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JAINA AND BRAHMAŅICAL ART : A STUDY
IN MUTUALITY
Maruti Nandan Pd. Tiwari
The core of the Jaina pantheon and so also the visual manifestations representing the concretization of thoughts and myths into figurative and pictorial art, was the 24 Jinas or the Tirthankaras who were venerated as the Devādhideva, the invincible supreme deities, The Jainas further developed their pantheon by assimilating and transforming different Brāhmanical legendary characters and deities in Jaina pantheon. It is to be remembered that while embracing Brāhmaṇical deities, the Jainas have never compromised with their basic tenets of meditation and bodily abandonment represented best by the vītarāgi Jinas who were free from passions and desires and who could aeither favour nor frown at any body. It is for this reason that the Jinas were never shown as safety-bestowing or boonconferring deities as was the case with Buddha, Siva, Višnu, Ganesa and others. But at the same time religion can thrive only with the active support of the masses and this fact was very much in the winds of the Jaina ācāryas. The majority of the worshippers aspire for worldly and material possessions from the deities they worship which, however, could not be obtained from the worship of the vītarāgi Jinas and hence several other deities were conceived and incorporated in Jaina pantheon to cater to the need of the common worshippers. It was done through the induction of the śåsanadevatás or the yakşas and yakşīs, joining the Jinas on two flanks as guardian deities. They bestow upon the worshippers the desired boons. This socio-religious requirement paved the way for assimilation and mutual understanding between the Brāhmaṇical and Jaina sects. The present paper endeavours to make a succinct study of such assimilations on the basis of literature and art examples.
If we look at the ancient map of India we come across several such sites which have yielded temples and gamut of sculptures related to both the Brāhmanical and Jaina sects, the most important of them being-Mathurā (U.P.), Osiāñ (Rajasthan), Ellorā (Maharăstra), Khajuraho (M.P.), Aihole, Halebiñ and Badāmi (Karnataka). Besides, Deogarh (U.P.), the Vimalvasāhi and Lüņavasābi (Rajasthan) Tarangā (Ajitanatha temple) and Kumbbāriā (Gujarat) and Śravaņabelagola (Karnatak) were the Jaina sites of great consequence which
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