Jain Journal 1972 07

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 51

42
JAIN JOURNAL
Years back, when Sri Sahajanandaghana Maharaj went to Badarikasram on a visit, he told the people with him in clear terms that this was doubtless a Tirthankara image. It is also the firm opinion of the Jaina monk Sri Vidyananda Maharaj that this must be a very old nude image of no other than the first Tirthankara Adinath Rsabha, who among the Tirthankaras is the only one who had matted hairs. Besides Rsabha is stated to have entered nirvāṇa on the Himalayas, atop Mount Kailasa. All these facts, the posture of sitting, placing of hands, the matted hairs on the head, its nudity, its mode of worship, all establish beyond doubt that it must be a Jaina image.
That it is no mere surmise of the Jaina celebrities and lay followers may be established from accounts given by Hindu orthodoxy. We have more than one such account where it is claimed that the image appears not in a single form but in diverse forms depending on the inclination of the devotee. Thus Seth Govind Das in his Uttarākhandki Yātrā states in part as follows :
"The Badrinath temple has three parts. Innermost in the temple is the garbha-gļha which, at its far end, enshrines all the images, including that of Bhagwan Badri Visala,...the image of Badrinath is about 18", carved from a black stone, and the image and its background are made from a single slab.
"This image of Badri Visala is sitted in meditation in the padmāsana posture, with one hand placed on the other, and both on the lap, as is usual in meditation. Some Buddhists have claimed this to be an image of the Buddha. Some Jainas have claimed it to be the image of Parsva or Rsabha. But it is widely believed that the image appears not in a single form but in diverse forms depending on the inclination of the devotee. Worthy of note are foot-print of Bhrgu or śrīvatsa mark at the centre of the breast.” (pp. 22-24) (Needless to add, one comes across such śrivatsa marks on the breast of the Tirthankara image.)
We have another account by Lala Ram Narayan of Lucknow, who in a book entitled Mere Uttarākhand-ki Yātrā, published in 1942, has written :
"On the gate of the temple of Badri Visala, there is a kalasa with leaves enamelled with gold. The main gate of the temple opens on the east. (p. 65).