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JAINA SYMBOLISM
91 are, as it were, tossed indiscriminately in a large river and do not know where you are going. If you have possession of the jewels, your basis is sure. When you have these three things, viz. right belief, right knowledge, right conduct, you will certainly go upwards higher and higher until you reach the state of liberation. That we represent by the crescent. Why? Because the crescent is the first form of the rising moon, it is the representation of a form which is going to grow larger and larger. When the soul has reached this stage it is omniscient, When it has reached its full consciousness its horizon becomes larger and larger. The interpretation, according to the Jaina view, of the cross has nothing to do with the combination of the male and female principles. Worship of the male and female principles-ideas based on sex, lowest even on the emotional plane, can never raise us higher than the male and the female.
We go to the temple every day in the morning, we make such symbols (Swastika) when we enter the temple. The object of doing this is that this sign must remind us of the great principle that in order to avoid the round of mundane existence one must have the three jewels and then reach the ultimate good. These symbols intensify our thoughts and make them more permanent.
The horizontal and perpendicular lines would represent spirit and matter.
The circle in the crescent represent the highest state (the state of liberation) the soul reaches; when it has full consciouness and lives apart from matter it is liberated.
I visited the Smithsonian Institution the other day and saw many of these crosses. It is called Swastika. That literally means a sign of good luck. Several of those I saw, Dr. Wilson told me, had been found in the Southern States. These signs are found made on pottery, and on articles of daily use. The idea is that people believe this sign will give them good luck. The implements they use to obtain their livelihood are indeed sources of power to them, and therefore the natural desire would be to put marks on them which, in their belief, would
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| SR No. | 001190 |
| Book Title | Religion and Philosophy of the Jainas |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Virchand R Gandhi |
| Publisher | Jain International Ahmedabad |
| Publication Year | 1993 |
| Total Pages | 266 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English, Philosophy, Ethics, & Principle |
| File Size | 13 MB |