Mahavira and his Teaching

Author(s): C C Shah, Rishabhdas Ranka, Dalsukh Malvania
Publisher: Bhagwan Mahavir 2500th Nirvan Mahotsava Samiti

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FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON THE ICONOGRAPHY OF PARSVANATHA
Klaus Bruhn (Freie Universität Berlin)
There is a wide-spread opinion-more often implied than explicitely expressed-that the iconography of Jainism is not very rich. Such a prejudice is nourished by the practice of including without much enthusiasm a few photos of Jina-images in books on Indian art and of leaving it at that. It is only recently that the discovery of the Jaina bronzes of Western India and their presentation to the world of scholars by DR. UMAKANT P. SHAH have to some extent changed the situation. We have to admit that Buddhist art as well as Hindu art have produced more motifs than the art of Jainism. However, this difference in respect of degree does not justify sweeping judgements. It would of course not be quite correct to say that Jaina iconography is rich simply because in addition to the Jinas many Jaina deities are represented. No doubt this is an important element in Jaina iconography. But one should not overlook the fact that the Jina iconography (iconography of the Tirthankaras or Jinas as distinct from the iconography of Jaina deities) shows in itself much more variety than is generally assumed1. Unfortunately such a statement cannot be substantiated in a short article. Nevertheless, the reader will feel that in the present inquiry two themes are interwoven, one more general (variety in the iconography of the Jina Parsvanatha), one more specialized (a peculiar type of Pārsvanatha-image). Before setting forth the argument I would like to thank DR. GRITLI VON MITTERWALLNER (Munich University) for a few valuable suggestions.
1. KLAUS BRUHN, The Jina-Images of Deogarh, E.J. Brill Leiden (1969), pp. 3-4. Below, this book will be referred to as "Deograh monograph" or (in the case of quotations) as Deogarh.
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