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श्रीमद् विजयराजेन्द्रसरि-स्मारक-प्रंथ placos, he is said to be tawny in colour and other of a very fair complexion, with a beautiful chain, wearing golden ornaments, youthful and having spirally braided hair on his head. He carries in his hands a bow and arrows and is described in some hymns as wielding the thunderbolt. This type of Rudra can not be identified with the prototype Siva whose portraits are found on the seal because his attributes are quite different from the attributes stated in the Vēdas about Rudra, Rudra occupies the minor position in the Vēdic period but Sîva seems to be dominant among the people of the Indus Civilization. Siva with the puranio attributes can not be identified with the images on the seals because these puranas were composed about three thousand years after the Indus Civilization.
Historicity Of Supārsvanātha:
There are some legends about the Tirthankaras which may contain some historical matter. In the Mahavagga (1. 22. 13), there is & mention of a Jain temple of Lord Supăráva, the seventh Tirthankara situated at Rajagrih in the cime of Lord Buddha, At Mathurs, there is an old stupa of the Jains with the inscription of 157 A. D. This inscription records that an image of the Tirthankara Aranātha was set up at the stupa built by the gods. Thus, in 157 A. D., this stupa was so old that it was regarded as the work of the gods. It was probably, therefore, erected several centuries before the Christian era. The later authors give us some information about this stupa. Jinprabha in the Tirtha Kalpa, a work of the 14th century based on ancient materials mentions that the stupa originally of gold was erected in honour of the seventh Jina Supárývanātha by the Kubēra for two Jain Saints named Dharmaruchi and Dharmaghosh. In the time of twenty third Jina, Párśvanátha, the golden stupa was enclosed in bricks and a stone temple was built outside. Even Somadeva, the author of the Yaśastilaka who is nearly four hundred years earlier than Jinaprabha refers to it as built by gods. From this type of legendary account, it seems that there was the worship of Supārsvanātha several centuries before the Christian era. The Yajurvēda is also said to have mentioned
1. The Jain stupa & other antiquities of Mathura pp. 12-13. 2. Yabastilaka & Indian Culture P. 433.
