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Jain Thought and Culture
auspicious objects of their mothers dream The number of the objects generally decides the hierarchy of Ilicir pantheon.
What is the significance of these drcam symbols ? How can They be explained in the background of Jain faith > The purpose of the present paper is to show that (1) the tradition of seeing auspicious objects by the mother of manapurusas was very ancient It is not of Jain origin but was common to other religious sects, and (2) that Jains borrowed these symbols from the ancient stock of the traditional symbols current in India.
A belief in the significance of dreams is found as early as the Rgveda 13 A number of hymns in the Rgvedal" and the Atharvavedals speak of evil dreams But reference to auspicious dreams appear much less frequently 16 Dreams indicating death are enumerated in the Aaitareya Aranyaka 17 An explanation of the signs belonging to evil dreams is to be found in the Kausika sutra 18 Thus the interpretation of dream symbols had began to occupy the attention of the Brahmanas at the very early period However, the Epic literature 19 presents different types of dreams and their results
In the Buddhist texts also we see a tradition of projecting auspicious symbols in dreams For example, in the Lalitavistara20 we find an account of the Bodhisattva's conception Here we are told that he (Bodhisattva) descends under the form of a white elephant which is seen by Maya in a dream 'She beholds in the middle
13 RV, VIII 47 14ff, Brhadaranyaka Up (IV 3 9 14) explains the psychology of dreams Two theories are advanced (1) In dreams the soul takes its material from the world and constructs for itseff by its own light the objects which it see, and (2) in sleep the soul abandons the body and roams according to its will, hence the injunction not to awaken suddenly one who is sleepery, for in that case the soul may not find its way back to the body-an evil which is hard to cure CERE, Vol V, P 38) 14 ERF, Vol V, P 38 15 Ibid 16 In Chandogya Up (V 2 8-9) it is stated if, during the process of sacritice sacrificer sees in his dreams a woman, he may infer the success of his sacrifice 17 III 2 4 18 XVLI 9ff, ERE, Vol V p 39, AV, VI 45 19 Ramayana, Sundarkanda, 20 SBE, Vol XIX, p XIX
