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Jaina Iconography
16 dreams, Lancanas, Yakṣas shew a widely varied character. It is, indeed, so difficult to separate truth from mythology in the critical treatment of their lives as they are presented in the Jaina Purāņas. Some observations may safely be made regarding the genetic development of the mythological matter. The origin of the names is purely an accidental matter and there is hardly any room for believing in Hemacandra's much-laboured interpretation of the Jina names sometimes with reference to grammar, sometimes to a myth associated with their lives. For instance, he would explain the name Nemi as derived from the circumference (f) of the Dharmacakra, the name Parsva as derived from the fact that "he touches (Spṛśati) all ideas by knowledge" or from the circumstance that his mother in her pregnancy, while lying, saw a black serpent crawling about. Hemacandra by similar method traces the origin of the name Rṣabha of the first Jina from the myth that his mother before his birth saw in her 14 dreams a bull as the very first.
The dreams of the Jina's mothers and the way in which a Jina is born descending from heaven bear a distant echo of Buddha's mother Maya's dream and her conception. All the mythological stories related in the Jaina Purāņas seem to have been engrafted into the life of a Jina. For instance, the 14th Tirthamkara Mallinatha was made a woman by the Svetāmbaras. They tell a story in support of his female incarnation. It is related in Hemacandra's Mallinatha Carita, chap. 6. that Mallinatha in his previous birth while practising penances with other ascetics concealed some extra penances from them. As a result of this, he was born as a woman. The Digambaras, however, lay no credence to all this fanciful story of the Svetāmbaras, probably fabricated in order to show that women had equal rights with men to asceticism and salvation. From the enormous mass of mythological matter, we may draw out one or two facts which should claim our serious attention. The Lanchanas of some of the Jinas look like the totems of the families to which they belonged. For instance, the Ikṣvāku family of Ayodhya used bull as a vehicle. Hence, Rṣabhanatha descending from the same famous royal family made a bull as his totem or Lanchana.
1. This point is elaborated in a Hindi article by Rai Krishna Das, Secretary, Nagari Pracarini Sabha, Benares.
