Atmanandji Jainacharya Janmashatabdi Smarakgranth

Author(s): Mohanlal Dalichand Desai
Publisher: Atmanand Janma Shatabdi Smarak Trust

Page 196

Dr. B. Bhattacharya
is admitted on all hands that the study of Iconography is one of the most fascinating in the whole realm of Indian Archaeology. An icon is nothing but the expression of an idea of godhead and Iconography seeks to discover when and under what circumstances that idea was conceived and found its expression. Thus iconography does not only concern itself with the identification of images and paintings of gods and goddesses, but also with the social, religious, spiritual and artistic background relating to the production of such rapresentations. The science of iconography, therefore, covers a wide field which is both instructive and interesting.
Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism being the three principal and ancient religious systems of India the study of iconography naturally falls into three grand divisions. Much work has already been done in the field of Hindu and Buddhist iconography, but so far not a single authoritative book on Jaina iconography has been written. With the advance of Jaina studies and the discovery of Jaina monuments, temples and images, scholars are required to be drawn towards this branch of iconography, so that an exhaustive and authoritative volume may be available to earnest inquirers. This will not only stimulate the Jains themselves, but also give an impetus to those who are anxious to compare the results so far achieved in the Hindu and Buddhist branches of iconography, with those of the Jaina religious system. After all, all the three religions being indigenous to India have many things in common, and it is to our utmost advantage to know how far the three systems agree with one another in order to appreciate how far they differed. This study of iconography, when carried to its logical extreme, thus helps to re-establish cultural unity that existed in olden days, and remove many misunderstandings that may have arisen in recent years.
Plenty of material is available in Jaina literature of today for the reconstruction of the Jaina pantheon, and in fact the Jaina pantheon is not lacking either in variety or in richness. Once when the present writer was making an investigation on the same line he was confronted with at least 500 Dhyanas of gods and goddesses. This surprisingly large number of Dhyáncts was obtained only on a superficial study of some of the printed books available at the library of the Oriental Institute. If a search is made in the MSS room among the numerous Jaina manuscripts
Shatabdi Granth ]
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