred to by Jinaprabha sûri. There was a famous Sarkha-Jinalaya in the South. B.A. Saletore writes: "... in the 7th or 8th regnal year of Western Calukya monarch Vinayaditya Satyāśraya (A.D. 680-A.D. 696), a grant was made to the Jaina priest Udayadeva Pandita also known as Niravadyapandita, who belonged to Devagana sect attached to the Müla Samgha and the Sarkhabasti at Puligere (modern Lakshmes
Page #182
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
169 vara)..."278 A Sankha basadi existed at Huligere during the reign of Bukka Raya of Vijayanagara.279 Perhaps because of the big Sarkha (conch, the cognizance of Nemi) on which Neminātha stood, as in Fig. 45 (from Mudabidri), Neminātha came to be worshipped as Sarkha-Jina and a temple with such an image came to be known as Sankha-Jinalaya or Sankha basadi. Neminātha is installed as a chief deity in various temples in Tulu-Nadu (south Karnataka) at Koto-setti-Basti, Mūdabidure, at Purușa-gudde, at Kārkal, at Varänga etc.280 Images of this Jina are also found in shrines where sets of 24 Tirthankaras are worshipped as at Sravana Belagola, Müdabidure, Venür etc.
At Kambadahalli in Karnataka, in the Pancakūta-Basti there is a tri-kütācala nucleus. Of the three shrines in the tri-kūta complex, the central one facing north enshrines Ādinātha, the one facing east Neminátha, and the one facing west Santinātha (JAA, II, p. 218). The Pancakuța-Basti at Markuli, of the time of Ballala II, erected in 1173 by his minister Bucchimayya, is for Adinātha, Neminātha, Pārsvanātha, Puspadanta and Supārsvanātha (JAA, II, p. 318).
In Tamil Nadu, the Poyagaimalai at Kuppalanatham and Karupannasami rock at Uttama palaiyam have rows of Jaina Tirthankaras, Adinātha, Neminātha and others.281 In North Arcot district, the celebrated Jaina centre Tirumalai, called Vaikavur in inscriptions, has on its hill a Jaina temple complex dedicated to Mallinātha and NemIsvara and is noted for a large monolithic image of Neminātha on the hill. It is also noted for its wall paintings as well as for fine sculptures of Kuşmāndini, Pārsvanātha, Bahubali and others.282
To the Nayaka phase belong later paintings in the Mahāvira temple, at Tiruparuttikunram, of 16th17th centuries. Scenes from the lives of Rşabhadeva, Vardhamāna, Kļşma and his cousin Aristanemi, and the life of Neminātha himself are graphically painted with labels in Tamil clearly explaining each scene (JAA, II, pp. 388-89).
Neminātha or Aristanemi, the cousin brother of Krsna according to Jaina Puranas, is associated with Dvārakä and Girnar (Mt. Raivataka) in Saurashtra, Gujarat. His images and scenes from his life, especially his marriage procession when he sees the animals caged for slaughter for his marriage feast and turns back and becomes a Jaina monk, are very popular in Gujarat and Rajasthan and many Pathās (wooden and cardboard sheets for holding paper manuscripts) have paintings and embroidery work on cloth covering them. A very interesting frieze showing the marriage procession of Neminätha is in the collections of Shri Haridas K. Swali, Bombay (JAA, III, 438). It shows two horse-riders, a bullock-cart, trumpet-blower, drummer, a royal figure holding garlands, female figures, marriage pandal (mandapa), house scenes, animals caged, scene of preparation of sweets etc. Traces of paint on the scenes are still preserved.
The Nadloi (Rajasthan) inscription of 1138 records a grant of 1/20th part of tax levied on incoming and outgoing merchandise of the city for the puja (worship) of Jina Neminätha (JAA, II, p. 240). The Neminātha temple at Kumbharia was built during the later part of Siddharaja's reign. The Neminātha temple on Girnar was built by Danda-Nāyaka Sajjana also in the reign of Siddharaja Jayasimha of the Chaulukya dynasty of Anahilapätaka or Patan, Gujarat. King Kumārapāla (1144-1174 A.D.), successor of Siddharāja, built at Patan a Kumāra-Vihara sacred to Pärsvanātha with 24 devakulikās. He also built Kumāra-Vihāras, Jaina temples, at centres like Girnār, Satrunjaya, Prabhāsa, Abu, Khambhät and in towns like Tharád, Idar, Jalor, Div, Māngrol etc. In memory of his father Tribhuvanapala, he built the Tribhuvana-Vihara, dedicated to Neminātha with 72 devakulikäs and a tri-vihāra in 1160 (JAA, II, p. 303).
The Lūna-vasahi on Mt. Abu is a temple dedicated to Neminátha, built by Minister Tejapāla in memory of his brother. In the gūdhamandapa of the Luna-vasahi is an image of Neminātha installed in Samvat 1394, and another in Samvat 1321. In this shrine there is also a rare image of Rajimati who was to marry Aristanemi and who also became a Jaina nun. The image is dated in Samvat 1515. In the devakulikå no. 22 in Luna-vasahi an image of Nemi was installed in Samvat 1293 by one Kumäraka of Candravati (Jayantavijaya's Arbudäcala- Prūcina-Jaina-Lekhasandoha, inscr. no. 307). Cell no. 23 in the same shrine was also dedicated to Neminātha (ibid., inscr. no. 313), in V.S. 1293. In the same year one Lahada set up an image of Neminátha in cell 39. In cell no. 10 of Vimala vasahi, Abu, an image of Neminātha was installed by Dasaratha, the son of Mahinduka, the grandson of Mantri Nedha, and an
Page #183
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
170
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
image of this Jina was installed in Cell no. 9, Vimala vasahi in Samvat 1382 by Jivaka of Prägväta caste. In cell 12 an image of Nemi was installed in Samvat 1309 (Muni Jayantavijaya, ibid., incriptions nos. 46, 47, 51, 62). Also in cell 43 an image of the same Jina was installed in Samvat 1302 (ibid., inscr. no. 145).
In the Devakulikä no. 22 of the Pärsvanātha temple, Kumbharia, is a figure of Neminätha in padmasana installed in 1179 A.D. Of circa twelfth century an image of Nemi, obtained from Amarasar, Rajasthan, is preserved in the Ganga Golden Jubilee Museum, Bikaner. All over Rajasthan and Gujarat temples and images of Neminātha are available at various places.
At Khajuraho, in the Chattarpur district, M.P., only two images of Neminātha have been identified so far; one, in modern temple no. 10, is in the sitting posture and his cognizance on the lowermost portion of the throne is much defaced. The second image lying in the open air museum (no. K.14) also represents this Jina in a sitting posture. Below the dharmacakra on the pedestal is depicted his conch emblem. With 23 miniature figures of other Jinas carved in the parikara, this image is thus a Covisi of Neminátha. The sculpture dates from c. 12th century A.D.
23. TWENTY-THIRD TIRTHANKARA: PĀRSYANATI.
Pārsvanātha is regarded as a historical figure. Mahavira, the twenty-fourth or the last Jina, died two hundred and fifty years after the nirvāņa of Pārsvanātha. This interval between the last two Tirthankaras is the same in both the Svetämbara and the Digambara accounts.283 Again, the interval is not so extraordinarily long as to create doubts in our mind as in the case of any two other Tirthankaras.
Pārsva and his followers are referred to in the Jaina canons. According to the Acäränga sutra, 284 Mahāvira's parents were lay followers of the Order of Pārsva and were adherents of the Samanas. The Avasyaka Cūrni refers to several monks of Pārsva's sect as contemporaries of Mahāvīra during his wanderings.285
Gośäla asked Municandra, a follower of Päráva, how they could be called Samana Niganthas when they had so many possessions with them. These samaņas indulged in certain activities which according to Mahāvira constituted preliminary sin (särambha). They put on clothes and also practised Jinakalpa towards the end of their lives. The Bhagavati sutra286 records a discussion between Mahavira and Samana Gångeya, a follower of Parsvanātha in Väniyagama. Gängeya gave up the Cauijāmadhamma (the doctrine of four-fold restraint) and embraced the Pañcamahavvaya (the five greater vows) of Mahavira. The city of Tungiya is stated to have been a centre of the theras following the doctrine of Pärśva, who moved in a congregation of five hundred monks.287 Udaya Pedhälaputta was a Niggantha follower of Pārsva of the Meyajja (Sk. Metärya) gotra, who had discussions with Indrabhūti, the first Ganadhara of Mahāvira.288 Kesi289 is also referred to in the Uttaradhyayana where his discussions with Gautama Indrabhuti on the doctrines of Pārsva and Mahavira are recorded. 290
As usual, some preceding births of this Jina are described by the Jaina Puranas. In one such existence, Pärśva was a Brāhamana named Marubhūti and had a younger brother called Kamatha. From this birth, seeds of enmity between the two souls were sown and in each succeeding birth, except the last, Kamaha went on taking the life of Marubhuti.
In his last birth as Pārsva, the soul of Marubhuti was born as the prince of king Aśvasena and queen Vāmādevi of the city of Varanasi. The Digambara text Uttarapurāņa gives Visvasena and Brāhmidevi as names of Parśva's Parents. According to Tiloyapannatti, they were Aśvasena and Varmilā. Pārsva was born under the asterism Visakhā having descended upon this earth from Prānata Vimāna in the Anata heaven.291
According to both the sects, the Jina was dark-blue in complexion and had the snake as his cognizance. According to the Svetāmbaras, he was called Pārśva because his mother had seen, in dream, a black cobra passing by her side (pårsva) during the period of confinement.292 When Parsva grew up, he once saw a sage practising the Pancagni-tapa, a type of penance with burning logs of wood in four groups all around and the fifth fire being the scorching sun above. In one of the logs was a pair293 of snakes which was being burnt alive. Päráva rescued the snakes and remonstrated the sage who was no other than
Page #184
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
171 the soul of Kamatha reborn as a tāpasa. The snakes, half-burnt, died immediately after Pārśva chanted before them the Navakara mantra and were reborn as Dharanendra (Indra of the Nägakumāra class of demi-gods) and his queen (Padmavati). Kamatha, after death, was reborn as a god called Samvara according to the Digambaras and Meghamāli according to the Svetämbaras.
King Prasenajit, son of Naravarman, the ruler Kuśasthala, had a beautiful daughter called Prabhāvati who, on hearing the virtues of Pārsvanátha, fell in love with him and decided to marry him. Her parents agreed, but kings of neighouring states of Kalinga etc., desiring to marry the princess, attacked Kuśasthala and besieged it. Pâréva, requested by Prasenajit, ran to his resue, subdued the opponents and married Prabhāvati. According to Hemacandra, the ruler of Kalinga was a Yavana king.294
It is interesting to note that the snake, which is a special cognizance of Pārsvanātha, figures on the archway of Anantagumpha, Khanda giri, Orissa, and that two Yavana warriors are carved in relief in the Ranigumpha. The caves are generally regarded as Jaina, while some of the reliefs of the caves are identified by V.S. Agrawala as referring to the Udayana story. The reference to the Kalinga-Jina in the Hathigumpha inscription may be to an image of Parsvanātha.295 Readings of the inscription, however, are largely disputed and uncertain in several cases.
For thirty years Parsva remained a householder and then renounced worldly ties, practised rigorous austerities and obtained kevalajñāna while meditating under a Dhätaki-tree (Grislea tomentosa). He had ten gañadharas with Svayambhu as their leader according to Digambara traditions and eight ganadharas with Subha or Subhadatta as the chief according to some Svetāmbara traditions.296 The Samavāyānga sūtra however calls him Dinna, while the Avaśyaka Niryukti speaks of ten ganadharas.297 Puşpacūlā was his chief äryikā as stated by the Samavāyānga and the Kalpa-sútra. According to the Digambaras she was known as Sulocana (called Sulokā by Tiloyapannatti).
According to Tiloyapannatti Pārsva's yakşa and yaksiņi were Mātanga and Padmă respectively while according to other Digambara and Svetāmbara traditions they were Parsva and Padmavati.
Kamatha (also called Katha) tāpasa who was reborn as Samvara (Dig.) or Meghamāli (Sve.) obstructed Pärsvanātha when he was practising penance. For seven days he poured heavy rains and made terrific noises and hurled stones etc. on him. In order to frighten Pärsvanatha he created lions, scorpions, terrific genii like Vetalas and others who issued fire from their mouths. But the great sage, unaffected by these obstructions (upasarga), remained steadfast in meditation. Dharana, the Indra of Nāgakumāra gods, remembering the obligation of Pārsva in the previous existence, came to the rescue of the Lord and, standing behind the Jina, held a canopy of his seven snake-hoods over Parśva's head, in order to protect the Lord's person from rains, stones, etc. His four queens staged dance with music before the meditating sage but the great sage was equally unmindful of this pleasure of music and dance and of the pain inflicted by Samvara (also known as Meghamalı). The villainy of the soul of Kamatha becoming fruitless, he repented, stopped all obstructions and bowing down before the Lord and begging his pardon, went away ashamed and repenting.298 It is said that Meghamali had so much flooded the area that water level rose upto the tip of the nose of Pärśva and that Dharanendra wrapping his coils all around the body of Parśva and holding the hoods as a canopy over the sage's head lifted out of water the whole body of the sage.
Both the sects agree in giving a cobra as the cognizance (dhvaja mark or lāñchana) of Parśva and generally represent five or seven snake-hoods over his head. The snake cognizance is shown on the pedestal and often coils of the snake's body are shown behind the body of the Jina either standing or sitting in meditation. The snake-hoods as well as the coils suggest Dharana Näga protecting the body of Pārsvanātha.
It will be remembered that Supārsvanatha, the seventh Tirthankara, is said to have a canopy of one, three or nine snake-hoods. Hemacandra and others speak of seven snake-hoods held over the head of Pārsva; the difference in the number of hoods for Pārśva and Supārsva often helps us in identifying their images.
Amongst the earliest known images of Parśvanātha are some sculptures obtained from the Kankali Tila, Mathura. The first is an Ayagapata, no. J.253 in the Lucknow Museum, assignable to the first
Page #185
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
172
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana century B.C. on the evidence of the characters of the inscription on it. The Jina sits in the centre, in paryankäsana on a raised seat and has five snake-hoods overhead. Just above the hoods is a chatra with two garland-like festoons hanging on two sides. On each side of the Jina is a standing figure of a naked ascetic, one of whom has his hands folded in respect while the other carries an indistinct object. In view of our foregoing remarks about snake-hoods and in view of the remarks made earlier in discussing the iconography of Supārsvanatha, the Jina in this Ayāgapata is identified as Pārsvanatha. Followers of Parsva seem to have continued even after Mahavira for some time, and even when they were assimilated in one or the other of the Jaina sects, Pārsva has continued to be very popular in Jaina worship.
The attendant ascetics in this Ayāgapata are the ganadharas of Pärśva, one of whom may be Subha, Svayambhu or Dinna. It is noteworthy that these gañadharas are represented naked and carry no piece of cloth on one hand to cover their nudity whereas in other sculptures from Kankali Tila we often meet with figures of monks carrying such a piece on one hand. For example, in the Ayagapata representing the ascetic Kanha (fig. 21) we find Kanha Samana holding such a piece of cloth. In this Tablet which was the gift of Dhanasri in Samvat 95, the nnner panel shows a Stupa with two miniature figures of Jinas on each side; the figure on the left side of the Stūpa shows seven snake-hoods overhead and therefore is to be identified as Pārsvanātha.
Figure 23 illustrates a loose sculpture of Pārsva (no. J.39 in the Lucknow Museum), from Kankali Tila, showing seven snake-hoods over the head and the coils of snake on the back of the Jina. This sculpture formerly published by Coomaraswamy belongs to the Kuşāņa age.299 Nos. J.69 and J.77 are sculptures of this Jina, from Kankali Tila, in the Lucknow Museum. Nos. J.96, J.113 and J.114 are loose heads of Kuşāna age in the same Museum. No. B.62 Mathura Museum is another loose head of Parsva from Kankali Tila. Marks of svastika, fri-vatsa, dharmacakra, triratna etc. are also found on snake-hoods of this age.
A Sarvvatobhadra Pratima (quadruple image) from the same site, no. B.70, Mathura Museum 300 shows, on one side, Parsvanātha standing with a śrī-vatsa mark on his chest. There is no uşnişa and the hair on the head are arranged in schematic curls. Snake-hoods over head are mutilated and only partly visible. Another such sculpture of the Kuşāpa age is no. B.67 in the Mathura Museum. A third such sculpture (no. B.65) of Pratimă Sarvvatobhadriká shows the Jina Pärsvanātha in a sitting posture upon a simhasana supported by couchant lions. The sculpture is later in age than the two Caturmukha images mentioned. There are similar quadruple images from Kankali Tila in the Lucknow Museum (e.g., nos. 230, 231 etc.). But in none of these sculptures are represented separately the attendant figures of Dharanendra and his queens. The Kalpa sūtra does not refer to the upasarga incident in the life of Parsvanátha, so familiar to later texts and to representations in sculptures and paintings. But the association of Pärśva with snake undoubtedly dates from very early times and it is reasonable to acknowledge Pārsva's early association with the Näga-cult (Serpent-worship) and/or with Nāga tribe. Mathura is known from Hindu sources as a haunt of the Nagas (compare the story of subduing the Kaliya Naga by Krsna, popularly known as Kāliya-damana), and statues of Dadhikarņa Naga etc. are recovered from Mathura.301 Again, excavations at Sonkh nearby have revealed the existence of a Näga shrine and a beautiful long panel with a Nāga king enthroned in the centre.
This association of Parśva with the Näga-cult and the fact that he lived in the eighth century B.C. should suggest a line of further investigation into the origin of his sect. It is said that the ancient city of Ahicchaträ was so called because at this place, as mentioned by Devabhadra 302 Dharanendra came to worship Pärśva standing in meditation and in order to protect the Lord from the heat of the tropical sun the snake-king (ahi) held his hoods as an umbrella (chatra) over the Jina engaged in meditation. Since then the place, which was formerly known as Sivapuri, came to be called Ahicchatră.303
Parsva hailed from Varanasi and is reported to have widely travelled in eastern parts of India and in Kalinga. Both U.P. and Magadha were known to have been inhabited by Nāga tribes and by followers of the Näga cult from ancient times. In the Vasudevahindi it is said that when Bhagiratha brought the Ganges to the plains abodes of Någas were swept away in the forceful current of the river.
The story of Kamatha's attack on Párśva reminds one of the attack by Mära on Buddha, both
Page #186
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
173 accounts are essentially similar. At the end of the attack both attain perfection, the supreme knowledge. Both themes have been popular in Indian art.304
The Jaina cave at Aihole, Bijapur district, Karnataka, contains one of the earliest known representations of the scene of attack on Pārsvanātha (Panorama of Jaina Art, fig. 121). The relief shows Pārsva standing in meditation while Kamatha attacks him from upper left corner. Dharanendra shields Pārsva by holding his five snake-hoods over the head of the latter. His queen, represented in human form with a snake-hood above her head, stands on the right of the Jina and holds a big parasol over the lord. Behind the snake-queen is seen the head of another figure with a snake-hood above the head. The male figure sitting with folded hands on the left of the Jina represents tho unsuccessful Kamatha bowing down and repenting. The sculpture dates from c. late sixth or early seventh century A.D.
But perhaps the finest known and very elaborate sculpture of this theme of Kamatha's upasarga is preserved in the Indian Museum, Calcutta (see Frontispiece). On both the sides of the standing sage are shown hosts of ferocious beings taking part in the attack at the bidding of Kamatha. The figures are carved in classical Gupta traditions. The sculpture is reported to have come from Bihar but it is not a specimen of Pala art as can be seen from the figure of the snake-queen holding a parasol with a long handle) over the head of Parśva. The sculpture is sometimes assigned to the 5th-6th cent. A.D. as in Panorama of Jaina Art, figs. 38 and 39, but the rendering of the figure of the snake-queen suggests a post-Gupta date in c. early seventh century A.D.
Most of the early reliefs of this theme from South India are simpler than the Indian Museum specimen just discussed. As in the Aihole Cave panel there is only one figure attacking with a big rock, and not the army of goblins, etc. In the Jaina cave at Badami there is a big panel representing this scene of Kamatha's attack (JAA, I, pl. 115; Panorama of Jaina Art, fig. 128) dating from late sixth or early seventh century A.D. The Näga figure behind the snake queen shown in the Aihole relief is not found here. This big figure of Parsva is a typical specimen of early Western Chalukyan art. There is a beautiful relief panel of this scene on a boulder at Tirakkol, North Arcot district, Tamil Nadu, which shows the treatment of this theme in Pallava art of c. eighth century A.D. Kamatha flying in the air carrying a big rock, about to throw on Pärśva, is shown here in the upper corner to the right of the sage while the snake queen holding the umbrella stands to the left and the kneeling figure of Kamatha filled with remorse is near the right foot of Pärśva standing on a double-lotus.
In the Pandyan territory, though a similar simple treatment of the theme is seen at places at Kilakkudu, Ummanamalai hill, Madura district, Samnar-Koyil, Anamalai, Madura district, at Karaikoyil and at Kalugumalai, Tinneveli district, yet one important departure from the Tirakkol and Bada mi reliefs lies in the beautiful and powerfully carved head and bust of the snake demi-god Dharanendra protecting Pārsva from behind and shown above the latter's body in the beautiful rock-cut relief at Kalugumalai (see Fig. 50, and Panorama of Jaina Art, figs. 1 and 37), or at Samnar-Koyil, Kilakkudi etc. The Kalugumalai relief and the Samnar-Koyil reliefs date from c. eighth century A.D. The Karaikoyil relief (Panorama of Jaina Art, fig. 81) of c. 8th century A.D. however follows the tradition of Badami and Aihole reliefs and does not show the human bust and head of Dharanendra. Among the row of rock-cut Jaina sculptures at the cave front at Annamalai (Madurai district) is a relief of this incident with the head and bust of Dharanendra protecting Parśva.305 In this relief the defeated Kamatha is kneeling on all fours before Pārsvanātha. The cave temple is known as Samnar-Koyil and probably dates from the eighth century. At Ummanamalai hill (Kilakkudi, Madurai district) one of a few relief sculptures shows Pārśva standing with head and bust of Dharanendra behind but omits the other figures like the snake-queen, Kamatha attacking and Kamasha repenting. But the head and bust of Dharanendra suggest that the relief was intended to indicate the incident of Kamatha's upasarga. At this place there is another rock-cut relief showing the other figures also but not the head and bust of Dharanendra. At Chitharal in Kerala we have a few rock-cut reliefs, one of these is a scene showing Kamatha (reborn as Samvara) hurling the rock, the snake-queen standing with the umbrella, and Kamatha praying after defeat.
The theme of Kamatha's attack became very popular among the Digambaras, especially in the South. At Ellora in the group of Jaina caves are found several big panels of this scene, usually more
Page #187
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
174
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana elaborate and showing a host of attacking spirits of Kamatha's bidding carved on three sides of the figure of Pärśvanātha (Panorama of Jaina Art, figs. 136, 138, 142, 422; JAA, I, pl. 118A, Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, December, 1970, p. 309, figs. 10, 11, 12). It will be seen that in all these panels in the Ellora Jaina Caves, the figure ultimately sitting near the legs of the Jina and paying him respects with añjali mudrā, identified as the soul of Kamatha reborn as Samvara or Meghamalı, is here accompanied by a female. We might therefore regard this as an innovation by Ellora artists and identify this female as the queen of the demi-god Samvara or Meghamāli. In one of the panels at Ellora we find two smaller figures of females with half-snake and half-human bodies, by the sides of the standing snake-king holding the parasol. They may be some of the other queens of Dharanendra or attendants of the snakequeen. Whereas at Aihole and Badāmi Päršva has a canopy of five hoods of Dharanendra, at Ellora he has a canopy of seven snake-hoods overhead.
Dhaky bas published two beautiful elaborate sculptures of Santara art from south Karnataka, representing the theme of attack on Pärśva.306 Both these stelas are in worship in the temple of Pārsvanatha at Humca (J.I.S.O.A., new series, Vol. IV, pl. XVIII, fig. 9 and pl. XIX, fig. 13). Dhaky has assigned them to the period of Vikrama Sanata c. 787-920 A.D.). In fig. 9 of J.I.S.O.A., op. cit., Päráva sky-clad stands on a double-lotus upheld by two handsome nāgas in human form thus suggesting that the body of Päršva was lifted above the flood waters which had reached upto his neck (or chin). Behind the Jina is Dharanendra spreading his seven hoods over the sage's head to form a canopy sheltering Parśva against the attacking hosts of Kamatha. On the right side of Parśva absorbed in meditation we find a charging bull, a leaping lion, a demon shooting a dart and, above, another demon menacingly balancing a huge boulder aimed at the figure of the sage. To the left of the sage Kamatha's fury has sent a rushing tiger, a maddened elephant, a demon carrying a dagger in his right hand and releasing a venomous serpent with the left, and above him a Kumbhända monster carrying a heavy mace over his shoulder. At the lower end, stand Dharanendra and his consort, on the right and the left respectively of the sage, the consort holding the long handle of the parasol passing behind the coils and hoods of the Näga-king. At the base is depicted Kamatba, sobered after failing to shake Påráva from meditation, remorseful at heart and bowing down asking for forgiveness; his consort on the opposite side, half-knelt, is shown raising her right hand in praise of the great sage.
The other stela, somewhat varying in detail but repeating the same theme, is the work of another craftsman. The closest analogues, iconographically speaking, of these two stelas are carved panels of the Indra-Sabhā cave at Ellora (Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum, op. cit., figs. 10, 12).
An elaborate but different treatment of the theme is found in a c. ninth century sculpture from probably Madhya Pradesh, now preserved in the Cleveland Museum of Art, U.S.A. (Museum no. 61.419, stone, 63-1/4 X 26-3/8 inches). It is a well preserved beautiful sculpture.307 The topmost figures, in this image, with their heads mutilated and lost, show heavenly worshippers, gandharva-pair, conchblower, etc. In the centre is the triple umbrella below which is the canopy of seven cobra-hoods of Dharanendra whose long coiled body is shown behind the whole, almost life-size figure of Pärśvanātha standing in the kāyotsarga mudrā.
On the sides of the serpent-hoods are two flying celestial garland-bearers (mālādharas) whose headdresses are similar to and derived from the headdress found on early Gurjara-Pratihara sculptures, both male and female figures, of which a typical specimen of c. late seventh century is seen on the bronze figure of a female chowrie-bearer (camaradharini) from Akot 308 Below the flying garland-bearers (accompanied by their wives) are figures of vyālas standing on hind legs upon elephants, all atop a pilaster on each side.
By the side of this vyāla and elephant motif and the pilaster, females in various attitudes are shown on each side playing musical instruments or singing, or holding a lotus etc. They are Näginis, queens of the snake-king Dharanendra Näga, who is protecting Pärsvanatha from the attacks of Kamatha and his hosts of goblins etc. Near the feet of the Tirthankara are standing two yakşas carrying fly-whisks (camaradhara yakşas), and four more snake-queens. It is likely that all the small figures of Nägin's were not intended to represent queens of Dharanendra but were attendants of the queens.
Page #188
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
175 of about the same age as the Cleveland Museum Parśvanātha and possibly hailing from Eastern Rajasthan is another sculpture, no. 59.202 in the National Museum, New Delhi. On both sides of the Jina are shown Nägas and Näginis, half-snake and half-human, dancing, playing music or carrying garlands. The top portion is less elaborate than in the Cleveland image (Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum, op. cit., fig. 16). The ornaments and drapery suggest that it may be somewhat earlier in age.
