Ambika on Jaina Art and Literature

Author(s): Maruti Nandan Prasad Tiwari
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith

Page 20

Gujarat). The presence of erotic figures at Jaina sites is gross violation of the Jaina tradition which does not conceive of any Jaina god along with his Sakti in alingana-pose. This was due to the Tantric influence in Jainism during the early medieval times (c. 8th to 10th centuries A.D.). The Jaina Harivaṁsa Purana (A.D. 783) makes the point more clear by referring to the construction of a Jina temple by a śreşthi-Kāmadatta, who for the general attraction of the people also caused the installation of the figures of Kāmadeva and Rati in the temple.20 It also alludes to the worship of Rati and Kamadeva along with the Jina images.21 It may also be noted here that the Tantric influence was accepted in Jainism with certain restraints. Overt eroticism was never so pronounced in Jaina literature and sculptural manifestations as was the case with Brahminical and Buddhist religions, which is evident from the examples carved on the temples of Khajurāho, Modhera, Koņārk, Bhubaneśvara, and many other places. The erotic figures from Jaina temples as compared to Brāhminical ones are neither so large in number nor so obscene in manifestations. Jaina Divinities
The Jaina pantheon was evolved by the end of the fifth century A.D. At this stage it mainly consisted of the twenty-four Jinas, Yakşas and Yaksis, Vidyādevis, Sarasvati, Lakşmi, Balarama, Krsna, Rāma, Naigamésin, Bahubalin and other Salākāpurusas.22 The Salākāpurusas or Mahāpurusas, according to the Jaina tradition, are great souls. The lives of these Salākāpurusas, numbering 63, became favourite themes of Jaina Purāņas. Their list includes the 24 Jinas, 12 Cakravartins (Bharata, Sagara etc.), 9 Baladevas (Balabhadras) (Rāma, Balarama etc.), 9 Vasudevas (Nārāyanas) (Lakşmaņa, Krsna etc.) and 9 Prati-vasudevas (Prati-nārāyanas) (Bali, Prahlada, Rāvana etc.).
It may be noted here that only the names and some of the general features of the deities were finalized by this time, while their detailed iconographic features were finalised between the eighth and 13th centuries A.D. The development of Jaina pantheon was more or less identical in both the sects23 and the differences are noticed mainly in regard to their names and, at times, their iconographic features. Jinas or Tirthankaras
The Jinas or Tirthankaras occupy the most exalted position in Jaina worship. As a consequence, the Jina images outnumber the
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