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HISTORICAL & ETHNICAL ROOTS OF JAINISM 39
Jains paint the statues of their Tirthankars-blue, red, white, green and yellow. The symbol of this god is a bird, which also is the symbol of Tirthankars. The Pen-po sect also portrays their godly ancestors naked, painting their figures white or blue.
It is considered that the Pen-po religion can be called 'original Buddhism' but all the same, it is rather closer to Jainism. There are portrayals of Buddha, sitting on the throne, but on these thrones (as also on the pedestals of statues of
Tirthankars) symbolic signs portrayals of birds and animals are marked.
Although the Pen-po religion is nearly not studied at all, it is certain that there is no idea of the creator of the world in it, as also in Jainism. Pen-po is also similar to Jainism in that vegetarianism is strictly observed. In the patterns of ornaments which they plot on the house and on the utensils and on cloth etc. Swastikas, a motif is widespread. It is also often met with on ornaments and on various things from the Indus valley and on the things belonging to Jains and on the sculptures. The Thakurs consider that the saints of their faith are 'full ascetics' who, similar to Tirthankars, lead on to the path of salvation.
It is not clear to whom this group of Nepalese population ethnically belongs. They are described as little Mongolianised Indians,39 but they consider that their rulers come from Pandavas i.e. they trace themselves back to Indian and that too very ancient and probably pre-Aryan origin. Apparently they
89. D. Snellgrove, Himalayan Pilgrimage, p. 126.
40. The author has no doubt about the fact that the heroes of Mahabharat, the five Pandava brothers did not possess Aryan origin. First of all, their fathers are gods in the Epic—this is used as standard contrivance for Aryanisation of non-Aryan heroes, since anaemic prince Pandu, as their legitimate father cannot have posterity as a result of a curse by a sage. Moreover, their mother Kunti, judging from many signs, belonged to one of the pre-Aryan peoples, possibly one of the Dravidian peoples. She legalised the polyandric marriage of her sons. Besides, each of the sons is called 'Kaunteya' which means son of Kunti, and this confirms the belief that matriarchal lineage existed amongst the people to which Kunti belonged. In Mahabharat, a number of other distinctive indications are observed, regarding non-Aryan origin of Pandavas, one being their kinship and alliance with the dark skinned hero-god Krishna.
