Jain Journal 2006 04

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

Page 13

JANOLK VALVUL-XL. VU. + AMKI. 00
the inscription of Khāravela proves the existence of images of Tirthankaras as far back as the period of the Nandas''. The images of certain animals and divinities are reported to have been painted on the curtain, as mentioned in the Kalpasutra". The Antugadadascio Suuru mentions that Sulasa installed an image of the god Harinaigamesin an offered worship unto him daily. Perhaps the earliest image extant in Jainism dates from the Kusana period although we have a pair of Digambara sculptures representing Tirthaikaras having been assigned to the Maurya period. (See, JBORS, March 1937, p 130 - K.P. Jayaswal, vide pt. I Jaina Antiquary iv. no 3). Nevertheless symbolism or symbolic representations of objects of worship or sometimes objects which have a purely secular significance or even those having merely a scientific concept at the background can be traced to have found a place in Jaina art-motifs even in very early times.
The Symbolism of Fire.
Let us start with the symbol of Fire in Jain art-motifs. The element of fire is always associated with awakening or enlightment. The ultimate source of all fiery energy, the Sun, is the greatest awakener of all consciousness and life in the Vedas. It is the flame of understanding (prajñā) that brings about the defeat of Māra,!? The representations of the Buddha as a fiery pillar3 as found in some late Andhra reliefs from Amaravati are only a survival of the Vedic ideology wherein Agni is stated to be born of the waters or more directly from the earth as it rests on a lotus. Fire as a symbol of tejas or the fiery spirit is found in Jainism in so old a tradition as one of the earliest Angas, the Acārānga Sūtra. It has been said that all the
10. Epigraphia Indica, XX, pp. 80-81 II. Kalpastītra, [Tr by H. Jacobi], par. 63 p. 244.
12. Therugăthā, 1095.
13. A.K. Coomaraswamy - Elements of Buddhist Iconography, p.10. 14. Ācārüngasutra, II. 1. 7. 4 - ...... erum aganikāva patitthitam java no
padigahejja ...... A monk or a nun on a begging tour should not accept food etc., placed on the earth-body, the wind-body, the fire-body, for such food is impure and unacceptable' - tr. by H. Jacobi (S.B.E. XXII) p. 106. Vide, also, Uttarādhyayanasūtra (S.B.E. XLV) p. 217.