Jain Journal 1980 04

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

Page 44

APRIL, 1980
In view of our reference material on salabhanjia, it seems to me likely that Panini himself could have had in mind some of the terms mentioned in the Käsika with regard to games in Eastern India.
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There are more passages in Ray., in which salabhanjia is also mentioned along with vala-ruvaya. Vala (Skt. vyala) may be understood here as 'leogriff', which is very frequently depicted on facades of temples beside salabhanjikas, e.g. in Khajuraho (ct. note 28). I am not certain about the meaning of vala.
One day Suriyabha goes to a temple (Siddhayatana) to worship the Jina images (Ray., op.cit., pp. 254ff.). He reaches the centre of the temple and pays respects to the centre: siddhayatanassa bahu-majjhadesabhayam loma hatthenam pamajjai. S. continues to go to the southern gate to pay his respects in the following way: dara-cedio 20 ya salabhanjiyao ya valaruvae ya lomahatthaenam pamajjai. (Ray., op. cit., p. 259)
Translation: 'He passed his whisk over the carvings of female gatekeepers, branch bending women, and the figures of leogriffs.' (?)
I had often the opportunity to watch this habit of worship in the Jaina temples of India, which clearly shows that the figures of salabhanjias, daracedis, etc., are not intended to fulfil a decorative purpose only but that they are fully included in the act of worship in line with the Jina images. So we read for instance: lomahatthayam ginhai ginhitta jina padimanam lomahatthaenam pamajjai. (Ray., op. cit., p. 254)
Translation: 'He (Suriyabha) takes a whisk and passes it over the Jina images.'
We learn from this that the temple as a whole with Jina images, along with the carvings of branch bending women, female doorkeepers and other decorative motifs is conceived as a complete unit in the act of worship. For further references of daracedio, salabhanjiyao and vararuvae in a muha-mandava front pavilion See. Ray., op. cit., p. 260. And also compare passages in Ray., op. cit., p. 262: torane ya ti-sovanapadiruvae salabhanjiyao ya vala-ruvae ya loma-hatthaenam pamajjai. 21 Translation: 'He passes with his whisk over the gateways, beautiful with their three steps, over the branch bending women and the figures of leogriffs.' (?)
The far more frequent occurrence of the term salabhanjia in the Jaina-Ardhamagadhi (abbrev. AMg.) texts than in any other branch of