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The lion figures occur in rows in ceilings, and are generally shown in profile. On the bell-roof, as in Ranakpur, they appear on the four ridges.
All of the Jain tirthankaras and other deities in India have almost always an animal as their mount - váhana. While on one level they literally transport the gods, on another they also serve as cognizance of various jinas or gods, as in these images of divinities, "the simple kingly or womanly form of the anthropomorphic figure", writes Zimmer, "is somewhat ambiguous; its reference becomes specified by the determinant, or parallel symbol added underneath."2
The animals may have had earlier sacred connotations separate from the gods themselves and are, in fact, their theriomorphic representations. In some ways they also represent the power and character of their divine masters. Siva's bull, nandini, is symbolic of his fertility and his association with animals; he is called Pasūpati, 'the Lord of the animals'. Nandini is also regarded as symbol of dharma, which is characterised as 'four-footed'. The elephant is the vāhana of Indra, the king of gods. As befits the king, the elephant is an appropriate royal vehicle, and it reiterates Indra's might as a warrior and his role as a provider of rains and hence life itself. The gander, haṁsa, is the vehicle of Sarasvati as also of Brahma; one text informs us that the seven ganders that pull the god's chariot represent the seven worlds. The gander, like the lotus, is also the symbol of purity, as no water attaches to its back as it glides through the water. Its migratory habits also make it an ideal metaphor for the free soul, and hence all men of wisdom who have succeeded in severing the bonds of attachment are known as paramahamsa, 'the great gander'. The vāhana of Vişņu is garuda, originally a bird associated with the sun but which acquired the symbolic value of mind, for nothing is said to be faster than the mind. The garuda thus is an entirely appropriate våhana for Vişnu, the preserverdeity, who continually roams the universe. Kramrisch expresses the abundance of these symbols thus:
"Alles Vergangliche ist nur ein Gleichnis. Whatever is transitory is but a symbol, be it as firm as this earth and high as is the firmament. The shape of the animal, the body of man in all its parts, and man-made objects, all these are drawn into the picture. There they form part of one composition which paints in detail, as in many configurations as inner vision dictates, the nature and myth of the god. The myths are his actions, their stage is the heart and mind (manas) of the singer and he draws its lineaments in the frame and the order of the cosmos which he sees and knows, in which he lives and is conscious."
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