In the Rajputana Museum, Ajmere, is preserved a partly mutilated sculpture, obtained from Arthuna (now in Rajasthan, formerly in the Banswada state). It is a beautiful specimen of Gurjara-Pratihara art with minute carving of the details on the skin of the cobra's body beautifully arranged to form a full back-rest or stela behind the Jina's figure. Dharanendra stands on the right while his chief queen stands on the left of Pärsva, with folded hands (Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum, op. cit., fig. 15). They are recognised by the presence of a cobra-head over their crowns. Below, on the pedestal are more queens of Dharanendra, all shown with half-human and half-snake bodies.
The possibility of obtaining more examples of this theme from Digambara sites in Northern India cannot be ruled out. In fact a badly mutilated sculpture of this scene, dating from c. ninth century, preserved in the beautiful Maladevi temple at Gyaraspur, in Madhya Pradesh, was discovered by Klaus Bruhn who kindly gave me its photograph which I have published in the Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum, op. cit., p. 310, fig. 14). It is however significant to note that scenes of attack on Pärsvanatha or on Mahavira are hard to obtain in Svetämbara sites. It is true that a ceiling of one of the shrines at Kumbhåriā, north Gujarat, giving incidents from the life of Mahāvira shows different scenes of upasargas of Mahāvira. It is also true that in the ceilings of the Säntinātha and Mahavira temples at Kumbharia we find sculptured narration of scenes from previous births of Pärśva and Kamatha and scenes from his life as Parśva including attacks by Kamatha's soul when Pārsva was meditating. Tiwari has noted a few scenes from Parśva's lifo on the wall of the eastern Devakulika of the shrine of Mahavira at Ośia.309
In the ceiling in front of Devakulikā no. 16 at Lūņa-vasahi, Mt. Abu, is carved the story of the origin of Hastikalikunda-tirtha and the city of Ahicchatrā, connected with the life of Pärsva.310 It is also true that in the miniature paintings of the Kalpa-sútra we have scenes of attack on Pärsva311 but not a single loose relief sculpture like the ones described above is as yet found from Svetambara shrines. It seems that the Svetämbaras tried to avoid carving such sculptures because in them they would be required to depict the figures of Pārśva or Mahāvira as nude since they were practising rigorous austerities and observing total aparigraha as sådhus following the Jinakalpa.
Buddha is also associated with a snake-the Mucalinda Naga who protected him during a storm. Images of Buddha with cobra-hoods over the head, as in the case of Parsvanátha, are known from sites like Nagarjunikonda, Amaravati etc. Thus we have parallels in Buddhist art and traditions. In Hinduism, the snake Kaliya was subdued by Krsna. But when Kssoa was born and was being immediately transferred by his father from prison to Gokul across the river Yamuna, the serpent Sesa is said to have acted as a canopy over the child Krsna being carried in a basket and protected him from rains pouring at that time. Siva is also associated with snakes. Vişnu rests on the coils of the great Sesa Näga whose thousand heads are held as a canopy over the Lord.
During the Vedic period, we have the famous Indra-Vstra fight. Vstra, conceived as a snake, is malevolent, like Kaliya of the Yamuna river, and not benevolent like Dharanendra or Mucalinda. There is an ever existing contest between forces of light and darkness, between good and evil, between gods and demons, between forces of life and death. Kļşņa, Vişnu, Siva, Indra, Buddha and Pårśvanātha represent forces of life and light, of good and immortality, while Vstra, Kaliya, Mára, Kamatha and others represent forces of evil, darkness and death.
Naga with his thousand snake-heads represents 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 a benevolent force. Mythology of Buddha or Parsvanātha or of Sesaśå yi-Vişnu. Siva and baby Krsna carried across the river Yamuna, represents an advancement upon the earlier Vedic conception of the Indra-Vstra contest. In later conceptions it is recognized that the mind which is a bondage and an obstacle can be transformed into a protector, friend or benefactor. So says the Gita:
Page #189
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
176
Jaina-Rupa-Maṇḍana
mana eva manuṣyāṇām kāraṇam bandha-mokṣayoḥ (the same mind is the root-cause of bondage as well as emancipation).
There are some sculptures of Pārsvanatha which do not show Kamatha's hordes attacking the sage but which show the queen of Dharanendra standing on one side of the sage and holding an umbrella with a long handle as in the relief panels from Ellora etc. Of this type is a sculpture of Parsva standing, obtained from Bujgarh, Mandsore district, M.P., age c. 10th century A.D., now in the Bhanpura Museum, no. 42 (American Institute of Indian Studies, Varanasi, photo no. 234.3). Of course Dharanendra with his coils at the back and the cobra-hoods over the head of the Jina figures in all such sculptures. In the Mathura Museum there is a sculpture (no. 1505) from Kosi Kalan showing Parsva sitting in the padmasana on a lion-throne with a canopy of seven cobra-hoods overhead and a male standing camaradhara on the right side. On the left of the Jina stands the Naga queen in graceful tribhanga, holding the umbrella. The sculpture dates from c. late seventh century. Of about the same age, perhaps somewhat earlier, is a beautiful sculpture of this Jina in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, obtained from Gyaraspur, M.P. Here also the Jina sits in padmasana on a lion-throne and has a canopy of seven cobraheads. A male camaradhan stands on each side. Behind the chowrie-bearer on the left stands snakequeen holding the umbrella with a long handle. These sculptures may be regarded as suggestive of the scene of Kamatha's attack.
Lucknow Museum no. G.310 shows Parsva sitting in the padmasana and having a canopy of seven snake-hoods above which is seen one umbrella and still above the usual triple umbrella. Usually the umbrella held by the snake queen is shown above the triple umbrella as in the Gyaraspur image just discussed. In this sculpture, a human figure of a Naga with three snake-hoods overhead stands on the right of the Jina waving a chowrie with his raised left hand, while to the left of the Jina stands the snakequeen with three snake-hoods overhead and holding the umbrella with her raised right hand.
In the last cave at Ellora is a small relief panel sunk into the wall. Parsva stands in meditation on a lotus. Dharanendra's coils are shown behind the Jina's body. There is a canopy of seven snake-hoods above which is the umbrella with a long handle held by the snake-queen standing on the right of the sage. To the left of Parsva stands a figure of a tapasa in añjali mudra and carrying a water-vessel with his right hand. This could be Kamatha humbled and repenting.
Klaus Bruhn, besides discussing Parsva images at Devgadh in his book, The Jina Images of Deogarh, contributed a paper entitled Further Observations on the Iconography of Parsvanatha,312 and discussed unusual images, one from a temple in Golakot and two images from Devgadh. In all the three sculptures there is a figure of a Rși standing on the right of Parsva standing in meditation. The standing Rși carries a water-vessel in his left hand and the right hand raised in the abhaya mudra carries an akşamālā (rosary of beads). Of the two Devgadh figures, one is in a panel on the door-frame of temple no. 18 while the other, a loose piece, is badly mutilated and both the hand-attributes of the standing Rşi have disappeared. In view of the Ellora figure discussed above we might identify this Rşi-like figure as that of Kamatha tāpasa.
No. 2502 in the Madras Museum is a well preserved sculpture of Parsva sitting in the ardhapadmāsana under a canopy of seven snake-hoods crowned by a triple umbrella. On each side behind the Jina stands a towering male figure with both hands folded and having a big cobra-hood above the crown on his head. Obviously these are supposed to be attendant figures of Nagas. We have already seen that some Jaina texts do refer to Naga figures attending upon the Jina image. The Jina image may be of any Tirthankara. So this sculpture need not be regarded as referring to the Kamatha-upasarga.
We have referred to some old images of Parsva from Kankali Tila, Mathura, which date from the early centuries of the Christian era, the Kuşana period. Of perhaps first century B.C., or early first century A.D. is a partly corroded and mutilated bronze of Parsva standing with a canopy of seven snake-hoods, obtained in the Chausa hoard, now preserved in the Patna Museum (Arch. no. 6531), illustrated in figure 8. A metal image of Pārsvanatha standing in the kayotsarga posture, preserved in the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay, illustrated in figure 3, dates from c. first or second century B.C, as we have argued elsewhere.313 There is one more bronze of Pärśvanatha standing in kayotsarga mudra, in the Chausa hoard
Page #190
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
177
preserved in the Patna Museum (Arch. no. 6533). The Jina stands on a rectangular pedestal. All along his back are a serpent's coil with the cobra-hoods broken and lost. All the standing Jaina bronzes in this hoard are Digambara, i.e., they show no garment on the person of the Jina. These standing figures are mostly of the Kuşāņa age.
Pramod Chandra published a stone sculpture of standing Pārsva from Patna, now in Shri Kanodia's collection. The image shows snake's coils all over the back of the Jina. The sculpture dates from c. fourth century A.D.314 At Sira Pahari near Nachna Kuthara, Madhya Pradesh, is a standing Pārsva image assignable to c. fourth century A.D. There is an almost circular canopy of seven hoods behind the head of the Jina. Over the hoods is a single umbrella. Thick coils of the snake, carefully arranged one above the other on the back of the Jina, leave no intervening space and form as it were an artistic stela behind the figure of the Jina (JAA, Vol. I, pp. 129-130, pl. 64).
Parsva images show what Klaus Bruhn calls "hood-circle" in a conventional manner or unconventional manner. The snake coils behind the body of the Jina are indicated either in a cursory manner or they are missing altogether (see Bruhn's The Jina Images of Deogarh, fig. 225) or in an unconventional manner as in Bruhn's Deogarh, figs. 338, 339. The Rajgir image (see.Bruhn's fig. 341) seems to show two snakes. But the two smaller snakes near the shoulders of the Jina in Bruhn's fig. 338 (drawing of a Vasantagadh image of Pārsvanatha) are actually two queens of Dharaṇa or Dharana and his queen in añjali mudrā. Bruhn's figure 260 shows a standing Pårśva flanked by two theriomorphous Nägas. Here Pārśva has no canopy of snake-hoods nor coils behind his body. This is a very rare type of Pārsvanátha image (Bruhn's p. 198).
An image of standing Pārsvanātha, no. J. 100 in Lucknow Museum, is assignable to c. 4th-5th cent. A.D. On the right of the Jina is a male figure and on the left a female with a snake-hood overhead (a Nägini) holding an umbrella with both the hands. In the Pudukkottai Museum, Tamil Nadu, is a bronze image of standing Parśva with five snake-hoods overhead and coils of the snake on the back. With thin, slender limbs and typical nigroid face, the style of this bronze obtains comparisons with the style of Nilgiri terracottas in the British Museum and to some extent with the archaic style of face and limbs) of the Mohen-Jo Daro and Chhahnu-Daro dancer figurines and the bronze figure of Chalcolithic period from Adicchanallur. We have assigned this bronze to a period around third or fourth century A.D.315
In the Tulasi Samgrahālaya, Ramvan, Satna, M.P., is a sculpture of Pārsva sitting in dhyāna mudrā on snake coils. Two fly-whisk bearers attend on him. The image is assigned to c. Sth-6th cent. A.D.316
Of about 600-625 A.D., we have from Akota (Gujarat) an important bronze image of Pārsva gifted by a śråvika of the Nivsti kula according to an inscription on the partly mutilated pedestal. Párśva stands on a lotus pedestal in kāyotsarga pose (Akota Bronzes, pls. 17a, 17b). The arrangement of the dhoti folds is analogous to that on the Jina installed by Jinabhadra obtained in the Akota hoard (ibid., pl. 12b), assigned to c. 550-600 A.D. Both are modelled in the same style though the head of the latter is more beautiful. Dharaṇendra, the snake-king who protected Pārsva from the attack of Kamatha, is shown with a beautiful coiled body and seven snake-hoods held like a chatra over the Jina. The two Nāga figures on top of the pedestal also represent Dharanendra and his chief queen, both wearing ekávalis. They have half-human and half-snake bodies and their tails are entwined into a fine knot (naga-paša) in the centre. Dharanendra on the right has one snake-hood overhead and holds an indistinct object in each hand, the right hand extended a little was perhaps meant to show the abhaya mudrā. Dharanendra's queen on the left end of the pedestal also shows the abhaya mudrā with her right hand and holds a lotus-like object in her left hand. In front of the pedestal are small standing figures of the (eight) planets excluding Ketu. On a lower level in the centre and on a full-blown inverted lotus motif is the dharmacakra flanked by a deer on each side.
A type of Tri-Tirthika image of Pärsvanatha became very popular probably from the seventh century in Gujarat and Rajasthan. A beautiful Tri-Tirthika brass or bronze image of Pārsvanātha, gifted by the ariik, Khambhili in c. middle of seventh century A.D., is obtained in the Akota hoard (Akota Bronzes, pls. 22, 23a, 23b). The image is almost completely preserved except for the seven partly mutilated hoods of the snake-canopy and the haloes of the two Tirtharkaras standing on the sides of Pārsva seated in
Page #191
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
178
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
padmāsana in the centre. Silver is inlaid in the eyes, on the cushion and in the drapery hanging on the simhasana. The simhasana of Pärśva is placed on a broad pedestal. In the centre is the dharmacakra with two deer. From the sides spring two lotuses with long stalks on which stand two TirtharkarasRşabhanātha on the right and Mahavira (?) on the left. On top of the big pedestal, on its right end, sits a two-armed figuro of yaksa Sarvanubhūti showing a citron in his right hand and the nakulikå (moneybag) in his left. On the corresponding left side sits a figure of two-armed yakşi Ambikā carrying an amra-lumbi (mango-bunch) in her right hand and holding the child on her lap with the left hand. Both the yakşa and the yakși sit on full-blown lotuses springing from the sides of the pedestal. In the centre of the simhasana is the dharmacakra flanked by two deer. On a lower level, on top of the pedestal are heads of the eight planets. Introduction of planets, either on pedestals as in Western India or on two sides of the Jina-figure as in Eastern India, is seen from c. seventh century A.D. and may have started a little earlier in the latter half of the sixth century after Varā hamihira's works on astronomy and astrology became popular. The treatment of the knot of tails of Dharana and his queen is also a favourite motif of Western Indian artists. For another Tri-Tirthika metal image of Pārśva from Akota and assignable to about the same age, see Akoin kron? Eg. 25. Fig. 26a from the same book is a single image of Pārsva with snake-coils on his back and the canopy of hoods broken, inscribed and gifted by Sagabharjikā in c. 625 A.D. In this image as well as in Akota Bronzes, figs. 306, 31a, 32c, 46a, the attendant yakşa and yakşini are Sarvānubhūti and Ambika, each two-armed and carrying the same symbols. These images are Eka-Tirthika images of Pārsvanātha sitting in padmasana and date from the seventh and eighth centuries A.D. Akota bronzes, fig 34 is an image of Parśva standing with Dharaṇa and his queen, half-human, halfsnake, each in añjali mudrā, shown at ends on top of the pedestal with their tails tied in a typical naga pāśa in the centre.
More elaborate and ornamental Tri-Tirthika metal sculptures however are found in the Vasantagadh hoard (Lalit Kala, nos. 1-2, pp. 55ff, pl. XIII, fig. 12; Akota Bronzes, fig. 49, 4spects of Jaina Art and Architecture, figs. 11-12 of Paper 26). One of these is dated in Samvat 726 and another in Samvat 756 (=699 A.D.). These brass or bronze images also are silver studded as in the Akota bronze mentioned. Besides the figures seen in Akota Bronzes, pl. 25 mentioned above, a standing four-armed Vidyadevi is added on each end behind the yakşa and yakşini figures. A similar very elaborate and well preserved TriTirthika metal sculpture of Pärśva is also found in the Akota hoard (Akota Bronzes, pls. 54, 55). Inscription on the back shows that it was installed by one Regata. Paleographically the inscription can be assigned to c. 890-920 A.D. Beautiful small figures of a male and a female donor are also added on the pedestal. A very beautiful Tri-Tirthika metal image of Párśva, showing similar composition, formerly in Kadi (Gujarat), has now reached the Los Angeles Museum, U.S.A. (Akota Bronzes, fig. 56a). It was installed in Bhrgutirtha (modern Bharuch, Gujarat) in Saka year 910 (A.D. 988) by Pārsvilla gani. (For a few more Tri-Tirthika bronzes from Akota, see Akota Bronzes, figs. 56b, 57b, 60.) Figure 87, illustrated in this book, is a beautiful Şat-Tirthika bronze of Pārsva with an artistic torana in front, dated in V.S. 1088 (A.D. 1031).317 Fig. 68, Akota Bronzes, is an Asta-Tirthika image of Parśva with seven miniature Jinas installed in niches on the torana.
Pārsvanatha has been popular in Western India, in fact in the whole of India. At Chārūpa in North Gujarat there is an early stone sculpture of Pārśva installed in c. eighth century A.D. In Patan, North Gujarat, is the famous temple of Pancasarā Pārsvanātha, the image was formerly worshipped in Pancasarā, the capital of Căpotkata rulers of Gujarat. The temple of Pärsvanātha at Sankheśvara, north Gujarat, is very popular amongst devout Jainas of Gujarat. At Bhiladiyaji in the Banaskantha district, North Gujarat, is a popular Tirtha of this Jina. Temples and images of Cintamani-Pārsvanātha are at many places in Gujarat.
At Dhank, Saurashtra, Gujarat, is a rock-cut figure of Pärsva standing without any garment on his person (Digambara tradition) and attended by smaller figures of Sarvanubhüti and Ambikå (both twoarmed) by his sides. The relief dates from c. seventh century A.D.318 In Rajasthan, about 40 miles from Rsabhadeva (Kesariyaji) tirtha, near Vichhivada on a hill is a shrine of Nagaphana-Parsvanatha. The image in worship is a two-armed Nagaraja sitting in the lalitäsana and having a canopy of seven snake
Page #192
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
179 hoods. On his head is a miniature figure which seems to be of a Jina in padmāsana. If this miniature figure is of a Jina (and not of Buddha) then the Nägarāja can be identified as a figure of Dharanendra as the Jainas have done. The sculpture seems to date from c. sixth century A.D. Further exploration on the hill is necessary as this seems to be a promising early Jaina site of about the sixth century A.D.319
Between Kušalagadh and Kälinjara, in the Banswada district, Rajasthan, is a Jaina shrine of Andeśvara-Pārsvanatha on a small hill. Pārsvanātha is so called because of the place-name of Andeśvara. The sculpture dates from c. 12th-13th cent. A.D.320 Between Zalavad Road station and the Zalrapatan town, Rajasthan, is a place known as Nasiyān which has a shrine of Pärávanātha. The inscription on the sculpture shows that it was installed in Samvat 1226 (1169-70 A.D.). This is a Covisi sculpture of Pārsvanātha sitting in the padmāsana. On two ends of the lion-throne are figures of Dharanendra and Padmavati, the yaksa and yaksini of Pārsva.321
In the Bhilvada district, Rajasthan, near a place called Parauli, is a shrine of Cambaleśvara-Pārsvanātha. It is said that the temple was formerly known as Cūleśvara-Pärsvanātha. Situated on a small hill and with beautiful natural surroundings of Aravalli hills around it, the temple belongs to the Digambara sect. The sculpture in the sanctum was installed in Samvat 1007, i.e. A.D. SS0.3??'
In the gūdhamandapa of Mahāvīra shrine, Ośia, are two figures of Pärśva seated on coils of the snake. On the wall of Devakulika no. 1, of this shrine, is a figure of seated Pārsva, of about eleventh century A.D., accompanied by Sarvānubhūti and Ambikā. Tiwari has noted that in the balanaka of Mahāvira shrine, Ośia, is a sculpture of Pārsva seated in padmasana and dated in the Samvat year equivalent to 1031 A.D. On two ends of the pedestal are two-armed yaksa and yakși each with snakehoods overhead. In the Rajputana Museum, Ajmere, is an interesting sculpture of this Jina with four more miniature Jina figures each with three snake-hoods overhead. On side of the central image of Pårsva is a câmaradhara with three snake-hoods overhead. On the pedestal are figures of two-armed Sarvānubhūti and Ambikā. The sculpture is assignable to c. 10th-11th cent. and hails from Bharatpur.323
In Jesalmer, Rajasthan, there is a temple of Pārsvanātha consecrated in A.D. 1416.324 The image is said to have been brought from Lodravā village near Jesalmer. At Lodurva (same as Lodravā) itself there was a gorgeous temple of Pārsvanātha which was destroyed during the upsurge of Ghori in A.D. 1152. A new temple was built for this Jina in A.D. 1615.325
A big stone plaque of Sahasraphana-Pärsvanātha with intertwined coils all around the standing figure of Pārsva, installed in the famous Dharana-vihara temple at Ranakpur, Rajasthan, was published by U.P. Shah in J.I.S.O.A. (old series), Vol. VI (Studies in Jaina Art, fig. 79).
In cell 23 of Parsvanatha temple, Kumbharia, is an image of Pārsva dated in 1179 A.D. A twelfth century sculpture of this Jina in standing posture is preserved in the gūdhamandapa of this shrine. Here Sarvānubhūti and Ambika figure as säsana-devatās but they have been given snake-hoods overhead. In the gūdhamandapa of Neminátha temple, Kumbharia, there is a standing Parsvanatha dated in 1157 A.D. and accompanied by Sarvänubhüti and Ambikä on the ends of the simhasana. In the parikara are some four-armed figures including Vidyadevis like Apraticakra, Vajrassokhala, Sarvästra-Mahäjvälä, Rohini and Vairotyā. This practice of carving miniature figures of Vidyādevis on two sides of the Jina in small niches of the pillars supporting a torana or a simple semi-circular arch seems to have been popular in Western India during eleventh and twelfth centuries as can be seen from various specimens at Kumbharia and Abu. In the Sat-tirthika bronze of Pārsva, dated in v.s. 1008, from Vasantagadh (Akota Bronzes, fig. 63a), the two-armed standing females also seem to be Vairotyä and other Vidyadevis. We also find Apraticakra, Rohiņi, Vajraśpókhala, Vairotyä, etc. on a sculpture of standing Ajitanatha, dated in v.s. 1176 (A.D. 1126), in worship in the Pärávanātha temple, Kumbharia.326 Similar miniature figures are also found on door-frames of cells in these temples.327
In the Devakulikā no. 4, Vimala Vasahi, Abu, is a sculpture of Pärśva dated 1188 A.D. and accompanied by Parśva yaksa and Padmavati yaksi. In cells 25 and 53 of the same shrine there are images of Pārsvanātha. An image of this Jina was installed in cell 1 in Samvat 1389, the image is lost but the parikara and throne etc. with inscription remain (Jayantavijaya, Arbudacala-Prácīna-Jaina-Lekhasamdoha, inscr. no. 25). Similarly, we find that images of Pārsva were installed in cells 11, 39, 44, and 54 in
Page #193
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
180
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana Samvat 1245, S. 1319, s. 1245, and s. 1222 respectively (ibid., inscriptions nos. 55, 135, 147, 171 respectively). It is not necessary to list here a large number of stone and metal images of this Jina from various temples in different States of India. No complete survey of all images of all the different Jinas in each and every Jaina temple of India is made. It is therefore not advisable every time to draw final conclusions regarding beginning and/or popularity etc. of images of each and every Jina in the different States of India. However from a study of different sites and museums and a few temples in each State it seems that Rşabha, Nemi, Päráva, Mahāvira and to a lesser extent Santinātha were more popular in Jaina worship. This is supported by two famous verses in the Rüpamandana:
Jinasya mürttayo=anantāḥ pujitaḥ sarvasaukhyadahl Catasroatiśayairyuktāstāsām pujyå viseşatah// 25 Sri-Adinātho Nemiśca Pārsvo Virascaturthakah/ Cakreśvari-Ambikā Padmavati Siddhayiketi ca// 26
Rūpamandana, adh. VI, v. 25-26, p. 45
In the museum at Kota, Rajasthan are four sculptures of Pārsva assignable to c. 9th-10th cent. A.D., obtained from Ramgadh and Ataru. Similarly there are seven images of mediaeval period in the museum at Bikaner. Bronzes from Lilvädevā, North Gujarat, preserved in the Baroda Museum, include three beautiful bronzes of Pārsva--one datable in the 11th cent., another assignable to c. end of 8th century and a third elaborate Tri-Tirthika dated in v.s. 1093 gifted by one Maikā of Siddhasena-Divakara-gaccha in the Nägendra kula.328
The National Museum, New Delhi has a few interesting bronzes of Pärsvanitha. No. 68.89 in this museum is a c. 8th century bronze of Pārśva in padmasana with Sarvānubhūti and Ambika as śāsanadevatās. Dharanendra and his queen, each with a snake-hood overhead with half-human and half-snake body, spring from the coils on the back of the Jina and have both the arms folded in añjali mudra.329 No. 64.357, No. 64.355 and No. 63.37 are Tri-Tirthika bronzes of Pārśva from Western India; the first is assignable to late 11th cent. A.D., the second is dated in Samvat 1112, and the third in Samvat 1126. No. 63.1081 is a single image dated in s. 1180.330 We have already referred to the elaborate stone sculpture from Rajasthan, in the National Museum (no. 39.202), showing Parsva standing with a background of snake-coils and having in the parikara small figures of snakes playing on viņa and veņu.
From Astal Bohr, Rohtak, was discovered a fine sculpture of Parśva standing with a canopy of seven cobra-hoods. The sculpture dates from c. 8th-9th cent. A.D.331 Two camaradharas stand near the legs of the Jina. In front of these two are two smaller standing females, one carrying a lotus and the other holding a sword. In front of these females are smaller seated figures of two-armed Sarvanubhūti and Ambikā. In another sculpture from the same spot, Pārsva sits in padmāsana on a lion throne. There are two standing attendant cămaradharas, flying garland bearers, triple umbrella etc. The Jina has a canopy of seven snake-hoods. A cloth hanging on the pedestal shows, in the centre, small half-snake and halfhuman figures of Dharama and his queen sitting in añjali mudra. On two ends of the throne are two-armed figures of Sarvanubhùti and Ambikā.
In the Lucknow Museum there are several images of Parsvanatha. Of these nos. J.846, J.859. J.882. G.223, G.310, no. 48.182, no. 40.121 are assignable to a period ranging from eighth to tenth cent. A.D. No. J.794 from Vateśvara, Agra district, represents Parśva in kayotsarga pose and is assignable to c. 11th cent. A.D. Yaksi Padmavati figures on the lion-throne and has five snake-hoods. Dharanendra yaksa with five snake-hoods figures on one end of the simhasana. No. G.223 dated in 1196 A.D. shows Päršva with hair-locks on shoulders and standing in the kayotsarga mudra. The snake cognizance is shown on the pedestal
There are several images of Pārśva at Devgadh. In most of them he is shown in a standing posture. Sometimes he is attended by Dharana's queen holding the umbrella and a câmaradhara with snake-hoods overhead. In Parsva images from temples 6 and 9, Devgadh, the Jina shows hair-locks on shoulders. We have already noted before some sculptures of Parsvanátha from Devgadh discussed by
www.jainelibrary.one
Page #194
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
181 Klaus Bruhn. There are also some images of Pärśva in Devgadh temples 3, 4, 8, 9, and 12.
Image no. 2874 from Kagarol in Mathura Museum shows Parsva with figures of the usual two-armed yaksa and yakşi on the pedestal. This is a sculpture of Pärśva sitting in padmāsana on coils of the snake Dharanendra holding a canopy of cobra-hoods from the back. On the ends of the pedestal are figures of two-armed Sarvanubhūti and Ambika.
