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Iconography of 24 Tirtharkaras
175 of about the same age as the Cleveland Museum Parśvanātha and possibly hailing from Eastern Rajasthan is another sculpture, no. 59.202 in the National Museum, New Delhi. On both sides of the Jina are shown Nägas and Näginis, half-snake and half-human, dancing, playing music or carrying garlands. The top portion is less elaborate than in the Cleveland image (Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum, op. cit., fig. 16). The ornaments and drapery suggest that it may be somewhat earlier in age.
In the Rajputana Museum, Ajmere, is preserved a partly mutilated sculpture, obtained from Arthuna (now in Rajasthan, formerly in the Banswada state). It is a beautiful specimen of Gurjara-Pratihara art with minute carving of the details on the skin of the cobra's body beautifully arranged to form a full back-rest or stela behind the Jina's figure. Dharanendra stands on the right while his chief queen stands on the left of Pärsva, with folded hands (Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum, op. cit., fig. 15). They are recognised by the presence of a cobra-head over their crowns. Below, on the pedestal are more queens of Dharanendra, all shown with half-human and half-snake bodies.
The possibility of obtaining more examples of this theme from Digambara sites in Northern India cannot be ruled out. In fact a badly mutilated sculpture of this scene, dating from c. ninth century, preserved in the beautiful Maladevi temple at Gyaraspur, in Madhya Pradesh, was discovered by Klaus Bruhn who kindly gave me its photograph which I have published in the Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum, op. cit., p. 310, fig. 14). It is however significant to note that scenes of attack on Pärsvanatha or on Mahavira are hard to obtain in Svetämbara sites. It is true that a ceiling of one of the shrines at Kumbhåriā, north Gujarat, giving incidents from the life of Mahāvira shows different scenes of upasargas of Mahāvira. It is also true that in the ceilings of the Säntinātha and Mahavira temples at Kumbharia we find sculptured narration of scenes from previous births of Pärśva and Kamatha and scenes from his life as Parśva including attacks by Kamatha's soul when Pārsva was meditating. Tiwari has noted a few scenes from Parśva's lifo on the wall of the eastern Devakulika of the shrine of Mahavira at Ośia.309
In the ceiling in front of Devakulikā no. 16 at Lūņa-vasahi, Mt. Abu, is carved the story of the origin of Hastikalikunda-tirtha and the city of Ahicchatrā, connected with the life of Pärsva.310 It is also true that in the miniature paintings of the Kalpa-sútra we have scenes of attack on Pärsva311 but not a single loose relief sculpture like the ones described above is as yet found from Svetambara shrines. It seems that the Svetämbaras tried to avoid carving such sculptures because in them they would be required to depict the figures of Pārśva or Mahāvira as nude since they were practising rigorous austerities and observing total aparigraha as sådhus following the Jinakalpa.
Buddha is also associated with a snake-the Mucalinda Naga who protected him during a storm. Images of Buddha with cobra-hoods over the head, as in the case of Parsvanátha, are known from sites like Nagarjunikonda, Amaravati etc. Thus we have parallels in Buddhist art and traditions. In Hinduism, the snake Kaliya was subdued by Krsna. But when Kssoa was born and was being immediately transferred by his father from prison to Gokul across the river Yamuna, the serpent Sesa is said to have acted as a canopy over the child Krsna being carried in a basket and protected him from rains pouring at that time. Siva is also associated with snakes. Vişnu rests on the coils of the great Sesa Näga whose thousand heads are held as a canopy over the Lord.
During the Vedic period, we have the famous Indra-Vstra fight. Vstra, conceived as a snake, is malevolent, like Kaliya of the Yamuna river, and not benevolent like Dharanendra or Mucalinda. There is an ever existing contest between forces of light and darkness, between good and evil, between gods and demons, between forces of life and death. Kļşņa, Vişnu, Siva, Indra, Buddha and Pårśvanātha represent forces of life and light, of good and immortality, while Vstra, Kaliya, Mára, Kamatha and others represent forces of evil, darkness and death.
Naga with his thousand snake-heads represents mind with its innumerable evil instincts, attitudes, feelings, tempers, and thoughts. When subdued, reformed and sublimated the same mind is transformed from a malevolent to a benevolent force. Mythology of Buddha or Parsvanātha or of Sesaśå yi-Vişnu. Siva and baby Krsna carried across the river Yamuna, represents an advancement upon the earlier Vedic conception of the Indra-Vstra contest. In later conceptions it is recognized that the mind which is a bondage and an obstacle can be transformed into a protector, friend or benefactor. So says the Gita:
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