Jain Journal 2002 07

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

Page 10

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Jain Journal: Vol. XXXVII, No. 1 July 2002 the former case tirtha is simply sprinkled on the head and not poured on to the palm to drink.
Abhiseka
i. Without phenomenalizing the approach, I would like to historicise and contextualise abhişeka in terms of geography and sect.
ii. Interestingly 'the Jaina ritual of sacred ablutions was far more complex than that observed in the temples of Śiva, Viṣņu, or mother goddess' [Ramendra Nath Nandi: 1973 :33]. Ethnographically speaking, abhişeka, lustration, is the most important ritual of Jaina laity. Early Jaina works like Varangacarita of Jaṭāsimhanandi (cirea 7th cent, C.E.), and Yasastilaka of Somadevasüri (C.E. 959) clearly mention that abhiseka is the paramount rite of worship in medieaval period. Jaina inscriptions frequently speak of liberal land grants to Jaina shrines to provide for daily performance of elaborate abhiṣeka, ablution.
iii. "Jains worship a deity who is symbolically represented as a king. The Jina is a spiritual conqueror. He was born into a royal family as a prince. According to the traditional biographies of the Jinas, many of them were consecrated as kings in the rite of royal lustration (rājyäbhiṣeka) before they renounced the world" (infra). Symbolism of god as king is reflected in the ritual cultures of Karnataka, and the conception of kingship finds its expression in Jaina ritual culture. "In Karnataka since early medieval times, kingship has been inextricably interwinded with the rite of abhişeka" [Cort: 2002: 42-43]
iv. Ronald Inden has rightly observed that "virtually all of the rites having to do with the making or remaking of a Hindu kingdom during the period of the Hindu Kingdom's glory, the eighth to twelfth century, consisted of a more or less elaborate bathing ceremonry either of the king or of an image of god. The rite of abhiṣeka was essential to remake daily the man as king Without the rite, he was an empty receptable. After the rite, he was imbued with the luminous energy .(tejas) of the deity" [Ronald Inden 1990: 234 & 236]
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