Life of Lord Mahavira

Author(s): Sarabhai Manilal Nawab
Publisher: Sarabhai Manilal Nawab

Page 53

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The Life of Lord Sri Mahāvira
Naigameşa the short form of the name Hariņaigameşin, is the name of a Yaksa known from the time of the Atharva Veda, where he appears as a ramheaded creature-elsewhere with a horse's head. With the name Naigameșa should be connected the name Naigameya, applied to the war god Skanda. So, too, the vehicle of Hariņaigameşin is the peacock (Br. fig. 15) which is also that of Skanda. In various ways connections are indicated between Hariņaigameşin and Căgamukha, Agnimukha, Sanatakumāra (Skanda, Chand. Up. VII. 26. 2), Suşeņa (Rām. IV, 22. 42; VII. 2). Māņibhadra, the Buddha Sankusumita, Pradyumna and Pancaşikha. Hariņaigameşin is a composite figure, the son of a great deity, who becomes the leader of the army of some god or of the gods, and at the same time is associated with the procreation of children and the use of herbs. In our story he functions both as a general and as a deity of procreation.
For the literature on Hariņaigameşin, see : Winternitz, M., Journ. Roy, Asiatic Soc., pp. 149 ff., 1895; Hopkins, E. W., Epic Mythology, pp. 119, 228 ff., Keith, A. B., Religion and Philosophy of the Veda, p. 242; Mukhopadhyāya, Indian Hist. Quart., vol. 7, pp. 309-318; Epigraphia Indica II. 314 ff.; Barnett, L. D., The antagadadasão p. 67; Smith, V. A., The Jain Stupa of Mathura, plate XVII; Lalou, L'iconographie des etoffes peintes (pata) dans le Manjuśrīmülakalpa, pp. 66-70; Coomaraswamy, A. K. Yakşas pt. 1, pp. 10, 12; Sh. p. 21. Four very early sculptural representations of Hariņaigameşin and a female counterpart, from Kushana times, are reproduced in Sh. pl. XXVI. (The exchange episode in our story recalls the legends of Krishna is infancy,)
A red back-ground with part of the sky depicted in ultramarine; Indra is seated on a beautifully worked simhasana, facing to the right, in his upper right hand he holds a goad and in the left, a noose, in the lower right hand, a naked sword, and in the left, a bijora fruit; he wears a mukuta, a light scarf and a blue dhoti worked with the geese pattern, and ornaments. On the right stands Hariņaigamesa with folded hands.
The picture is very carefully drawn, and the decorative design on the costumes filled in with a similar care.
ચિત્ર ૨૩. શકાઝા. નવાબ ૧ના પાના ૧૩ ઉપરથી.
વર્ણન માટે જુઓ ઉપરનાં ચિત્ર ૨૨નું આ પ્રસંગને લગતું વર્ણન. Fig. 23. SMN. 1, 13. Sakra commands Hariņaigameşin. The treatment is essentially the same as that in our figure 22.
ચિત્ર ૨૪ હરિણગમેષિન, સોહન. પાના ૧૧ ઉપરથી. ચિત્રમાં પરિણમેષિનું બે હાથમાં આકાશમાર્ગે ગર્ભ લઈને જતો દેખાય છે. તેના પગની નીચેના ભાગમાં પહાડની આકૃતિ તથા બંને બાજુ સુંદર ઝાડ ચિત્રકારે ચીતરેલાં છે. તેને આકાશમાર્ગે ચાલતા હોવાનો બતાવવા માટે હંસપક્ષીની ડિઝાઈનવાળા તેના ઉત્તરાસંગના બંને છેડાઓને ચિત્રમાં ઊડતા બતાવેલા છે.
Fig. 24. Soh. 11. Hariņaigameşin carrying the embryo. Hariņaigameşin carrying the
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