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Jaina-Rupa-Mandana
used the Ardhamagadhi speech, a simhasana was created for him, heavenly drums (devadundubhi) were beaten, and celestial flowers were scattered over him, a beautiful sound arose (divyadhvani) for a yojana on all sides. The text further says that Mahāvīra was attended upon by eight prätihäryas. While describing the Samavasarana of Rşabha, the same text specifies, amongst other atisayas, the triple-umbrella, the nimbus, the kalpa (aśoka) tree, the heavenly drum, the shower of flowers.
The Avašyaka cũrņi of Jinadāsa (676 A.D.), 43 describing the Samavasarana of Mahāvira, refers to the following only: Asoka-tree, triple-umbrella, camaradharas, simhasana with pitha, and dharmacakra placed on the lotus. Mahavira faces the east while on the three sides gods install his likenesses. This fact is referred to by the Avasyka Niryukti as well.
The Harivamśa-purāņa of Jinasena (783 A.D.)44 refers to 8 prätiharyas and 34 atiśayas. According to this Digambar text, the eight celestial accompaniments (prätihāryas-lit. gate-keepers, here attendants) of Neminátha are: sura-puspa-vrsti, divya-dundubhi, Asoka-vykşa, chatra-traya, câmaradharanām samühah (host of flywhisk-bearers), bhamandala, simhasana and bhāsā (speech) of the Jina understandable to all creatures.
The Adipuriņa 45 refers to these eight prātiharyas in the Samavasarana of Rsabha, the last one is called divya-dhvani. Both the Harivamsa and the Adipurāna differ from the Tiloyapannalist in Owy one point, that is, the last one-divya-dhvani. The Tiloyapannatti says that Ganas (ganadharas or the different followers of ganadharas) attend upon the Jina with folded hands, and omits the divya-dlani.46 These early Digambara traditions omit the dharmacakra in the list of the eight prátiharyas though of course it is not omitted in the description of the congregation (samavasarapa) of the Jina or in the separate list of 34 atiśayas as shown above.
The Vasudevahindi 47 (c. fifth century A.D.) while describing the Samavasarana of Santinātha, includes all these elements and adds that a dharmacakra was placed near the feet of the Jina. The bhåmandala (halo) is however not mentioned while the divya-dhvani seems to have been understood when the author says that the Gandharvas began singing and the Bhūtas issued a cry (of victory) resembling simhanāda (lion's roar). These have not been specified as asta-mahápratihāryas.
It is thus obvious that the conception of the eight maha-prätiharyas took its final form at the end of the Gupta period, probably in the post-Gupta age. Though earliest lists of atiśayas included almost all these elements, they were not classified as such upto c. fifth century A.D. According to the Samavāyanga sūtra list. the dharmacakra moved in the sky in front of the Jina. This early tradition is followed by Hemacandra in his list of atisayas. In representations, the Wheel of Law is always placed in the centre of the simhasana or the pedestal. It is not included in the stock list of the asia-mahá-prátihāryas. 18
The Acāra-Dinakara49 describes the parikara (lit. paraphernalia, attendant elements) of a Jina image as follows:
Below the figure of a Jina is the simhasana, with figures of elephants and lions; on two sides of the Jina (in the centre, sitting in padmasana or standing in the kayotsarga posture) are two chowrie-bearers (camaradharas) and two attendants with folded hands (anjali-kara). Over the head of the Jina are, in order, the triple-umbrella having on two sides two elephants carrying golden pitchers in trunks and surmounted by beaters of Zarzara, a kind of cymbals ((evidently representing the sura-dundubhi ?); over these are the garland-bearers (sura-puspa-vrsti), over them the conch-blowers (representing divya-dhvani ?) and on top of the whole sculpture, the kalasa (water-pot) finial.
The bhämandala, though not mentioned here in the parikara of a Jina, was presumed by the author since the practice of representing a halo behind the head of a deity is both ancient and common to all sects in India, and since it is found behind Tirthankaras from ancient times. The two attendants with folded hands (anjalik aras) remind one of the Tiloyapanpati tradition of astaprätiharyas which included ganas with folded hands. Some Tirthankara images from Mathura, dating from the Kuşana age, have shown Näga figures standing with folded hands on two sides of the Jina. And in the case of the standing Jina-image, no. J.7 in the Lucknow Museum, one each of the four members of the Jaina samgha (srūvaka, śrävikā, sådhu, sådhvi) stands near the legs with folded hands on each end of the pedestal.50
The Acara-Dinakara further adds that, according to another tradition, the dharma-caka, flanked by two deer, and the planets on its two sides, was to be carved in the centre of the simhasana. This would
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