Jain Rup Mandan

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

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Jaina-Rupa-Mandana thirteenth century A.D., are found by Muni Silavijaya. The paintings depict, in a continuous narrative, scenes from the previous births and the life of Tirthaðkara Såntinātha who also was a Cakravartin. In this narration Anantavirya Vasudeva and Damitari Prati-Vasudeva and Aparajita Baladeva are painted. Two wooden book-covers of a palm-leaf ms. in the Jaina Bhandara at Jesalmer contain representations of all the 63 Saläkäpuruşas. They date from the twelfth century A.D. and are discussed with illustrations by Muni Punyavijaya and U.P. Shah in Some Painted Wooden Book Covers from Western India, Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art (New Series), Vol. I, Special No. on Western Indian Art, pp. 34-44 and plates.
Twelve Cakravartins
Cakravartins are Universal Monarchs or World Conquerors. The Jaina Purāṇas give a list of twelve such Cakravartins who flourished in this Avasarpiņi. 19 Golden in complexion, they all belonged to the Kāśyapa gotra.
The first amongst them was Bharata, the son of Rşabhanātha, who gave his name to this land, which is called Bharata-bhūmi or Bhārata.20 His chief queen was Subhadrā.
Sagara, the son of Sumitra and Yaśomati of Ayodhyā, and a contemporary of Ajitanatha, was the second Cakravarti. Bhadra was the queen.21
Maghava, the third, was the son of Samudravijaya and Bhadrã and ruled from Srāvasti in the interval between the fifteenth and the sixteenth Tirtha karas. Jayā was the queen.
Sanatkumara, the fourth, was born in Hastinapura to Aśvasena and his wife Sahadevi in the same interval. Vijayā was the queen.22
The three Tirthankaras, namely, Santinātha, Kunthunātha and Aranātha, were the fifth, sixth and seventh Cakravartins respectively.23 The eighth, Subhūma, lived in Hastinapura and was the son of Kstavirya and Tārā. The queen was Padmasri. Jaina accounts give a different version of the Hindu mythology of Parasurama. King Anantavirya of Hastināpura was the grandfather of Subhūmna. The queen of Anantavirya was a sister of Renukā, the wife of Jamadagni. Once Jamadagni gave Renukā a bambhanacaru and her sister a khuttiyacaru to eat but the two sisters exchanged their dishes. Renukā gave birth to Rama and her sister to Kļavirya. Rama killed Anantavirya and gave the throne to Kļavirya but later on killed the latter also. Subhūma, the son of K stavīrya, took revenge on Rāma who was a Brāhmana and slew him and was satisfied after slaying Brahmaņas of the earth twenty-one times.24
The next Cakravarti was Mahāpadma or Padma, son of Padmottara and Jvälā who lived with his queen Vasundhara in the city of Vārāṇasi.
The tenth, Harişena, son of Merā and Mahāhari, lived in Kampilya in the interval between Munisuvrata and Naminātha. Devi was his chief queen.
The eleventh Universal Monarch was Jaya or Jayasena, son of Vijaya and Vaprā, who reigned with his queen Lakşmivati from Rajagrha in the interval between Naminātha and Neminātha.
The last Cakravartin of this Avasarpiņi age was Brahmadatta, the son of Brahma by Cūlani, who ruled from Kāmpilya with his queen Kusumavati in the interval between Neminātha and Parśvanātha. He had alliances with the king Diha of Kośala, Kada ya of Käsi, Kanerudatta of Gajapura and Pupphacūla of Campa. After Bambha's death, king Diha (Dirgha) is said to have managed the affairs of the kingdom of Kampillapura. Later on a battle ensued between Brahmadatta and Diha in which the former killed the latter. References to Brahmadatta in Hindu and Buddhist literatures suggest the possibility of Brahmadatta being a historical personage. 25
The mother of a Cakravartin sees some dreams at the time of conception. According to the Adipurāna, Bharata's mother saw the sun and the moon, the mount Meru, the lake with swans, cartli and the ocean.26 According to Hemacandra, Summangalā, the mother of Bharata, sees fourteen great dreams.27 Accounts of world conquests by these different Cakravartins are almost similar in the Jaina Purāņas. Bharata, for example,28 started on his conquests, with his cakra-jewel preceding the army, followed by the bearer of the staff-jewel, the senapati (another jewel of a Cakravarti), the horse-jewel, the priest