Studies in Jaina Art

Author(s): Umakant P Shah
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

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A BRIEF SURVEY OF JAINA ART IN THE NORTH
gathered at Vedic sacrifices but from the masses who believed in the worship of Yaksas, Nagas, etc. It was, therefore, natural that the essentials of this Yaksa or Nāga cults were incorporated in Jaina worship.
Hence in order to understand the meaning of symbols and idols in early Jaina worship we must understand the essentials of the Yakṣa cult. Dr. Coomaraswamy has discussed the significance underlying the conception of Nāgas and Yaksas in his Yaksas I and II. The various references to the ancient Yakṣas etc. in Jaina literature have been discussed by me in another paper published in the Journal of the Oriental Institute, Vol. III, No. 1 (1953), pp. 54-71. I have suggested in this paper that the conception of the Jina or the Buddha under a Caitya-tree is essentially a borrowing from this Yakṣa cult. This cult of worshipping Caitya-Vrksas and spirits of Vṛksas, (standing) under the trees, seems to have been at least as old as the seals from Mohen-jo-Dāro and Harappa. The red-stone mutilated torso from Harappa, so much like a Jina torso, might actually have represented some yakṣa devată.
So we must first try to understand the conception of Caitya and CaityaVrksa in Jaina art and literature. Since Stupa worship is very ancient, anterior to Buddha and Mahavira, and since, as we shall see presently, the Stupa is a Caitya, we must also study Stupa worship in Jainism. We shall then pass on to the worship of Patas or plaques-especially the Ayagapatas, which are associated with the ancient Caitya worship which are amongst the earliest Jaina antiquities discovered from Mathura.
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We shall next pass on to other symbols like the Aṣṭamangals, the Samavasarana, the Auspicious Dreams etc.
Such a study of the symbols reveals to us the underlying common heritage in the art and ritual of the Indian masses-Jainas, Buddhists or the Hindus. Origins of some of these concepts date from a hoary antiquity and their later development in Indian art and ritual can only be grasped with the help of studies in this direction.
It may also be remembered that for a study of the original conceptions behind such symbols as the caitya-vṛkşa, the lotus etc., we must also refer to the Vedic literature, for assimilation of ideas and concepts has been an unbroken process in Indian art and literature produced by different sects. not possible here to discuss such concepts from literatures of all the three sects and as far as possible we will limit ourselves to the study of evidence supplied by Jaina art and literature.
Kramrisch, Stella, Indian Sculpture, figs. 5, 7, 8.
2 Ibid., fig. I.
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