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black and green coloured stones are the best for making the image of Jina :
श्वेता रक्ताऽसिता मित्रा पारावतसमप्रभा ।
मुद्गकपोतपद्माभा मांजिष्ठा हरितप्रभा ||
V
-Pratiṣṭhāsārasangraha, 3, 77.
The images of Tirthankaras are purely human in form. They do not exhibit any unusual number of head, eyes, arms or legs. They are shown only in two postures, i.e., seated crosslegged, in dhyāna-mudrā or standing erect in kayotsarga-pose. Both the dhyana and the kayotsarga mudrās are yogic, as the Jainism believes in penance (tapasya). They are unlike the images of Viṣņu (Sesaśayin) and Buddha (parinirvāna) and are never shown in the reclining pose. The images of a Tīrthankara and the Buddha seated in dhyana-mudra are quite similar, but from the Srivatsa mark executed on the chest of a Tirthankara, one can easily distinguish it from that of the Buddha. In the Tirthankara images from South India, this particular symbol is, however, conspicuous by its absence."
1.
The idea of carving Sarvatobhadra (four-fold) Tirthankara images started during the late Kuṣāņa period. This feature continued till the late medieval period. Some of the Sarvatobhadra images of the four chief Jinas (Adinātha, Neminātha, Pārśvanatha and Mahāvīra) found in Mathura, Kausambi or elsewhere are remarkable works of art.
Several ancient and medieval works mention the characteristic features of the Jina images. The oft-quoted description has been given by Varahamihira in his famous work Bṛhatsamhitā in the following words: "the god of the Arhats (the Jinas, i. e.,
कपोतभृङ्गकुमुदमापमुद्गा सितोपमा ।
पाण्डुरा घृतपद्माभा सर्वावसु शुभा शिला ॥
Cf. Haribhadra Suri's statement : श्राम्यतीति श्रमणाः तपस्यतीत्यर्थः ।
-Rubamaṇḍana, I, 3.
-Daśavaikälika Sutra, 1, 3.
2. Sivaramamurti, C., Geographical and Chronological Factors in Indian Iconography, Ancient India, No. 6, (Jan. 1954), PP. 44-46.
