Lessons of Ahimsa and Anekanta for Contemporary Life

Author(s): Tara Sethia
Publisher: California State Polytechnic University Pomona

Page 131

Lessons of Ahimsā and Anekānta for Contemporary Life
small pot in his left hand, approaches the tank with his right hand outstretched. In the center of the surviving fragment is what appears to be an Ardhaphālaka monk of particularly high status, as he is seated on a cushion or platform under a tree." He has the water pot in his left hand and colapatta over his left forearm, while his right hand is raised to his shoulder holding the handle of a rajoharaṇa, whose bristles drape over his shoulder. He is being venerated by a layman, standing before him, clothed and bejeweled, with his hands pressed together in añjalīmudrā.
A more enigmatic depiction of an Ardhaphālaka monk is represented in Figure 10, where only the lower halves of three figures are visible on the back of a mythical serpentine creature riding through a rocky sylvan setting. The foremost figure is an Ardhaphālaka monk with his pot and colapatta, while seated behind him are a lay man and woman, who faces backwards.
Ardhaphālaka monks are also found in more iconic settings, in the central circles of sacred plaques called ayagapatas. 2 The one in Figures 11 and 12 dates to the early first century C.E., and it depicts the Jina Pārsva seated in meditative bliss while being venerated by two Ardhaphālaka monks. The monks are completely nude with the colapatta draped over each of their left forearms (Figure 12). Their hands are pressed together in añjalīmudrā, the gesture of adoration. As in all pre-Kushan depictions, the colapatta is not used to cover nudity, but is nevertheless constantly present.
By the Kushan Period of the second and third centuries C.E., however, the colapatta invariably covers the frontal nudity
" This presentation of the monk seated under a tree echoes the placement of divinities and sacred altars under trees. The Ardhaphālaka Jains of Mathura seem to have adopted the universally recognized idea of locating a holy being under a tree on a platform, as did the Buddhists in the placement of Siddhartha's enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. Here, however, a mere monk is depicted in such an exalted state, and his sanctity is further emphasized by his being worshipped by a lay person.
12 For a full discussion of āyāgapatas, see my "Āyagapatas: Symbolism, and Chronology," in Artibus Asiae, LX, 1990, pp. 79-137.
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