Aspects of Brahmanical Influence On Jaina Mythology

Author(s): Shaktidhar Jha
Publisher: Bharat Bharti Bhandar

Page 43

"
25
The Epics and the Jaina Puranas
with the same traditional1 eight forms of earth (Ksıtımūrtı), water (Salilātman), wind (Tarasvin=Vayu), fire (Pāvahamūrti), space (Gaganātman), sacrificer (Suyajvan), moon (Šītāmśumārtı) and sun (Arka). Furthermore, the epithets Sadyojāta, Vāmadeva, Aghora, and Īsāna to be traced back to the vedic period as the popular attributives of Rudra Siva,52 have been applied to the first Tirthankara53 as his special adjuncts. And Ganabhadra has added the fifth epithet Tatpuruşa to the above four and arrogated all the five names to the Tirthankara Sumatınātha 54
The Paumacariu55 of Svayambhu (c 700-900 A D.)50 is the third known work on the life-story of Rāma It is written in Apabhramsa and is divided into five books Svayambhu has obviously followed l'älmiki more closely than his Jaina predecessors Like Välmiki he has divided his work into five books called Kandas, which bear, with the exception of the first hända, the same names as the Valmikı-Rāmāyana With regard to the nomenclature of the first hända, the author has evidently followed the novel tradition represented by the earlier Jaina Purana-authors who have tried to absolve the Raksasas of the VR from their abominable Rāksasa-hood by depicting them as
51 सूर्यो जल मही वह्निर्वायुराकाशमेव च ।
दीक्षितो ब्राह्मण सोम इत्येतास्तनव क्रमात् ॥
-Marka 52 8b-9a, also Ibid, 52 3-8a, Vayup 27 4 19 The MP has evidently substituted Suyayvan ( मुयज्वने नमस्तुभ्य सर्वक्रतुЯ, 14 46a) for the Brahmanical form Dikşıla Brahmana But that, too, has its foundation in the Brahmanical sources which hold that Dilşıta Brahmana and Yajamāna (and for that matter Tajvan) signify the same sense, vide Lingap 2 12 13b-44a
52 In the Pasupata school of Saivism the names were ascribed to the five faces (Pañca-Vaktra) of Siva symbolising the five elements viz, Akā'sa (sky), Vayu (air), Agni (fire), Jala (water) and Prthivi (earth) -Lingap 2 14 1 32-33 cf Matsyapurāna—A Study, pp 51-52
53 MP 15 37, 17 65-66 and of Ibid, 24 30, 25 112 which both call the Jina I'sāna
54 UP 51 87
55 Critically edited by Dr H C Bhayanı and published from the Bharatiya Vidyabhavan, Bombay
56. Vide Bhayanı, Paumacariu, Introduction, pp 7-9