23 Oct JAINISM, RELIGION OF NON VIOLENCE
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1. TRIPTYCH WITH PARSVA AND TWO JINAS
Gujarat,9th – 10th century
Copper alloy
23,4 cm
Price on request
In the center sits Parsva, the 23rd Tirthankara, identifiable by the cobra-hooded crown on his head. He is flanked by two Jina, protected by umbrellas, who wear garments covering their hips and legs, identifying them as members of the Svetambara sect (“clad in white”). The throne on which Parsva sits, flanked by two female attendants, is supported by two lions. On the lower part, the eight planets are visible at the center, with Parsva’s two yaksha on either side: Sarvanubhuti on the left and Ambika, holding a child, on the right.
2. ALTAR WITH RISHABANATH, THE FIRST OF THE 24 TIRTHANKARA
Bihar,9th century
Bronze
19,4 cm
Price on request
On the back, the inscription reads: donated by “Sadhuka”
Provenance:
The Jina collection
On loan to the Freer Gallery of Art, Arthur M. Sackler, Smithsonian Institution, Washington
Frederick Schultz & Peter Marks Gallery
Siddharth K. Bhansali collection
Private Italian collection
Of the bronze Dr. Pratapaditya Pal elegagantly writes: “One of the most elaborate of the ensambles to have survived from eastern india, the sculpture is a lively composition with Rishabhanatha as the central Jina… in contrast to his unwavering meditative stance,two lively attendant flywhisk bearers in swaying postures fan him on either side…
The two seated divine acolytes on either side…symbolize prospeity and wellbeing, the male on the Jina’s right by his robust body and the other a female with a child. Both the sects of Jainism identify the Yaksha and the Yakshi attendants of Rishabha as Gomukha and Chakreshvari, but the figures here are clearly Sarvanubhuti and Ambika.”
3. ALTAR WITH RISHABANATH
Gujarat, 13th century
Copper alloy
27,5 cm
Price on request
Private Italian collection
Rishabhanath, also called Adinath, is according to Jain cosmology the first of the 24 tirthankaras of the present time cycle. The Jina is placed in the center of the altar surrounded by the other 23 tirthankaras some upright others seated. Below the throne where Rishabhanath sits is visible the bull, his distinctive symbol, and on the base are the eight planets. The structure of the altar, although more elaborate, is the same as the altars produced in Gujarat between the 14th and 18th centuries (Pages 64 – 67 of the catalog).
4. JINA IN KAYOTSARGA POSITION
Karnataka, 9th century
Copper alloy
22,5 cm
Price on request
The Jina stands in the position of “abandonment of the body” (kayotsarga). It is naked because it is free from attachment to the world, and motionless because movement creates karma. The arms are parallel to the body but do not touch it, and the legs are spread apart, signifying that all physical and spiritual attachment has been transcended. It is a Jina from the Digambara sect (“clad in air”), and the absence of its distinguishing symbol (lakana) at the base prevents its identification.
5. JINA WITH DEVOTIONAL SCENE
Northern India, 11th-12th century
Sandstone, 55 by 38 cm
Ex Lionel Perrotte Collection, France
Price on request
Leaning against a temple wall, the Jina is in the kayotsarga position, of “abandonment of the body”, naked like the Tirthankaras of the Digambara sect, immobile because eternal. Sculpted in depth, the body seems to detach itself from the background; it is soft, balanced, slightly stylized so as to accentuate the sensation of both physical and spiritual harmony. He is flanked by four other Jinas to compose that symmetry which consistently inspires the art of Jainism. His head is covered by the triple umbrella of “Right Faith, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct”.
Below, on the base covered with an embroidered cloth where the Tirthankara’s feet rest, an intense devotional scene is depicted. On the right, three crouching figures have their heads bent forward and their hands joined as a sign of veneration. Immediately behind on the left, another devotee sits in front of an ascetic, as if to receive his blessing. Dance scenes are summarily carved at both ends.
The Jina on the right is in the posture of “body abandonment” (kayotsarga) in front of a portal with two columns decorated with leaves of the Ashoka tree (saraca asoca), also called the “painless tree” and considered a sacred plant throughout India. The leaves of the Ashoka tree appear mainly in the Jain art of northern India, and their presence on the columns around this small sculpture allows it to be placed in this artistic area.