In the State Museum, Bhanpur, M.P., there is a sculpture (Mu, no. 36 of Parśvanátha assignable to c. 10th cent. A.D. obtained from Bujgund, Mandsore district. Surface of the pedestal and parts of attendants are mutilated but it is a beautiful sculpture with artistic representation of the canopy of snake-hoods over Parśva's head. In the same museum there is another sculpture (Mu. no. 290) of this Jina from Hinglajgadh, assignable to c. 9th century A.D. Beautiful coils of snake are shown at the back. Câmaradharas standing cn lotuses on two sides of the Jina are mutilated but beyond them on lotuses sit lay Jaina worshippers. Near the right end of the simhāsana is a two-armed yaksa showing a purse in one hand and having three snake-hoods overhead. On the corresponding left end is a four-armed yaksi with three snake-hoods, carrying a lotus in the right upper hand and showing the abhaya mudră with the right lower one. Symbols of the two left hands are mutilated.
An early interesting sculpture of Pārsvanātha with seven snake-hoods is found at Tumain, district Guna, M.P. Pārsvanatha sits in padmasana on a simhasana and is attended on each side, not by a câmaradhara or a Näga, but by an elephant carrying, in its raised trunk, a lotus-bud with a long stalk. The upper parts of this sculpture are badly mutilated; however, on the left upper end is seen a figure of an elephant. Perhaps there was an elephant on the other side and both the elephants were performing an abhişeka on the Jina. The sculpture is assignable to the seventh century A.D.
The Jaina cave at Udayagiri near Vidisha has on its wall a relief sculpture of Parsvanātha sitting in padmāsana on a simhāsana, with an attendant standing on each side of the Jina. The sculpture is badly worn out and mutilated. An inscription in this cave records its excavation in Gupta Era 106 (reign of Kumāragupta I) along with a figure of Pārsvanātha. At Kahaon in U.P. is a free-standing pillar, a mänastambha, with an inscription dated in G.E. 141, and having a standing figure of Pärsvanātha at base and four Jina figures on top.332
A beautiful sculpture of Pārśva standing is preserved amongst the ruins at Budhi Chanderi (Old Gwalior State negative no. 51/81). On two ends near the simhāsana are small figures of two-armed Sarvänubhūti and Ambikā. The sculpture is assignable to c. 9th century A.D. A Tri-Tirthika sculpture of standing Pārsva, obtained from Bhojpur, Raisen district, and assignable to 10th-11th cent. A.D. is preserved in the Vidisha Museum (no. 349/1287). On the pedestal is the snake cognizance and coils of snake are along the back of the Jina. Near the feet are two devout worshippers who may be the donors of the image. A beautiful Panca-Tirthi of Pärśva standing, with cámaradharas on two sides of the mutilated legs of the Jina, is preserved in the State Museum (no. G.D.P. 81) at Gandharvapuri, Dewas district, M.P. It was obtained from the same place, and dates from c. 11th cent. A.D. A sculpture of Pārsvanatha sitting in padmāsana on a cushion placed on a simhāsana is found at Padhavali (old Gwalior State negative no. 784). The front rim of the cushion-like device shows a twisted design which may be of the snake's body. On two sides of the Jina are standing attendants, the one on the left side is badly mutilated. The attendants are Nāga figures with snake-hoods over head. The figure on the right side, better preserved, shows in his raised left hand an object which is a lotus or a kumbha. All the four small figures of standing Jinas in this sculpture show snake-hoods overhead and thus this is a rare example of Panca-Tirthi of Pārsvanátha with all the five Jina figures representing the same Jina, namely, Pārsvanätha. On the cloth hanging on the centre of the simhāsana is a miniature figure of a ganadhara or an acarya sitting. Such a practice was very popular in mediaeval period in M.P. as can be seen from various sculptures obtained from Shivpuri, Hinglajgadh, etc.
A Caturvimśati-Pațța sculpture of Pārsva sitting in padmāsana on a simhāsana (old Gwalior State negative no. 61/93) preserved in the Archaeological Museum, Gwalior, has on its pedestal a four-armed yakși on the right end and a figure of Ambika yakşi (two-armed) on the left end. In front of the cloth hanging on the centre of the simhasana is a small figure of Kșetrapāla, two-armed and standing and
Page #195
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Jaina-Rúpa-Mandana
holding a stick-like object in the right hand and a dog with a chain with the left hand. The sculpture dates from c. 12th century A.D.
182
A Covisi sculpture of Parsvanatha standing, preserved in the Jhansi Museum, shows, on the right end of the pedestal, a small figure of two-armed Sarvanubhuti and on the left end a two-armed Ambikā. The sculpture dates from c. 11th cent. A.D. There is a partly mutilated but finely carved sculpture of Pārsva in kayotsarga mudra, a Caturvimsati-Paṭṭa, from Narwar, in the Shivpuri Museum, M.P. (no. 15), with a small figure of a ganadhara in the centre of the simhasana. The sculpture dates from c. 12th-13th
cent. A.D.
A sculpture of Parsvanatha, with full parikara and figures of eight planets in a row on top of the simhasana and below the cushion on which the Jina sits in padmasana, hails from Jabalpur district and is preserved in the Rani Durgavati Museum, Jabalpur, M.P. The sculpture dates from c. 11th cent. A.D. On the right end of the pedestal is a four-armed Dharanendra yakṣa with a snake-hood over head. His left hands show the snake (?) and the water-pot. The right hands are mutilated. On the corresponding left end of the pedestal is sitting the four-armed yakși Padmavati with three snake-hoods over the crown. Her right up and holds an indistinct object, the right lower hand is in the abhaya mudra. Symbols of the two left hands are mutilated. On the cloth hanging on the centre of the pedestal is the snake cognizance of this Jina.
In the Jardine Museum, Khajuraho, is a sculpture (no. 1668) of Parsva sitting with six more Jina figures. There are about ten sculptures of Parsva at Khajuraho. Five of them show Parsva sitting on coils of the snake. In temples 28 and 5, Khajuraho, are two sculptures of Parsva in a standing posture. On two sides of the Jina are attendant camaradhara female figures with three snake-hoods above each of them. In the Jardine Museum image noted above there is a camaradhara Naga on one side and a Nagi holding an umbrella over the Jina from the other side. No. K.68 in the Khajuraho Museum has fourarmed Dharanendra and Padmavati as the yakṣa and yakşi and has 20 other Jina figures in the parikara. An image of Pärśva in temple 5 is more elaborate and shows on two sides of the sitting Jina two câmaradhara yakṣas and two more figures of camaradhara yakṣa and yakşi near the latter, each having seven snake-hoods. Santidevi figures in the centre of the pedestal. According to Tiwari, No. K.9 in the Khajuraho Museum is a sculpture of Pärśva with 46 other miniature Jina figures in the parikara and figures of 4 planets on the pedestal.333
In the Pañcamatha temple, Singpur, Shahdol district, M.P., is a stone sculpture of standing Pārsva with two câmaradharas near the legs and a canopy of snake-hoods overhead, surmounted by tripleumbrella etc. Coils of the snake are shown at the back of the whole body. The snake cognizance is shown on the pedestal. No yakṣa and yakşi are carved. The sculpture dates from c. middle tenth century A.D. An Eka-Tirthi sculpture of Pärśva standing is preserved at the Collector's bungalow, Shahdol, M.P. The sculpture dates from c. 10th-11th cent. A.D. Here the tail end of Dharanendra's coils is shown on the pedestal to represent the snake cognizance of Pārsvanatha.
At Rajgir in Bihar are some interesting sculptures of Pärsvanatha. A ninth century sculpture of this Jina on Udayagiri, Rajgir, shows the Jina sitting in padmasana on a viśva-padma with typically arranged coils of the snake on his two sides and below the viśva-padma with a central naga-pāśa knot. A beautiful almost circular canopy of finely carved cobra-hoods rises from the back. No other member of the parikara is shown.334 Indian Museum, Arch. Section, Neg. no. 680 shows a photograph of an architectural piece from Rajgir. The Jina sits in padmasana in a niche with an ornamental caitya-arch above, assignable to c. sixth century A.D. Over the arch, in a row, are small figures of three Jinas sitting in padmasana. The Jina figure in the niche has five snake-hoods overhead and below his seat is a dharmacakra flanked by a conch on each side. The Jina in the niche can be identified as Pärśvanatha whereas the conch cognizance flanking the dharmacakra is not prescribed for Pärśva images in any Jaina tradition, the conch is unanimously regarded as the lañchana of Neminatha. This sculpture therefore demonstrates that the cognizances were not yet finally settled up to the sixth century or that this is a case of mistake of the sculptor. Since there is one more such case at Rajgir we have to prefer the first alternative. There is a sculpture of Parsva sitting in padmasana, preserved in the old Jaina temple at Rajgir, illustrated as
Page #196
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
183
Fig. 24 in this book. Part of the pedestal is mutilated but we find an elephant just to the left of the place where the dharmacakra was but is now mutilated. Thus here also the cognizance of Parsva is not seen but instead an elephant is flanking the dharmacakra. There are four planets on each side of the Jina. In eastern India the planets are shown on two sides of the Jina, in central and western India they are generally placed on top or bottom of the pedestal. In temple no. 7 at Vaibharagiri, Rajgir, there is one more sculpture of Parsva of a somewhat later date. The Jina sits under a canopy of seven snakehoods on a simhasana. There is no dharmacakra and no cognizance. On the right end of the pedestal is a female with folded hands and three snake-hoods overhead. On the left end is a male worshipper carrying a garland.335
Large Jaina ruins exist in the village Chatra (Charra) near Purulia in the Manbhum district. Built into the walls of a late Hindu temple are Jaina sculptures of c. 10th-11th centuries, including images of Parents of a Jina, Santinatha, and monumental figures of Parsvanatha and Rṣabhanatha.336 Parasanatha village, Ambikanagar, Kedua, Barkola, Harmashra and Dharapat in Bankura district, West Bengal have several Jaina ruins of temples and sculptures. The village of Parasanatha, northwards after crossing the confluence of Kumari and Kangsvati rivers, is named after the shrine of Jina Parsvanatha. Here are lying fragments of a gigantic sculpture of this Jina. That the Jaina Tirthankara Parsvanatha was greatly venerated by the Jainas of this district is corroborated by the presence of this deity enshrined in temples at Bahulara and Dharapat situated near Vishnupur, now worshipped as Manasi-devi. In Studies in Jaina Art, fig. 38, we have illustrated a sculpture of Pārsvanatha from Bahulara, showing him standing in kayotsarga mudra with miniature figures of four planets on each side. On the pedestal are small figures of Dharanendra and his queen, half human with tails of their lower snake-half tied into a naga-paša knot in the centre. Pārśva has coils of the big snake at the back with a canopy of seven snake-hoods held over his head. 337
Worship of Parsva was also popular in Bihar. Amongst Aluara bronzes in the Patna Museum we have two images of Parsva sitting in the padmasana and two more bronzes representing him in the standing posture (Patna Museum, nos. 6531, 6533, 10678, 10679),338
Worship of Pārsvanatha remained popular in Orissa also. There are several reliefs of Parsva in the Bārābhuji, Navamuni and Triśüla caves at Khandagiri, Orissa. In the Navamuni cave, right wall, is a relief of Parsva sitting in padmasana on a double lotus under a canopy of seven snake-hoods. On two sides are two camaradharas and below the double-lotus, in the centre is a partly defaced figure which looks like a kumbha (water-pot). On the right and left ends of this are figures of Dharanendra and his queen, half-snake and half-human with snake-hoods overhead. Dharanendra has his hands folded in añjali mudra while his queen at the other end (also sitting) carries the long handle of the umbrella held over the Jina. What is especially noteworthy is the crown-like motif on the head of the Jina. It may be a jala or usnişa on the head of Parśva. In cave 7, there is another figure of Pārsva sitting on a double lotus. Below the lotus is a dharmacakra carved like a lotus to the right of which is a figure of Dharanendra sitting with folded hands while to the left is a small rudely carved kukkuta-sarpa. At the left end is the snake-queen sitting with folded hands. In the Bārābhuji cave is a figure of standing Parsva with coils of the snake all along the back of the Jina who has a fine canopy of seven snake-hoods overhead. On two ends near the legs of the Jina are Dharanendra and his queen, both with folded hands and having half-snake and half-human bodies.339
On a wall of the Barabhuji cave is another figure of Parsva sitting in padmasana on a big doublelotus which has a thick long stalk. The stalk seems to have been mistaken for a snake by Tiwari.340 At two ends the two lions standing on their hind legs seem to represent the simhasana. To the right of the lotus stalk is a half-human half-snake figure with folded hands. A little below this relief is a relief of Padmavati, the yakşi of Parśvanatha.
Arun Joshi has published a sculpture of standing Parsva from Khijjinga, Orissa. There are three standing miniature Tirthankaras on each side of Parśva. Snake-hoods are partly mutilated. The sculpture dates from c. 10th cent. A.D. This sculpture is thus a Sapta-Tirthika image of Pārsva.341 There is a sculpture of standing Parsva at Badasahi in Mayurbhanj district. R.P. Mohapatra has published
Page #197
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
184
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
some more sculptures of this Jina in his Jaina Monuments of Orissa, fig. 56 from Kakatpur in the Orissa State Museum, Bhuvaneśvara, fig. 58 from Siśupālagadh in the same museum, figs. 70, 72 from Cuttack Jaina temple, fig. 79 bronze from Bhanpur, fig. 78 from Pratapnagari, district Cuttack, fig. 90 from Ana and figs. 93, 94 from Sainkul, fig. 92 from Vaidakhia and figs. 82, 84 from Podasingidi, all in Keonjhar district. fig. 88 from Gadachandi Vaidakhia, Keonjhar district, figs. 100, 101 from Ayodhya, district Balasore, 105, 107 from Baripada, district Mayurbhanj, 108 from Khuntapal, district Mayurbhanj and fig. 110 Sapta-Tirthika standing Pärávanātha from Khiching in the Khiching Museum, discussed also by Arun Joshi, referred to above. Mohapatra's fig. 135 is partly mutilated on its right half. The sculpture is obtained from Jamunda, Koraput district, and is now in the Jeypore Museum. Pārsva sits in the padmāsana on a simhāsana and has a standing câmaradhara on each side. In the centre of the simbasana sits four-armed Padmavati with three snake-hoods overhead. On the left side of the simhāsana is a twoarmed Nagini with folded hands. There is no dharmacakra.
Two figures in sitting position in Bada Jagannatha temple, Baripada, have canopies of nine and thirteen snake-hoods. The one with 13 snake-hoods may be of Pārsvanātha (Mohapatra's fig. 105) while the one with aine hoods could be of Supārsvanatha. Fig. 107 of Mohapatra from Jagannatha temple: Baripada shows Pārsvanātha standing with snake-hoods overhead, coils of snake at back, planets and camaradharas on two sides and on the pedestal the lower snake-halfs of the bodies of Dharanendra and his queen are tied into a någa-paša knot at the centre of the pedestal just below the double-lotus on which stands Pārsvanatha. Of this iconographic type is the beautiful standing Pārśva figure from Ayodhya, Balasore district, illustrated by Mohapatra, op. cit., fig. 100. Here on the right end of the pedestal we have a female worshipper sitting with folded hands in front of a vessel of flowers or sweets (?) while on the corresponding left end is a similar object and flaming objects only. The cámaradharas on the sides of Parsvanātha in the image from Vaidakhia now in the State Museum, Bhuvaneśvara, stand on elephants. The Pārsvanātha image of Vaidakhia is depicted with figures of Rşabhanātha, Santinātha, Mahavira and Candraprabha each having his cognizance clearly carved below his figure.342 For another standing Pärsvanātha from Ayodhya, see Fig. 47 illustrated in this book.
In Maharashtra also there are several images of Pārsvanātha. Pārsva was very popular at Ellora as can be seen from several reliefs of this Jina in the Jaina caves at Ellora. Sculptures of Pärsvanātha are found at Erandol in East Khandesh. There is a Digambara Pañcatirthi of Pārśva with two Jinas standing by the sides of Pārsva and two above the standing Jinas. Coils of the big snake with five-hoods are seen behind the figure of Pārsvanātha. There are no members of the usual parikara, the beautiful sculpture dates from c. 10th cent. A.D. All the Tirthankaras in this rare sculpture have snake-hoods over their heads (Photo Negative no. 8390 of 1934-35, Western Circle, Arch. Survey of India). There is a sculpture of Parśva in padmāsana at this site. Here also the two standing Tirthařkaras by the sides of Pārśva have snake-hoods over their heads. There are two more sitting miniature Jina figures above but since the top portions over their heads are damaged it is difficult to say with certainty whether they had snakehoods overhead or not. Pārsvanātha here sits on a simhāsana having in its centre a dharmacakra flanked by a male and a female worshipper.
From Ankai Tankai, in Maharashtra, several beautiful Jaina sculptures of Western Chalukyan influence and assignable to c. 10th-11th cent. A.D. were found. Most of them are now in the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay. One of these is a beautiful sculpture of Pārsva standing under a canopy of five snake-hoods (as in both the sculptures from Erandol discussed above) and a caitya-tree above. Near the shoulders are flying garland-bearers and near the legs are small figures of camaradharas. Stylised marks of hair are shown on the shoulders. In a Pañcatirthi sculpture of Pārsva sitting in padmāsana preserved in the Nagpur Museum (no. B.23) we also find hair-locks on the shoulders of Pārsvanātha. There is also in this museum a standing Pärśva with coils of cobra behind his back and seven cobra-hoods above. The sculpture hails from Rajnakin Khinkhini, Akola district, and dates from c. 11th cent. A.D. No other member of the parikara is shown.
A beautiful sculpture of Päršva in ardha-pudmāsana with a fine canopy of seven snake-hoods and snake-coils behind serving as a sort of back-rest is in worship in the Pārsvanātha Basadi at Yamakana
Page #198
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
185 maradi in Belgaum district. The sculpture is assignable to c. 10th cent. A.D. A later sculpture of standing Pārsva, with a canopy of five snake-hoods and the coils of Dharanendra behind, is in worship in Panca Basadi, Stavanidhi, Belgaum district, Chikkodi Taluq. The Jina here stands under an arch supported by two pillars on tops of which in niches are two small sitting Jina figures. Near the right leg of Pårsva sits four-armed Dharanendra yakşa while on the corresponding left end sits four-armed Padmavati yaksi, both of them having a snake-hood above the crown. The sculpture dates from c. 13th cent. A.D.
A somewhat earlier and more beautiful sculpture of Pärśva, from neck upwards and with feet and pedestal also broken, is preserved in the museum at Bidar and hails from Basavakalyana in the Humnabad Taluq of Bidar district. This is a Covisi Digambara sculpture with rows of sitting Tirthankaras on two sides and an attendant male câmaradhara on each side. A much later figure of standing Pārsva with four-armed yaksa and yakşi near his legs is in worship at Rona in Dharwar district. Here small figures of sitting Jinas are shown in the hollows of the toraņa arches above and one more row on lotuses springing from them, thus making this a Caturvimśati-Patta image of Pārsvanātha. Another late sculpture of standing Pārsva with four-armed yaksa and yakşi is in worship in the Adinatha Basadi. Mugadd in Dharwar district. Another Eka-Tīrthi of Pārsvarātha with a canopy of seven hoods and fourarmed yaksa and yakşi sitting near the legs is found from Lakkundi in Dharwar district. The beautiful sculpture dates from c. 12th century A.D.
Of about thirteenth century is a standing Pārsvanātha with standing four-armed yakşa and yakşi by the side of his legs in worship in Sankesvara Basadi in Dharwar district. A much later stone sculpture of Pārsva sitting on a big seat is preserved in the Kannada Research Institute, Dharwar. Here also fourarmed Dharanendra yakşa and Padmavati yakşi are standing on two sides of the high seat.
A beautiful sculpture of standing Parsva with a fine circular canopy of seven snake-hoods is found from Lakkundi. The sculpture of fine Chalukyan style dates from c. ninth century A.D. There are no other members of the parikara nor a back slab. This is a sculpture in the round unfortunately broken below the knees. It is now preserved in the local museum. Of about the same age is a similar sculpture in the round with part of the snake-hoods mutilated and broken from below the knees. It is found from the site of the ancient Jaina Tirtha Kulpak in the Nalgonda district. It is now preserved in the local site museum of Someśvara temple. Kirit Mankodi has published two single figures of Parávanātha from the wall of the Jaina temple at Hallur in north Karnataka.343
A beautiful standing figure of this Jina with seven snake-hoods and coils of the snake behind his body is preserved in the Panchakūta Basadi at Kambadahalli, Karnataka. In a small village known as Bellur on the way to Bangalore from Kambadahalli is a fine sculpture in the round of Parsva sitting in ardhapadmāsana with five snake-hoods overhead and coils of the snake at his back. Dating from c. 10th century and of the style under the Gangas, this sculpture is said to have been brought here from Nagamangalam.
A beautiful early sculpture of Pārśva seated in the ardhapadmāsana against a back seat made of a horizontal bar supported by two dwarf pillars with lions standing on hind legs is found from a ruined Basadi at Bankur, Chitapur Talug, Gulbarga district. Between the back-rest and the body of the Jina are the coils of the seven-hooded Dharanendra at the back of the Jina. From two ends of the back-rest spring two camaradhara yakşas. There is a triple umbrella over the snake-hoods. The sculpture dates from c. 8th cent. A.D.
There is a beautiful sculpture of Pārsvanatha standing with coils of Dharapendra at the back in worship in a shrine at Sravana Belagola. The canopy of seven snake-hoods is arranged in an almost complete circle. The sculpture is a beautiful specimen of the Ganga art of c. 10th cent. A.D.
Of c. late 11th century is a fine sculpture of Pārsva standing preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (see fig. 46). Four-armed Dharanendra yakşā and Padmāvati yakşi are sitting on two sides near the legs of the Jina. The sculpture hails from northern Karnataka.
Of about the 11th cent. A.D. there is also a sculpture of Pārsva sitting in the ardhapadmasana against the back-seat with a horizontal bar supported by two pillars. On the back of the Jina is also a big cushion. Two câmaradharas are shown springing as it were from the back-seat. In all these cases the Jina has canopy of seven snake-hoods. This sculpture is preserved in a shrine in Sravana Belagola. In
Page #199
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
186
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana the Bhandare Basti at Sravana Belagola in the set of 24 standing Tirthańkaras we find an image of Pārsvanātha standing with four-armed Dharanendra and Padmavati standing on his two sides near the legs (see fig. 78). Such figures of this Tirthankara are in worship in the sets of Jinas in the Suttălaya of Gommata, Sravana Belagola, at Venur, Kārkala, and other places in South Karnataka. Dhaky has published two beautiful sculptures of Pärsvanātha sitting from temples in Humca. They are specimens of Santara art of the eleventh and twelfth century A.D.344 Dhaky has also published a sculpture of standing Pärsvanātha from Hiriya Basadi at Gerrosoppe in Karnataka. Four-armed yaksa and yakşi stand near the legs of the Jina. The Jina is worshipped as Candogra-Pārsvanātha. The sculpture is assigned to c. 14th-15th cent. A.D.345 An inscription refers to Candogra-Pārsvanatha of Hiriya Basti.346 Atwelfth century sculpture of the same iconographic type is preserved in the site museum at Halebid (Basti-Halli).
C. Sivaramamurti has published an exquisitely carved elaborate sculpture of standing Parśvanåtha from Karnataka, in his Panorama of Jaina Art, South India, fig. 18. The Jina stands under an illikāvalayatorana arch supported by two pillars. In front of the pillar on the right is sitting four-armed Dharanendra yaksa and on the left side of the Jina is the four-armed Padmavati. Of Western Chalukyan style and assignable to c. 11th-12th cent. A.D., the sculpture hails from Pattankudi in Karnataka.
P. Gururaja Bhatt has listed several images and temples in Tulu-Nadu, South Karnataka; ior example, Mudabidri in the Guru-Basti, the Mathada-Basti, the Tirthańkara-Basti, in the Hosangadi-Basti at Hosangadi, in the Jaina Basti at Belli-bidu, in Venur in the Kelagina-Basti and the Tirthankara-Basti, in the Dodda-Basti at Aladangadi, the Tirthaikara-Basti at Bangavadi, Chikka-Basti at Buleri-Puddabettu, Jaina Bastis at Arikallu, Kudi-bailu, Mijaru, etc., in the Parsvanatha Basti at Manjeśvara, in HallaraBasti and Adda-keri Basti, Bommaraja-Basti etc. at Karkala, and so on.347 He has also illustrated some stone and metal images of this Jina in his book Studies in Tuluva History and Culture, pl. 409, figs. a, b, pl. 413, fig. c, pl. 417, fig. b, pl. 418, fig. a, pl. 420, fig. b, pl. 423, fig. a, pl. 425, fig. a, pl. 431, fig. b, pl. 432, fig. b, etc.
We have already referred to some sites in Tamil Nadu which have rock-cut reliefs of the scene of attack of Kamatha. Besides these there other reliefs and sculptures of this Jina found from different sites. Sivaramamurti, op. cit., fig. 83 illustrates a standing Parsva with attendant camaradharas in worship at Tirumalai. The sculpture dates from c. 10th-11th cent. A.D. Here Parsva has a canopy of five snake-hoods. His fig. 43 illustrates Pärsva seated with five snake-hoods in recess in the side wall of the front wall of the Pallava period cave at Sittannavasal, Tiruchirapalli district. The sculpture dates from the seventh century A.D. A beautiful head of this Jina with five snake-hoods from Chettipatti is illustrated by Sivaramamurti in his fig. 61. This is a Chola sculpture of c. 9th cent. A.D. In the National Museum, New Delhi is preserved a beautiful Chola period sculpture of Parsva standing in kayotsarga mudrå with five snake-hoods overhead. The Jina is flanked by padma and sarkha nidhis. This is a very rare type of Tirthankara image assignable to c. 10th cent. A.D., illustrated by Sivaramamurti, op. cit., fig. 13.
Tho Madras Museum has two partly mutilated sculptures in the round of Parávanátha from Danavulpadu in Cuddapah district. Sivaramamurti's figs. 55, 56 and fig. 69 are illustrations of rock-cut Jaina reliefs from Vallimalai in Andhra Pradesh. They include sculptures of Pärsvanatha, assignable to 9th10th cent., Chola-Pallava transition style. In the Khajana Building Museum, Golkonda, is a colossal sculpture of standing Pārsva, carved in the round, assignable to c. 9th century A.D. Another big free standing Pārsva sculpture from Pattancheru, A.P., assignable to 11th cent. A.D., is preserved in the Government Museum of Archaeology, A.P. State, Hyderabad. In the office of the Department of Archaeology, A.P. State, Hyderabad there is an interesting black stone Covisi of Pärsvanatha standing under a canopy of seven snake-hoods. Two small figures of camaradharas stand on elephants by the side of Pārsva's shoulders. On both the sides and on top are small figures of other 23 Jinas in sitting postures. On two ends of the back stela, near the legs of Pārsvanātha are standing four-armed figures of the yakşa and yakşiņi. The sculpture is assigned to c. 12th cent. A.D.At Durgakonda, Ramatirtham, Vizagapattam district, is a figure of Pārśva standing on a full-blown lotus. The sculpture dates from c. latter half of the eleventh century A.D. Sivaramamurti, op. cit., figs. 282, 282A, 534 illustrate a beautiful sculpture of standing Pārśva from Penukonda, Anantapur district, A.P. The sculpture is assignable to
Page #200
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
187
c. 11th cent. A.D. and is a fine specimen of Western Chalukyan art. Sivaramamurti's fig. 285 illustrates rock-cut seated Pārsva with princely attendant and his consort, believed to be Mallamadevi and Betana, from Hanamkonda, assignable to 12th-13th century, of art under the Kakatiyas. Fig. 288 from Hanamkonda is a rock-cut standing Pārsva, Kakatiya, c. 12th-13th cent. A.D., and Sivaramamurti's fig. 289 is of a standing Pārsva from Hindupur, Anantapur district.
