________________
Lessons of Ahimsa and Ane kanta for Contemporary Life
states that a female courtesan and a lay disciple along with members of her family gave a shrine, an assembly hall, a cistern and a stone slab to the Jain sanctuary,'S thus expanding a monastic complex that would have included a stūpa. The stupas were dedicated to a Jina, such as Mahāvīra; the one in the slab in Figure 5 appears to be a bas relief representation of a stupa that was dedicated to Mahāvīra, for the inscription opens with an invocation to him, and his cognizance of the lion is found atop one of the flanking pillars. It was a large stapa, built upon a high platform, the entrance stairway of which is flanked by a yaksa on the left and a yakşī on the right.
Yaksas and yaksis were remarkably prominent and especially important to the local population of Mathura during this early period, and the Ardhaphālaka Jains were tolerant of and receptive to this proclivity. Their early art includes many yakşas and yakşīs in their pantheon of Jain deities. A famous Jain relief invoking Mahāvīra, which was dedicated by a female lay disciple in the Year 72 during the reign of the Mahaksatrapa
15 Sec note 1, above.
1 More iconic statues of yaksas and yaksis have been found from the environs of Mathura dating from the second century B.C.E. to the first century C.E. than from any other single region on the Indian subcontinent. This statistic holds despite thc fact that most sites at Mathura have yet to be systematically excavated. The prominence of yaksa cults at Mathura are also attested in carly Buddhist literature. The Pali Anguilara Nikáva, relates that in Mathura, "the ground is uneven; there is much dust; there are fierce dogs: bestial yakkhas; and alms are got with difficulty." (F. L. Woodward and E. M. Hare, trans., The Book of the Gradual Sayings (Anguttara Nikāya). S vols., Pali Text Society Translation Series, nos. 22. 24-27, London, Pali Text Society, 1932-36. vol. 3. p. 188. Cf. John Strong, The Legend of King Asoka, p. 29.) One such fierce yaksa of Mathura, named Gardabha. is said to have been converted by the Buddha in Ašvaghosa's Buddhacarita. (Buddhacarita, xxi.25. The Buddhacarita or Acts of the Buddha, E. H. Johnston, trans., Delhi, 1984 (first published in Lahore, 1936), Part III. p. 59.) The prominence of yakşas in Mathura is also reflected in the Buddhist Mülasarvāstivadin Vinaya, wherein Brahmins entreat the Buddha to qucll yaksas and yaksis who ravage the city. The Buddha subsequently converts these beings to Buddhism, and the citizens of Mathura are enjoined to build Buddhist viharas in their honor. (John Strong. The Legend and Cult of Upagupta. p. 6; Gilgit Manuscripts, 9 vols., edited by Nalinaksha Dutt. Calcutta, 1939-59. vol. 3. pt. 1, 16-17.).
Jain Education International
For Private & Pers:28 Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org