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Brahmanical Deities in Jaina Pantheon and
Religious Art
Dr. Maruti Nandan Prasad Tiwari
Jainism has been one of the three principal religions of India. While much work has been done on Jaina philosophy and religion, Jaina art and iconography, specially in respect of the assimilation of Brahmanical legendary characters and deities in Jaina pantheon and consequently their expression in visual and iconic forms, have remained largely ignored. The nucleus of Jaina pantheon and so also the visual manifestation, representing the concretization of thought and myth into figurative and pictorial art, was the 24 Jinas or the Tirthankaras who were venerated as the devadhideva, the supreme deity. The Jainas further developed their pantheon by assimilating and transforming different Brahmanical legendary characters and deities in Jaina creed which could distinctly be gleaned through their vast literature as well as surviving visual imagery. But while doing so they had never compromised with their basic tenets of meditation and bodily abandonment represented by the Jinas who were vitaragis and hence were never shown as safty-bestowing and boon-conferring deities as was the case with Buddha, Siva, Visnu, Ganesa and others. The religion can thrive only with the support of the masses and this fact was very much in the minds of the Jaina acharyas. The majority in the masses go for different worldly or material possessions and achievements, which, however, could not be obtained from the worship of the vitaragi Jinas and hence several such deities were conceived to cater the need of masses. It was through the Sasanadevatas or the Yaksas and Yaksis, joining the Jinas on two flanks, that the worshippers can get the desired boons for different material achievements. This was a great social and religious requirement as well, which paved the way for vital mutual activities and understrnding between the principal religions of ancient times.
If we look at the ancient map of India, we come across several such sites which have yielded temples and sculptures of both the Brahmanical and Jaina affiliation, the most important of such sites are Mathura (U. P.), Osian (Ralasthan),
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