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INTRODUCTION TO JAINISM
history of the Indus culture. In Śravana Belagola we see engravings measuring 90 to 120 cm, the largest ever found, and much larger than those described by R.S. Bisht at Kuttch on the Northern peninsula of Gujarat (West India, bordering Pakistan).
The Indus signs of Śravana Belagola have much to say about the standing Jinas. The first of the four signs depicted here (photo 11) is a "spear,” which signifies in Jainism the self-control acquired by a Jina. The second sign is a “broom” of peacock feathers which the monks used (and still use today) to softly brush aside living beings which they otherwise might step on - a symbol of mahāvrata. Mahāvrata means the Great Vows an ascetic has taken. This sign is so big that the end stroke has been overwritten by a later text in old Kannada, an old script of Karnataka, which has been forgotten and can be read by no one today. Apparently the people who long ago added these Kannada writings to the rock even then had forgotten or did not understand the significance of the old signs. The third sign is a trident and symbolizes the ratnatraya - the threefold jewel of right vision, right knowledge and right conduct - which inspires the monk to perfection in their meditation. The awakened soul of the penitent thinks of nothing else than the eternal soul and liberation from all karmas by contemplating the seven “thatnesses” (tattvas) (the soul, karma, the inflow of karmas, the bondage by the karmas, the stopping of the inflow, the removal of karmas and final liberation), here represented by seven vertical lines. Thus the four Indus signs of Śravana Belagola together with the carved standing Jina convey a very deep philosophical Jain message for one who understands them and values the protection of his own soul. If we consider this text it appears that the Indus script is not a worldly language for everyday use, but serves a specific intellectual purpose. The profane world can not understand these signs because they are true hieroglyphs – sacred script – which can not be understood by those who do not know the higher ethics and teachings of Jainism.
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