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MEDIEVAL JAINISM : CULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT
latching an inverse cone into an upright cone in such a way that their apexes touch each other's base. Since these cones have shortened central axes, a short distance from the heavy base to the weightless apex, the thrust of the line of force is made violent. With the aid of the crescendo and decrescendo movements of the lateral sides, the violent thrusts inside the cones also resist each other's gamma force face to face and neutralize at an invisible centre. This centre gets further emphasis by the symmetrical crossing of the lateral sides on it. This resistance and the dominance of the centre give visual weight to the seat.
Simultaneously, contracting and expending rhythm is generated in the seat owing to the above mentioned resilience and compression of gamma forces. This perception is dynamically aided by the encircling concentric ridges on the cones. This spring-effect is very perceptively utilized by the sculptor to give an upward thrust to the figure. The disc top of the seat plays a major role in furthering this upward movement. This well structured round is partly hidden by the figure, thus, producing a dynamic tension, towards its completion the sculptor has generated a revolving disc as the top of the seat. Further, distributing its gamma force evenly on the round edges, and becoming featherlight in the perception, this disc top lifts up aided by the powerful thrust of the victoriously dominant central vertical. Recounting the visual detachment of the levely figure from the several geometric and visually heavy base seat, it remains only to perceive the Udana--vital force working upward inside the body of Tirthankara to witness the ‘levitating Tirthankara' in retinal presence.
This vision of Emancipation, as perceived and manifested by the sculptor in the form of Tirthankara's Padmasana-posture, is accounted below :
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