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Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
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obviously of a Jaina monk) may be Rşabhanātha renouncing the world. Towards the right end of the sculpture we find two partly mutilated figures sitting in ardha-padmasana and dhyāna mudra. The panel shows different scenes, one after another, perhaps in some sequence. It seems that the practice of depicting scenes from lives of Tirthankaras was already in vogue in at least the first century B.C.
Daily for one year Rşabha gave away in charity money, gold, etc., at the end of which period, after having properly apportioned his territories amongst his sons, he set out for spiritual conquest.
Reaching a garden outside the city-gates in a palanquin carried by Indra and other gods, he took his seat under an Asoka (Jonesia asoka) tree and "abandoned all clothes, wreaths, ornaments, as well as the passions. Indra placed on the Lord's shoulders a devadūşya (garment or piece of costly cloth)."4 In four handfuls Rşabha tore out the hair on his head. Indra held this hair in the hem of his own garment and requested the Lord not to remove the rest of hair with the fifth and the last handful since these hair at the back, falling in tresses and curls on the Lord's shoulders were extremely beautiful to look at.5 Sculptures of Rşabhanātba unmistakably show hair-locks falling on the shoulders of the Jina. Even in sculptures from the Kankali Tila, Mathura, assignable to the Kuşāņa age, this tradition is followed. Amongst the Digambaras also sculptures of Adinatha show hair-locks on shoulders. But Digambara texts like Adipurāņa, Harivamśa or Padmacarita say that Rşabha plucked his hair in five handfuls (like all other Tirtharkaras), i.e., he removed all the hair on the head. However, Digambara writers like the author of Harivamsa account for the hair-locks by saying that jatá grew over his head when Rşabha was practising penance.?
When Rsabha was practising penance, Nami and Vinami, sons of Kaccha and Mahākaccha (royal princes who had turned ascetics along with Rşabha), approached him with a desire to obtain some share in the territories distributed by Rşabha, and stood on his sides, sword in hand, when the Lord was engaged in deep meditation. Dharana, Indra of the Nāga-kumaras, saw Nami and Vinami, and gave them Lordship over Vidyadharas and gave them 48,000 Vidyās, Gauri, Prajñapti and others. As directed, Nami and Vinami founded two rows of cities on the sides of the Mt. Vaitadhya and ruled over them. Figure 40 from Satrunjaya is a rare sculpture depicting Nami and Vinami standing by the sides of Rşabha meditating in kāyotsarga mudrā.
Rsabha obtained kevalajñana while he was standing in meditation under a banyan tree (Ficus Indica) in a big garden near the city of Purimatāla. Rşabha had a following of several thousands of sādhus, sādhvis, śrāvakas and śrävikas; of his eighty-four ganadharas or chief disciples, Vrsabhasena, also known as Pundarika-swāmi, was the chief one, while Brāhmi was the head of aryikās (nuns) of the order of Rşabhadeva.
Rşabha obtained Nirvāṇa while sitting in meditation in the samaparyanka posture (padmāsana) on the Mountain called Astäpada or Kailāśa. Indra and other gods performed the cremation rites while Bharata is said to have erected, on the site of cremation, a Stūpa and an Ayatana (shrine) with images of all the 24 Jinas, the sons of Rsabha and of some followers. 9
Both the sects describe the bull as the cognizance of Adinātha and Gomukha and Cakreśvari as his attendant yakşa and yaksiņi respectively. Gomukha, as the name suggests, has the face of a cow or bull (vrşabha) and is also said to ride on the bull vehicle. This bull-faced attendant of Rsabha closely resembles Nandi the vähana of Siva. Rşabha, with his beautiful jatà (matted hair) over head and hair-locks falling on shoulders, having the bull as his cognizance, closely resembles the conception of Siva with the bull vehicle (see Figs. 22, 25, 28, 32, 34, 55, 57). Digambara writers address Rşabhanātha variously as Sadyojāta, Vāmadeva, Tatpuruşa, Aghora and also as Hiranyagarbha, Svayambhu and so on. It is also noteworthy that Rşabhanātha is said to have obtained Nirvana on Mt. Kailāśa. Of course, the Kailäśa, also called Aştāpada, is variously identified. 10 Mt. Satrunjaya in Saurashtra is especially associated with Rşabhanātha. 11
A hymn, Sopärakastvana, is addressed to Rşabhanátha image worshipped at Sopāraka (ancient Sürpāraka tirtha, modern Sopärā near Bombay). Authorship of this hymn is not known but it shows that at the ancient port of Sürpāraka, a big Caitya dedicated to this Jina and enshrining images of Jaina monks like Nagendra and others existed. The city of Sopāraka is here described as an ornament of
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