Pārsvanātha is said to have visited the Kadambari forest where there was a mountain named Kali with a tank (kunda) nearby. Here an elephant worshipped him. King Karakandu, of Campa 348 nearby, knowing this, visited the spot but by this time Pasívanátha had left the place. The king was dejected but on digging near the spot a beautiful jewel-image of the Jina was discovered which was then installed in a big shrine and the image came to be known as Kalikunda-Pärsvanatha. Even today, almost all over India, there are several shrines of Pārsvanātha known as Kalikunda-Pärsvanatha temples. Since Pārsvanātha is invoked for obtaining various desires, especially in different Tantric rites, he is verily regarded as a Cintamani, a wish-fulfilling gem, and a Tantric diagram known as Cinta nani-Yantra is also worshipped.349 Often some images of this Jina are called Cintamani-Pärsvanatha and temples are named after him. There is no special iconographic significance behind these names.
Artists introduced some variations in the representation of the canopy of snake-hoods for Pārsvanātha. Thus a Sahasraphaņā-Pārsvanātha image came into being. This enabled the artists to create beautiful arch-like hoods or a thick cluster of hoods over the head of the Jina. At Satruñjaya there is a Sahasraphana-Pärśvanātha sculpture of late mediaeval period. A painted Pața of Sahasraphaņā Pārsvanātha was published by Sarabhai Nawab in Jaina Citrakalpadruma, Vol. I. A big stone plaque, with an inscription dated in V.S. 1903 (A.D. 1847) installed in the Caumukha shrine at Ranakpur is illustrated in Studies in Jaina Art, fig. 79.
Stambhana-Pärsvanatha, worshipped at Cambay (Khambhat) in Gujarat, is so called because, originally, Nāgärjuna, a great Jaina monk pupil of Padalipta, is reported to have solidified mercury with the help of miraculous power of an image of this Jina. The process of solidifying is called stambhana, whereby the image was known as Stambhana-Pärsvanātha and in course of time it was installed in Cambay.350
Pårśvanātha is an eminent deity in Jaina Tantra. He is especially invoked for protecting a worshipper from supernatural beings like Bhuta, Preta, Säkini, Vetāla, etc.,351 from epidemics and other mishaps and for fulfilling various desires of the worshipper. Pārsvanatha is the deity par excellence of the Jaina Mantraśāstra 352
Jinaprabha suri gives the following list of various shrines of this Jina situated at different places: Navanidhi-Pärsvanātha at Ajagraha, Bhavabhayahara-Pārsvanatha at Stambhanaka, Viśvakalpalatā. Pārsvanātha at Falavardhika (modern Falodhi in Rajasthan), Upasargahara-P. at Karahetaka (Karbad in Maharashtra), Tribhuvanabhānu-P. at Abicchatrā, Śri-Pārsvanātha at Kalikunda and Nāgahrada, Viśvagaja-P. at Kukkuteśvara, Chaya-P. on the Mahendra mountain, Sahasraphani-Pārsvanatha on the Omkara parvata (on the banks of Narmada, in M.P.), Bhavyapuskaråvartaka-P. at Dandakata in Varanasi, Pātālacakravarti-P. in the Mahakāla shrine (Ujjain), Kalpadruma-P. at Mathura, Asoka-P. at Campa and Sri-Päráva on the Malayagiri 353
Scenes from the life of Pārśva are found in Kalpasūtra miniatures and in paintings on wooden bookcovers of palm-leaf manuscripts. One such book-cover is preserved in the collections of the L.D. Institute of Indology. Scenes from Pārsva's life including some from his previous births are carved, with labels, in ceilings in the Mahavira and Santinätha temples at Kumbharia and in a ceiling of a devakulikå (no. 16) of Lūpavasahi, Abu. Tiwari thinks that on the wall of the eastern devakulikā of Mahāvīra shrine, Ośia, there are scenes from the life of Parsva.
24. TWENTY-FOURTH TIRTHANKARA: MAHĀVIRA VARDHAMANA
The twenty-fourth Tirthankara Vardhamana Mahāvira was a senior contemporary of Gautama Buddha. Both Mahavira and Buddha were contemporaries of Bimbisara and Aja taśatru of Magadha.354
ional
Page #201
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
188
Jaina-Rūpa-Mandana According to traditional Svetambara calculations, the date of Mahāvira's Nirvāņa, at the age of 72, falls in 527 B.C.355
Mahāvira was born as the son of Siddhartha and Trišală, leaders of the Jñátç clan of the Ksatriyas of Kundapura (Kunda grāma), probably a suburb of the ancient city of Vaisali, the capital of Videha country. Svetambara Jaina accounts show that Mahāvira was first conceived in the womb of Devånandā, a Bråhmana lady residing in another suburb of Vaiśáli, known as Brahmanakundagräma. Seeing that no Jaina Patriarch was ever born of Brahmana blood, Sakra-Indra ordered his Commander of Infantry, Harinegameşin or Negameşin by name, to transfer the embryo to the womb of Trišala, wife of Ksatriya chief Siddhārtha. This Svetāmbara legend of the Transfer of Embryo is not known to Digambara sources who describe Mahavira as the son of Prince Siddhartha and his wife Priyakärinl, ruling at Kundapura, 356
According to Svetambara Jaina canon, Trisalā was the sister of king Cetaka of Vaisali,357 the capital of Videha and was, therefore, known as Videhadinnā (Videbadatta). The Digambara Purāpa Harivamsa (of Jinasena), composed in 783 A.D., addresses the mother of Mahavira as both Trišala and Priyakarini. According to this text as well as the Uttarapurāņa of Gunabhadra, Priyakärini was the daughter of Cetaka 358
Golden in appearance, Mahavira descended from the Pränata heaven, in the Hasta naksatra according to Svetambara belief and in the Uttrafalguni according to Harivamsa. His parents called him Vardhamana or the prosperous one because wealth, fame and merit of his family began increasing with his birth. Gods called him Mahavira or the Great Hero on account of his great valour, fortitude and hardiness in enduring hardships. 359 He was also known as Jñāts-putra or the Scion of the Jñāts Sect of the Ksatriyas.
An incident demonstrating his great valour in childhood is narrated by Jaina texts. Svetāmbara accounts call it Amalaki-krida (the game known as Amalaki) and describe it as follows:
Vardhamana was playing the Amalaki game near a tree with a group of lads when a god came to test the valour of the young would-be Jina. He first assumed the form of a big snake and went round the stem of the tree. All the boys except Vardhamāna were frightened and ran away while Vardhamana boldly approached the cobra, caught him and threw him away.360 According to Digambara account, god Sanga maka, who came to test the valour of Vira, assumed the form of a huge snake and entwining his body round the whole length of the stem of the tree frightened the lads playing on the branches. Vira, unperturbed, danced on the cobra's hoods (compare the Hindu legend of Krşpa dancing on the hoods of the Kaliya snake). The god was pleased at the courage and valour of the Lord and called him Mahavira.361 Svetambaras narrate one more test taken by this god. Leaving the form of a cobra, Sangamaka assumed the form of a human lad and joined the boys in their new game called the Tindusaka, 362 played between two boys every time wherein the victor was to be carried on shoulders by the vanquished. The god was defeated and Vardhamana mounted himself on the former's shoulders. Immediately the god assumed the form of a Piśāca (demon) and grew taller and taller. Undaunted, Vardhamana gave with his fist such a strong blow on the back of the Piśāca that the latter was obliged to give up all further attempts at mischief. The god then praised Vardhamana and called him Mahavira.363
In school, Indra came in the form of a Brahmana and asked Mahavira certain difficult questions on grammar which were immediately answered by young Mahāvira, to the surprise of the teacher and other pupils. Indra informed the teacher that Mahavira was a would-be Tirthaokara.304
According to Svetambara belief, Mahāvira was married to a princess named Yaśodá from whom he had a daughter Priyadarsa or Anojja by name. Anojja was given in marriage to one Jamali who later became a disciple of Mahavira and was responsible for the first schism in the Jaina Church.365 The Digambara sect does not believe that Mahavira was ever married but according to some scholars the difference is due to a misunderstanding of certain verses in the Paumacariyam, the Padmacarita of Ravişena and the Avasyaka Niryukti.366
According to both the sects, Mahavira took dikşā at the age of thirty. The Svetāmbaras say that his parents died when he was 28 years old; at the request of his elder brother Nandivardhana and others he stayed at home for about a couple of years. During this period he spent his time at home in observance of vows and in standing in meditation,367 The Kalpa-sūtra says: “A year before the Jinas retire from the
Page #202
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
189
world, they continue to give away their property in charity, from the rising of the Sun. One crore and eight lacs of gold is his gift at the rising Sun, as if it were his daily meal. 388 crores and 80 lacs were given in one year."368 Mahavira similarly gave charities for one year. Then the Laukantika gods approaching him requested him to propagate the religion. Mahāvīra, mounting on a palanquin called Candraprabha, went to a garden outside the city, removed all ornaments etc., and plucked out his hair in five handfuls.369
According to the Digambara sect, Mahavira practised rigorous austerities for twelve years. An obstacle (upasarga) from Mahadeva or Sthâņu, created with a view to test Mahavira's steadfastness, at Ujjain in the cremation ground known as Atimuktaka-smaśāna, is narrated by the Uttarapurana.370 Śiva tried to frighten Vardhamana with forms of Vetālas etc., but the sage remained unperturbed and steadfast in meditation at which Mahadeva called him a great hero (Maha-Vira) and praised in many ways. This Digambara account suggesting some strong Saivite opposition has its parallel in the Svetambara account of upasargas from yakṣa Śülapāņi (one with trident in hand, a name of Śiva) at Asthikagrama, known as Vardhamanapura (modern Burdwan).371
Says the Kalpa-sutra: "The Venerable ascetic Mahavira for a year and a month wore clothes; after that time he walked about naked, and accepted alms in the hollow of his palms."372
Śvetämbara texts, Kalpa-sutra, Avaśyaka Niryukti and Avasyaka-Curṇi, as also later commentaries and biographies of Mahavira, give more interesting details about Mahavira's itinerary which have been discussed by Muni Kalyanavijaya in his Sramana Bhagavana Mahāvīra and summarised by J.C. Jaina in his Life in Ancient India as depicted in Jaina Canons.373
In the second year after taking dikṣā, on his way to Uttaravacāla and Svetavi, Mahavira met a deadly huge serpent called Canda-Kausika, whose very sight and breath were poisonous enough to kill any living being (drṣtivisa-sarpa). But even repeated bites by the serpent bore no effect in the case of Mahavira and the serpent was converted. The snake then remembered his past existence and, following the Jaina path of virtue, died of starvation. The Jina's first meeting with Gośāla (leader of the Ajivika sect) took place at Nalanda in the second year of Mahavira's monkhood. In the fifth year Mahavira and Gośāla went to Haledduga from Savatthi. Here under a turmeric tree, while Mahavira was standing in meditation, his feet are said to have been burnt by some fire. Wandering they both reached Coraya Sanniveśa from which place they went to Kalâmbuka Sanniveśa where both were tied and beaten by one Kalahasti and were later on set at liberty by Megha. Then both of them proceeded to the country of Ladha (Radha).374 Here Mahavira had to endure various kinds of sufferings. 375 Dogs were let loose on them and they were molested in various ways. While leaving the country, two thieves, in a border village, tried to assassinate them but were saved at the intervention of the god Sakra. They then went to Bhaddiya or Bhaddiyapura. In the sixth year Gośāla went away and Mahavira wandered alone. At Sälistyagama he met with an upasarga from a Vyantara demi-goddess Kaṭapūtana.376 It seems that this Saliśīrșa was a centre of worship of this child-devouring deity and that Mahavira met with some opposition from worshippers of these Bala-grahas.377 Again Gośāla joined Mahavira. In the ninth year both of them proceeded to Ladha and wandered in Vajjabhumi and Subbabhumi where Mahavira had to undergo all sorts of tortures. Sometimes people set dogs on him and did not give him shelter. The ninth rainy season was spent in this country. In the eleventh year Mahāvīra went to Sanulaṭṭhi from Śrāvasti and thence to Dṛdhabhūmi, a land of the Mlecchas. From here he proceeded to Padhalagima and stood in meditation in the Polasa caitya. A god, Sangamaka by name, thinking that no human being can stand divine tests, created obstacles (upasargas) and caused unbearable severe pain to the person of Mahavira, with several insects, ants, scorpions, lions, elephant etc. as also by blowing terrific winds, by throwing heavy stones and weapons on him and so on.378 For six months from here the god followed Mahavira and put obstacles even in obtaining alms from local population. But all his attempts to deviate Mahavira from his path failed. In the thirteenth year Mahavira went to Chhamanigama where a cow-boy left his two bullocks by the side of Mahavira meditating and entered the village. The bulls ran away. Returning, the cowboy inquired of Mahavira about his animals but the sage, in meditation and observing silence (maunavrata), gave no reply. Enraged, the villager thrust a long nail in each ear of the sage. Mahavira then
Page #203
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
190
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
went to Madhyama-Pāvā where a physician, Kharaka by name, removed the nails and cured the wounds. Next, Mahāvira proceeded to Jambhiyagama (Jşmbhikāgrāma) on the northern bank of the river Rjupālikā (Ujjupāliyā). In the field of the householder Samāga, in a north-eastern direction from the Veyavatta shrine (i.e. shrine of Vaiyāvstta=yakşa), under a Sala tree (Shorea Robusta), Mahāvira obtained Kevala-jñāna during deep meditation in a squatting position with knees up (ukkuda-janu), known as Godohikä position.379
Representations of some of the upasargas suffered by Mahavira are available in miniature paintings of the Kalpa-sutra,380 but stone plaques depicting these are rare. However in a ceiling slab of a bay in the Mahavira temple at Kumbharia, and in the Santinātha temple at the same place we find, elaborately carved with appropriate labels incised below each figure, scenes from previous births as well as this birth of Mahavira. The reliefs date from the eleventh century A.D. These reliefs include scenes of upasargas of Mahavira, but unlike the upasargas by Kamatha to Pärśvanātha, the upasargas suffered by Mahavira did not become popular in Svetambara and Digambara shrines.
ding to both the sects, Mahāvira had eleven Ganadharas headed by Gautama Indrabhiti Candanā or Candanabalā is reported to have been the head of Mahavira's order of nuns. According to the Digambaras, Mahāvira obtained Nirvana at Pavāpura in the Manohara-vana, on a jewelled platform (mahamanisila) in the midst of a lake.381 According to the Svetāmbaras, Mahåvira died in the town of Pāpā (Pāvā) in king Hastipāla's office of writers. In that night in which Mahāvīra died, the eighteen confederate kings of Kasi and Kośala, the nine Mallakis and the nine Licchavis instituted an illumination.382 This is now celebrated as Dipávali Parva, according to the Jainas.
Mätanga was his yaksa and Siddhayikā the yakşiņi according to both the sects, though the symbols held by them are different in the two traditions.
A pedestal of a Jina image, with only the feet of the Jina left on it, obtained from Kankali Tila, Mathura, is now preserved in the State Museum, Lucknow (Mu. no. J.2). There is no trace of a cognizance anywhere on the pedestal or below the feet of the Jina but the inscription on the pedestal records, after an invocation to Siddhas, the setting up of an image of Arhat Mahavira in the temple of the Arhats. 383 The image is dated in Samvat 299. Referred to the era of 57 B.C. it would be dated in 242 A.D., but if referred to the era of 78 A.D. the date would be 377 A.D. The pedestal with the inscription is partly mutilated but it seems that the daughter of Okharikā and the lay sister of Ujhatikā and Okha and Sirika and Sivadina were amongst the donors of this image as well as the Devakula referred to in the last line of the inscription.384 J.E. Van Lohuizen-De Leeuw referred the inscription to the old Saka era of 129 B.C. and read the date as 199 A.D.385 But as R.C. Sharma has proved the date is 299. When referred to the old Saka era this date would then be 170 A.D.
Another noteworthy image of Vardhamana is the one set up by Okharikā, daughter of Damitra (Demetrius) in the year 84 of the reign of Vasudeva. The sculpture was obtained from Kankali Tila, Mathura, and is now in the Mathura Museum (no. 490). The date would be equivalent to 162 A.D. acc. to its usual calculation in the era of 78 A.D. Then Okharika of this inscription and Okharikā of J.2 Lucknow Museum just discussed could be contemporary or identical. 386 This sculpture is also mutilated with only the pedestal and the crossed legs and palms of hands remaining. A lotus and a cakra are carved on the soles of each foot as marks of a Mahapuruṣa. In the centre of the simhasana is a dharmacakra on pillar on two sides of which are two worshippers sitting with folded hands. Next in order on the right is standing a naked Jaina monk with a piece of cloth hanging from his hand and concealing his nudity. The monk further seems to have carried a broom (rajoharana) in one of his hands. Two more standing males represent lay Jaina worshippers (Aspects of Jaina Art and Architecture, Paper no. 6, fig. 16). On the corresponding left side of the dharmacakra stands a lady with an object in one hand (possibly a rajoharana) and two more ladies with hands folded in adoration represent Jaina female lay worshippers (śrā vikäs). Thus the pedestal shows worship of the Jina above and/or the dharmacakra by all the four constituents of the Jaina Samgha, namely, the sadhu, the sādhvi, the śrävaka and the śrāvikā. The dharmacakra is placed on a pillar in this and many other specimens from Mathura. The conception of cakra-pravartana, religious or political, was common to all sects.
Page #204
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
191 Nos. J.14, J.16, J.22, J.31, J.53 and J.66 from Mathura in the State Museum, Lucknow, are also images of this Jina, called Vardhamana in the inscriptions on them, and date roughly in the Kuşāņa period. In the inscription on J.2 noted above the Jina is called Mahavira. Figure 78 illustruted in this book is no. 5.16 in the Lucknow Museum. Of the images and fragments of images of Mahavira discovered from Mathura of the Scythian period, one is dated in the year 50 (?) (Luders List, no. 50), another in the year 20 (Luders list, no. 28), a third in the year 5 of Kaniska (ibid., no. 18), a fourth in the year 29, while one more gives the year 22 (ibid., no. 31).387
A dated specimen of Mahåvira image of the early Gupta period, preserved in the Lucknow Museum, is published by R.D. Bannerji in his Age of the Imperial Guptas. It shows the Jina seated in dhyāna mudrā on a lion-throne having two lions standing near its ends and a dharmacakra placed on a small platform in the middle. On both sides of the Wheel of Law are devotees with folded hands. The inscription shows that it was dedicated at Mathura, in the Gupta year 113, by a Jaina lady named Samadhyā.388 There is neither a recognizing symbol nor a yakşa pair on the pedestal of this sculpture of early Gupta period (433 A.D.).
In Chhabi Vol. I, U.P. Shah published a beautiful sculpture preserved in the Bharata Kala Bhavana, Varanasi (no. 161). The Jina sits on a high pedestal in front of which is spread a big part of a large double lotus suggesting that the Jina sits on the viśva-padma. The motif can also be interpreted as a carpet or an embroidered cloth spread over the seat. There is a standing camaradhara on each side of the Jina and a mălădhara on each side of the halo. On the lower end of the pedestal in the centre is a dharmacakra fanked by two lions. Near the end of the pedestal on each side is a small seated Jina figure. This is thus a Tri-Tirthika image of Mahävira, assignable to c. sixth century A.D. The image is said to have been found in Varanasi.
Two Jivantasvām images of Mahavira, assignable to sixth century A.D. obtained from Akota near Baroda (Vadodara), published in Akota Bronzes, pp. 26-28, are illustrated as Figs. 29, 30 in this book. Of these fig. 30 can be assigned to c. 500 A.D. Many later images of Jivantasvāmi-Mahavira are found from places like Osia, Jodhpur, Sirohi, etc. which have been referred to and discussed in Chapter 2 above. A beautiful seventh century sculpture of Mahavira in padmāsana is being worshipped as Jivantasvāmi in the sanctum of the Jaina temple at Nândia, Rajasthan.
A relief sculpture of Mahavira standing is seen among the group of rock carvings at Dhank, Saurashtra, Gujarat. The lion cognizance of Mahavira is carved in the centre of the simhasana represented by two more lions at the two ends of the seat. The Jina sits in padmasana and is attended by two standing câmaradharas on two sides. Over the head of the Jina is a triple-umbrella with branches of the Caitya-tree carved on its sides. Below the figure of the lion cognizance is a dharmacakra with its rim facing us, very much weather-worn and not easily recognisable. The relief dates from c. seventh century A.D.
All the Jainas in India take pride in calling themselves followers of Mahāvira. He is popular throughout India. Temples and images of Mahavira are found all over India wherever Jainism has spread and survived.
A relief sculpture of Mahavira in the sanctum of the Jaina Cave at Aihole is noteworthy. It shows the Jina seated in ardha-padmasana in front of a big cushion placed against an architectural device of a horizontal cross-bar supported by two pilasters and having makara-motif at the ends of the bar. There is a câmaradhara on each side behind the figure of Mahavira. There is one more male figure on each side standing with both the hands folded in adoration. The pedestal shows three lions, two at the ends suggesting that this is a simhāsana and one in the centre. On the right side of the throne is a bust of a female (?) with folded hands and five snake-hoods overhead while on the left is another bust with one snake-hood overhead. There is a simple prabhāvali behind the head of the Jina and a tripleumbrella above. The sculpture is interesting as an old specimen from Karnataka and shows an early stage in the iconography of Tirthankara sculptures. The attendant figures with snake-hoods cannot be identified, but they seem to be Näga attendants mentioned in early Jaina texts and referred to before. The sculpture certainly represents Mahavira because of the lion cognizance in the centre of the pedestal.
Page #205
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
192
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana Absence of the Caitya-tree and other members of the parikara as well as of the yakșa and yakşi may be noted. This elaborate sculpture dates from c. seventh century A.D. or earlier.
In the sanctum of the Badami Jaina cave (cave no. IV) is another beautiful elaborately carved sculpture with Mahāvira sitting in ardha-padmāsana in the centre, and resting against a big cushion behind which is the back-seat with a horizontal bar resting on two dwarf pillars. Lions standing on hind legs are attached to these pillars while the bar has makara-ends. The Jina has a plain halo and sits under a triple umbrella and a Caitya-tree. On two sides of the tree are flying mälädhara (garland-bearing) couples. The simhasana shows, besides the two lions at the ends, a lion in the centre, facing us. The central lion is the cognizance of Mahavira. Behind the back-rest stand two male cámaradharas. The sculpture dates from c. late sixth century A.D. and is an early iconographic specimen from Karnataka. Representation of the lion cognizance in the centre instead of the usual dharmacakra in north India is typical of all sculptures of Mahavira in the different areas of South India but there are a few exceptions which cannot be explained satisfactorily at present. One such case is fig. 235 in Panorama of Jaina Art, South India, showing seated Pārsvanātha with chowrie-bearers, Calukya, 11th century, from Candini The Jina sits on a cushion with lotus petal design, placed on a simhāsana having all five lions in different compartments. The Jina has a canopy of seven snake-hoods and represents Pārsvanatha. But in the centre of the simhâsana is the lion cognizance. It is just possible that the sculpture of Pārsva is placed on a simhāsana which once had on it a sculpture of Mahāvira. Another such case is of a sculpture of Parsvanātha, Calukya, from Humcha in Shimoga district. illustrated as fig. 248 in Panorama of Jaina Art, South India. A third case is of fig. 285 in the same book illustrating rock-cut seated Pārsvanātha, with princely attendant and his consort, Kakatiya, from Hanamkonda, A.P., which shows a central lion on the simhasana. In this case there is no question of replacement of another sculpture on a pedestal of Mahāvira. So this is one of the exceptional cases. Of course in most cases the lion in the centre would indicate that the Jina above is Mahāvīra. Of this type is a very important Jaina bronze in the Brooklyn Museum, published as fig. 10, Paper no. 26, Aspects of Jaina Art and Architecture, pp. 269ff. This is a late Pallava bronze with inscription on three sides of the simhasana with three lions in three compartments. The bronze dates from late 8th or early 9th century A.D. In the same paper, fig. 33, U.P. Shah has published a bronze image of Mahāvīra with a Kannada inscription, from the collection of Shri Bijoy Sinh Nabar, Calcutta. The image shows four-armed yaksa and yaksini of Mahavira. The bronze dates from c. 10th century A.D. Fig. 61 in the same paper is another bronze of Mahāvira from south Karnataka, now preserved in Musee Guimet, Paris. The yaksa and yakşi in this case are two-armed Sarvānubhūti and Ambikā. On one side of Mahavira (seated in the centre) stands Pārsvanātha with seven hoods above head while on the left stands Bahubali in the kāyotsarga mudrā.
In C. Sivaramamurti's Panorama of Jaina Art, referred to above, we find several sculptures and rockcut figures of Mahavira with the lion in the centre of the simhāsana, instead of the dharmacakra. In this book fig. 73 shows two rock-cut figures of Mahävira with a separately carved figure of two-armed Sarvānubhūti on the right side, and Ambikā with lion vehicle on the extreme left. These reliefs from Vallimalai, Chittoor district, A.P., date from c. 9th-10th century A.D. Sivaramamurti's figures 74, 75 illustrate rock-cut sculptures of Mahavira at Kalugumalai, Tamil Nadu. They are of c. 8th-9th century, Pandyan style. Fig. 95 in the same book illustrates an early relief from Chera territory, Chitharal, Kerala, dating from c. 7th-8th century A.D. and fig. 181 is of seated Mahāvīra from Hemavati, c. 9th century A.D., Nolamba style.
In a ceiling of the Pancakūta Basti, Kambadahalli, Mandya district, Karnataka, is an elaborately carved sculpture of Mahavira sitting in ardha-padmasana with seated figures of two-armed Sarvānubhūti and Ambikä on the right and the left side respectively of the simhasana. Full parikara is shown. The whole relief is in the centre of the ceiling and on all sides of this relief are figures of the eight Dikpalas in separate compartments. The whole ceiling panel dates from c. 10th cent. A.D. (Fig. 49 in this book).
Figure 442 of Sivaramamurti, op. cit., illustrates a Tri-Tirthi bronze of Mahāvira from Hunchalige in Gulbarga district, and fig. 484 a bronze Caturvimsati-Pasta, c. 12th cent. A.D., from Yadwad in
Page #206
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
193
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
Belgaum district, while fig. 490 is a stone sculpture of seated Mahavira from Humcha, Shimoga district, Karnataka.
The Jaina cave at Badami has two more big relief panels of Mahavira standing. In addition to the läñchana, in the centre of the simhasana, are found, near the feet of the Jina, figures of a yakşa and a yakṣiņi. One of these panels is a big Caturvimśati-Patta assignable to c. 10th century A.D.
Sculptures of Mahavira are found at Annavasal and Marudar in Tiruchi district, at Villivakkam in Chingleput district, at Chettipatti in old Pudukkottai territory, Tamil Nadu, also at Mavilapatti in the same district, at Korkai and Tenkarai in Tinnevelly district, at Karadipatti in Madurai district, at Peddatumbalam in Bellary district, at Sailada in Ganjam district, and many other places in south India. In Karnataka at Sravana Belagola, Venur, Mudabidri, etc. sculptures of Mahavira standing with his yakşa and yakși by the sides are found amongst the groups of images of 24 Tirthankaras and even separately in temples as at Kambadahalli, Akkana-Basti, Sravana Belagola etc.