The Jina is sculpted in the round, the full and well-shaped body points to a sensual realism rather than to a model of ideal spirituality, while the face has an expression that could be said to be absent but at the same time deeply present. The head is covered with curls, the lobes are elongated, the shoulders gently rounded, and the hands and feet molded in detail.
7. PAIR OF STANDING JINAS
12th-13th century
South India, Karnataka
Stone, H. 12 cm
Price on request
In the stele, the two Jinas retain a certain physicality but their shoulders are squarer, their arms longer, and their bodies stylized in the fashion characteristic of Jain statues from Karnataka. The impression is that of two figures beyond space and time—motionless in eternity as Jain philosophy dictates.
8. ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENT WITH THREE JINAS
Gujarat or Rajasthan, 15th century
Marble, 51.5 by 23 cm
Price on request
In Jain temples the statues of the Tirthankaras are set in chapels or altars that are accessed through a portal carved with various images, and this fragment is a part of one such portal. All the figures are placed in niches separated by columns and carved in deep high relief. The offset between the three niches where the Jinas sit and the ones on either side breaks up the rigidity of the structure and adds a sense of movement accentuated by the natural play of light and shadow. The portal is thus an elaborate frame that enhances by contrast the absolute simplicity of the statues of the Jinas placed in the center. Three Tirthankaras sit in staggered niches, flanked by pairs of attendants.
To the right, supported by a shelf, protrudes an elephant topped by a mythological animal (yali). The passage of centuries, but especially devotional rubbing by the devotees, have smoothed the Jinas’ features, lending a pleasant softness to the marble. The style of the columns, which seem to be made of stacked sections, is typical of the Jain and Hindu temples of Rajasthan and Gujarat. The robes worn by the attendants suggest that the temple from which this fragment comes belonged to the Shvetambara sect.
Published :
Tirthankara. Jain art from Italian collections, pag 24.
9. STANDING JINA IN KAYOTSARGA
Rajasthan
XV secolo
Marmo di Makrana
Cm. 26
Price on request
In the niche formed by two slender columns topped by a very elaborate arch is one of two attendants who sometimes flank a Jina. He has broad shoulders and narrow hips, his long arms and very long legs lend him added momentum. For centuries the hands of devotees have caressed him, making the marble soft, shiny, almost transparent. Thus this body, intrinsically ethereal in form, becomes almost evanescent. On his hips he wears the robe of the Shvetambara monks with a zig-zag cord falling down between his legs.
Everything appears tiny in the face of his height, such as the chauri bearer to his right, whose dynamism contrasts with the stillness of the sacred attendant. On the same side, higher up, an elephant trumpets with its trunk raised, and a fantastic animal (yali) seems to want to emerge from the stone.
10. SHRI SIMANDHARA SWAMI
Gujarat
Early 20th century
Marble, H. 23 cm
Price on request
The Jina Simandhara lives in the region called Mahavideha (Land of Knowledge) next to Mount Meru, he is 150,000 years old and must spend another 125,000 years before his karma is exhausted and his soul-jiva returns to its original purity. His life—or rather the purification process that went through countless rebirths—is legendary and described in a number of texts. This statue depicts him in the classical lotus posture. His elongated lobes are a sign of wisdom, and on his chest stands out the shrivatsa, a stylized flower symbolizing infinite Knowledge blossoming from his heart. The face is animated by a slight smile, which in a sense makes it “human” even though, according to the canons, a Tirthankara is by nature imperturbable.
The statue still bears traces of the polychromy that once covered it, as is traditional for marble images especially in Rajasthan. The robe covering the patron’s hips identifies the image as belonging to the Svetambara sect. The Gujarati inscription engraved on the throne bears his name.
Published :
Tirthankara. Jain art from Italian collections, pag 60.
