Epigraphia Indica Vol 02

SR No.: 032556
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jas Burgess
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1894
Total Pages: 596
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 19 MB

Page 359

312
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
pointed out that on another slab Sesha's hoods appear behind the head of a Jina. Here the addition of the canopy prevented their being placed in the proper position.
The first circular band is rather narrow and bears representations of four highly ornamental Tribular, which, no doubt, with the ancient Jainas, just as with the Bauddhas, were considered as emblems of "the three Jewels ” which with the Jainas are right faith, right cognition, and right conduct.
They differ somewhat from those found on the Buddhist buildings (see, e.g., Cunningham's Bharhut Stúpa, plates vi and vii), as the lotuu, which the Bauddhas usually place below them, is missing and the central point is longer and feathery at the top, being formed by the ends of two semicircles, held together by a band. The latter peculiarity re-appears in a Trisúla on a pillar in the Indrasabhå at Elura, (Burgess, Arch. Reports West. Ind., vol. V, plate xxxviii, 3). The Tristila was, no doubt, in ancient India a symbol, used by all sects for various purposes and with various interpretations. It was also commonly used for personal ornaments and appears in earrings (Cunningham's Bharhut, plate xlix), in necklaces (op. cit., plate I), and in women's girdles (Cunningham's Arch. Suro. Rep., vol. III, plate xi, A). In such ornaments it has frequently the very same shape as on our slab.
The second much broader band of the slab is occupied by four curvilinear ornaments, ending each on the left side in two horns and enclosing in the centre a sacred symbol. Just below the spot where the two horns separate are four bands or garlands, to which rosettes or small lotuses are tied, and from the interstices between the horns issue the stalks of half-opened larger lotuses, which rest with their open faces on the second circle. A comparison of the four large ornaments with the Trisulas in the first circular band leaves no doubt that they represent halves of these sacred symbols. The smaller emblems enclosed by the larger ones are,-(1) at the top, a Svastika, which is commonly used as a lucky or sacred mark by all Indian sects, (2) below, two fish, which are likewise considered very generally as marks of good omen, and are found as such over the doors of the great Jaina caves at Junagadh, called Bå wå Pyara's Math (Burgess, Arch. Suro, Rep. West. Ind., vol. II, plate xviii,3), and on Brabmanical temples, e.g., on those of the ruined city of Ghumli. (Burgess, op. cit., plate xliii), (3) on the left, another variety of the Trisula, common on Buddhist monuments, and (4) on the right, a mark which looks like a monogram, formed of the syllables na and do, and is not uncommon on Buddhist sculptures, and is also used for ornaments (Fergusson, op. cit., plate iii, fig. 4).
The third circular band, which is again very narrow, shows,-(1) below a seated Jina; (2) above a Stúpa, resting with its base on the fourth or outermost circle, and hence looking as if it were turned topsy-turvy; (3) on the right and on the left two sacred trees, rising out of a square enclosure. The interstices between these four emblems are filled up by pairs of half recumbent male and female figures, probably worshipping deities (Vidyadharas). Each compartment contains two pairs, one facing one way, and the other turning in the opposite direction.
. An exception is found in Cunningham's Bhilsa Topes, plate XXIII, Fig.
• Compare also Dr. Bhagvanlal, Actos du visame Congrès int. des Or. tomo III, part 2, p. 137. The Vishnu Smriti ILI, 88 (Jolly's edition) enumerates the fish among the Mangalas, to which Brahmans must pay reverence. In his notes to the pannage Nandapandita most absurdly adds that the rule refers to 'boiled or fried' (pakua) fish. On Buddhist soulptures the two fiab appear as parts of personal ornamenta; (100 Fergusson Tre and Serpent Worship, plate iii, fig. 4.