Jaina Stupa At Mathura Art And Icons

Author(s): Renuka J Porwal
Publisher: Prachya Vidyapith

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The Jaina Stupa at Mathura: Art & Icons
The tradition is further classified into two factions:A. Devotional cult (Bhakti mārga). B. Ritualistic cult (Yajña or Karma mārga). Those who follow the devotional cult chant mantras (hymns) to please deities such as Indra, Varuņa, Agni, Vāyu etc. who control the various forces of nature. The ritualistic cult proposes techniques of performing rituals, which are sourced from the Brāhmaṇa literature. It describes methods for performing yajñas and offerings to please the deities. In Veda, rituals and yajñas had received importance even though asceticism, detachment and the concept of liberation were slowly adopted and given a room in the path of purification. During the Aupanişadika period, the concept of spiritual living was introduced. Iśāvāsyam is the first effort to interfaith both traditions and the second is the Bhagavad-Gitā. The present Hindu religion with its developed concepts of renunciation, austerity, mokşa etc. establishes that it had adopted, absorbed and incorporated some of these doctrines from the Sramana tradition and developed them in a new form. Śramaņic Tradition: Many philosophical systems- Ājivika, Aupanișadika, Sānkhya, Yoga, Buddhist, Niganthas, etc. were the parts of the ancient Sramaņic tradition. Of these, the Ājivika sect is now extinct while Aupanişadika, Sānkhya and Yoga merged into the Vedic tradition. The word Nigantha or Nirgrantha was used only for the followers of Pārsva and Mahāvīra's tradition which came to be known as Jaina after the 6th - 7th century A.D. The later Śramaņaic tradition includes only Buddhism and Jainism. The Śramaņas worship Arihanta, so known as Ārhat. References to Ārhat, Vrātya, Vātarasanā Munis, etc. are found in the ægveda, showing their early existence. Even the seals of the Indus valley showing recluses performing austerities in the forest could perhaps be Śramaņas. Thus the antiquity of this tradition goes back to the earliest civilisation of India.
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1) Jain Sagarmal, Jain Dharma kā Samksipta Itihās: (Śajapur, Präcya Vidyapitha, 2003,
reprint 2012), pp. 4. II) G. Jawaharlal, Jainism - origin and Growth, (Rajmundry, Shri Laksmi Ganapati
IMAGES, 2014), pp. 45, fn., 29 - Rgveda, X, 9, 102.6.