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Wall Painting
407
Adipurāna refers that Rşabhanātha passed through a succession of ten previous births- 1. Jayavarman, 2. Mahābala, 3. Lalitänga, 4. Vajrajanghā 5. a king whose name is not given, 6. Sridhara, 7. Suvidhi, 8. Acyutendra, 9. Vajranäbhi, 10. an Ahamindra - deva or god. At his eleventh birth he was born as Rşabhanātha and entered in the womb of Marudevī, the wife of Mahārāja Nābhi, the fourteenth Manu in the form of a bull.
The first painting at Tiruparuttikunram illustrates the first birth of Rşabhanātha, i.e. that of Jayavarmana. Jayavarmana and Srīvarmana, the two brothers, who were sons of king Śrisena of Indrapurī. Jayavarmana was the eldest one but his younger brother Srivarmana was favoured as the heir apparent by his father. With this Jayavarmana was filled with the spirit of renunciation and entered into the order of saints at the feet of guru called Svayamprabha. Jayavarmana became a saint and stood near an ant hill in contemplation when he was bit by a snake and died of snake poison.
The painting shows king Śriseņa sitting with his wife Sundari in the court making Srivarmana the heir apparent. Jayavarmana is shown sitting naked on the left before Svayamprabha the guru, with his hands placed together in anjali. He has placed his crown and ornaments by his side. Svayamprabha seated on an elevated altar under a tree has his right hand in upadeśa or teaching position and is addressing to supplicating Jayavarmana, who is seated also under a tree on an altar, lower in level than that of his guru Svayamprabha. Jayavarmana, standing under a tree, is shown naked near an ant hill, from which a snake rises with outspread hood.
Second painting illustrates the next birth of Rşabhanātha. Jayavarmana died of snake bite and was born as the son of a Vidyadhara king Atibala, the king of Alkāpuri. In course of time he became the Vidyādhara king Mahābala. The king Mahabala had four ministers of four different creeds. Among them Svayambuddha was the follower of Jainism who tried to convert the
king's interest towards Jainism.
Svayambuddha had the opportunities to meet two sages who told about the previous existence of the king and also that after ten births the king was to be born as the first Tirthankara, Rşabhadeva. They also narrated the two dreams that the king had during the night and their significance. In the first dream the king was thrown in deep mud by his three other ministers and saved by Svayambuddha. In the second dream the king saw a burning flame (agnijvála). The next day Svayambuddha narrated the dreams to the king. The agnijvālā means that the king would be alive only for a short period while the first dream proved the superiority of Jaina faith. On hearing this the king entrusted the responsibilities of the kingdom to his son and adopted Jainism, worshipped the Jina and prepared himself for sallekhana (a process death by slow starvation whereby liberation of the body is sought for the sake of meritdharma. In his next birth the king was a god Lalitanga).
In the painting Mahabala is shown sitting with his wife by his side and listening to his minister Svayambuddha seated before him on the right. A lady attendant on the extreme left is gently fanning the party from behind. Svayambuddha's right hand is raised in an attitude of addressing or teaching,
There is a temple with the Jina seated in the centre of the caityālaya in Siddhaküta and the two men in a worshipping attitude standing on the right of it are king and his minister.
The next scene illustrates two lives, the life of Lalitănga and Vajrajanghā. In one scene Lalitanga and his wife are shown seated and in utter ease. Lalitanga has 4000 companionate wives, but his favourite was Svayamprabhā who is present in the painting. The next scene pertains to the life of Vajrajanghä. Lalitanga was born as Vajrajanghā, who became the king of the city of Utpalakhetapura, in the country of Puşkalāvati. Svayamprabhā became his wife under the name Srimati, In the scene both king and queen are sitting on a common seat.
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