History Of Jainism With Special Reference To Mathura

SR No.: 022807
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: U K Sharma
Publisher: D K Printworld P L
Publication Year: 2001
Total Pages: 304
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 9 MB

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Jaina Art and Architecture at Mathura
who is seated on a cushion in meditation.334 The jina's seat is supported by two lions couchant between two broken pillars.335 A piece of cloth with garlands hangs down from the seat and its border touches the wheel below.336 Below the wheel is depicted a bull — the cognizance of tīrthamkara Rsabha or Vrşabha.337 The lower portion of the sculpture is divided by four pilasters into three compartments; in the proper right and central compartment there are two, and in the compartment to the left, there are three standing figures of the jinas; immediately beneath the outer pilasters are two kneeling figures of human worshippers; on both sides of the projecting portion of the stone is a vertical row of five figures; of these four are jinas who are seated in meditation; the missing top portion of the slab probably contained eight more tirthamkara figurines, making the total twenty-four, which is the traditional number of the Jaina tīrthaṁkaras; the lowermost figures in both rows are a male and a female, who are probably a yaksa and a yaksī; the latter holds a flower in each hand; a Nagari inscription in one line runs along the raised rim over the lions; it reads:
om paṁdita śrī – ganavara-devāya.338 The second image depicts tīrthamkara Neminātha seated cross-legged in dhyāna-mudrā on a throne supported by two dwarf pillars and a pair of lions seated with one forepaw raised; from the throne an ornamental cloth hangs down between the two lions; under it is a wheel, and on the plain rim of the pedestal below it is a conch, which is the cognizance of Neminātha; to the right and left of the main figure there is an attendant standing with a flywhisk in one hand, and on both sides of the halo, a couple of flying celestials - probably a gandharva and an apsarā, of which the male figure carries a garland as an offering, and the female seems to shower flowers.339
334. MM no. B. 21; JUPHS, III, p. 24. 335. Ibid., no. B. 21; ibid., p. 25. 336. Ibid., ibid. 337. Ibid.: ibid. 338. Ibid., ibid. 339. MM no. B.77; JUPHS, III, p. 28.
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