________________
Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
153 half snake) with their tails entwined in a beautiful knot below the lotus on which the Jina is standing. Below this on the pedestal are eight standing planets and in the centre the dharmacakra flanked by two deer. Here the deer cannot be the cognizance of the Jina standing who is certainly Pārsvanatha identified with the help of the snake attendants on the pedestal and the big coiled snake on the back. So in western India, at least by the beginning of the seventh century A.D., imitation of the Buddhist motif of dharmacakra with the two deer had already started.
The problem is still unsolved because in the case of Rşabhanātha installed by Jinabhadra Vācanacarya (Fig. 35) assigned to middle sixth century A.D., published by us in Akota Bronzes, fig. 11, the Jina was identified as Rşabha on account of hair locks adorning his shoulders. Here the dharmacakra, in front of the feet of the standing Jina, is flanked by two deer. Because of the script of the inscription and because of the identification of Jinabhadra Vācanācarya, the image, assigned to c. 525-550 A.D., cannot be placed later than c. 600 A.D. If the image represented Säntinātha then the hair-locks on the shoulders would be unwarranted. Exceptions to the general practice of showing hair-locks on the shoulders of Rşabhanātha are known and we have cited a few such exceptions while diseussing the iconography of Rşabhanātha but these are rare considering the widespread popularity oi images of Rşabia all over India from at least the first century A.D. This Akota bronze of Rşabha would lead one to believe that in the second half of the sixth century the Jainas in western India had already started imitating the Buddhist motif. But we have in the Akota hoard a bronze of Ajitanātha identified with the help of elephants flanking the dharmacakra on the pedestal, vide Akota Bronzes, fig. 41b. This figure is assigned by us to the middle of the eighth century and it cannot be much earlier. So the practice of cognizance flanking the dharmacakra lingered on upto the eighth century, in western India also.
Such a situation creates problems. The beautiful bronze installed by Jinabhadra, discussed above, should therefore represent Santinātha. The bronze of Rşabha from Vasantagadh, illustrated here in Fig. 34 and assigned to sixth century also shows the cognizance on each side of dharmacakra. Thus the beautiful big metal image of a Jina sitting in padmāsana, discovered by Hirananda Shastri from Mabudi, N. Gujarat, showing in the centre of the high pedestal the dharmacakra flanked by two deer, should be identified as representing Santinātha. There are no hair-locks, jață, snake-hoods or attendant yakşa-yakşiņi to help in the identification. This beautiful bronze from Mahudi dates from the seventh century A.D. 188
A somewhat earlier sculpture in schist, obtained from Khed Brahma, an ancient site in Sabarakānthā district, N. Gujarat, published by me in Journal of the Oriental Institute, Vol. X, pp. 61ff with plate, offers a similar problem. The modelling of the different figures clearly reveals the classical style. The sculpture cannot be later than c. 600+20 A.D. The Jina is attended by figures of Sarvānubhuti yakșa and yakși Ambikā, both two-armed. The dharmacakra is flanked by two deer. No other cognizance or symbol is shown to identify the Jina. I am inclined to identify this figure as representing Santinātha.
A partly preserved inscription on the pedestal of a Quadruple image (Caturmukha, Caumukha, Pratimă-sarvato-bhadrika) from Mathura, assigned to the Kuşāna period and dated in samvat 19, refers (either to a temple or) to an image of the Lord (Bhagavato) Santi (Santi),189 which shows that Santinātha was worshipped in circa second century A.D.
No. B.75, Mathura Museum, obtained from Potra kunda, Mathura, shows the Jina sitting in padmāsana on a big lotus placed on a simhāsana. In the centre of the throne is the dharmacakra flanked by two deer. On the pedestal are the Sarvänubhūti yakşa and two-armed Ambika yakşi. Above the attendant cāmaradharas on two sides of the Jina are the eight planets in two rows above which are the flying vidyadhara-mälädhara pairs. The sculpture dates from c. eighth cent. A.D. The figure may be identified as sāntinātha.
Of about the same age is a sculpture of a Jina sitting in padmasana from Kaušāmbi (modern Kosam) now preserved in the Allahabad Museum (no. 535). 190 The yaksa and the yaksi as well as the planets are absent here. Above the head of each camaradhara is an elephant with a rider. Here too the dharmacakra is flanked by a deer on each side. Perhaps this sculpture and the Mathura Museum no. B.75 discussed above date from the end of the seventh century and both may be identified as images of Santinătha.
Mathura Museum no. 1504 is a sculpture of a Jina from Barasana, U.P. The Jina is sitting in
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