In Gujarat and Rajasthan there are several temples and images of Mahāvīra at Ośia, Ghanerao, Abu, Satruñjaya, Akoța, Baroda, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bharatpur, etc. No. 279 in Ajmere museum is from Katara in Bharatpur district and is dated in 1004 A... Two-armed yakṣa and yakşi figure on two ends of the simhasana; there is a nude standing Jina on either side of Mahavira seated in the centre. There is an image dated 1186 in a niche on the wall of the Neminatha temple at Kumbharia. In devakulikā no. 24 of Pārsvanatha temple, Kumbharia, is an image of Mahavira dated 1179 A.D. An image of Mahavira was installed in v.s. 1212 in cell 47 of Vimala Vasahi, Abu, according to an inscription on the pedestal. There is an image of this Jina installed in v.s. 1394 in cell no. 50 of the same temple. Also in cell 57 an image of Mahavira was installed in v.s. 1394.
In the State Museum, Lucknow, there are about five images of Mahavira. No. J.808 has a yakşa and yaksi on the pedestal. No. J.880 in the same museum is dated in 1007 A.D. This is a Pañca-tirthi of Mahavira with Mahavira sitting in the centre with other Jinas standing. In no. J.782 we find a twoarmed goddess standing in the centre of the pedestal instead of the dharmacakra. This sculpture from Itava is dated in 1166 A.D. There is a figure of standing Kṣetrapala on the left end of the sculpture. According to Tiwari, figures of Cakreśvari, Ambika and Padmavati are also found in this sculpture.
At Devgadh there are a few sculptures assignable to c. 12th century A.D. They not only show the lion cognizance but also show the yakṣa and yakṣi on most of the pedestals. In temple 1, there is a sculpture of Mahavira assignable to c. 10th cent. A.D. In temple 11, on an image dated 1048 A.D. we also have figures of Ambika and Padmavati. Mahavira has hair-locks on his shoulders. Mahāvira sculptures here are also sometimes Pañca-Tirthika, or have also 2 or 4 or 8 or 15 or 20 more Jina images. There is a fine sculpture of Mahavira on a wall of the Maladevi temple, Gyaraspur.
At Khajuraho Mahavira is generally found in a sitting posture. Sometimes he has Sarvanubhuti and Ambika as the yakṣa and yakṣi. In temple no. 2 at Khajuraho, on a sculpture of this Jina dated 1092 A.D., we have a figure of a four-armed goddess (Santidevi ?) besides the four-armed yakṣa and yakṣi on the pedestal.
In the cave adjoining the Son Bhandar cave at Rajgir, Bihar, there is a relief sculpture of Mahavira on the back wall. Ravindra Nath Choudhari has noted a standing Mahavira figure at Dharpat temple in Visnupur, Bankura district. 389 Five bronze figures of Mahāvīra are preserved in the Aluara hoard in the Patna Museum. A Mahavira image from Carmpā, Orissa, is preserved in the State Museum, Bhuvaneshwar.390 In the Bārābhuji Cave, Khandagiri, we have a relief of Mahavira.391
A Dvi-Tirthi of Rṣabha and Mahavira is in the British Museum, London. It seems to have hailed from Orissa. A Dvi-Tirth of Santinatha and Mahavira (c. 12th cent. A.D.) from Narwar, M.P. is in the Shivpuri Museum, M.P. A standing Mahavira from Bilhari, Jabalpur district is in the Rani Durgavati Museum, Jabalpur.
Page #207
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
194
Jaina-Rūpa-Mandana
REFERENCES
1. Trişastišalakāpuruşacarita, parva 1; Tiloyapannatti,
4.512ff, pp. 206ff; Hariramsa, sargas 8-13; Padmacarita of Ravisena, parva 4, pp. 56ff; Paumacariyam of Vimala
sūri, uddeśa 3-4. 2. Avašyaka Niryukti, verses 1080ff; Avašyaka Carni,
pp. 131ff; Vasudevahindi, pp. 157-185. Kalpasūtra describes the lives of all the 24 Tirthankaras, for which see Jacobi, Jaina Sutras, S.B.E., vol. XXII, pp. 217-311 for life of Rşabha. Lives of only Rşabha, Nemi, Parsva and Mahavira are given in greater detail. Being the earliest known source for lives of the Jinas, it would be interesting to compare this source with later accounts. For a standard text of Kalpa-sutra refer to Pavitra Kalpa-sitra edited by Muni Punyavijayaji with a
Very carly Cūrni by Agastyasimha süri. 3. बृषभोऽयं जगज्येष्ठो वषिष्यति जगद्धितम् ।
धर्मामृता मतीन्द्रास्तमाका!वषभाह्वयम् ॥ वृषो हि भगवान्धर्मस्तेन यद्धाति तीर्थकृत । ततोऽयं वृषभस्वामीत्याह्वास्तेन पुरंदरः । स्वर्गावतरणे दृष्टः स्वप्नेऽस्य वृषभो यतः । जनन्या तदयं देवो आहूतो वृषभारव्यया ।।
-Adipurāna, 4.160-162 Note that the Padmacarita (Padmapurana), 3.219, following the Svetāmbara tradition, says that name was given by the parents; cf. सुरेन्द्रपूजया प्राप्तो प्रधानन्वं जिनो यतः । तस्तं ऋषभाभिख्या निन्यतुः पितरी सुतम् ।। Also cf. तस्मिन्गर्भस्थिते यस्माज्जाता वृष्टिहिरण्मयी। हिरण्यगर्भनाम्नासी स्तुतस्तस्मात्सुरेश्वरैः ।।
op. cit., 3.216 4. Kalpa-sutra, 211, S.B.E., vol. XXII, pp. 282-283. 5. Jambudvi paprajñapti, sūtra 30, p. 135; Avašyaka Vrti of
Haribhadra, p. 142. Trişaşı.. .3.66-71. 6. Padmapurā::a, 3.283: Harivamsa, 9.99; Adipurana, 17.200. 7. Cf.:
TETTHETSTECUTfacraat रूतुप्ररोहशाखाग्रो यथा न्यग्रोधपादपः ।।
-Harivamsa, 9.204 चिरं तपस्यतो तस्य जटा मूनि बमुस्तराम् । ध्यानाग्निदग्धकर्मेन्धनियंधूमशिखा इव ।।
--Adipurana, 1.9 8. Vasudevahindi, pp. 163-164. 9. Ibid., p. 185; Avasyaka Niryukti, v. 435 and Mülabhâsya
gåthả 45; Haribhadra's Avaśyaka Vrtti, p. 169. 10. For Astăpada, see Astăpada giri-kalpa in Vividha-Tirtha
Kalpa (ed. by Muni Jinavijaya in Singhi Series), pp. 91ff. 11. Ibid., pp. 1-6. 12. Sri Sopäraka-stavana published in Jaina Stotra-
Samuccaya, pp. 7-14. 13. Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa, pp. 88-89 Kudungešvara-Nábheya
deva-Kalpa. 14. Ibid., p. 85. 15. Ibid., p. 97.
16. Agrawala, V.S., Catalogue of the Mathura Museum,
J.U.P H.S., vol. XXIII (1950), pp. 39-40. Image no.
B4. The date is regarded as equivalent to 152 A.D. 17. Prasad, H.K., Jaina Bronzes in the Patna Museum,
Mahavira Jaina Vidyalaya Golden Jubilee Volume, I
(Bombay, 1968), pp. 275ff. 18. Shah, U.P., Akota Bronzes, pp. 26 and 28. 19. Shah, U.P., Seven Bronzes from Lilva Deva (Pancha
Mahals), Bulletin of the Baroda Museum & Picture
Gallery, Baroda, IX.1-2, pp. 43-52 and plates. 20. Also see Harihar Singh, Jaina Temples of Western India
(Varanasi, 1982). 21. Tiwari, M.N.P., Jaina Pratima-Vijñana (Hindi, Varanasi,
1981), p. 87. 22. Shah, U.P., Bronze Hoard from Vasantagadh, ...wir mig
(New Delhi), 1-2, pp. 55-65 and plates. For a later ornate bronze from Gujarat, see Shah, U.P., A PancaTirthika Metal Image with a Torana from Patan, JISOA, Special no. on Western Indian Art, New Series Vol. I
(1965-66), pp. 23-24 and plate. 23. Srivastava, V.S., Catalogue and Guide to Ganga Golden
Jubilee Museum, Bikaner (Bombay, 1961). Published in the Journal of the University of Bombay,
vol. IX, September, 1940, pp. 147-169. 25. Dhaky, M.A., Some Early Jaina Temples in Western
India, Sri Mahavira Jaina Vidyalaya Golden Jubilee
Volume, part I, pp. 290-347 and pls. 26. Shah, U.P., Iconography of the Jaina Goddess Ambika,
Journal of the University of Bombay, Vol. IX (Sept. 1940); Introduction of Sasanadevatas in Jaina Worship, Proceedings & Transactions of the All India Oriental Conference, 20th Session, Bhuvaneśvara (1959), pp. 141
152. 27. Shah, U.P., Origin of the Jaina Goddess Ambikā, paper
being published in the forthcoming Amalananda Ghosh
Memorial Volume. 28. Lohuizen-De Leeuw, J.E. van, Indische Skulpturen der
Sammlung von der Heydt im Museum Reitberg, Zurich (1964), pp. 110ff. Jain, Jyotindra and Eberhard Fischer, Jaina Iconography, part one (Leiden, 1971),
pl. XXXVIII, p. 31. 29. Shah, U.P., Iconography of Cakresvari, the Yakși of
Rşabhanátha, Journ. of the Oriental Institute, Baroda,
Vol. XX.3 (1971), fig. 8. 30. Ibid., fig. 14. 31. Chanda, Ramaprasad, in Archaeological Survey of India,
Annual Report for 1925-26, pp. 125ff. Shah, U.P., Studies in Jaina Art (Varanasi, 1955), p. 17, and note 6; Muni Vairadeva of Son Bhandara Cave Inscription, Jour. of the Bihar Research Society, Decemos, 1953,
pp. 410-12 32. Chanda, Ramaprasad, A.S.I., A.R., 1925-26, pp. 125ff. 33. In Marr bhumi, a daily in Oriya, dated January 12, 1970.
Jaina Art and Architecture, vol. I, p. 163. 34. JAA, vol. I, pp. 73ff; Debala Mitra, Udayagiri and
Khandagiri (New Delhi, 1960); Mohapatra, R.P., Udayagiri & Khandagiri Caves (Delhi, 1981); R.P.
Page #208
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
195
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
Mohapatra, Jaina Monuments of Orissa (Delhi, 1984). Mitra, Debala, Śásanadevis in the Khandagiri Caves, Journal of the Asiatic Society (Calcutta), Vol. L, no. 2 (1950), pp. 127-133; Iconographic Notes, ibid., Vol. I,
no. 1 (1959), pp. 37-39. 35. Arun Joshi, History and Culture of Khijjingakotta under
the Bhanjas (Bombay, 1983), figs. 40, 45, 47 and pp. 156
160. 36. P. Bannerji in JAA, vol. I, pp. 159ff. For sculptures of
R$abhanātha from various sites in Koraput district, Orissa, Jeypore Museum, from Mayurbhanja district and in Baripada Museum, from Podasingidi in Keonjhar district, from Adaspur and Hatadiha in Cuttack district. etc., see Mohapatra, R.P., Jaina Monuments of Orissa, figs. 74, 77, 78, 81, 87, 109, 111, 113, 115, 116, 123, 124,
125, 134, 137. 37. Mitra, Debala, Bronzes from Achutrajpur, Orissa (Delhi,
1978), fig. 31. 38. Mitra, Pratip Kumar, Jaina Sculptures from Anai-Jambau.
Jaina Journal, Vol. XVIII.2 (1983), pp. 67-72 and
plates. 39. See Jainism in Bengal, Jaina Journal, vol. VIII.4 (1969),
pp. 160-166 and plates illustrating Adinatha from Surohar, and Covisi of standing Rsabha from Sanka, Purulia, Bengal. Also Ganguli, Kalyan Kumar, Jaina Art of Bengal, Jaina Journal (D)), vol. XVIII.4 (1984), pp. 130-31, and plates; Mitra, Debala, Some Jaina Antiquarian Remains from Bankura, W. Bengal, Journal of the Asiatic Society, Letters, vol. 24; Chakravarty, D.K., A Survey of Jaina Antiquarian Remains in Bengal, Jaina Journal, XVIII.4, pp. 143-149; Mazumdar, R.C., Jainism in Ancient Bengal, Jaina Journal, XVIII.4, pp. 122-129; Devi Prasad Ghosh, Traces of Jainism in Bengal, ibid., 137-142; Dasgupta, Paresh Chandra, Jainism in Ancient Bengal, Jaina Journal, XVII.3 (1983); De, Gourishankar, The Jaina Background of 24Paraganas, Jaina Journal, XVII.4, pp. 140-144 with
plate of Rşabhanātha from Ghareswara. 40. Roychoudhary, P.C., Jainism in Manbhum, Jaina
Journal, XVIII.4, pp. 152-155, Mukhopadhyaya, Subhas Chandra, Some Jaina Temples of Purulia, Jaina Journal, XVIII.4, pp. 156-164 with plates; Bhowmik, Atul Chandra, Jaina Sculptures from Bhavanipur, Haruyara and Golamara, Jaina Journal (JJ), ibid., pp. 165-170; A Note on Jaina Sculptural Remains at Sitalpur, Bhangra, Harup and Deoli villages in Purulia District, JJ, XVIII.1 (1983), pp. 38-42; Mitra, Pratip Kumar, A Note on Jain Sculptures at Palma, JJ, XVIII.4 (1984), pp. 171-174 with plates. For a plate of Adinātha from Dharapat, West Bergal, see JJ, XII.3.
Patil, D.R., Antiquarian Remains of Bihar (Patna, 1963), Jainism in Bihar, JJ, 111.4 (1969), pp. 152-156; McCutchion, David J., Notes on the Temples of Purulia, District Census Handbook, Purulia, W. Bengal (Calcutta, 1961); Simha, Ajoy Kumar, More Sculptures from Bhagalpur, JJ, XVIII.3, pp. 112-117 and plates; Some Unpublished Jaina Images of Bihar, ibid., XVII.4 (1983), pp. 127-134 with plates; Mukhopadhyaya, Subhas Chandra, Pakbirra-A Lost Jaina Site of Purulia, ibid.,
XVI.1 (1977), pp. 27-35 and plates. 41. Prasad, H.K., Jaina Bronzes in the Patna Museum, Shri
Mahavira Jaina Vidyalaya Golden Jubilee Volume, I
(Bombay, 1968), pp. 275-279, and plates. 42. See Jaina Journal, Vol. III.4 (1969), Mahavira Jayanti
Special Number, for Jainism in Madhya Pradesh (pp. 175. 182), Jainism in Uttar Pradesh (pp. 183-190) and Jainism in Punjab (pp. 190-198). Also see Jaina Art and
Architecture (JAA), ed. by A. Ghosh, Volumes I and II. 43. Illustrated by V.A. Smith in Jaina Stupa and Other
Antiquities from Mathura. Also see Agrawala, V.S., Some Brahmanical Deities in Jaina Religious Art, Jaina
Antiquary, Vol. III.4 (March, 1938), pp. 83-92. 44. Tiwari, Maruti Nandan Prasad, A Unique Jaina Image of
Ryabhanatha in the State Museum, Lucknow, Jaina Journal, XVI.1 (1981), pp. 20-23 and plate. Shah, U.P., Iconography of Cakreśvari, the Yakși of Rsabhand tha,
JOI Vol. XX.3, pp. 280-313, especially p. 294. 45. In JJ, XVI.1, p. 22. For the Devgadh image discussed
here, see Klaus, Bruhn, The Jina Images of Deogarh
(Leiden, 1969), pp. 183-184, figs. 231-233. 46. For various Jina images at Khajuraho, see Tiwari,
M.N.P., Elements of Jaina Iconography, pp. 14-43. 47. Jaina, Balachandra, Jaina Bronzes from Rajanapur
Khinkhini, Journal of Indian Museums, Vol. XI (1955), pp. 15-20 and plates. For Jainism in Maharashtra, see
JJ, III.4. pp. 222-226 and A. Ghosh, JAA, Vol. II. 48. For Adinātha from Aminbhavi, see C. Sivaramamurti,
Panorama of Jaina Art, fig. 17. See JJ, III.4. for Jainism in Mysore (pp. 227-237), Jainism in Andhra Pradesh (pp. 238-247), Jainism in Tamil Nadu (pp. 248
257), Jainism in Kerala (pp. 258ff). 49. Settar, S., Śravana Belagola (Dharwar, 1981), pp. 17ff. 50. Shah, U.P., Iconography of Cakreśvari, the Yaksi of
Rşabhanátha, Journal of the Oriental Institute (JOI).
XX.3, fig. 33, pp. 297-298. 51. Ibid., p. 298. 52. Trisasi., vol. II (GOS, Vol. 77), pp. 28ff'; Uttarapurana,
parva 48; Tilo yapannatti, 4.527, Vol. I, p. 208. 53. miferae HTAISEU Tuy fueT HAT इति सूनोजित इत्यकार्षीन्नाम भूपतिः ।।
- Trişasti., parva 2, 2.579 In his commentary of Abhidhana Cintamani, 1.26, Hemacandra explains the name as: परीषहादिभिनं जितः इति अजितः, यदा गर्भस्थेऽस्मिन् द्यूते राज्ञा जननी न जितेऽत्यजितः । Also compare Avašyaka Niryukti, v. 1080. Also cf.: इंदियविसयकसायाइएहि धोरतरंगवेरीहि । न जिओ मणयं पिअओ भन्नइ अजिओ जिणो तेण ।। ५४७ ।।
-Ceiavandana-mahabhāsa, p. 99 54. Cf.:
पापः क्वापि न जीयतेऽयमिति वा दुर्वादिभिश्चाखिलः। नमान्वर्थ मवाप्तवानिति विदा स्तोत्रस्य पात्रं भवन् ।
-Uttarapurana, parva 48 55. Tiloyapamatti, 4.508ff, 916ff. According to Trisasti. the
tree is Saptacchada. 56. Tilo yapannatti, 4.964, 1178; Samaväyåriga sütra, sū. 157.
Page #209
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
196
65.
57. Trisasi., op. cit., Tiloyapannatti, 4.934-937. 58. Sahni, Daya Ram, Catalogue of the Sarnath Museum,
no. G.61. 59. Shastri, Hirananda, Report of the Department of
Archaeology, Baroda State, 1937-38, pl. IVa. 60. Sharma, R.C., Jaina Sculptures of the Gupta Age in the
State Museum, Lucknow, Mahavira Jaina Vidyalaya Golden Jubilee Volume, I (Bombay, 1968), p. 155 and
plate. 61. All such references to Bruhn's Figures and Bruhn's book
are to Klaus, Bruhn, The Jina Images of Deogarh (Leiden, 1969). Mehta, N.C., A Mediaeval Jaina Image of Ajitanatha1053 A.D., Indian Antiquary, vol. 56, pp. 72-74. Later, Muni Jinavijayaji published it in a Gujarati article in
Jaina Sahitya Samsodhaka. 03. 11 such references to Inscriptions Nos. from Abu are
from Muni Jayantavijaya, Sri-Arbuda-Pracina-LekhaSamdoha (Abu vol. II), published as Sri Vijaya DharmaSuri-Jaina-Granthamala, no. 40, Ujjain, v.s. 1994 (A.D.
1937). 64. All references here to Inscriptions nos. from Mt.
Satrunjaya are from Āgamoddhāraka Acarya Kanchanasagarasuri's Sri Satrunjaya Girirāja Darshana in Sculpture and Architecture (Kapadwanj, 1982). For example, in the Digambara Jaina Temple at Vateśvara (Bateśvara), about 70 km S.E. of Agra, a 5 ft high black stone image of Ajitanātha sitting in padmasana, brought from Mahoba, is installed and worshipped. It was originally consecrated in v.s. 1224 by Jalhada father of Alha-Udala-see fig. 18 in Bharata ke Digambara Jaina Tirtha, Part 1, Uttara Pradesh. The Malava Prantiya Digambara Jaina Samgrahālaya has about a dozen sculptures of Ajitanātha from Badnavar,
Gondalmau and other sites. 66. Trisasti., vol. II (GOS, vol. 77), pp. 225ff for all details
of Sambhava according to Sve. tradition. Uttarapurana,
parva 49 for Digambara version. 67. शं सुखं भवत्यस्मिन्स्तुते शम्भवः । यद्वा गभंगतेऽप्यस्मिन्नधिकसस्य- सम्भवात् ।
-Comm. of Hemacandra on Abhi. Cin., 1.36 Cf.: संभवे तव लोकानां शं भवत्पद्य शंभव । विनापि परिपाकेन तीर्थकृन्नामकर्मणः ॥
-Uttarapurana, 49.20 68. Hemacandra, Trişasıi., op. cit., Tiloyapannati, 588-937,
pp. 217ff. 69. Negative no. D9206, List of Archaeological Photo.
Negatives in the Office of Director-General of Archaeology
in India. 70. Bharata ke Digambara Jaina Tirtha, Part I, fig. 13. 71. Tiwari, M.N.P., Jaina Pratima-Vijñāna (Hindi, Varanasi,
1981), p. 98. 72. Bajpai, K.D., Parasanatha Kila ke Jaina Avašesa (Hindi).
Mahavira Jaina Vidyalaya Suvarna Mahotsava Grantha,
I, Hindi Vibhaga, pp. 81-83. 73. Tiwari, M.N.P., The Jaina Images of Khajuraho with
special reference to Ajitana tha, JJ, X.1 (1975), pp. 22-25;
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana Images of Sambhavanatha at Khajuraho, Elements of Jaina
Iconography, pp. 38-40. 74. Tiwari, M.N.P., Elements of Jaina Iconography, p. 39. 75. Ibid., p. 39. 76. For Sambhavadātha temple at Kumbharia, North
Gujarat, see Singh, Harihar, Jaina Temples of Western India (Varanasi, 1982), pp. 144-145 and Muni Viśālavijaya, Sri Kumbhariaji Tirtha (Gujarati, Bhavnagar, 1961), pp. 49, 57ff, 120, 134, 140. Harihar Singh, op. cit., pp. 85-86 for Sambhavanātha at Lūnavasabi; Muni Visala vijayaji, Sri Rādhanapura-Pratima-lekhaSandoha (Bhavnagar, 1960), p. 8. Kanchanasagarasuri,
op. cit., pp. 24, 54, 55 etc. 77. Trişasti., parva 3.2; Uttarapurana, parva 50; Tiloyapan
natti, 4.522ff. 78. afara garaif fftafe: 1
---Abhi. Cin., 1.26 and comm. Also see Trişaspi., III.2.63. 79. Piyaka or Priyaka (Piyae in Prākệt) according to
Samavayaniga süfra, sūtra 157; Piyala according to Hemacandra, Trişasti, parva III.2.119. Ramachandran, T.N., Tiruparuttikunram and its Temples, pp. 192-193 gives Prayala as the Caitya-tree of Sambhava and Priyangu of Abhinandana. Sāla which is the Caityatree of Sambhava is given as the tree of Ajita. The Table referred to above does not agree with either Hemacandra or with the Uttarapurāna etc. Possibly there was some mistake due to oversight in the above Table. The Tiloyapannatti, 4.916, p. 264, gives Sarala
as the Caitya-tree of Abhinandana. 80. Bhattacharya, B.C., The Jaina Iconography (second ed.,
Delhi, 1972), p. 40. P.C. Dasgupta has made some remarks on the ape-cult in a paper, On the Emblem of Abhinandana, published in Jaina Journal, XI.3 (1977).
pp. 81-88. 81. Trisasi., parva III.2; Uttarapurana, parva 50; Tiloyapan
natti, 4.522ff for details about this Jina in both the Sve.
and the Dig. traditions. 82. शोभना मतिर्यस्य सुमतिः । यद्वा गर्भस्थे जनन्याः सुनिश्चिता मदिरभूदिति सुमतिः ।
----Abhi. Cin., 1.26 and comm. Also see Trişassi., III.3.196; Stevenson, Heart of Jainism,
p. 52. 83. Ramachandran, T.N., Tiruparuttikunram and its Temples,
Table on pp. 192-93. 84. Ramachandran, T.N., op. cit., gives the Sala tree. There
seems to have been a mistake due to oversight from no. 2 onwards in the printed table, and it continues
further. 85. Annual Report, Archaeological Survey of India, for 1907
1908, pp. 113ff. 86. Mohapatra, R.P., Jaina Monuments of Orissa, pp. 64ff,
fig. 39. Also see his Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves for
references to all Jaina sculptures in these caves. 87. Jaina Pratima-Vijñāna (Hindi), p. 99. 88. Observation on some Chandel antiquities, Journal of the
Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. LVIII, no. 4, p. 288. 89. Trişasti., III.4 (GOS, Vol. 7), p. 244; Uttarapurāņa (also
Page #210
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
197
published under the title Mahapuräna, vols. I-III, by the Bharatiya-Jhanapitha, Delhi), parva 52; Tiloyapannatti,
4.522ff, pp. 217ff for details about this Jina. 90. 941STE SHarhit wat पद्माभरचेत्य, पद्मप्रभ इत्याह्वयत्पिता ।।
-Trişaşti., III.4.51 91. Tiloyapanpatti, 4.916, p. 264; Trisasti., 111.4.64; Samava
yārga sutra, sū. 157. 91a. Mohapatra, R.P., Jaina Monuments of Orissa, fig. 71. 92. Tiloyapannarri, op. cit., pp. 217ff; Trisasi., III, sarga 5;
Uttarapuraya (also called Mahāpurana of Jinasena),
parva 53; Kalalokaprakasa, 32.454ff. 93. Cr.:
सुप्तमेकफणे पञ्चफणे नवफणेऽपि च । नागवल्पे ददर्श स्वं देवी गर्ने प्रधिनि ॥ ३०॥ गर्भस्थेऽस्मिन्सुपाचाऽभूज्जननी यत् ततः प्रभोः । सुपाव इत्यभिधान प्रतिष्ठः प्रत्यतिष्ठिपत् ।। ४८ ।। पृथ्वीदेव्या तदा स्वप्ने दृष्टं तादृरमहोरगं । शको विचक्रे भगवन्मूनि च्छतमिवापरम् ॥ ७९ ॥ तदादि चाभूत् समवसरणेष्वररेष्वपि । नाग एकफणः पञ्चफणो नवफणोऽयवा ।। ८०॥
--Trişasti., III.5.30, 48, 79-80 Also see Bhattacharya, B.C., op. cit., pp. 43-44. 94. TOTT U sporoft Ta YTTET at prufatti
-- Avaiyaka Niryukti, gātha 1083, comm. of Haribhadra,
vol. III, p. 503. 95. According to Tilo yapannatti, 4.916ff. According to
Uttarapurära, 54.62, he shines like Priyangu flower. 96. According to Tiloyapannatti, Nandyāvarta is the
cognizance of Supăráva. 97. Compare B.67, B.70 in the Mathura Museum. 98. Also see Coomaraswamy, A.K., History of Indian and
Indonesian Art, fig. 86, and no. 5.77 from Kankali Tila in the Lucknow Museum showing the Jina (Pārsva) with
seven snake-hoods. 99. Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa, pp. 17-20. 100. Also see Shah, U.P., Studies in Jaina Art, pl. 12. 101. Tiwari, M.N.P., Jaina Prurima-Vijnana, p. 101, n. 3. 102. Shah, U.P., Jaina Sculptures in the Baroda Museum,
Bulletin of the Baroda Museum, Vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 29-30. 103. Tiwari, M.N.P., op. cit., p. 101. 104. Ibid., p. 102. 105. C. Sivaramamurti, Panorama of Jaina Art (New Delhi,
1983), figs. 127-128. 106. Ibid., fig. 121. Fig. 81 represents Kamajha's attack
carved on the rock at Karaikoyil (Pandya, 8th-9th cent.). Here Parsva has a canopy of five snake-hoods, so also in fig. 1 from Kalugumaļai (Pandya, 8th cent.), and fig. 44 from Tirakkol (Pallava, 8th cent.), or fig. 48 from Melsittămur, south Arcot district, TN (PallavaChola transition, 8th-9th cent.), or fig. 85 from
Kilakuyilkudi (Pandya, 9th cent.). 107. Ibid., fig. 43. 108. Tiwari, op. cit., p. 102 identifies J.935 as Pärsvanatha. 109. Tiwari, ibid., p. 102 and Vats, M.S., A Note on Two
Images from Banipar Maharaj and Baijanatha, A.S.I., A.R., for 1929-30, p. 228.
