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ART-OBJECTS IN MUSEUMS
(PART X
Both the Buddhists and the Jainas employed the same stereotyped figure of an ascetic in their representations of a Buddha or of a Tirthankara. This becomes quite evident when one compares an image of a meditating Buddha (plate 328B) with that of the Los Angeles Tirtharikara (plate 328A), Both are seated in almost identical postures and both reflect the inner calm appropriate for a true yogin. In both the forms are delineated as ideal mental constructs; but while the Buddhas's asceticism is tempered by sensuous grace, that of the Tirtharikara is unearthly in its severe expression.
The difference between the representations of a Buddha and a Tirthaakara typically reflects the doctrinaire difference between the two religions. To begin with, the Buddhists discouraged the representation of Buddha in human form. However, once the theory of the Buddha's transcendental nature became acceptable, it was casier to portray him in anthropomorphic form. But essentially, to his followers, Buddha remained a teacher who was easily approached and with whom one could enter into a direct and personal relationship. His image was regarded as a symbol of his presence by virtue of the concept of tri-kāya.
The Jaina Tirthankara, however, has remained a far more detached figure. As Zimmer has stated, 'the Jaina saviors...dwelt in a supernal zone at the ceiling of the universe, beyond the reach of prayer; there is no possibility of their assistance descending from that high and luminous place to the clouded sphere of human effort. The Makers of the River Crossing are beyond cosmic event as well as the problems of biography; they are transcendant, cleaned of temporality, omniscient, actionless and absolutely at peace."
It is against such a theological background that one must view the drastically simplified form of the Jaina Tirtharkaras. Whether the figures are shown seated or standing, they are purely products of the intellect rendered with mathematical exactitude and devoid of sensuous charm. Essentially the body remains that of a superman whose shoulders are as broad as those of a bull (vrşa-skandha), whose torso is comparable to that of a lion and whose chest expands from within, suggestive of his tremendous inner vitality. When he stands the Tirthankara is a veritable embodiment of immovable strength
1 As a result of the doctrine of tri-kaya Buddha is said to have three bodies : dharma-kaya sanıbhoga-kdya and nirmana-kaya. It is the last kåya that is represented in art.
* H. Zimmer, Philosophies of India, New York, 1953, pp. 181-82.
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