11. SHANTI
Rajasthan
Dated 1471 (Samvat 1528)
Marble
36 by 31 by 15 cm
Price on request
Shantinath, the sixteenth Tirthankara, recognizable by the antelope carved in the center of the cushion, meditates in the “lotus position” (padmasana). It is carved as if it were a real body, with full, well-shaped volumes but so light that it seems almost suspended, not least because of the diaphanous color of the stone. At the center of his chest stands out the shrivatsa, symbol of the Perfect Knowledge of the Tirthankaras. The eyes are open but the gaze is turned to infinity since the Jinas have no contact with the world. Around the hips can be seen the folds of the thin undergarment, a sign that the statue was intended for a temple of the Svetambara sect.
Inscriptions on the four sides of the cushion show the name of the Jina and the year in which the work was consecrated.
On the bright 10th of Phālguṇa (February-March) in VS 1529 [= 1473 CE], the laywoman Nāraṃgade, the mother of [Āryikā] Jinamati [who is/was] the student of Āryikā Kalyāṇaśrī, [who was] initiated by Ācārya Vidyānandi of the Mūla Sangha and in the lineage of Kundakunda Ācārya, had this image of Śāntinātha consecrated.
12. ARCH OF A TEMPLE PORTAL
Rajasthan
18th-19th century
Makrana Marble
66 by 123 by 15 cm
Price on request
In India the entrance to a temple, whether Hindu, Jain, or Buddhist, consists of a finely carved arched portal (torana). Whilst similar to the “arch of triumph,” which from Roman Imperial times was a symbol or celebration of a victorious leader, in India the arch is stripped of its secular significance and becomes a symbol of access to a sacred, spiritual space. This arch structure (parikara) is thus the upper part of the Jain temple gate. The arch is divided into four sections which start and end in the mouths of eight elephants. In the center and at the top are three aediculae with the figures of as many Jinas of the Digambara (“sky-clad”) sect. It has the sinuous shape of a serpent and is covered with lotus petals resembling the scales and crest of a primordial dragon from which the eternal figures of the three Jinas emerge.
The three snake heads above the central figure allow it to be identified as Parsvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankara who has this very reptile as his distinctive symbol. In the back, behind each aedicula, is carved a large srhivatsa (one of the eight auspicious symbols of Jainism) a symbol of Knowledge that like a lotus or diamond blooms from the chest of each Tirthankara. The lavishness of the carving harks back to the great Jain shrines of Mount Abu and Ranakpur, true architectural gems carved with the same refined precision with which a piece of jewelry is worked. The pursuit of aesthetic perfection is on the other hand an important element in Jain devotion, which holds that the more precious the material of a temple or statue, the greater its effectiveness in acquiring positive karma. The marble with which it was carved came from quarries in Makrana and is the same marble used in major Indian monuments such as the Taj Mahal.
Published:
Tirthankara. Jain art from Italian collections, pag 46.
13. A DIVINE ACOLYTE
North India, 11th-12th century
Sandstone, H. 51 cm
Price on request
This statue belongs to the category of minor figures that in medieval times covered the walls of both Hindu and Jain temples. Female chauri bearers and dancers, flying beings, temple guardians, mythological animals and many others had the purpose of celebrating divine glory. It is in the classic posture of the Indian sculpture “of the triple bend”, a symbol of movement and harmony. It wears the long Brahmanic cord and on the chest protrudes the Jain shrivatsa.
Similar examples: The Peaceful Liberators, pag. 192
14. TEMPLE GUARDIAN
Gujarat, Patan, 11th-12th secolo
Sandstone, 57 by 28 cm
Price on request
The Patan area is renowned for the quality of its architecture in wood and stone, worked with extraordinary skill as in this exquisite fragment of a portal. It represents one of the two guardians (Dvarapala) placed on the entrance columns of the temple, holding a long club with which he drove away or announced a visitor. He stands inside a niche with an arch chiseled like a jewel, even if it is made of stone, and is flanked by two female chauri bearers covered in rich jewels.
15. ALTAR WITH STANDING JINA
Karnataka, 14th-15th century
Bronze casting, H. 29 cm
Price on request4
Standing in the posture of “abandonment of the body,” the Jina is naked because he is free of all attachment, he is motionless because movement defiles the spirit, he is expressionless because he is free of all feeling. Thus the Jina’s body, while retaining its human aspect albeit stylized with pure lines, becomes a model, a concept, a spiritual ideal that the believer must reflect within himself to cleanse himself from karma. It is useless to turn to a Jina and ask him to fulfill a prayer because he is now pure spirit, uncreated, immortal and devoid of thought because thought too is a source of karma.
