Jain Journal 1974 10

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

Page 16

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JAIN JOURNAL
are instances when the depiction of numerous Jinas seated, or standing in Kayotsarga pose will indicate eternity and the eternal quest. Obviously, the devotees sought in the sculptures of Vardhamana Mahavira a supreme ideal faithfully handed down from the unknown past. Here the sculptor's ideals were dedicated to the cause of a constant truth unchanged by revolutions of the society and even by perceptions and learnings of the mortal world which may not be in conformity with the Kevala-Jnana and the infinite majesty of the Syadvada. As it is felt, the disappearance of the religion and the philosophy of the Nirgrantha from the major parts of the sub-continent is not so much due to the assimilations of its traits by the Brahmanical orders as much due to the solemn indifference of the institution of the Arhats towards socio-cultural adjustments at the cost of the purest aim of attaining the supreme knowledge which liberates one from the bondage of the Samsara. Even in the absence of devotees and ritual performances in comparison with the earlier height the ideal has achieved immortality creating an unusual history in the world.
Without entering into the distinctions of the Svetambara and the Digambara thoughts one may be familiar with the bliss of the fragrant blossoms that are glowing within the shrine of Jaina philosophy. It is gratifying to note the sublimity of the Jinas translated in sculpture with an understanding that goes beyond the apotheosis of a hero or a heroic being. Apart from the crowned Mahavira in bronze from Akota in Western India which will recall the tradition of Jivantasvami, another bronze from the same site envisaging Rsabhanatha, the first Tirthankara, apparently in Gupta-Maitraka style, indicates a convention of representing the Jina as being donned with a Dhoti.35 This aspect is obviously very important in the perspective of the Jaina traditions and iconography in general. A comparable bronze image of Rsabhanatha, though of later date, from Sirohi also shows a beautiful treatment of the Dhoti with its delicate striations.36 U. P. Shah has recalled a standing stone image of Parsvanatha from Rohtak near Delhi which shows a correspondence of the style of Dhoti visualised.37 In fact, a group of bronze images of the Jina standing 85 Studies in Jaina Art, Plate VIII, Fig. 19. 86 Ibid., Plate XII, Fig. 30. 37 Ibid., p. 17.