110. Tiwari, op. cir., identifies as Suparsvanatha. 111. Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa, p. 85. 112. Tiloyapannatti, 4.512ff, pp. 206ff; Uttarapurana, parva
54; Trisasti, parva III, sarga 4. 113. Cf.:
गर्भस्थेऽस्मिन्मातुरासीच्चन्द्रपानाय दोहदः । चन्द्राभश्चैष इत्याह्वयच्चन्द्रप्रभम, पिता ।।
-- Trisasti., IIL.6.49 Also cf.: कुलं कुवलयं यस्य संभवे व्यक्तसत्तयं । यतस्ततश्चकाराख्यां साथं चन्द्रप्रभप्रभोः ।।
--Uttarapuräna, 54.173 114. Punnaga, probably Calophyllum inophyllum, a large
tree of Coromandel coast with beautiful white fragrant blossoms and numerous stamens arranged in rows.
Trisasi., vol. II (Transl. GOS, vol. 77), p. 352. 1:5. Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa, p. 29. 116. Ibid., pp. 53-54, 85. 117. Gai, G.S., Three Inscriptions of Ramagupta, Epi. Ind.
Vol. XXXVIII, no. 1, pp. 46ff, and plate; Journal of the
Oriental Institute, vol. XVIII, pp. 247ff. 118. For a sculpture of standing Candraprabha from Sona
giri, Rajgir, see Voice of Ahimsa, vol. 12, no. 9. 119. For Aluara bronzes in the Patna Museum, see Prasad,
H.K., Jaina Bronzes in the Parna Museum, Mahavira Jaina Vidyalaya Golden Jubilee Volume, Part I (Bombay, 1968), pp. 275-89. Mitra, Debala, Bronzes from Achutrajpur, Orissa (Delhi, 1978), figs. 29. 32. Mohapatra, R.P., Jaina Monuments of Orissa, fig. 63. Fig. 62 shows a metal image of Candraprabha in padmasana, from Acutarajpur. A. Ghosh (ed.), Jaina Art and Architecture, vol. II, plate 161, fig. A from Banpur and pl. 162, fig. B
from Kakatpur. 120. JAA, vol. II, pl. 159, fig. A. 121. Studies in Jaina Art, fig. 44. 122. Mohapatra, R.P., Udayagiri & Khandagiri Caves, pl. 84,
fig. 2; pl. 89, fig. 1; pl. 98, fig. 1. 123. Chandra, Pramod, Stone Sculptures in the Allahabad
Museum (Poona, 1971), fig. 406. 124. Tiwari, M.N.P., Jaina Pratimi-Vijnana (Hindi), p. 103. 125. Tiloyapannatti, 4.512ff: Uttarapurāna, parva 55; Trisasi.,
III, parva 7. 126. aafar Di
पुष्पदोहदतो दंतोद्गमोऽस्य समभूदिति ।। ४६ ।। सुविधिः पुष्पदंतश्चेत्यभिधानद्वयं विभोः ।
- Trişaşpi., III.7.49-50 Also cf.: क्षाराभिषेकभूषान्ते पुष्पदंताख्यमब्रुवन् । कुन्दपुष्पप्रभाभासि देहदीप्त्या विराजितम् ।।
-Uttarapurana, 55.28 127. Ramachandran, T.N., Tiruparuttiku sram and its Temples,
p. 192. 128. Ibid.; Burgess, J., Digambara Jaina Iconography, Indian
Antiquary, XXXII, pp. 459ff, XXXIII, pp. 330ff. 129. Jaina Siddhanta Bhaskara, Vol. II, pl. opp. p. 8. 130. Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa, p. 85. 131. Gai, G.S., op. cit.
Page #211
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
198
132. Shastri, Hirananda, Some Recently Added Sculptures in
the Provincial Museum, Lucknow, Memoir of the
Archaeological Survey of India, no. 11, p. 14. 133. Mitra, Debala, Śásanadevis in the Khandagiri Caves,
Journal of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, Vol. I, no. 1 (1959), p. 131, pl. IVA; Mohapatra, R.P., Udayagiri &
Khandagiri Caves, pl. 89, fig. 1 and pl. 100, fig. 2. 134. Tiloyapaanatti, 4.512ff; Uttarapurana, parva 56; Trisasi,
III.8. 135. #: atacy TTETT VETI गर्भस्थेऽस्मिन्निति तस्य नाम शीतल इत्यभूत् it
--Trişasti., 111.8.47 136. Samavāyārga sūtra, sū. 157 for a list of Caitya-trees of
all the 24 Tirthankaras. Tiloyapannatti, 4.916-918, gives a list of all the 24 Caitya-trees. Ramachandran, T.N.,
op. cit., pp. 192f. 137. Samaväyāniga sūtra, sū. 157 calls them Ananda and
138. Jaina Pratima-Vijñāna (Hindi), p. 105. He refers to
Anderson's Catalogue, p. 206. It seems that Anderson could not identify the image correctly and somebody might have done the identification for him. Also see Bhattacharya, B.C., Jaina Iconography, 2nd ed., p. 47,
note 1. 139. Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa, p. 85. 140. Mitra, Debala, op. cit.; Mohapatra, R.P., op. cit.,
pl. 89, fig. 2, and pl. 98, fig. 2. 141. Bhatt, P. Gururaja, Studies in Tuluva History and Culture
(1975), plate 424(b). 142. Tiloyapannatti, 4.512ff, pp. 206ff; Uttarapurana, parva 57;
Trisasi., IV.1; Bhattacharya, B.C., op. cit., p. 48. 143. for the stafqazt seh r afwat af faat sute fa : 11
--Trişasti., IV.1.88 यथा गर्भस्थेऽस्मिन्केनाप्यनाक्रान्तपूर्वा देवताधिष्ठितशय्या जनन्याक्रान्तेति यो जातमिति श्रेयांसः ।।
--Comm. on Abhi. Cin., 1.26ff For the story regarding this bed, see Stevenson, Heart of
Jainism, p. 53; Bhattacharya, B.C., op. cit., p. 47. 144. Bannerji, A., Two Jaina Images, Journ of the Bihar &
Orissa Research Society, Vol. 28, part 1, p. 44. 145. Mohapatra, R.P., Udayagiri & Khandagiri Caves, pl. 89,
2 and pl. 102, 2; Mitra, Debala, Journ. of Asiatic
Sociery, op. cit. 146. Bhattacharya, B.C., op. cit., p. 47. 147. Jaina Pratima-Vijñana (Hindi), p. 105. 148. Tiloyapannatti, 4.512ff, pp. 206ff; Uttarapurara, 58;
Trisasi., IV.2. 149. 24994-uront aggou sfa +994 यथार्थ नाम चक्राते शुभेऽहनि जगत्पतेः ।।
---Trişaşļi., IV.2.56 वसोरिन्द्रस्य पूज्योऽयं वसुपूज्यस्य वा सुतः । वासुपूज्यः सतां पूज्यः स ज्ञानेन पुनातु वः ।।
-Uttarapurara, 58.1 150. Urtarapurana, 58.51-52. 151. Trisasti., IV.2.359-60. 152. Vividha-Tiriha-Kalpa, p. 85.
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana 153. Tiwari, M.N.P., Jaina Pratima-Vijnana (Hindi), p. 106.
He refers to fig. 17 of his book but that is Candraprabha from Kausambi. He also refers to Photographs nos. 59.36 and 102.6 of the American Institute of Indian
Studies, Varanasi, for the Shahdol image. 154. Mitra, Debala, Sasanadevis in the Khandagiri Caves, op.
cit., p. 131, pl. IVB; Mohapatra, R.P., Udayagiri &
Khandagiri Caves, pl. 89, fig. 2, and pl. 99, fig. 2. 155. Tiloyapannatti, 4.512ff, pp. 2121; Uttarapurana, parva
59; Trisasi., IV.3. 156. & af affufael 2014 ततो विमल इत्याख्यां तस्य चक्रे पिता स्वयम् ॥
-Trisasti., IV.3.48 157. Uttarapurana, 59.22. 158. Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa, p. 85. 159. Mitra, Debala, ibid., p. 131, pl. IVB; Mohapatra, R.P.,
ibid., pl. 90, fig. 1, and pl. 100, fig. 1. 160. Tiwari, M.N.P., ibid., p. 107 speaks of the sam image. 161. A. Ghosh (ed.), JAA, Vol. II, p. 319. 162. Tiloyapanr,atti, 4.512ff, pp. 206ff; Uttarapurana, parva
60; Trişaşți., IV.4. 163. miestenfria feat ad raua: ततश्चक्रेऽनन्तजिदित्याख्या परमेशितुः ।।
-Trisasti., IV.4.47 164. Ramachandran, T.N., op. cit., p. 194. Sahi according
to Tiloyapannatti, 4.605, p. 219. 165. Kinnara according to Tilo yapannatti, 4.945, p. 216. 166. Trişasti., IV.4.197. 167. Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa, p. 85. 168. Mohapatra, R.P., op. cit., pl. 90, fig. 1, and pl. 98, fig. 1. 169. JAA, Vol. III, p. 562. 170. Only the pedestal remains. Later in samvat 1394 an
image of Kunthunatha was installed in the cell accord
ing to inscription no. 117 of Muni Jayanta vijaya. 171. Tiloyapannarri, 4.512ff, pp. 206ff; Uttarapurana, parva
61; Trişaşti., IV.5. 172. sitesferu fagt Targetas तेनास्य धर्म इत्याध्यमकार्षीद्भानुभूपतिः ।।
--Trişassi., IV.5.49 173. Tiloyapanralli, 4.1178-79, p. 298; Samava yariga sutra,
sū. 157; Ramachandran, T.N., op. cit., pp. 194-95. 174. Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa, p. 86. 175. Diskalkar, D.B., The Indore Museum (Indore, 1942).
p. 5. 176. A. Ghosh (ed.), JAA, III, p. 591. The National Museum,
New Delhi, has a metal Panca-tirthi of Dharmanatha
made in samvat 1572, see JAA, NII, p. 562. 177. Mohapatra, R.P., op. cit., pl. 91, fig. 1; pl. 100, fig. 2. 178. Tiloyapar atti, 4.512ff, pp. 206ff; Uttarapuräna, parva
63; Trisasi., V.1. 179. Burgess, Indian Antiquary, Vol. 32, pp. 459ff. 180. 19 vafaat ta: maftung UE! इति तस्याभिषेकान्ते नामासौ निरवर्तयत् ।।
-Uttarapurāra, 63.406 180a. 3 aftarafturita gayofa: तस्य नामाकरोत्प्रीतः शान्तिरियात्मजन्मनः ।।।
-Trişasti., V.1.104
Page #212
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tīrthankaras
181. Tiloyapanṇatti, 4.934-939, pp. 266-67.
182. Compare Mantra of Santinatha and Santi-devi in AcaraDinakara, Vol. I, p. 6 (first ed.): ॐ नमो निश्चितवचसे भगवते पूजामहंते
लोक्यपूजिताय ..... अजिताय दुष्टग्रहभूतपिशाचशाकिनीनां प्रमथनाय तस्येति नाममन्त्रस्मरणतुष्टा भगवती तत्पदभक्ता विजया देवी । ॐ ह्रीं नमस्ते etc. Also compare:
ॐ नमः शान्तिदेवाय सर्वदुरितोषनाशनकराय सर्वाशिवप्रशमनाय दुष्टग्रहभूत पिशाचशा किनीनां प्रमथनाय etc.
-Laghusanti, 3-6
183. Cf.:
तं संनि संतिकर सतिष्णं सत्वमया । संति धुणामि जिणं संति विहड मे ।। 184 शान्ति शान्तिनिशान्तं शान्तं शान्ताशिवं नमस्कृत्य । स्तोतुः शान्तिनिमित्तं मन्त्रपदैः शान्तये स्तौमि ॥
-Ajita-Santi-stava, v. 12
-Laghu-Sänti-stava, v. 1
185. Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa, pp. 85-86. 186. Shah, U.P., Studies in Jaina Art, p. 17, fig. 28; Archaeological Survey of India, Annual Report for 1925-26, pp. 125ff and plates; Kuraishi and Ghosh, A Guide to Rajgir.
187. Shah, U.P., Akota Bronzes, figs. 17a, 17b.
188. Ibid., figs. 11 and 74a for the Jina installed by Jinabhadra Vacanācārya, and fig. 41b for Ajitanatha. Figs. 34 and 31b and 36a show no dharmacakra motif at all.
189. Luders' List, no. 27. The image is now preserved in the Lucknow Museum. Also see New Jaina Inscriptions from Mathura, Epi. Ind., I, pp. 371ff. As shown by J.E. van Lohuizen de Leeuw, The Scythian Period, pp. 269f, the inscription belongs to the group in which the number for 100 is omitted and therefore gives a date 119-197 A.D.
190. Chandra, Pramod, op. cit., p. 143.
191. Bruhn, Klaus, Jaina Tirthas in Madhyadesh, Jaina Yuga (Bombay), Vol. I (Nov. 1958), pp. 32-33.
192. Tiwari, M.N.P., Jaina Pratima-Vijñāna, p. 109.
193. Ibid., p. 109.
194. Chandra, Pramod, op. cit., p. 158.
195. A. Ghosh (ed.), JAA, II, pp. 297-298, pl. 178. 196. Tiwari, op. cit., p. 110.
197. Jain, Balachandra, Dhubela Samgrahalaya ke Jaina Mürtilekha, Anekanta, Vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 244-45. 198. Jain, Niraj, Bajarangagadh ka visada Jinalaya, ibid., Vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 65-66.
199. Das Gupta, P.C., Archaeological Discovery in West Bengal, Bulletin of the Directorate of Archaeology, West Bengal, no. 1 (1963), p. 12.
200. De, Sudhin, Two Unique Inscribed Jaina Sculptures, Jaina Journal, Vol. V, no. 1, pp. 24-26.
201. Tiwari, M.N.P., op. cit., p. 108.
202. Saletore, B.A., Mediaeval Jainism with special reference to Vijayanagara Empire (Bombay, 1938), pp. 82-83. 203. Ibid., p. 180.
204. Ibid., p. 40.
205. Ibid., p. 149.
206. Ibid., pp. 364-65, also p. 345 for an image of Santi-Jina
set up by Saluva Deva Raya at Gerasoppe.
199
207. Shah, U.P., Jaina Jätaka Stories in Art, in the forthcoming C. Sivaramamurti Memorial Volume. Also Jain Stories in Stone in the Dilwara Temples, Abu, Jaina Yuga, Sept. 1959, also in Jaina Yuga, Nov. 1959.
208. Muni Silavijaya's book on these paintings is being published by the L.D. Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad. U.P. Shah's article on these two pattikäs is being published in the Pandit Bhagawanlal Indraji number of the Journal of the Asiatic Society, Bombay (forthcoming issue). 209. Tiloyapaṇnatti, 4.512ff, pp. 206ff; Uttarapuraṇa, parva 64; Trişaşti., VI.1.
210. दृष्टो देव्या गर्भगेऽस्मिन्कुन्थ्वाख्यो रत्नसंचयः । कुन्थुरित्यभिधां तेन स्वामिनो विदधे पिता ।।
-Trişaşti., VI.1.50
21. Ramachandran, T.N., op. cit., pp. 194-95. 212. Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa, p. 86. 213. Mohapatra, R.P., Udayagiri & Khandagiri Caves (Delhi, 1981), pl. 92, fig. 1, pl. 101, fig. 1. 214. JAA, Vol. I, p. 158.
215. Jain, Niraj, Bajarangagadh ka visada Jinalaya, Anekānta, Vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 65-66.
216. JAA, II, 343; Cousens, Henry, Progress Report, Arch. Survey of Western India, for the year ending 1905, p. 62. 217. JAA, III, p. 445.
218. Ibid., p. 450.
219. Ibid., p. 452.
220. Tiloyapanṇatti, 4.512ff, pp. 206ff; Uttarapurāṇa, parva 65; Trişaşti., VI.2.
221. अर इत्यभिधानं च देव्या स्वप्नेऽरदर्शनात् ।
-Trisasti., VI.2.42 222. Burgess, on the evidence of Canarese (Kannada) dhyana-slokas, gives the deer symbol, Indian Antiquary, Vol. 32, pp. 460ff, but Ramachandran who also referred to some Canarese traditions, omits the deer and only gives the fish (Dig.) or Nandyävarta (Sve).
223. Tiloyapanṇatti, 4.605, p. 219. Tagarakusuma = fish according to translators of this text. Tagara plant is Valariana Hardwickii (Indian Medicinal Plants, p. 667). Tagara plant is not known to have been depicted as a cognizance of this Jina in any known sculpture. 224. Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa, p. 86.
225. Luders' List, no. 47. Nigam, M.L., Glimpses of Jainism through Archaeology in Uttara Pradesh, Shri Mahavira Jaina Vidyalaya Golden Jubilee Volume, p. 215 and fig. 2. JAA, I, p. 53. For the corrected reading by K.D. Bajpai, see Shri Mahavira Commemoration Volume, I (Agra), pp. 189-190. Also see Leeuw, J.E. van Lohuizen-De, The Scythian Period (Leiden, 1949), pp. 281ff. The pedestal is no. J.20 in the Lucknow Museum. Smith, V.A., Jaina Stupa..., pl. VI.
226. Agrawala, V.S., Catalogue of the Mathura Museum, Journal of the U.P. Historical Society, Vol. 23, pts. 1-2, p. 57.
227. Jain, Niraj, Navagadh: Eka Mahatvapura Madhyakolina Jaina Tirtha, Anekanta, Vol. 15, no. 6, p. 277. 228. Kothia Darbarilal, Hamara Pracina Vismyta Vaibhava, Anekanta, Vol. 14, August 1956, p. 31.
Page #213
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
200
229. Jain, Niraj, Bajarangagadh ka visada Jinälaya, Anekanta, Vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 65-66. 230. JAA, I, p. 157.
231. Mohapatra, R.P., op. cit., pl. 92, fig. 1, pl. 101, fig. 1. 232. Tilovapannatti, 4.512ff, pp. 206ff; Uttarapurāṇa, parva 66; Trişaşți., VI.6; Näyädhammakahão, 8 (Vaidya's ed.), pp. 90ff.
233. मोहमल्लममल्लं व्यजेष्टानिष्टकारिणं । adar eft: as after: megse
234. गर्भस्यायां तत्र मातुर्यन्माल्यस्वापदोहृदः । जज्ञे तदकरोत्तस्या नाम मल्लीति भूपतिः ॥
-Trişaşti., VI.6.52 235. Shah, U.P., A Rare Sculpture of Mallinatha, Acarya Vijaya Vallabhasüri Smrti Grantha (Bombay, 1956), p. 128.
: 11
-Uttarapuraṇa, 66.1
236. JAA, III, p. 591.
237. JAA, III, p. 562.
238. Mohapatra, R.P., op. cit., pl. 93, fig. 1, pl. 101, fig. 2. 239. JAA, III, p. 575.
240. JAA, II, p. 227. 241. JAA, II, p. 371.
242. Bhatt, P. Gururaja, Studies in Tuluva History and Culture, p. 449.
243. Tiloyapaṇṇatti, 4.512ff, pp. 206ff; Uttarapuraṇa, parva 67; Trişaşti., VI.7.
244. अस्मिन्गर्भस्थिते माता मुनिवत्सुव्रता भवत् ।
मुनिसुव्रत इत्याख्यां तेनाऽस्य विदधे पिता ॥
-Trişaşti., VI.7.141 245. Ramachandran, T.N., op. cit., pp. 194-95. 246. Samaväyänga sutra, sū. 157. Also see Malavaniya, Dalsukh D., Sthänänga-Samväyänga, pp. 696ff. 247. Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa, p. 86.
248. Nigam, M.L., Glimpses of Jainism through Archaeology in Uttar Pradesh, Shri Mahavira Jaina Vidyalaya Golden Jubilee Volume, I, pp. 213ff, and fig. 2. Smith, V.A., The Jaina Stupa and other Antiquities of Mathura, and fig. 2. See note 225 above.
249. Avasyaka Niryukti, vv. 949-51; Haribhadra's Vrtti, p. 437; Avasyaka Cúrni, p. 567.
250. Mitra, Debala, Iconographic Notes, Journal of the Asiatic Society (Calcutta), vol. I, no. 1, p. 39, pl. III, fig. B. 251. See note 250 above.
252. JAA, III, p. 578.
253. JAA, III, p. 588.
254. Tiwari, op. cit., p. 115.
255. JAA, III, p. 591.
256. JAA, III, p. 572, plate 358B.
257. For detailed account about the stories connected with the Pata, see Holy Abu, by Muni Shri Jayantavijaya (transl. in English by U.P. Shah, Bhavanagar, 1954), pp. 100-105; Trişaşțiśalakāpuruşacarita, parva VI, sarga 2; Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa, pp. 20ff; Bhandarkar, D.R., Jaina Iconography, Archaeological Survey of India, Annual Report, 1905-06, pp. 141-149.
258. Tiloyapannatti, 4.512ff, pp. 206ff; Uttarapurana, parva 69; Trişaşti., VII.
259. B.C. Bhattacharya, The Jaina Iconography (2nd edn.),
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
p. 57, noted that "according to the disputed opinion, the place was not Mithila but Mathura." He has however not cited reference to the disputed opinion against the Uttarapurana tradition noted by him. Tiloyapanṇatti, 4.546, Vol. I, p. 210 also gives Mithila and not Mathură. Cf.:
गर्भस्थे भगवति परचक्रन पैरपि प्रणतिः कृतेति नमिः ।
-Abhidhana Cintamani, 1.26ff and comm. of Hemacandra
Also see Uttarapuraṇa, 69.1 and 69.72.
260. Bhattacharya, B.C., op. cit., p. 56. 261. Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa, p. 86.
262. Gupta, P.L., The Patna Museum Catalogue of Antiquities (Patna, 1965), p. 90; S.K. Saraswati in JAA, II, p. 265. 263. Datta, Kalidas, The Antiquities of Khari, Ann. Rep. of the Varendra Research Society, 1928-29, pp. 1-11.
264. Tiwari, op. cit., p. 117.
265. Mohapatra, R.P., Udayagiri & Khandagiri Caves, pl. 94,
fig. 1 and plate 101, fig. 2.
266. Tiloyapanṇatti, 4.512ff; Uttarapuraṇa, parvas 70 & 71; Trişaşti, Nemicaritra; Vasudevahindi. p. 71; Harivamsapurana, of Jinasena, chp. 37ff. 267. अभिषिच्य यथाकामं अलङ्कृत्य यथोचितम् ।
नेमि सद्ध मंचक्रस्य नेमिनामानभ्यधात् ॥
धर्मचक्रस्य नेमिवन्नेमिः ।
-Uttarapuraṇa, 71.46 -Abhidhana Cintamani, op. cit. 268. यस्मात्भगवति गर्भस्थे माताऽरिष्टरत्नमयं नेमि स्वप्ने अद्राक्षीत् ततो afectif: 1
-Kalpasūtra-Subodhika-tika, p. 133 269. The title Pätäla-linga is interesting as Stambhatirtha is also an ancient Saiva site according to Purăņas. Stambha-pillar.
270. Uttaradhyayana sutra, ed. by Charpentier (Rathanemi Adhyayana), chp. XXII. Also see Daśavaikälika sutra,
2.7-11.
271. Ibid., Introduction.
272. Yajur Veda, 9.25; Rg Veda, I.1.16; Vedix Index under Nemi and Ariştanemi.
273. For descriptions of such scenes in Vimala Vasahi and the Luna Vasahi, see Holy Abu, pp. 67ff etc. Also see Sankalia, H.D., Archaeology of Gujarat, fig. 50. 274. Jaina Citrakalpadruma, Vol. I, figs. 180, 212-214. 275. The Scythian Period, pp. 268ff, fig. 63; Ep. Ind., Vol. IIFurther Inscriptions from Mathura-Inscr. no. 14.
276. Agrawala, V.S., Some Brahmanical Deities in Jaina Art, Jaina Antiquary, Vol. II, p. 91 and J.U.P.H.S., Vol. XXIII, pp. 50-51.
277. Chanda, R.P., in A.S.I., A.R., 1925-26, pp. 125ff. 278. Elements of Jaina Iconography, p. 44, fig. 13. 278a. Ibid., pp. 41-43, 48-49.
278b. Saletore, B.A., Mediaeval Jainism, op. cit., pp. 28n, 42, 343.
279. Ibid., p. 327, also see p. 346 for a Nemiśvara-Caityalaya
erected by Yojana Śresthi at Gera soppe. The builder was an ancestor of Ambavana Śresthi, a business magnate of the time of Saluva Immadi Deva Raya.