In this altar, the Jina is protected by a triple umbrella symbolizing Right Faith, Right Knowledge, and Right Conduct. Beside his shoulders he has two flabellums. The two figures at his feet are his attendants, deities co-opted from the Hindu pantheon. The left, female one has four arms while the right, male one has two. The contrast between the rigid, motionless body of the Jina and the dance-like “triple bend” (tribhanga) posture of the Hindu gods highlights two different philosophical and artistic visions. The inflexible Jain asceticism is expressed with a rigidity that seeks to transcend the body, while Hindu art favors forms animated by a joyful vitality.
16. Altar with Shanti and the 24 Tirthankaras (Chaturvimshati-Patta)
Gujarat, dated 1532
Bronze alloy with silver and copper
26.5 by 17 by 6.5 cm
The metal “altars” with the full set of 24 Tirthankaras reproduce the shape of the entrance of temples and of the cells where the sacred images (parikara) are placed. Their production began in Gujarat and Rajasthan around the fifteenth century, when the demand for images to be donated to public temples or for domestic ones became consistent. In the center sits Shanti—the 16th Tirthankara—in meditation, identified by the deer, his distinctive symbol carved beneath the throne supported by elephants and lions. He is the only figure in the round; he has silver eyes and a silver shrivatsa on his chest and is protected by a parasol on which two elephants pour lustral water. The central part that includes Shanti flanked by two seated and two standing Jinas is separated by a floral serpentine, as these five figures are considered the Five Supreme Beings of Jainism (Panchatirtha). The robes worn on the hips by the two upright Tirthankaras indicate that the altar was dedicated to a temple of the Shvetambara sect.
The other 19 Tirthankaras are on two side rows and in the tympanum. As its very name implies (Shanti = Peace, Natha = Lord), the Tirthankara Shanti is associated with peace, the disappearance of calamities and evil feelings. According to the texts recounting his life, Shanti is the 16th of the 24 Tirthankaras of the current cosmic cycle, and they place him in a time so remote that, according to our concept of time, he is considered outside of History. He was 37 meters tall and in his last incarnation lived hundreds of thousands of years before reaching Liberation (moksha). The altar is divided into sectors and squares, where each individual figure has its own space, as on a chessboard. This representation reflects the search for harmony through a geometric order typical of Jain cosmology. The symmetrically arranged figures are all pierced and appear as if hovering in the air with an effect that lightens the complexity of the altar. From the inscription on the back, the altar was commissioned in 1532 for the Anand village temple in Gujarat.
Similar examples:
Steps To Liberation, pag. 158
Victorious Ones, pag. 202
It is a small altar divided into two parts that can be joined: the empty altar as a frame with two upright Tirthankaras, and the statuette of a Jina sitting in the lotus posture that can be inserted or removed from the altar. It was probably a small travel altar. It is badly worn and the inscriptions on the back cannot be deciphered.
18. ALTAR OF SHANTI
Gujarat, dated 1448
Bronze, silver, and copper, H.18 cm
Price on request
Sitting in meditation at the center is Shanti, the 16th Tirthankara identified by the dedication engraved on the back. He is flanked by two sitting and two standing Jinas. The inscription on the back tells us that it was donated by Shri Vidha Sarsuri.
19. ALTAR OF ADINATH
Gujarat, dated 1511
Bronze, silver, and copper
H.14,7 cm
Prezzo su richiesta
This is an altar dedicated to Adinatha (Rishabha) the first of the 24 Tirthankaras, presented by Shri Rataneshi Surishwar, as we learn from the inscription on the back. It has the same structure as the other one, but the gold color of the metal and the light filtering through the profiles of the figures create an effect of luminous sacredness.
