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174
History of Jainism with Special Reference to Mathurā
Vālmīki, make it clear that āyāga was a sacred place. The meaning of the word äyäga-patta is, thus, a slab or tablet installed in a sacred place. Ayägapattas were stone slabs, square or rectangular in shape. Archaeological excavations conducted at Mathurā have brought to light twenty-seven stone tablets, mostly square and sometimes rectangular in shape.36 In the Jaina inscriptions discovered at Mathurā, these stone tablets have been named āyāga-pattas37 and silä-pattas38 installed for the worship of the arhats.39
These āyāga-pattas form a class of their own.40 Most of them have been assigned to pre-Kuşāņa period on stylistic and paleographic grounds. But some of them, probably, belong to the Kuşāņa period.“2 The āyāga-pattas were handmaids of religion and their religious character is proved by the inscriptions incised on them. They clearly state that these stone slabs were installed for worship of the arhats.43 Their religious character is also evident from the depiction of the stūpa, 4 figures of the tīrthařkaras,45 caitya-vrksa , 46 dharma-cakra47 and auspicious symbols48 on some of them.
The āyāga-pattas were installed at sacred places or spots. According to
35. MCH, p. 333; EI, I, p. 396 fn 28. 36. Ibid., p. 333. 37. EI, X, Appendix, nos. 94, 103, etc. 38. Ibid., no. 102. 39. Ibid., nos. 102, 100, 105, etc. 40. JAA, I, p. 64. 41. JS, pp. 14-21; JAA, I, p. 64; MCH, p. 333. 42. Ibid., ibid.; ibid. 43. EI, II, p. 314; EI, X, Appendix nos. 102, 100, 105; MM no. Q. 2. 44. MM no. Q. 2; SML no. J.250. 45. SML no. J.253. 46. JS, Plate IX, p. 16. 47. SML no. J. 248; SIJA, p. 77. 48. SML nos. J.248, J.250, J.252; MCH, p. 333.