280. Bhatt, P. Gururaja, Studies in Tuluva History and Culture, pp. 438-441. Also ibid., pl. 412a, c, for figures of
Page #214
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
201
296. Uttarapurana, 73; Tiloyapannatti, 4.966, p. 271; Kalpa.
sutra (Punyavijayaji's ed.), sū. 160. 297. Samavdyānga sätra, sūtra 157. Hemacandra in Trisasi.,
IX.3.358 calls him Arya-Datta. Dinna (Pkt.) - Datta
(Skt.). 298. Both the Svetāmbaras and the Digambaras give graphic
accounts of this Upasarga. Below are cited a few passages which would help one to understand and interpret representations of this Jaina version of the Buddhist theme of "the Attack of Mara": (1) रोषात्कृतमहाघोषो महावृष्टि मपातयत् ।।
व्यधात तथैव सप्ताहान्यन्यांश्च विविधान्विधीः । महोपसदिशैलोपनिपातान्तानिवान्तकः ।। तद् ज्ञात्वावधिबोधेन धरणीशो विनिर्गतः । धरण्या: प्रस्फुरद्रत्नफणामंडपमंडितः ।। भारमस्थादावृत्य तत्पत्नी च फणाततेः । उपर्युच्चस्समद्धृत्य स्थिता बज्रातपच्छम ।।
-Uttarapurana, 73.137-41 Also see Pārsvanathacaritam of Vadiraja sūri, canto XI, verses 51-87. (2) पापाचारस्य दुश्चेष्टामवीक्ष्य चरिचक्षुपा।
पद्मावत्या समं देवमुपतस्थौ फणीश्वरः ।। तस्य विस्तारयामास स धैर्य स्तवपूर्वकम् । स्फुरन्मणिरुचिस्फारस्फुटा (स्फटा) मंडलमंहपम् ।।
आविबं भूव देवस्य तत्क्षणादेव केवलम् ।
Neminātha in the Santinatha-Basti, Bangadi; pl. 414a, for Nomi in sitting posture in the Neminatha-Basti, Hiriyangadi, Karkal; pl. 428b, c, for Neminātha in the
Neminatha-Basti, Varanga. 281. Jaina Art and Architecture (JAA), Vol. II, p. 229; also
seep. 228 and pl. 135B. 282. Tbid., pp. 227,328-329. 283. Tiloyapannatti, 4.51211, pp. 21611; Pavitra Kalpa-Sutra,
___ed., Muni Punyavijaya. 284. Acāranga satra, II.3.401, p. 389. 285. Avasyaka Cürni, p. 273. Uppala was a Pasāvaccijja who
after giving up monastic life became a householder and earned his living from fortune telling (nimitta) in Atthiyagama. His two sisters Somā and Jayanti who had once joined Pārsva's Order are reported to have rescued Gosāla and Mahavira in the Coråyasannivesa (ibid., p. 286). Municandra, who called himself a Samana Nigantha, was a follower of Pärsva. Also see
Avašyaka Cürni, p. 291. 286. Bhagavati sitra, 9.32. For Kalasaveiyaputta, another
follower of Parsva, converted by Mahavira, see ibid., 1.9. Pundariya was a follower of the four vows,
according to Nayadhammakahão, XIX. 287. Kaliyaputta, Mehila, Anandarakkhiya and Kasava
were chief amongst them, Bhagavati satra, 2.5. For references to lay women and female ascetics of the order
of Parsva, see Nāyādhammakahão, II, Nirayavaliyao, 4. 288. Sayagadanga sutta, II.7. 289. Rayapasenaiya sutta, sti. 147f refers to him as a young
monk of the Order of Parsva and states that he knew
the fourteen Parvas. 290. Jaina Sutras (S.B.E., Vol.XLV), pp. xiv-xxi, Uttara
dhyayana sutra, 23. 291. Tiloyapannatti, 4.512ff, pp. 206f1; Uttarapurára, parva
73; Trisasi., parva 8; Siri-Päsanäha-cariyam (Prakrt) of Devabhadra süri (Sve.); Pārsvanathacaritam (Sanskrit)
of Vädirāja sūri (Dig.). 292. तन्त्र प्रभोः गर्भस्थे सति शयनीयस्था माता पार्वे सर्पन्तं कृष्णसर्प ददर्श ततः पाति नामकृतिः ।
-Kalpa-satra-Subodhika, p. 128 स्पृशति ज्ञानेन सर्वभावानिति पावः । तथा गर्भस्थे जनन्या निशि सयों दृष्टः इति गर्भानुभावोऽयमिति मत्वा पश्यतीति निरुक्तत्वात्पावः । पाश्वोऽस्य यावृत्यकरः यक्षः तस्य नाथः पाश्र्वनाथः ।
-Comm. on Abhidhôna Cintamani, I.26ff Also see.Avasyaka Niryukti, gathā 1091; Siri-Pāsanaha
cariyam, prastāva 3, p. 152. 293. Siri Pasanaha-cariyam, 3, p. 167 speaks of only one
snake who became Dharanendra after death. The
Digambara texts speak of a pair of snakes. 294. Trisasti., parva 9.3.991f. 295. Barua, B.M., Old Brahmi Inscriptions in the Udayagiri
and Khandagiri Caves, Orissa, pp. 22, 23, 45. Jayaswal and R.D. Banerji in Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society, Vols. III, IV, XIII, read in line 13 a reference to this statue carried away by Nanda King, but B.M. Barua later, in I.H.Q., XIV, p. 468, rejected the old reading
अनन्यशरणास्तदा प्रभुमपेत्य बद्धाञ्जलि
जिनेन्द्र जगतांपते जय जयाभिरक्षेति माम् । ननाम मुकुटोल्लसन्मणिभिरुल्लिख
नुवरां जगन्त्रयगुरुं रिपुर्विपुलबोधलक्ष्मीनिधिम् ।।।
--Pārsvanáthacarita, of Vädirāja sūri, XI.77-81 According to this work the attacking demi-god was called Bhūtānanda. (3) पाश्वनाथमुद्रोतु मेत्तु मद्रिमिव द्विपः ।
समाययावमर्षान्धो मेघमाली मुराधमः ।। दंष्ट्राक्रकचभीमास्यान् श्रृण्याकारनखांकुरान् । शार्दूलान्पिगलदृशो बिचके तन्त्र सोमरः ।। पुच्छराच्छोटयामासुभूपीट ते मुहुम हः । चऋबकारमच्चैश्च मृत्योर्मन्त्राक्षरोपमम् ।।
विकृतास्तन चापेतुर्गजन्तो मदवपिणः । उत्कराः करिणस्त्तुंगाः पर्वता इव जंगमाः ।।
हिक्कानादापूर्ण दिक्का भल्लूकाः शूकजिताः । अनेकशश्चित्र काश्च क्रूग यमवसूनिभाः ।। शिला अपि स्फोटयन्तः कंटकाग्रेण वृश्चिकाः । तम्नपि निर्दहन्तो दृष्टया दृष्टिविषा अपि ।।
बेतालान्कत्रिकाहस्तान्सविद्युत इवाम्बुदात् । उच्च: किलकिलारावानुदंष्ट्रान व्यकरोन्ततः ।। प्रलम्बजिहाशिधनास्ते लबिसर्पा इव द्रुमाः ।
Page #215
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
202
दीर्घजंघाझ्यस्तालद्रुमारूढा इवोच्चकैः ।। ज्वालामुखेन मुञ्चन्तो जठराग्निरिइवायताः । ते प्रभु परितोऽधावन् सारमेया इव द्विपम् ।। प्रभुस्तै रपि नाक्षुभ्यल्लीनो ध्यानसुधाहदे ।
विशेषेण ततः ऋद्धो मेघमाल्यसुरः स्वयम् । मेघान्विचके नभसि कालरात्रिसहोदरान् ।।
स्वामी रत्नशिलास्तम्भ इवांभस्यपि निश्चलः । नासाग्रन्यस्तदृग्ध्यानान्मनागपि चचाल न । आनासान यावर्दभः श्रीपाश्र्वस्वामिनोऽभवत् । धरणस्योरगेन्द्रस्यासनं तावदकम्पयत् ॥
cor: Farfe SFATEC उन्नालमंबुजं तुगं केवल्यासनसन्निभम् ॥ पृष्ठपाश्र्वोरः पिदधे स स्वभोगेन योगिराट् ।। फणश्च सप्तभिश्च्छवं चकार शिरसि प्रभोः ।
धरणेन्द्र महिष्योऽपि श्रीपालस्वामिनः पुरः। विदधुर्गीतनृत्यादि भक्तिभावितचेतसः ।। ध्यानलीनः प्रभुश्चास्थान्निबिशेषो द्वयोरपि । नागाधिराजे धरणे मेघमालिनि चासुरे ।।
---Trisasi., parva IX.3.249-81 299. Coomaraswamy, A.K., History of Indian and Indonesian
Art, fig. 86. 300. For this and other Caumukha sculptures with
Pårsvanatha as one of the four Jinas see J.U.P.H.S.,
vol. XXIII (1950), pp. 55ff; Epi. Ind., II, 207ff. 301. Coomaraswamy, A.K., History of Indian and Indonesian
Art, pp. 68-69. For sculptures of Nägas from Mathura, sec V.S. Agrawala's Catalogue of Brahmanical Images in Mathura Art (Lucknow), pp. 98ff; J. Ph. Vogel, Naga Worship in Ancient Mathura, A.S.I., A.R., for 1908-09. For Naga Cult, see Coomaraswamy, The Yaksas, parts I
and II (Washington, 1928-31) or reprint (Delhi). 302. Siri-Pasanäha-cariyam, prastāva 3, 1-7, pp. 187f. 303. Ahicchatra is modern Rämnagar in Bareilly district,
U.P. For Ahicchatra, with Adi-Naga as its presiding deity and for Näga-worship in India from Vedic times, see The Age of Imperial Uniry, pp. 471ff, Fergusson, J., Tree and Serpent Worship in India; Vogel, J. Ph., Indian
Serpent Lore or the Nagas in Hindu Legend and Art. 304. For Buddhist representations, cf. Benjamin Rowland,
Jr., Gandhara Sculptures from Pakistan Museums (New York, 1960), p. 32 showing a sculpture from Peshawar Museum and plate on p. 55 showing host of Mara, from Central Museum, Lahore. Harold Ingholt, Gandharan Art in Pakistan (New York, 1957), figs. 61-66; Joshi,
N.P., Mathura Sculptures (Mathura, 1966), pl. 86. 305. Shah, U.P., A Pārsvanatha Sculpture in Cleveland
Museum, Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art for
December 1970, p. 303, fig. 6. 306. Dhaky, M.A., Santara Sculpture, Journal of the Indian
Society of Oriental Art, New Series, Vol. IV (Dr. Vasu-
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana deva Saran Agrawala Commemoration Volume, Part I).
pp. 78-97 and plates. 307. Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art for 1970, op.
cit., fig. 1. 308. Shah, U.P., Akota Bronzes (Bombay, 1959), figs. 42a,
42b. Also compare ibid., figs. 54-54g, ca. 890-920. 309. Tiwari, M.N.P., Jaina Pratima-Vijana (Hindi, Varanasi,
1981), p. 134. 310. Muni Jayantavijaya and U.P. Shah, Holy Abu, pp. 123
25. 311. Brown, W. Norman, A Descriptive and Illustrated Cata
logue of Miniature Paintings of the Kalpa-särra (Washing
ton, 1934), pp. 41-44, figs. 97-98. 312. Bruhn, Klaus, Further Observations on the Iconography of
Pārsvanátha, Mahavira and His Teachings (Ahmedabad,
1977), pp. 379-388 and plates. 313. Aspects of Jaina Art and Architectura, n. 273-275.
Shah, U.P., An Early Bronze Parsvanarna, Bulletin of
Prince of Wales Museum, no. 3, pp. 63ff. 314. Pramod Chandra, Some Remarks on Bihar Sculptures,
Aspects of Indian Art (Los Angeles, 1972), pp. 78ff,
pl. XXVI. 315. Especially read our remarks on pp. 273-275 in our
article, Jaina Bronzes- A Brief Survey, Aspects of Jaina Art and Architecture (Ahmedabad, 1975). This bronze is very light in weight, though there is core inside. There is predominance of copper in the alloy and it looks like made of copper mostly. It is unlike all Jaina bronzes known so far, especially in the treatment of physiognomy and limbs, except the figure of Parsvanatha
in the Pudukkottai Museum. 316. Jain, Niraj, Tulsi Samgrahalaya, Ramvan kä Jaina
Puratattva (Hindi), Anekänta, Vol. 16, no. 6, p. 279. 317. Shah, U.P., Akota Bronzes (Bombay, 1959), fig. 63a. 318. Sankalia, H.D., The Archaeology of Gujarat (Bombay,
1941), p. 167; Shah, U.P., Studies in Jaina Art, p. 17. 319. Bharata ke Digambara Jaina Tirtha (Hindi, Bombay,
1978), Vol. IV, pp. 103-105, fig. 26; Shah, U.P., A Rare Naga Sculpture from Rajasthan, Lalit Kala, no. 13. p. 51 and pl. XXVI, fig. 1. This is being discussed again in Researcher (Jaipur) forthcoming issue, by U.P.
Shah. 37 0. Bhārata ke Digambara Jaina Tirtha, Vol. IV, pp. 101
102, fig. 24. 321. Ibid.. pp. 34-38. fig. 10. 322. Ibid., pp. 85-87. 323. Jaina Pratima-Vijfāna, p. 127. 324. Agrawala, R.A., History, Art & Architecture of Jaisal
mer (Delhi, 1980), p. 39 and fig. 58. 325. Ibid., p. 43, fig. 59. 326. Sri Vijaya-Vallabha-Suri Smáraka-Grantha (Bombay,
1955), plate between pp. 64 and 65 of the Hindi Section. 327. See pote 326 above. 328. Shah, U.P., Seven Bronzes from Lilva Deva (Pancha
Mahals), Bulletin of the Baroda Museum, Vol. IX, nos.
1-2, pp. 43-51, figs. 2, 2A, 5, 5A, and 7. 329. Sharma, B.N., Unpublished Jaina Bronzes in the National
Museum, JOI, Vol. XIX, no. 3, pp. 275-277 and plates. 330. Shah, U.P., A Few Jaina Bronzes in the National
Page #216
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
203
Museum, New Delhi, JOI, Vol. XXIV, nos. 1-2,
pp. 238-242, figs. 1, 2, 5, 6. 331. Bhattacharya, B.C., Jaina Iconography, First Edition,
pl. VI. 332. Fleet, Gupta Inscriptions, Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum,
Vol. III, 66-68. 333. Jaina Pratima-Vijñana, p. 130. 334. A.S.I., A. Rep. for 1925-26, pl. 60, fig. E, p. 115.
Negative no. 643 of Indian Museum, Archaeological
Section 335. Negative no. 676 of Indian Museum, Arch. Section. 336. Ghosh, Deva Prasada, Traces of Jainism in Bengal, Jaina
Journal, Vol. XVIII, no. 4 (1984), pp. 137-142. 337. For Jaina sculptures from Bengal, also see History of
Bengal, I, pp. 464ff, figs. 47-49, 153; Banerji, R.D., Eastern School of Mediaeval Indian Sculpture, pp. 144ff, pls. Ixxyizlxxvii. A.S.I., A. Report for 1925-26, pp. 115 pl. Ix, e;-ibid., for 1921-22, p. 84, pl. xxi; ibid., for 192223, pp. 112ff. Indian Culture, Vol. III, pp. 524ff. Jaina Journal, Vol. XVIII, no. 4, pl. opposite page 148 illustrates Pārsva images at Siddheśvara, Bahulara, Dharapat, and at Biharimath in Bankura district. Studies in Jaina Art, fig. 78, Pärsvanatha from Bahulara. Mitra, Debala, Some Jaina Antiquities from Bankura, West Bengal, Journ. Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. 24, no. 2,
pp. 133-134. 338. Prasad, H.K., Jaina Bronzes in the Patna Museum,
Mahavira Jaina Vidyalaya Golden Jubilee Volume,
pp. 281-288 and plates. 339. Mohapatra, R.P., Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves. 340. Tiwari, M.N.P., Jaina Pratima-Vijnana, p. 131, fig. 59. 341. Joshi, Arun, History & Culture of Khijjingakotta under
the Bhanjas (Delhi, 1983), fig. 46. 342. Mohapatra, R.P., Jaina Monuments of Orissa, pp. 220
221. 343. Mankodi, Kirit, A Rashtrakuta Temple at Hallur in
Bijapur District, Aspects of Jaina Art and Architecture,
pp. 205-214, figs. 8, 10. 344. Dhaky, M.A., Sāntāra Sculpture, J.J.S.O.A. (New Series),
Vol. IV, pp. 78-97, figs. 24, 27. 345. Dhaky, M.A., Gerasappinä Jinomandiro (Gujarati),
Svadhyâya, Vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 80-85, fig. 2. 346. Annual Report on South Indian Epigraphy, 1939.40,
p. 237, inscr. no. 108. 347. Bhatt, P. Gururaja, Studies in Tuluva History and
Culture, pp. 438-441. 348. For the story see Pasanahacariyam, 1871; Vividla
Tirtha-Kalpa, p. 26. Karakandacariu gives a slightly
different account. 349. See also Cintamani-Kalpa, of Dharmaghosa suri (c. 14th
cent. A.D.), published in Mantradhiraja-Cintamani,
354. Called Seniya (Śrenika) and Kuniya (Kunika) in Jaina
works. For various accounts see Jaina, J.C., Life in Ancient India as depicted in Jaina Canons, pp. 378ff",
398fT. 355. The date has been a matter of great controversy. A
noteworthy work on the subject is a critical essay by Muni Kalyanavijaya, in Hindi, entitled Vira Nirvana Samvat aur Jaina Kalaganana, Nagari Pracharini Parrika, vols. X, XI. Also see Schubring. Der Lehre Der Jainas, pp. 5, 30. According to some, including Jacobi, the date is taken as 467 B.C. Also see Age of Imperial Unity, pp. 36-38; for dates of Buddha and Mahavira and for their relations with Bimbisåra and Ajätasatru, ibid., pp. 19-28. Cambridge History of India, Vol. I, p. 156.
Muni Nagaraja, Agama aur Tripitaka, Vol. I. 356. Uttarapuraia, of Gunabhadra, 74, v. 252-256. 357. Jacobi, Jaina Sutras, S.B.E., Vol. XXII, Introduction,
pp. XIIff. 338. 39: Faze a Bathgafati
महिषी श्रीसमद्रस्य तस्यासीत् प्रियकारिणी ।। चेतश्चेटकराजस्य यास्ताः सप्त शरीरजाः। अतिस्नेहाकुलं चक्रुस्तास्वाधा प्रियकारिणी ।। कस्ता योजयितुं शक्तरित्रशलां गुणवर्णनः । या स्वपुण्य महावीरप्रसवाय नियोजिता ॥
-Harivamsa, 2.16-18 This difference in Svetāmbara and Digambara traditions is noteworthy. Also see Chp. I above, pr. 2ff. Uttarapurāņa, 74. For Mahāvira's relationship with Bimbisára, Uda yana, Pradyota and others, see Jaina, J.C., op. cit., pp. 382ff. For remarks on the legend of Transfer of Embryo, see
above, Chp. I, pp. 2ff. 359. As usual in the Digambara tradition, Indra named him
Vira ard Vardhamana, Uttarapurära, 74.276. For names of Mahāvīra, see Kalpa-sutra, 108, 110;
Trisasi., X.2.100; cf. Avašyaka-Niryukti, 1091. 360. Trisasi., X.2.106ff. 361. Uttarapurara, 74.287ff. 362. Also called Kanduka-krida, see Kalpa-sutra-Subodhika,
pp. 264-265. 363. For upasarga by Sangamaka, see Trişasi, X.2.106ff;
Uttarapurana, 74.287ff. 364. The incidents are not described in the Kalpa-sutra and
the Ācāranga-sutra, but see Trisasti., X.2.119-122. Kalpa-sutra-Subodhika (a comm. on Kalpa-sutra),
pp. 266-267. 365. Trisasti., X.2.150ff; Kalpa-sútra, 110. For Jamali, see
Bhagavari-sútra, 9.33. For Anojjā, Acårånga sätra,
S.B.E., pp. 193ff. 366. For a discussion on this with citations, see Bool Chard,
Lord Mahavira, pp. 28f1. 367. Acaranga-sútra, 11.15.17, S.B.E., XXII, p. 194; Kalpa
sutra, 110, S.B.E., XXII, p. 256; Trisasti., X.2.156ff. Cf.: एवं च ज्यायसो भ्रातुः सशाकस्योपरोधतः । जगत्पतिर्भावतिरलकारैरलकृतः ।। कायोत्सर्ग धरो नित्य ब्रह्मचर्यपरायणः ।
Pp. 30ff.
350. Puratana-Prabandha-Sangraha (Singhi Serics), pp. 95.96;
Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa, pp. 104-105. 351. For further details, see Shah, U.P., Supernatural Beings
in the Jaina Tantras, Acharya Dhruva Commemoration
Volume, part III. 352. Ibid., p. 83. 353. Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa, p. 86 and pp. 102-106.
Page #217
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
204
स्नानांगरागरहितो विशुद्धध्यानतत्परः ।। एषणीयप्रासुकान्नप्राणवृत्तिमहामनाः । वर्ष मेकं कथमपि गृहवासेऽत्यवाहयत् ।।
Trisasi., X.2.166-168 Digambara sources merely state that he took diksā at
the age of 30. Harivamsa, 2.47; Uttarapurana, 74.280ff. 368. Kalpa-sutra, S.B.E., op. cit., p. 195. 369. Ibid., pp. 195-200; Uttarapuräna, 74.266ff. 370. Uttarapurana, 74.331 ff. 371. Also see Shah, U.P., Kaparddi Yaksa and Brahmaśänti
Yakşa, Journal of the M.S. University of Baroda, Vol. 7, pp. 59-72. The upasarga by Salapani took place in the first year after Mahāvira's renunciation, according
to sve. traditions. 372. Kalpa-sútra, 117, S.B.E., XXII, pp. 259-260; Acaranga-
sūtra, 1.8.1, S.B.E., op. cit., p. 79. 373. The Kalpa-sūtra does not give details, see S.B.E., op.
cit., pp. 260ff. But the Avaśyaka Niryukti gives in a very concise form, by way of catch-words, the account of his itinerary and the various upasargas, see Īvasyaka Niryukti, gathas 161ff, Haribhadra's vivasyaka Vitti,
pp. 188ff. 374. Kodivarsa was the capital of Ladha country which was
divided into Vajjabhumi and Subbabhumi. Ladha or Radha comprised the modern districts of Hooghly, Howrah, Bankura, Burdwan and eastern parts of
Midnapore. Ladha was regarded an anarya-desa. 375. Ācāranga, 9.3, S.B.E., op. cit., p. 281; Avasyaka Cirni,
p. 318. 376. Trisasi., X.3.556ff; Avasyaka Nir., gatha 484. 377. Avašyaka Niryukri, v. 486, comm. of Haribhadra
there on, p. 209; for Pütana see U.P. Shah, Harinega- meşin, J.I.S.O.A. (old series), Vol. XIX. Compare also Buddha converting the child-devouring Håriti and Krsna
killing Pūtanā. 378. This is the Svetämbara version. Account of Sangamaka
in the Digambara tradition is given before. This attack of Sangamaka (Sve.) as described by Hemacandra may be compared with the attack of Kamajha on Pårsva
nätha discussed in the preceding section. 379. Avasyaka Niryukti, v. 526 and comm. of Haribhadra,
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana p. 227; Kalpa-sutra, 120, S.B.E., Vol. XII, p. 263; Harivamsa, 2.57-58; Uttarapurana, 74.348-352; PavitraKalpa-sutra (ed. by Muni Punya vijaya), sū. 120;
Acāraliga sutra, 2.15.24-25, S.B.E., op. cit., p. 201. 380. Brown, W. Norman, Miniature Paintings of the Jaina
Kalpa-sä tra, figs. 75-78; Pavitra Kalpa-sūtra, figs. 12-18,
20-37, 68-91, 110-153, 224-25, 227-234, 269. 381. Uttarapurana, 76.508ff. 382. Kalpa-sūtra, S.B.E., op. cit., p. 266. 383. Luders' List, no. 78, Buhler, G., Epigraphic Discoveries
at Mathura, J.R.A.S., 1896, pp. 578-81; Banerji, R.D., The Scythian Period of Indian History, Indian Antiquary, Vol. 37, pp. 25-75 and plate. Konow, S., Note on Mathura Inscription of Samvat 299, K.B. Pathak
Commemoration Volume, pp. 264ff. 384. Sharma, R.C., Jaina Images of the Gupta Period in State
Museum, Lucknow, Mahavira Tning Vidyalaya Golden
Jubilee Volume, Vol. 1. 385. The Scythian Period, pp. 52-64.
Sahani, R.B. Dayā Rām, Seven Inscriptions from Mathura, Epi. Ind., Vol. XIX, p. 67; Agrawala, V.S., Catalogue of the Mathura Museum, J.U.P.H.S.,
vol. XXIII, p. 38. 386. Agrawala, V.S., ibid., p. 38. Note his remarks about
Okharika mentioned in the inscription and in the inscr. dated 299 discussed above. J.E. Van Lohuizen de-Leeuw takes year 84 of this image=162 A.D. which would suggest that the two Okharikās are not identical accor
ding to her calculations. 387. For these and other images, see Epi. Ind., Vol. I,
pp. 371ff; Epi. Ind., Vol. II, pp. 195-212, 311ff;
J.U.P.H.S., XXIII, pp. 35ff. 388. Banerji, R.D., The Age of the Imperial Guptas, pp. 103,
162; Epi. Ind., Vol. II, p. 210, no. 39. 389. Modern Review, Vol. 88, no. 4, p. 297. 390. Mohapatra, R.P., Jaina Monuments of Orissa; Dash,
M.P., Antiquities from Charmpa, Orissa Historical
Research Journal, Vol. XI, no. 1 (1962), pp. 50-53. 391. Mitra, Debala, Sasanadevis in the Khandagiri Caves,
Journ. Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. 1.2 (1959), pp. 127-133; Mohapatra, R.P., Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves, pl. 94, fig. 2.
Page #218
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
CHAPTER NINE
Sāsana-Devatās
A. YAKŞA WORSHIP IN JAINISM
Ancient Indian literature, Hindu, Buddhist or Jaina is full of references to Yakşas, as also to other spirits like the Nāgas, Apsarasas, Gandharvas, and so on. Coomaraswamy in his excellent pioneer work on the Yakşas has shown that the designation Yaksa was originally practically synonymous with Deva or Devatã and no essential distinction can be made between Yakşas and Devas. In the earlier Vedic texts there is a total absence of many of the most fundamental features of Hinduism properly so called, it is only in the Brāhmaṇas and Upanişads that the ideas of Sarnsära, Karma, Yoga, Bhakti etc. begin to appear and the same applies to the cults of Siva, Krsna, Yakşas, Nägas, innumerable gods and goddesses and localised deities. These ideas and deities derive, not from the Vedic Aryan tradition, but as De la Vallee Poussin expresses it, "From uncertain fond common, tres riche, et que nons ne connaissous pas par faitement." It must not be overlooked that in the Vedas, and in the literature before the second century B.C., we possess only one-sided view of the Indian religion and representing, quantitatively at least, the smaller part of the Indian religion. The mass of the people worshipped, not the abstract deities of priestly theology, but local genii, yakşas and någas, and feminine divinities of increase and mother-goddesses. These popular beliefs and cults were probably of non-Aryan origin, at least a large number of them appear to be of Dravidian, non-Aryan or indigenous origin. It should be noted that the clans particularly associated with such beliefs and cults were by no means completely Brahmanised, and most of the earliest figures of the yakşas, någas, vşkşa-devatās are to be found in the Buddhist remains at Bharhut.2
The word yaksa occurs several times in the Rgveda, Atharvaveda, Brāhmaṇas and the Upanişads. The word yaksa in the Jaiminiyu Brálmana (iii. 203-272) means nothing more than a 'wondrous thing'. In the sense of a spirit or genius, usually associated with Kubera, it does not appear before the age of the Grhya-sutras where yakşas are invoked together with the numerous other major and minor deities all classed as Bhutas. In a somewhat later book they are possessing spirits of diseases-grahas (Mänava-GrhyaSutra. IL. 14), while the Sankhayana Grhya Sūtra mentions Manibhadra. In the Satapatha Brahmana, Kubera is a Raksasa and lord of robbers and evil doers which suggests that he was an aboriginal deity alien to Brahmanical pantheon. In the Sätras he is invoked with Isäna for the husband in the marriage ritual and his hosts plague children.
In earlier Buddhist records, Yakkha as an appellation is, like Niga, anything but deprecative. Not only is Sakka so called but Buddha himself is so referred to in poetic diction (M ujjhima Nikaya, 1.252, 353). In the Angutiara Nikäya, II.37, Buddha finds it necessary to say that he is not a Deva, Gandhabba or Yakkha. In the Anguttara Nikaya, Buddhist literature, Yakklas are sometimes represented as teachers of good morals and as guardian spirits (Thera-Theri gāthi, XLIV). Tibetan sources cited by A. Schneifner (Tibetan Tales from Kah-gjur, Ralston, p. 81) show that the Sikyas honoured a yakşa by name Sakyavardhana as a tutelary deity. The inscription on the Pawaya image of Minibhadra shows that the vaksa was worshipped by the goşthas or merchants."