PAINTINGS
20. “TWO AND A HALF CONTINENTS”” (Adhaidvipa)
Gujarat, 17th – 18th century
distemper on cotton
cm 87 x 93
Price on request
21. “TWO CONTINENTS AHD A HALF” (Adhaidvipa)
Rajasthan, 19th – 20th century
distemper on cotton
cm 44 x 48
Price on request
22. HALL OF UNIVERSAL SERMON (Samavasarana)
Rajasthan, early 20th century
Distemper on cotton, 84 by 72 cm
Price on request
The painting illustrates the first sermon a Jina gives after obtaining Perfect Knowledge, although due to the lack of a specific symbol it is not possible to determine which Tirthankara it is. The sermon pavilion consists of three concentric rings, divided by crenellated walls. At their center on a high platform, the emblem of Mount Meru, sits the Tirthankara. Four of them are present in the painting, because his message is addressed to the four cardinal points, to the whole world. Access to each ring is via four flights of steps, and beside each entrance two elephants with a lotus blossom in their trunks welcome the devotees. The outer ring is occupied by sedan chairs and chariots of various shapes, symbolizing the world of men and gods who have come to hear the holy words, while the second ring is populated only by animals and birds of all species. Lastly, in the third one Hindu deities, laymen, aristocrats, nuns and monks appear, dressed in the white robes of the Shvetambara sect.
On the central flower-covered platform four crowned gods and goddesses raise their flabella to honor the Tirthankaras. Outside the pavilion are several temples with images of Tirthankaras (one of these temples includes all 24 of them), their footprints, drums, ritual lamps and pools with lotus flowers. The two inscriptions at the top and bottom indicate “The Gateway of Dharma”, and the four along the outer walls recite the four rules of Jainism: “I pay homage to Knowledge, Austerity, Right Conduct, and Right Faith”. When the Tirthankara teaches the Doctrine the whole world gathers to hear him. The painting is thus a representation of the Jain faith and of the universal value of its principles.
Similar examples:
Steps to Liberation pag. 169
The Peaceful Liberators pag. 236
The Jain Cosmology, pag. 45
23. YANTRA WITH MANTRA
Rajasthan
20th century
Ink and distemper on cotton
47 by 37 cm
Price on request
The painting is a diagram (yantra) revolving around Mount Meru—the gold-colored circle in the center with the mystic syllables HRIM and OM on the four cardinal points—from which four squares spread out and overlap. This first pattern is set in a square that appears to be formed by thick walls resembling the structure of a mandala. At the outer corners are four Jinas above which numerical formulas can be seen. This first yantra is enclosed in a square with concave sides where four groups of three Jinas are painted.
Finally, on the outside are verse invocations (mantras) addressed to some Tirthankaras, Hindu deities and Jain Enlightened Beings. A yantra is a graphic pattern-ritual diagram sometimes associated with a formula to be recited (mantra) that a master teaches to a lay student or priest. Yantra and mantra contain mystical but also magical power that helps those who recite it, meditate on it or carry it with them as a talisman.
24. THE 24 TIRTHANKARAS
Rajasthan, 19th century
Distemper and gold on paper
50 by 39 cm
Price on request
According to Jainism, during some of the six periods that make up a cosmic cycle, twenty-four Tirthankaras “Creators of the Ford” manifest themselves, the ford allowing them to cross the current of rebirths. They are uncreated and immortal Beings, devoid of any physical character linked to worldly reality. They are Masters, Prophets, examples of that moral perfection to which every faithful Jain must aspire. They are therefore all alike and indistinguishable, but the need to make them recognizable in the historical cycle in which they live associates them with 24 distinctive symbols (lanchana). In this painting the 24 Tirthankaras are divided into five rows, placed in chronological order, from the progenitor Adinatha-Rishabha, the first on the upper left, to the 24th, Mahavira, the last on the lower right. The Tirthankaras enclose like a frame the 24 distinguishing symbols, divided into four columns and placed in the same order from the first, the bull of Rishabha, to the lion of Mahavira, the last of our era.
In art, the distinctive symbols are placed on the base of the thrones supporting the Thirthankaras, but are sometimes missing when they have been erased by time. Below, next to a pair of white elephants facing a trident, a male deity with four arms and a female deity with eight, the latter sitting on a lotus blossom. These are Hindu deities assimilated into the Jain pantheon, who became assistants (yaksha and yakshi) to the Masters. Above, enclosed in a golden scroll, is an invocation (mantra) to those spiritual figures (Arihants and Tirthankaras) who have attained perfect purity of the soul. The painting is a synoptic picture of Jain Masters represented according to a geometric and symmetrical division of Jain art, a symbol of harmony and balance, mitigated in this case by a pleasant chromatic taste.
