Book Title: Jain Rup Mandan
Author(s): Umakant P Shah
Publisher: Abhinav Publications

Previous | Next

Page 243
________________ 230 Jaina-Rupa-Mandana At Devgadh, in temples 2 and 19 is found two-armed yakși Cakreśvari on images of Rşabha. The yakşi shows the cakra and the sarkha (conch). On the Lucknow Museum image no. J. 856 of Rşabhanātha, yakşi Cakreśvari carries the cakra and the conch. Tiwari has noted a two-armed Cakreśvari on a Mānastambha near temple 16 at Devgadh. The goddess shows the cakra in each of her two hands. Another specimen of two-armed variety hails from temple 2, Devgadh. Here, on an image of Adinātha, the yakşi is represented showing the abhaya mudra with the right hand and carrying the kalasa (water-jar) with the left. This is certainly curious since the disc which is her chief symbol and from which the yakși derives her name is absent here. It seems that a special tradition existed amongst the Digambaras, at least at Devgadh, which prescribed the abhaya and the kalasa (pot) for yaksinis of more than one Tirthankaras. Was the yakși known as Cakreśvari in this form and tradition? Mohapatra has noted a two-armed yakşi Cakreśvarī, below the Rşabhanātha figure of Jamunda (D.M. 35) in Jeypore branch museum, seated in lalitasana pose, and displaying varada mudru in both hands.216 Was the yakşi called Cakrećvart in this form? This form is illustrated by the sculptures of Mahavira and Säntinātha with yaxşiņis bearing the same symbols in the temple no. 2, as also by the figures of the yakşiņis of Ajitanátha, Supārśva and Abhinandana (c. 12th century A.D.) in the temple no. 3 at Devgadh. The same iconographic tradition was also current at Mohandrā about a hundred miles from Panna in Central India where yaksinis of Mahāvīra and Santinātha were represented in precisely the same fashion. The sculptures are at present preserved in a newly built temple in Panna. So the name of this form of yakṣi was perhaps not Cakreśvari. 2. Four-Armed Variety Vasunandi in his Pratişthäsāroddhāra refers to a four-armed form of the goddess with discs in two hands and riding the eagle.22 But he does not mention the symbols held in the remaining hands of the deity. Pratisthātilaka of Nemicandra also refers to this form but adds that the goddess shows the varada and the fruit in the other two hands.23 Ekasandhi also follows the same tradition in his Jinasaṁhita.24 In the temple no. 3 at Devgadh is preserved a sculpture of Adinātha, dated v.s. 1102, with a small figure of the yakşi Cakreśvari carved on the lower portion. The devi is represented as carrying the discs in the two upper hands, and as showing the abhaya and the fruit in the right and the left lower ones. A similar representation of the devi is carved on the pedestal of a large sculpture of Adinātha preserved in the Khajuraho Museum. Here the vähana appears like a human being. Mathura Museum no. B.21 of Rşabhanātha shows the yakşi Cakreśvari carrying the disc in each of the two upper hands, and the conch in the left lower one. Her right lower hand is held in the abhava nudrā. No. 0.75 in the Lucknow Museum is a sculpture of Adinātha with a figure of Cakreśvari showing another form. The deity carries the disc in each of her two upper hands and shows the varudia-mudra with the right lower one. The left lower is mutilated but it probably held the conch symbol. This is inferred with the help of another figure of the goddess showing identical symbols in the Jain temple no. 31 at Khajuraho. The yakşi rides the eagle. A loose sculpture of Cakreśvari is preserved in the navaranga of the Santinátha Basti, Kambacahalli, Mysore State. Installed by the Gangas in late ninth or early tenth century, it is remarkable for its grace and can be compared with the finest of the Cola images. Here the goddess shows the cakra in the two upper hands, the abhaya mudra in the right lower and the padma or citron in the left lower one. The eagle is her vāhana (figure 94).25 Another form of the goddess is found on a figure of Adinātha in the temple no. 2 at Devgach: The goddess here carries the gada (club) in her right upper hand, the disc in the left upper, and the concr. in the left lower one, and shows the abhaya in the right lower hand. The garuda is her vahana. A similar figure can be seen on the pedestal of another figure of Adinātha in the same temple. Two more represen:ations of this form are found at Khajuraho, one on the pedestal of a sculpture of Adinātha in the Khajuraho Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466