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- An Exponent of India's Priceless Cultural Heritage
The talk on 'Symbolism', by Virchand Gandhi in Washington D. C., reflected his deep study of the subject coupled with his erudition. He interpreted the religious symbols of Persian, Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Parsee (Zoroastrian) religions but the main focus was on Hindu and Jaina religious symbols which he analyzed in great detail. He tried to relate symbols to religious traditions. Explaining the significance of the symbols, he enumerates four reasons and then through a diagram explains the meaning of Jaina Swastika. Swastika is not, as is believed by the Westerners, a symbol of good luck in the Indian tradition, but it stands for a 'free soul. There are many scholars who interpret the Vedas but it is he who explains the meaning of an eightpettalled lotus with the help of a picture.
There are other symbols of the Jainas : the sacred thread. Virchand Gandhi illustrates that we Jainas say that the three rounds represent the three sets of prophets that have flourished in all ages. There have been innumerable prophets but we take three sets-immediately connected with our time-the past, the present, and the future. In the immediate past we had 24, in the present 24, and in the near future there will be 24. Therefore, the three rounds of the sacred thread represent three sets of prophets who have left their sublime teachings as our heritage. It means we carry these teachings on our shoulders and practise them every day. It is a symbol of our willingness to practise and obey the teachings given us by our prophets.
There is another symbol of the Jainas, and that is the picture of the elephant. The picture is symbolic. The great forest is the world. The man in the well is the ordinary worldly man. The well with its dangers is the life of that man, over which all men are suspended who care for nothing beyond the present life. The elephant after him is death. The great serpent at the bottom of the well is the lowest existence to which those go, who will not
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