Similar examples:
Being Jain, pag 29
25. ADORATION OF PARSVANATHA
Rajastan, Mewar school
19th century
Distemper and gold on paper
22 by 31 cm
Price on request
Parsvanatha is the 23rd Tirthankara, recognizable by the seven cobra heads that protect him. He sits inside a “cave” formed by the intertwined coils of the serpent placed at the top of a mountain, the mythical Mount Meru, axis of the Universe. On two mountains placed on either side a pair of figures holding a lotus flower and a flabellum honor Parsvanatha. They are two Hindu deities who have become attendants (yaksha and yakshi) of the Tirthankara in Jain iconography. Above them, separated by clouds, are the sun and moon with human faces. The color contrast between the black of the snake, the gold of the Jina and the pink of the mountains is very strong and projects the three figures into a virtually boundless sky. The canonical color of Parsva is green, but it can sometimes be replaced by gold, which encompasses all the colors of the iris.
26. DEVOTION UNDER THE MONSOON
Rajastan, Deoghar school
19th century
Distemper on paper
15 by 20 cm
Price on request
A group of eight nuns (sadhvi), wearing masks so as not to breathe in even the smallest of living forms, approach the cave where the saint Acharya Tapasvi, an ascetic of the Digambara school, lives naked, as he is “sky-clad”. One nun climbs up to the cave, kneels down and addresses the saint. Sadhvi is the name of the nuns who live on alms and practice asceticism. They are required to observe five vows: non-violence, non-lying, non-stealing, abstinence and non-attachment.
The scene is dominated by the force of the monsoon: lightning flashes illuminate the clouds and the driving rain obscures the landscape, but does not distract the nuns’ gaze, which is focused on the ascetic. Only the hill where the holy man lives emerges from the darkness, while two lush, brightly colored trees protect three of the waiting nuns. It is a representation of the Jain faith, indifferent to adversity and therefore stronger than hostile nature.
27. TWO STANAKAVASI MONKS RECEIVE A RAJA
JAIPUR SCHOOL
19th century
Distemper on paper
12 by 22 cm
Price on request
In the marble pavilion two ascetics of the Stanakavasi sect receive homage from a raja and his family. The monks give the men ritual masks and in turn obtain prayer scrolls from them. Behind the prince’s back two young nuns in white robes prostrate themselves in reverence; both hold the broom with which they sweep the road in front of their feet so as not to trample any form of life.
Under a tree resplendent in red flowers three women of the royal family watch the scene sitting on a pedestal. It is a scene of sincere devotion in an atmosphere of serenity. The edge of the painting is covered with inscriptions in the dialect of Rajasthan, probably reciting the names of the characters depicted.
FOUR EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF NEMINATHA
The paintings illustrate four episodes from the life of Neminatha, also known as Arishtanemi, the 22nd Tirthankara. Legend has it that he was a cousin on his father’s side of the Hindu god Krishna to whom—supposedly—he taught some of the principles of Jainism. Arishtanemi was born 581,000 years after the 21st Tirthankara, lived 1000 years and preceded the 23rd Jina—Parsvanatha—by 81,000 years. He spent most of his life preaching the principles of non-violence and asceticism. He achieved Liberation from the cycle of rebirths on Mount Girnar in Gujarat, where a temple dedicated to him stands.
28. THE BIRTH OF NEMINATHA (ARINASTEMI)
Rajasthan, Deoghar School
19th century
Tempera on paper, 15 x 20 cm
Price on request
The miniature is divided into two parts. On the right the mother lying in a domestic setting has just given birth to Neminatha, the future XXII Tirthankara. On the left Indra, the king of Hindu gods (also found in Jain and Buddhist mythology), sits atop Mount Meru, embracing the infant Neminatha on his lap while two white elephants bathe him for the first time by sprinkling him with water from two golden containers.