The Mahamivuri which gives a list of Yakas of different places a list of well-known shrines of
Page #219
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
206
Jaina-Rūpa-Mandana different deities at different places, and of different sects-used the term Yakşa in the sense of Deva, Doity of worship (e.g. Vişnur-yakso Dvärikāyām).
The evidence collected by Coomaraswamy shows that Kubera's yaksa followers possess the power of assuming any shape, they are kindly but at the same time can fight fiercely as guardians, and it is as guardians and gate-keepers that they appear in the Buddhist art; they are sometimes specifically grouped with the Nāgas, more often with the gods, Gandharvas and Nägas. The Rāmāyaṇa (3.11.94) speaks of yakşatva (spirithopd) and amaratva (immortality) together as boons bestowed by a god or gods, while the Mahabharata (6.41.4) tells us that men of the Sättvika class worship gods or Devas, of the Rajasika class, the Yakşas and Rākşasas, and of the Tamasika class, the Pretas and Bhūtas. The Yakşas in the Epics are sometimes sylvan deities, usually but not always gentle. The Yakşas are also known as Guhyakas.
But the Yakşas were regarded as both benefic and malefic by all the three traditions-Buddhist, Brahmanical and Jaina. Some Yaksagrahas are attendants of Skanda, who is called Guha (Hopkins, Epic Mythology, pp. 145, 229).4 The Atanatiya suttanta (Digha Nikaya, III, 195) speaks of good and bad yakkhas. If any of these assail a Buddhist monk or layman, he is to appeal to the higher yakkhas. The text gives a list of Yakkha chiefs which includes Indra, Soma, Varuna, Prajapati, Matinhadrat Alavaka etc. Here is an unequivocal attempt at assigning to some of the well-known Vedic gods the position of yakşa chiefs who are said to be obedient to Vessavaņa or Kubera.
The Jaina Bhagavati sūtra gives a list of gods who are obedient like his children to Vaiśramaņa;5 they are: 1. Puņnabhadda, 2. Māņibhadda, 3. Salibhadda, 4. Sumanabhadda, 5. Cakka, 6. Rakkha, 7. Punnarakkha, 8. Savvāna (Sarvahna ?), 9. Savvajasa, 10. Samiddha, 11. Amoha, 12. Asanga, 13. Savvakama.
The Tattvärtha-Bhasya of Umāsvātie gives the following list of thirteen types of yakşas: 1. Purnabhadras, 2. Mänibhadras, 3. Svetabhadras, 4. Haribhadras, 5. Sumanobhadras, 6. Vyäptibhadras. 7. Subhadras, 8. Sarvatobhadras, 9. Mānuşyayaksas, 10. Vanāhāras, 11. Vanādhipatis, 12. Rūpayaksas, 13. Yakşottamas.
The above list is also given in the comm. of Malayagiri on the Pannāvanā (Prajñāpanā) sutta where the sixth class is called Vyatipātikabhadras, other names being the same. According to the Kalpa sutra. from the moment of the descent of Mahavira into the mother's womb, many Jrmbhaka-gods in Vaiśramaņa's service, residing in the tiryak (lower) world, brought, on Sakra's command, to the palace of King Siddhartha, old and ancient treasures from various places. 8
The benefic character of yakşas, nāgas and others is referred to in a number of stories. Bhaddă, the wife of a merchant (satthavāha) Dhanna, worships with flowers, scented pastes etc. several representations, outside the city of Rajagpha, of Nägas, Bhūtas, Yakşas, Indras, Skandas, Rudras, Sivas, Vaiśramana (Vesamaņa), in order to obtain a child. The shrines are referred to as Nägaghara, Bhūyaghara, Jakkhadeula and so on. Subhadra promised Surambara Jakkha one hundred buffaloes if she was blessed with a son. 10 The Vivagasūya says that one Gangadatta, who had no issue, visited the shrine of Umbaradatta Jakkha outside the city of Păţalikhanda, in company of female friends of her caste and worshipped the yaksa. She first bowed down to the image, then cleaned it with a brush of peacock-feathers (lomahattha), bathed it with water, wiped it with a woollen cloth (Pamhala-pakşmala), dressed it with garments. adorned it with flowers, garlands, applied scents, scented powders, placed incense-burners in front and kneeling down, prayed for an issue. She promised a sacrificial rite (yāga), a gift (daya), a part of income or grains (bhāga) or an akşayanidhi (a special fund deposited for the purpose of worship). It may incidentally be noted that this is the form of worship of Tirthankaras also as can be seen from the worships performed by Draupadi or the gods Suriyabha and Vijaya, noted in Jaina canons. The Näyädhammakahao also refers to a shrine of Selaga Jakkha, who had the form of a horse, situated in a forestgrove (vankhanda) of Ratnadvipa. The Jakkha saved two merchants from the clutches of cruel robbers and carried them back to the city of Campå.11 A Jakkha Ganditinduga of Varanasi is said to have guarded the sage Mätanga in the Tinduya garden.12 The Uttaradhyayana further says that by practising self-restraint one is born among the yakşas, 13 and that the yaksas, devas, dänavas, and kinnaras pay veneration to those who practise celibacy. 14 According to the Avašyaka Niryukti, the Vibhelaga Jakkha in the Gamāya Sannivesa, paid reverence to Mahavira when the latter was engaged in meditation. 15
Page #220
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Sasana-Devatās
207
The Pindaniryukti refers to the shrine of Manibhadra yakṣa which lay outside the town of Samilla in a garden (udyāna) and was furnished with an assembly-hall (sabha). When small-pox broke out in the town, he was requested by the inhabitants to save them from the epidemic. When the trouble subsided, the citizens besmeared the hall with cow-dung on every aṣṭami and other days.16
The Yakṣas are reported to be constructive genii, skilled in town-planning and architecture. All through the ages, even to this day, folk-tales speak of construction of palaces, roads, etc., in a night by the yaksas. The Vasudevahindi describes the city of Vinītā, the capital of Rṣabhanatha, planned and constructed by Vesamana, at the bidding of Sakra. 17 The yaksas are famous for their function as gatekeepers in the Samavasarana of a Jina,18 and as Lords of Vijaya, Vaijayanta, Jayanta and Aparajita dvāras or gates of the jagati of the Jambudvipa.18 Kautilya's reference to the shrines of Vijaya, Vaijayanta, Jayanta and Aparajita19 in the centre of the city-fortifications is especially noteworthy. They are Yakşa-devatās as can be inferred from the Jaina evidence noted above. A Yakṣa Anadhiya20 (Anadṛta) is the Lord of the whole of Jambudvipa according to the Jaina traditions, and it is obvious that this function as a superintending deity is based upon the conception that he is the protector of Jambudvipa...
The malefic character of Yaksas from earlier Jaina texts may now be examined. Śūlapāņi Yakṣa at Asthikagrāma (bone-city) near Vardhamana-pura used to kill the local people and those who stayed in his shrine. The village came to be so called from the heap of bones of such dead bodies. A shrine was built for this Yaksa on the ashes of a bull who after death was reborn as Yakṣa Sūlapāņi.21 He tried to disturb Mahavira in his meditations when the sage spent a night in this shrine but the Yaksa was ultimately overpowered and worshipped Mahavira. A wooden statue of Yakşa Surapriya which was carved along with attendant pratihāryas (sannihitapāḍihere) was painted every year, the painter being finally killed by the Yakşa himself. The shrine (Jakkhāyayaṇa) of Surapriya was situated to the north-east outside the city of Saketa.22 A Yakṣa indulging in the habit of violating vows of Jaina monks is referred to in the Brhatkalpa-Bhasya.23 People were believed to have been possessed by Yakṣas (Jakkhāvesa, Yakṣagraha), Bhutas and other spirits; Ajjunaya, a garland bearer of Rajagṛha, obsessed by Moggarapani Yakṣa, killed six gangsters and his own wife with the iron-mace which the Yakşa (statue of wood) held in his hand.24 The Jambudvipaprajñapti25 refers to Indaggaha, Khandaggaha, Kumaraggaha, Jakkhaggaha and Bhuyaggaha. Yaksas used to enjoy sexual intercourse with girls.20
While the Vaṇamantari (Vyantari Yakṣas belong to this Vyantara or Vaṇamantara class) Sălejjā is said to have paid reverence to Mahavira, in the Salavana-Udyana outside the village of Bahuśālaka, another Vaṇamantari, Kaḍapāyaṇā (Katha-pūtana) by name, caused him trouble but was ultimately subdued.27
The Adambara Jakkha, also known as Hiraḍikka Jakkha, was the Yakṣa of the Matangas,28 who were regarded as low-class people, similarly the people known as Dombas worshipped as their tutelary deity the Ghantika Jakkha, who whispered in the ear when questioned about future.29 This Yakṣa seems to have been incorporated in Śaivism as a Vira, Ghaṇṭākarna by name.30 Thus the deities of people who formed the earliest inhabitants of India, the Muṇḍas, Nagas, etc. (perhaps Negritos, Austrics and others), were being incorporated gradually by Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. They were mainly popular deities, worshipped by various classes of the Indian masses, sometimes benefic and at times malefic in nature. As we shall see later on, Kali and other Vidyās are regarded as Vidyas of the Matanga class, at times called Canḍālas in Indian literature, and it is in the beliefs and practices of these ancient inhabitants of India that the origin of the worship of a large number of Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina deities ultimately lies.
The railing pillar figures of Yaksas and Yakṣints at Bharhut show that they had to be included in places of worship though an inferior status of decorative pillar sculptures was assigned to them. The same is the case with such figures from the Kankali Tila, Mathura.31 For want of names inscribed below them, it is not possible to recognise them, but it is noteworthy that they have vahanas (dwarf, elephant, etc.) below their feet. The earliest known Yakşa and Yakşi statues are the Didarganj Yakşi, the Yakṣa from Baroda, near Mathura, the Parkham Yakṣa, the two Patna statues in the Indian Museum, the
Page #221
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
208
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana Besnagar Yakşi, the statue of Yaksi Lāwayā still worshipped as Manasă devi, at Mathura, the Yakşa from Noh, etc.32
Some of these early free standing Yaksa figures appear to have held the flywhisk, as suggested by R.P. Chanda.33 (It is significant that the Jaina texts assign to Yakşas the attendant position of flywhiskbearers in the parikara of a Tirthankara image. It seems however that in the Yakşa-cult, fly-whisk was regarded as a mark of royalty or dignity since otherwise the ancient Yaksa statues worshipped as deities would not hold them.
of the Yaksas mentioned in the Jaina texts, Manibhadra and Purnabhadra invite special attention. They are said to be the two Indras of the Yaksa class of Vyantara gods, in Jaina Cosmography. Offerings (niveyanapinda) were made to them.34 The two Yaksas are said to have paid their veneration to Mahavira at Campā.35 A Caitya of Manibhadra stood to the north-east outside the city of Mithila, the ancient capital of Tirhut.36 The description of the Purnabhadra Caitya to the north-east of the city of Campã given in the Aupapătika sūtra37 is the stock description for all such Caityas mentioned in the Jaina canons. A temple of Baluputrikä near Viśālā (Ujjain ? Vaiśäli ?) is referred to in the Bhagavati sūtra.38 The same text further refers to Bahuputrikā as one of the four chief. cts of each of the two Yaksendras. Mānibhadra and Purnabhadra.39 Māņibhadra (Manivara, Mānicara, Manimat) in the Mahabharata (5.192,44f) is a Yakşarāja and Kubera's chief attendant. He is invoked as a patron of merchants, this may be, according to Coomaraswamy, the explanation of his statue from Pawaya, set up by a guild (goştha) who were Mäņibhadra-bhaktas. And the fact that one of his chief queens is called Bahuputrikā (one having many children) in the Jaina canon, at once suggests that the Jambhala and Häriti or the Jaina Sarvanha (Sarvanubhūti, or Mātanga or Gomedha)40 and Ambika are based upon the ancient worship of Manibhadra-Purnabhadra and Bahuputrikā. Elsewhere in this work 41 the relation of Bahuputrikā with Revati-Şaşthi and Häriti is shown. The Māņibhadra-bhaktas continued at least upto the age of the Niddesa commentary which mentions them, but the growing popularity of Buddhist Jambhala and Hariti, of the Jaina Yaksa pair of Sarvānha or Sarvänubhüti and Ambika and of Siva. Ganesa, Gauri and Lakşmi in Hinduism, seems to have wiped off their separate cult.414
Offerings to Yakşas, with a long list of other beings, are referred to in the GȚhya-sútras as being made at the end of Vedic studies; the Sankhayana śrauta sürra (I.II.6) mentions Mänibhadra. 42
It would be useful to collect the names of the different Caityas of different places, mentioned in the Jaina Āgamas, especially where Mahāvira is reported to have stayed. The following are mentioned in the Bhagavati sutra:
Caitya
Town or Village
1. Dūtipalāśa 2. Kosthaka 3. Candravatarana 4. Purnabhadra 5. Jambuka 6. Bahuputrikā 7. Gunasila 8. Bahuśālaka 9. Kundiyāyana 10. Sāņakoşthaka 11. Nandana 12. Puspavati 13. Mandikuksi 14. Candrāvatarana 15. Adgamandira 16. Prapatakala (?)
Vāņijya-grāma Śrāvasti (Sahet-Mahet) Kosambi (Kaušāmbi--Kosam) Campā (near Bhagalpur) Ulluka-tira-nagara Viśālā (Ujjain) (or Vaiśāli) Rajagrha Brahmanakundagrāma (near Vaisali) Vaiśäli (Basah) Mendhika Mokā Tungikā Räjagsha Uddandapura Campa Alabhikā
Page #222
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Sasana-Devatas
209
17. Sankhavana 18. Chhatrapalāśa
Alabhikā Kệtangalā
All the Caityas above may or may not be Yakşa-temples, they may be temples of deities of the allied groups, Nágas, Bhūtas and others, nor do the names of shrines always represent the names of deities enshrined in them. This is evidenced from the following analysis of shrines referred to in the Vivagasūyam (Vipaka sūtra):
City
Udyana
Ayatana of
1. Campa 2. Miyagāma (Mrgagrāma)
Gandanapāyana
3. Vāņiyagāma
Dūtipalāśa
5
4. Purimatāla
Amohadamsi
Purnabhadra Suhamma-jakkha (Cirätitam, ancient) Suhamma jakkha (Sudharma-yakşa) Amohadamsi-jakkha (Amoghadarsi yakşa) Amoha jakkha (Purāne-old) Svetabhadra Sudarsana Umbaradatta Soriya-jakkha Dharana-jakkha
5. Sāhanjani 6. Kosambi 7. Mahură (Mathura) 8. Patalikhanda 9. Soriyapura (Saurikapura) 10. Rohidaa (Rohitaka-Rohtak)
Devaramana Gandotarāyanam Bhandira Vanakhanda Soriyavačimsagam Pudhavivadamsa (Pșthivyāvatamsa) Vijayavaddhamana
Māņibhadra
11. Vaddamānapura
(Vardhamanapura) 12. Hatthisisa (Hastiśirşa)
Kayavanamalapiya (Kệtavanamālapriya) Dhanna (Dhanya)
13. Usabhapura (Vrşabhapura)
14. Vira or Vijayapura 15. Vijayapura 16. Sogandhiya (Saugandhika) 17. Mahāpuram 18. Kanagapuram 19. Sughos 20. Campā 21. Sãeyam (Saketa)
Pupphakaranda (Puspakarandaka) Thūbhakarandaga (Stupa-Karandaka) Manorama Mandanavanam Nilāsogam Rattāsogam Setāsoyam (Svetaśoka) Devaramaņa Punnabhadda Uttarakuru
Asoga (Asoka) Sukala Rattapao (Raktapadah) Virabhaddo (Virabhadrah) Virasena Purnabhadra Pasāmiyo (Párávamrgah)
It will be seen that the Vipäka has often used the term udyāna for Caitya of other texts.43 The descriptions of Caityas show that they are made up of a garden, grove or park (udyana or vanakharda), a shrine and attendants' houses. Ceiya, Ujjāņa and Vanasanda are often used as synonyms as in Vipāka, 11.2, where Duipaläsa Ceiya is called Dutipalāśa Vijana. But more noteworthy is the fact that the name of the Yaksa is often different from that of the Caitya-Udyana.
This list further helps us to find out that most of the thirteen classes of Yaksas of the Bhagavati sūtra are taken from the known famous ancient shrines at various places. It is interesting to note that there existed a shrine of Dharana-Jakkha at Rohitaka, the Mahamayuri list speaks of Kumāra as the Yakşa of this place. Only further research can show whether Dharana and Kumāra are identical or different. However it seems that the lists of Caityas in the Bhagavati, Vipaka, Jnatadharmakatha,
Page #223
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
210
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana Upāsakadasāh and such other Jaina canonical texts represent traditions which are older than the Mahămâyūri, even though parts of the available text editions may be of a later date.
The Mahabharata (3.83.23) speaks of a Yakşiņi shrine at RajagȚha as "world renowned". The Bhagavati refers to the Gunaśila Caitya at Rajagrha, but we do not know to whom it was dedicated. However, it seems that the Mahābhārata probably referred to the ancient Yakşi shrine of the tutelary goddess of Magadha, called Nandā, whom, even in Hiuen-Tasang's time, people prayed for offspring, she is called the wife of Panchika, a yakşa, and is represented in Buddhist legend as a devouress of children by small-pox, an ogress, whom Buddha converted and promised offerings as a patroness of fertility and children. If a conjecture be allowed this Nandā is the same as Revati or Şaşthi of the Käśyapa Samhita.44 Hāriti of the Buddhists,45 Bahuputrikā, the queen of Manibhadra-Purnabhadra according to Jaina texts who in her malefic aspects was known as various Putanās, and who in Jainism became popular in the benefic form of Ambika-devi. The very fact that Ambikä sits under the shade of a mango-tree is reminiscent of the old practice of worshipping the yaksas and yaksiņis on stone platforms under trees. 452
Coomaraswamy, after a careful analysis of Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina evidences, wrote: “The essential element of a Yaksa holystead is a stone-table or altar (veyaddi-manco) placed beaeath the tree sacred to the yakşa. The bhavanam of the yakkha Suciloma at Gaya is particularly described as a stone couch (dias or altar) by or on which the Buddha rested, the words used are tankita mañco, explained in the commentary to mean a stone slab resting on four other stones (Samyutta Nikāya, Yakkha Suttas, Chp. X, Kindred Sayings I, p. 264). At the Pungabhaddaceiya ... there were not only altars (and probably an image) in an elaborate temple, but also a decorated altar beneath an Asoka tree in the grove. It was just such an altar beneath a sacred tree that served as the Bodhisattva's seat on the night of the Great Enlightenment; Sujātā's maid-servant, indeed, mistakes the Bodhisattva for the tree-spirit himself (Nidánakathā). It is very evident that the sacred tree and altar represent a combination taken over by Buddhism from older cults, and in the case of the Bodhi-tree we see the transference actually in progress."46
This obtains confirmation from a passage in the Jaina Vasudevahindi which says: "In the Saliggama in the Magaha (Magadha) Janapada, of the Bharata (Kşetra), there is the Jakkha called Sumano (Sumanah), his platform (silā -altar, vedikā) under the Asoka-tree was called Sumana-silā, there the people worship him (tattha nam jana pûyamti)."47
This then is the reason for regarding the Jaina Ambikā, sitting under a tree and accompanied by children, as being modelled after an earlier most popular Yakşiņi image, associated with children, who must be Bahuputrikā, or Revati-Şaşthi or Nandā. Possibly these are different names or aspects, evolved in different periods, of one and the same ancient goddess.
Coomaraswamy's remarks about the Buddha image apply equally to the Jina image. The canonical works note the Caitya-trees of each of the twenty-four Tirtharkaras and in the description of the Samavasarana, the Asoka tree spreads over the caitya-trees. It is one of the Eight Mahā-Prätihāryas of a Jina. The conception of the Prätihäryas is again borrowed from the ancient Yaksa worship, for, as we have seen, the yaksa image is often described as Sannihiya-pădihere.
Older forms, beliefs and practices continue for ages in art and society with changes effected according to the requirements of the age and the sect adopting them and are revived over and over again in different ways. A similar instance is the type of the Tirthankara image once very popular in the South, occasionally also met with in the North in Gujarat, wherein the Jina sits on a big pitha, under a big tree whose foliage is spread out over the figure of the Jina.48 Some of the icons of this type found in the Puddhukotta State go back to the post-Gupta age and it would appear they had as their model the tree and Yaksa worship of ancient times obtained in the South.49
To revert to Nandā who was converted by Buddha and who was the tutelary goddess of Rajagsha, it must be remembered that Nandā is an ancient goddess. She is one of the forms of Devi, a name of Gauri;50 her name signifies joy, affluence, prosperity. In the Kubera-Häriti group of sculptures, described by Dr. Agrawala from the Mathura Museum, the wives of Kubera have been identified as Lakşmi, Hārīti and Bhadra. They might be called Lakşmi, Nanda and Bhadra, all the three signifying Beauty, Prosperity and Auspiciousness, or Beauty, Abundance, Bliss and Auspiciousness. The first, sixth and eleventh days
Page #224
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
Sasana-Devatás
211
of the lunar fortnight are called Nanda-tithis, possibly because they were the days sacred to this goddess. The second, seventh and twelfth are Bhadra-tithis, sacred to the goddess Bhadra. The Jaina list of the fifty-six Dik-Kumaris is an attempt to include in the Jaina pantheon a number of foreign goddesses, that is, those popular in worship amongst the masses, and originally non-Jaina, are adopted in Jaina mythology. The names include such known Vedic goddesses as Siniväli, Pithvi or Ilā. Nanda is included in this list.51 Nanaia, the ancient Iranian mother-goddess, has perhaps the closest parallel in the name Nanda. In the discussion of the Iconography of Ambika-Yaksi, the relations between Ambikā, Umā and Nanaia have been discussed. In the light of all these facts, the tutelary goddess of Rajagtha, whose shrine according to the Mahabharata was very famous, can be clearly identified.52
A temple of Hundika-yakşa was erected at Mathura, in front of Deva-nimmiya (stupa),53 according to the Avaśyaka Cúrni. A thief Hundi or Hundika was reborn as this yaksa by virtue of his muttering Navakara-Mantra at the time of death on gallows.54 The Pustaka-Lekhaka's (scribe's) Namaskara, obtained at the end of the Bhagavati, pays homage to Srutadevata, Kumbhadhara-Yakşa,55 Brahmasanti, Vairotyā vidya and Antahundi. Probably the shrine of Hundi-Yaksa was very famous and continued in worship for several couturies and the Yaksa paid homage here as Antahundi. We hear of Bhandiravana and Sudarśana Yaksa at Mathura in the Vipaka-sútra. A yatra to Bhandiravana used to be celebrated even in the age of Mahavira.56 The Bhandira-vața (tree) is said to be the object of this pilgrimage. Obviously, this refers to the old practice of worshipping the yaksa under the tree. According to the Mahabharata (11.53.8), the famous.nygrodha-tree of Vịndavana was called Bhandira.
Worship of the Nägas was equally popular and closely allied to that of the Yaksas. They were also approached for obtaining children by Bhadra, wife of Dhanya.57 A big Näga-ghara (Näga-grha) to the north-east outside Säketa in the Kosala Janapada is referred to in the Näyādhammakahão.58 Queen Padmavati celebrates a Nāga-Yajña in this shrine, which again is said to be sannihiya-pādihere. Offering of a Sri-dama-ganda to this shrine is regarded as a very auspicious and meritorious act. A Naga-ghara by the side of the highway at or near Tamralipti is mentioned in the Vasudevahindi and is also called devaula (devakula). It is said that a lamp was hanging in the shrine which was filled with the fragrance of continuously burning incense. It seems that offering of dhüpa (incense) was regarded as specially sacred in Naga-worship.59 It seems, from this and the reference to another Nāga-ghara at Kundinapura (on the bank of the river Varada in the Vidarbha country), in the Vasudevahindi, 60 that maidens specially worshipped the Nāga for obtaining best or desired husbands. Priyangusundari is said to enter the Nägagrha in an udyāna at Mathura where she meets her lover Vasudeva and enters into marriage-relations by Gandharvavivāha.61
Bhagiratha is said to have brought the Ganges from Aståpada (Kailasa-Himalayas) to the sea by digging her forward course with the help of a Danda-ratna, and with the permission of the Nagas king. Bhagiratha was the first person to start Naga-bali or offerings to Nāgas. 62
Mathura is mentioned as a big centre of Naga worship where a number of Näga images have been recovered. Ahicchatrā, the site of present Ramnagar, is also associated with Nāgas, since the snake-king Dharana is said to have protected Pár vanátha from heat etc. (when he was in meditation) by holding his hoods as a canopy over the sage. The Jaina texts refer to images and shrines of Nagas, Yaksas, Rudras and others in various contexts and such shrines seem to have existed in almost every village, town or city. Rāja grha has been well known as the site of the worship of Mani-Naga, as is proved by the excavations of Maniyara Math.63
The legend of Dharana-Näga, offering protection to Parávanåtha during the latter's austerities, has its parallel in the Buddhist legend of Mucilinda, the snake-king, sheltering Buddha against wind and rain. 64 It is especially significant to find that Jaina traditions speak of an ancient stupa of Supärśva existing at Mathura, and Supäráva again is associated with snake-hoods canopied over his head. As suggested by us in Studies in Jaina Art, the stupa belonged to Parsvanātha who is so intimately associated with the snake-king Dharana in Jaina Mythology. Pārsva's close association with the Nāgas is further noteworthy because it suggests that this leader of a heterodox cult had a following of the Nāga-tribe or worshippers of Naga cult against the Aryans who followed Vedic ritualism.
Page #225
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________
212
Jaina-Rupa-Mandana Pārsvanātha's attendant Yakșa and Yakşiņi in Jaina iconography are the snake king and queen Dharanendra and Padmavati. Pārsva's birth-place is Vārānasi, and as the legend of the Ganges narrated in the Vasudevahindi shows, the Nāgas lived in the regions through which the Ganges flowed towards the sea, and in the first flow their buildings were often swept away. By the time of Mahavira, the Nāgas were pushed further eastwards and southwards of Madhyadeśa and Magadha.
Nāgas are intimately associated with waters. And as the late Dr. Coomaraswamy has shown, the Yaksas are also similarly intimately associated with water cosmology. 65 As shown by him, the Atharvaveda (X.7.38) referring to Varuna, Brahman or Prajāpati as the supreme and ultimate source of life says: A great Yaksa in the midst of the universe, reclining in concentrated energy (tapas) on the back of the waters, therein are set whatever gods thereby, like the branches of a tree about a trunk. “Significance is to be attached to this concept of the tree of life springing from a navel. For Yakşas are primarily vegetation spirits, guardians of the vegetable source of life, and thus closely connected with the waters."66
He writes, 67 "we have recognised that all these Yaksas, great or small, are vegetal spirits, directly controlling and bestowing upon their bhaktas fertility and wealth, or to use a single word, abundance ... Kubera's inexhaustible treasuries are a lotus and a conch, innumerable Yakṣis have a makara or other fish-tailed animal as their vehicle, Kamadeva has the makara as his cognizance, the greater tutelary Yakşas control the rains essential to prosperity and in the earliest mythology "that germ which the waters held fast, and in which all gods exist", rose like a tree