Jain Journal 2007 10

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

Page 22

A.K.Bhattacharyya:AStudyoftheTreeof LifeandtheAstamangalas in Jainism
as the amṛtatva of the Gods in Hindu mythology. It seems, a distinct borrowing from Brahmanism and is another of clear signs of dependance on the Hindu system of thought and ideology. (?)
The next symbol, fifth in the list, coming under the same group is the Śrīvatsa symbol. It is a geometrical pattern of a four petalled flower, the petals being arranged at right angles. The choice for a flower is very significant here. The purity and whiteness of a flower is designed to represent the pure knowledge, the Kevala Jñana of the Lord which he holds in his heart within. This Srivatsa it may be noted here is common to Vaisnava and Jaina icons where in the former it is a symbol of Visnuite images. The Śrīvatsa is a lunar symbol according to a Brahmanical Tradition. The Srivatsa symbol as the ornamental mark representing gem on the breast of Visnu is said, in Brahmanical conception, to stand for the Moon while the Kaustubha stands for the Sun.?
איו
A pair of fish is the next to come in the list under consideration. The insignia of the Fish formed the distinctive characteristic of the Minas of the Mohenjo-daro peoples. Whether as one of the sight forms of Śiva, the Fish was one of the eight constellations of the Mahenjodaro Zodiac. Indeed, one of the most popular forms of God with the Mahenjo-daro peoples was the fish.29
67
One of the inscriptions excavated out of Mahenjodaro30 has a representation of a very large sized ram with the head of a fish bearing horns on both sides. An, the Mahenjodaroan God is called 'fish-eyed'. The connection of the Fish-eyed An, the Mahenjodaroan with the Pauranic Śiva has already been established and the Fish forms one of
27. Cf. Antal paramajñānam yadbhat Jinädhinatha hidayasya' tacchrīvatsa vyäjät prakaṭibhutaṁ bahirvaṁde"
--Acaradinakara. loc. cit.
30. Ibid No. 42
28. Varaha Purana ch. 31, v. 16--(Ed. P. Tarkaratna) maheyambhutamātā te kantha tiṣṭhatu sarvada' Srivatsa-kaustubhanceman candradityacchalena ha"
29. Marshall, Sir John, Mahenjo-daro, inscription No. 214, "The Supreme Being
of the Fish God (is) in front".