Historical Development Of Jaina Philosophy And Religion

Author(s): Sagarmal Jain
Publisher: Z_Jaina_Literature_and_Philosophy_a_Critical_Approach_001936_HR.pdf

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Historical Development of Jaina Philosophy and Religion
Jaina ācāryas accepted several Hindu godesses like Kali, Mahakali, Padmavati, Ambikā, Siddhāyikā, etc. as demi-goddesses (Yaksis). They accepted various rituals and incantations for worshipping these goddesses. Thus, in between c. 5th-8th A. D. several Hindu gods and godesses became part and parcel of Jaina deities. The special feature of this age was that performing arts like Dance, Music etc., which were strongly opposed in earlier agamas, such as Uttaradhyayana strongly expounds all sorts of dances as vexation and songs as lamentation, are cropped in Jaina system of worship, gradually. This description of fine arts in Rayapaseniya, as a part of Jaina way of worship was incorporated in about the c. 5th A. D. at the time of Valabhi-vacana. This depicts a complete picture of gradual development of fine arts like Sculpture, Dance, Music, Drama etc. in Jaina tradition. When the Tantrism and Vamamārga came invogue in c. 5th-6th A. D., Jainism could not save itself from the impact of these traditions. Being an ascetic and spiritual religion, Jainism was not much affected with Vamamarga but Tantrism and ceremonial performances of Hinduism definitely left their impact on it.
Archaeological evidences emphatically show that in Jaina tradition the making of Jaina images strated in c. 4th-3rd B. C. Though, on the basis of Harappan Teracotas and seals some Jaina scholars opine that tradition of making Jaina images is as old as the Harappan culture, yet it is very difficult to prove these teracotas and seals as of Jaina origin. Later, in the Khārvela epigraphs (c. 2nd B. C.) it is clearly mentioned that Nandas (c. 4th B. C.) had taken away the Jaina images from Orissa to Patna which is enough to prove that the making of Jaina
Though the development of various secular arts and sciences was a movement, independent of any religious tradition, yet it may be noted that religious traditions not only contributed in their development, but also decided the direction of development. Jainas believe that various arts and sciences were
Development of Various Arts & Architecture in developed by Lord Ṛṣabha, the first Tirthankara. In Jainism in Early Period
Jaina canonical literature 64 arts of women and 72 arts of men are mentioned. We have a general reference to these arts / sciences in Sūtrakṛtānga, Jñatadharmakatha, Antakṛddaśā, Samavāyānga, Anuttaraupapatikadaśā, Rayapaseniyasutta, Jambudvipaprajñapti, etc. Though in these canonical works we do not find any details about these yet on the basis of these works and their commentaries Dr. N. L. Jain, in his book (Scientific Contents in Prākṛta Canons, P. V., Varanasi, 1996) has presented the following list of various arts and sciences prevalent in c. 2nd-3nd A. D.
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images was prevalent in c. 4th B. C. The earliest Jaina image, found from Lohanipur, Patna, belongs to Mauryan period (c. 3rd B. C.). Several Jaina images alongwith epigraphs have been found from Mathura and remains of Jaina temples from Kankalitila. Among those, the earliest images date from c. 2nd B. C.-2nd A. D. Many of these images are found with dated epigraphs of Kuṣaṇa period, i. e., c. 1st-2nd A. D. So far as the literary evidences are concerned, we for the first time, find in Rayapaseniyasutta, the details of temple architecture and the rituals related to idol-worship. The Rayapaseniyasutta is undoubtedly an early work, and its portion dealing with temple architecture and various performing arts, by no means, can be of later period than c. 3rd A. D., because its various incarnations (avatāras ) tally with the archaeological remains of c. 1st-2nd of Kankalitila, Mathura.