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Jainism in a Global Perspective
antiquity of the Jaina tradition and suggest the prevalence of the practice of worship of Rsabhadeva, the 1st Tīrthankara along with the wroship of other deities. Many relics from the Indus Valley excavations suggest the prevalence of Jaina religion in that ancient period (3500 to 3000 B.C.). i. It is observed that in the Indus Valley Civilization, there is a
great preponderence of pottery figures of female deities over those of male deities and that the figures of male deities are shown naked. In this regard, Dr. Earnest Mackay, the renowned archaeologist intimately connected with the Indus Valley excavations, mentions that.
For some reason which it is difficult to understand, figures of male deities in pottery are distinctly rare, They are entirely nude, in contrast with the female figures, which invariably wear a little clothing; necklaces and bangles, may be worn, but is by no means always the case.
This fact clearly reveals the traces of Jaina religion among the Indus Valley people as the worship of nude male deities is a very well established practice in Jaina religion.
ii. For example, we find that the figures of six male deities in nude
form, are engraved on one seal and that each figure is shown naked and standing erect in a contemplative mood with both hands keeping close to the body. Since this Kāyotsarga(i.e. in standing posture) posture of practising penance is peculiar only to the Jainas and as the figures are of naked ascetics, it can be
maintained that these figures represent the Jaina Tirtharkaras. iii. Again, the figures of male deities in contemplative mood and
in sitting posture engraved on the seals resemble the figures of Jaina Tirtharkaras because in these, the male deities are depicted as having one face only, while the figures of male deities, supposed to be the prototypes of Lord Siva, are gener
ally depicted as having three faces, three eyes and three horns. iv. Moreover, on some seals, we find the figure of a bull engraved
below the figure of a nude male deity practising penance in the Kāyotsarga mudrā i.e. in a standing posture. These figures
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| SR No. | 014010 |
| Book Title | Jainism in a Global Perspective - Collection of Jain papers of 1993 Parliament of World Religions, Chicago |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Sagarmal Jain, Shreeprakash Pandey |
| Publisher | Parshwanath Vidyapith |
| Publication Year | 1998 |
| Total Pages | 402 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Seminar & Articles |
| File Size | 23 MB |