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OCTOBER, 1989
weight till ultimately the king decided to sacrifice his whole body and put himself on the scale. God Surupa, convinced of Megharatha's steadfastness in Dharma, was pleased and healing the wounds of the king went to heaven. (Further details about previous births and the life of Santinatha, are to be found in Hemacandracarya's Trişaşțisalākāpuruşa Carita, Parvan 5.)
An elaborate relief sculpture representing the life of Santinathas is however preserved in a big ceiling in the shrine of Mahavira at Kumbharia, North Gujurat, consecrated in 1062 A.D. The whole relief is divided into four sections, the innermost being a circle enclosed in a square, representing the samavasarana of Santinatha. The different scenes in the different sections have inscribed lables. The second and the thrid sections, for example, show thd dikşă (renunciation of Santinatha), king Asvasena and Queen Acira, the parents of this Jina, the dreams seen by the Queen Mother when the Jina descended from heaven in her womb (representing the cyavana-kalyānaka), the Nativity of Santinatha (the janma-kalyānaka), Santinatha as Cakravartin or world conquerer and so on. The arrangement of these sections is so beautifully done and the miniature figures of animals and men are so nicely carved and are so animate that the whole sculpture can be said to be one of the best Jätaka-relief so far discovered.
• U. P. Shah, Jaina Jataka Stories in Art', Kusumanjali, Vol. II, ed by Nagaraja Rao,
pp. 291ff.
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