Jain Rup Mandan

Author(s): Umakant P Shah
Publisher: Abhinav Publications

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Origin of the Jina-Image and the Jivantasvāni-pratima dharas-or other disciples said to have visited any shrine of any earlier Tirthankara or of Mahāvīra.
The Jina image, as suggested elsewhere by us,39 has for its model or prototype the ancient Yaksa statues. Most of these ancient Yakşa statues were of wood and we find in Jaina canonical legends that these were painted annually. There might have been terracotta images also of the ancient Yaksas and Yakşiņis, and perhaps rarely in bronze but hardly in stone. One has to await future archaeological evidence for definite conclusions. It was also suggested by us that the mode of worship of the ancient Yakşa-Nāga cult has largely influenced the mode of worship in Jainism. Since Mahavira stayed in Yakşa shrines and preached the masses visiting and worshipping in such shrines, it is but natural that the Jaina converts from these masses adopted as models the images and the rituals of the Yaksa cult.
Jayaswal's discovery of Mauryan torso of a standing Jina figure from Lohanipur supports, on the one hand, the authenticity of Jaina traditions about Samprati and image worship, and, on the other hand, the existence in Magadha of an earlier model for the Jina and Buddha images of early. Christian centuries. The Jina-image is a cult object.
Lohanipur is a continuation of the Mauryan sites at Kumrahar and Bulandibag near Patna. Along with this highly polished torso were revealed the foundations of a squatc (icinple) structure (8 ft 10 in X 8 ft 10 in), one more nude stone torso, the lower portion of a head and a large quantity of bricks of the size used in the Mauryan age. From the plinth of this brick structure was obtained a worn-out silver punch-marked coin. The foundations should be noted for the earliest known plan of a Jaina temple, assignable to the Mauryan age.40
It is necessary to consider the reliability of the tradition of Mahavira's sandalwood image carved in his life-time. If acārya Hemacandra gives report of the discovery of a Jivantasvāmi image from the ruins of Vitabhayapattana buried in a sandstorm, especially from special excavation carried out by specially appointed officers under orders of Kumärapäla with the blessings of Hemacandra, then it is a contemporary account since Hemacandra and Kumarapala were contemporaries. Hemacandra further reported that the copper plate charter of donations for the worship of this image (the copy left at Vitabhayapattana by Pradyota) was also recovered along with this image. It is further reported by Hemacandra in his Trişaştiśalākāpuruşacarita that the image was brought to Patan and installed in a temple. Sauvira country is identified as close to lower Sindh. Sindhu and Sauvira are spoken together and Sauvira, possibly the area around TharParkar and Gujarat and Marvad's modern border with Pakistan, was under Kumārapāla's control. What is more important to note is that Hemacandra also reports that the copper plate grant given by Uddayana to the image was also recovered. If Hemacandra has not bluffed before his contemporaries then we have to accept the Jivantasvāmi account as fairly reliable. Would a person of Hemacandra's status make false statements about recovery of the image before his own contemporaries?
Hiuen-Tsang remarks about Kausambi, the capital city of the famous lyrist king Udayana: "In the city, within an old palace, there is a large vihara, about 60 feet high; in it is a figure of Buddha, carved out of sandalwood, above which is a stone canopy. It is the work of the king U-to-yen-na (Udayana)... The princes of various countries have used their power to carry off this statue, but although many men have tried, not all the number could move it. They therefore worship copies of it, and they pretend that the likeness is a true one, and this is the origin of all such figures ..."41 Hiuen-Tsang further writes: “When Tathāgata first arrived at complete enlightenment, he ascended upto heaven to preach the law for the benefit of his mother ... This king (i.e. Udayana), thinking of him with affection, desired to have an image of his person; therefore he asked Mudgalyayanaputra, by his spiritual power, to transport an artist to the heavenly mansions to observe the excellent marks of Buddha's body, and carve a sandalwood statue. When Tathāgata returned from the heavenly place, the carved figure of sandalwood rose and saluted the lord of the world ..."42
In his account of a city called Pima (Pi-mo), in the district of Khotan, the Chinese traveller Hiuen-Tsang writes: "Here there is a figure of Buddha in a standing position made of sandalwood. The figure is about twenty feet high ... the natives say: This image in old days when Buddha was alive was made by Uddayana (U-to-yen-na), king of Kauśambi (Kiao-shang-mi). When Buddha left the world, it mounted of its own accord into the air and came to the north of this kingdom, to the town of Ho-lo-lo-kia.