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194: JAINS TODAY IN THE WORLD
To these eight auspicious signs, Jains add the happy dreams that the mother of a Tīrthankara had, before the birth of her child. There are fourteen dreams for the Švetāmbara, sixteen for the Digambara. So, Trisalā, Mahāvīra's mother, saw a white elephant symbolizing his strength, a white bull his endurance and power, a lion his courage and heroism, goddess Lakşmi the prosperity he would afford on material and spiritual levels, a garland of fragrant flowers the beauty of his soul, the sun his radiance, the moon the luminosity of his teachings, a flag his inspiration for the erection of temples, a golden vessel full of boiled water his great purity, a lake covered with lotuses that the harvests will be good, an ocean of milk his immense goodness, a celestial vehicle the descent to earth of a good soul, a heap of jewels his large contribution to the wealth of the country and a glittering fire that he will burn all his impurities and bad “karma”. The Digambara add to these dreams that of a throne covered with diamonds and rubies and that of a great king to symbolize his majesty. They also replace the flag with two fishes and assert that there were two vessels of pure water instead of one.
We may cite also, among Jain symbols, the eight signs of veneration (aşta-pratihārya) that celestial beings create when a Tīrthankara attains omniscience. Those signs are manifested by: a big tree to shadow celestial beings, human beings and all animal kingdom when they are assembled on the "samavasarana” for hearing the discourses of the Jina, a shower of fragrant flowers to flavour the area, a divine sound to accompany his discourses, the company of two gods on each side waving fans in gratitude and honour for him and to refresh the atmosphere, a throne made of gold and embedded with precious jewels to enable him to sit down, a divine halo surrounding him so that his face be visible to all and celestial drums to play joyous melodies in the sky.
Another very important symbol-sign for the Jains is the representation of the universe in the form of what they call a "cosmic man” (lokapuruşa). It has the shape of a man standing, legs apart and
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