________________
83
SYMBOL WORSHIP IN JAINISM
with a big Mangala-Kalasa, like Tablet VIII showing the Svastika), the Caitya-Vrksa, as also the Mother of the Jina, and the Jina himself. This worship of Silapatas was extended to monks of repute as can be seen from a Tablet representing a monk Kanha Samana, illustrated by Smith, Jaina Stupa, Pl. XVII. no. 21.
According to the Aupapatika, Šila-patas Šila.patas are placed on a simhasana, under the shade of the Aśoka-tree in the garden (vana-khanda) of a Caitya. They are beautiful in appearance with representations of wolves, bulls, horses, nara-makaras (half-human crocodiles), birds, kinnaras rurus and of creepers like the vanalată, padma.lată etc. They are (sometimes) of an octagonal shape. Abhayadeva Süri, the commentator, notes a Sanskrit-version of another reading of this text, in which it is said that the patta is beautiful to look at on account of its räpaka (images, designs, relief- representations) and prati-rapaka (?) and shining with an ornamental net-work of pearls. attached on all sides. With the help of Dr. Agrawala's reading of the inscription on the Tablet set up by Vasu, if the Ayagapata is identified with a Silapata, then, we must accept-and it appears more probable-that these Tablets of Homage were probably not meant for the interior of a shrine. (ie. the sanctum) but were assigned a special position under a Caityatree as is suggested by reliefs from Bhårhut. Worship of Trees being very old, it is but natural to suppose that worship of some sort of Tabletsrepresentations, clay models etc., under Caitya-trees was an ancient practice which, when adopted by the Jainas, took the form of worship of the beautiful Ayagapatas. That these Ayagapatas are the Silapatas of Jaina canons is further confirmed by the fragment of a Tablet No. 2313 in the Mathura Mussum.
It is interesting to note that Inscr. No. 18 of Bühler, New Jaina Inscriptions from Mathura, Ep. Ind. Vol. I, p. 390, speaks of a Silä-patta installed in a spot sacred to the Dadhikarpa-Naga, which shows that the practice of installing such Silapattas was not confined to the Jainas alone, and had its origin in the ancient Yaksha-Naga Cult. The "Aryaka" or "Ayaka' patas from the Buddhist sites of Amaravati and Nagarjunikonda can now be regarded as deriv. ed (like the Jaina Ayagapaṭas) from the ancient Šilāpaṭas.
1 Also see, Jaina Siddhanta Bhaskara, Vol. VIII. No. 2. pp. 64-65 paper on Arddha-phälaka-sampradaya by Sri K. P. Jaina. This Tablet is dated in the year 95, Ep. Ind. I, no. 22.
See Aupapatika sülra, sūtra 5, quoted above on p. 81.
Aupapatika saira, pp. 10-11, see the description of Siläpaṭṭa cited in the discussion on Caitya-vrksas. The description of the Pürgabhadra Caitya and the Silapatta with the high polish is genuine and old and refers at least to the age of Mahavira, cf. Shah, U.P., So-called Mauryan Polish in Jaina Literature, Journal of the M. S. University of Baroda, June 1955.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
