________________ The Jaina Tantric Yantras : 209 his is shown the Siddha in red colour. On the right is shown the Acarya in yellow, to the left Upadhyaya in blue and at the bottom Sadhu in black. Remaining four petals, in the inter-mediary directions, are inscribed with the salutations to the four doctrinal principals of right knowledge, faith, practice and austerity. In the Digambara scheme these are replaced by Jina image, Jina temple, dharmacakra and the sruta (the scripture). The Rsimandala, the Vardhamana-vidya and the Surimantra are the three most popular tantric diagrams worshipped by the monks. The Vardhamana-vidyapatas mostly date from the middle of the thirteenth century; but its antiquity can be traced back to the first century A.D.2 The Vardhamana-vidya is recited on the occasion of conferring the title of an upadhyaya on a Jaina monk. In the Vardhamana-vidyapata, the principal figure of Mahavira Vardhamana occupies the central position. Similarly in the Surimantra, the obeisance is paid to Gautama, who occupies the central position in the diagram. The Rsimandala Yantra incorporates all the twenty-four Jinas along with the pancaparamesthins. In this yantra the twenty-four Jinas are shown seated on the figure of Om hris in the centre. Om hrim is the key syllable which is derived from Om arham. It represents the pancaparamesthins. It is a beautiful depiction of the two major elements mentioned above of the Rsimandala -yantra. This yantra also incorporates a number of syllables and antonations including the thirty-two enigmatic syllables beginning with kmlvryum to Ksmlvryum (it excludes na and la). All these bija-mantra and kutaksaras are common to both the Hindu and the Buddhist mystic diagrams. Besides the Navakara and mystic syllables, the Jaina mantra and yantra (patas) also incorporates Yaksa-yaksi, Vidyadevis, Dikapalas, and Navagrahas. Brahamanical dieties like Siva, Brahma, Bhairava, Sixty-four yoginis have also made their way in various mystic diagram of the Jainas in the later medieval period. 1. M.A. Dhaky, "The Jina image and the Nirgrantha agamic and hymnic imagery", in the Sastric Tradition in Indian Art, Heidelberg, 1985, 104. 2. U.P. Shah, "Vardhamana-vidya Pata", JISOA, Vol. IX, 1941, 50-51. Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org