29. NEMINATHA’S (ARINASTEMI) MARRIAGE AND RENUNCIATION.
Rajastan, Deoghar school
19th century
Tempera on paper, 15 x 20 cm
Price on request
Neminatha’s marriage to Rajamati was fixed and he arrives at the palace of his father-in-law Ugrasena on the chariot drawn by the white elephant with seven trunks of Indra, the king of the gods; Krishna also comes to receive him. But in the enclosure beside the palace Neminatha hears the cries of animals that would be sacrificed and, mindful of the love he had for animals when he was a young shepherd, decides he does not want to be the cause of suffering and death.
He then abandons the scene to become first a monk, as will also be done by his failed bride, and then the XXII Tirthankara. Legend has it that he was a cousin on his father’s side of the Hindu god Krishna to whom -it seems- he taught some of the principles of Jainism. Aristanemi was born 581000 years after the XXI Tirthankara, lived 1000 years and preceded the XXIII Jina- Parsvanatha- by 81000 years. In addition to the description of a legendary event, the painting apologetically expresses the most important message of the Jain faith: the rejection of any form of violence (ahimsa), in this case animal sacrifice.
30. NEMINATHA’S SERMON (ARINASTEMI)
Rajasthan, Deoghar school
19th century
Tempera on paper
15 by 20 cm
Price on request
31. NEMI’S SERMON
Rajasthan, Deoghar school
19th century
Tempera on paper
15 by 20 cm
Price on request
The miniatures illustrate two different moments of the sermon of Neminatha, the XXII Tirthankara of our era. He is blue in color and sits on a triple throne representing the “Triple Jewel” of Jain doctrine: Righteous Faith, Righteous Knowledge and Righteous Conduct. Two attendants honor him with a flabellum, and two devotees or priests of the Svetambara “Dressed in White” sect hold the broom with which pilgrims clean the road so as not to step on any form of animal. The Jina sits in a circular space surrounded by high walls with four entrances.
In the top miniature, two groups of four crowned figures listen to the sermon with their hands in prayer and wear different colored robes, representing different categories of worshippers. In the bottom one, two crowned figures descend from heaven on a flying vessel while fifteen others, perhaps the assembly of Hindu gods, listen to Neminatha.
The inscription reads as follows: Neminath-ji is taking initiation and All the Gods and Goddesses are preaching from the sky
32. MANUSCRIPT CONTAINER
Gujarat
19th century
Cardboard, silk and gold thread
15 by 30 cm
Price on request
Jain books are composed of rectangular pages that are flipped from bottom to top. The sheets are placed in a container, folded in two, which fully covers one side while half of the other side is left uncovered so that the title of the book remains visible. The “covers” are made of pressed paper coated with lacquer and then painted, but they can also be made of finely embroidered cloth or even precious metals. The full side of this cover is decorated with the fourteen images that appeared in a dream to Trishala at the time of the conception of Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara.
From top left they are: the white elephant; the white bull; the white lion in a composite form; the pair of garlands; the moon crescent with a gazelle in the center; the sun; the royal insignia; Shri, the goddess of prosperity; the vase; the lotus lake; the boat in the ocean; the palace of the gods; the pile of jewels; the smokeless fire. On the lower side are the eight auspicious symbols of Jainism: the svastika; the shrivatsa that each Tirthankara carries on the chest, a symbol of the Knowledge that arises from the heart; the lotus flower, achieved purity; the mirror; the divine throne; the pot of abundance; the pair of fish; and lastly the endless knot. All these symbols are finely embroidered with gold thread.
Similar examples:
Steps to Liberation, pag. 101-103
Inde. Reflets de mondes sacrés, pag. 206
33. PAGE SHOWING THE PUNISHMENTS OF HELL
Gujarat, 18th century
Distemper on paper, 12 by 26 cm
Price on request
In Jain cosmology the hells (naraka) are located below the world where men live (Madhyaloka), in the lower portion of the Universe (Lokakasha), and are divided into seven worlds. As in Greek mythology, in Jainism too it is a river (Vaitarani) that separates the world of men from the hells. Each world contains millions of “sub-hells” each with different punishments depending on the severity of the transgression committed and on the accumulation of negative karma. The stay in hell is temporary but can last billions of years. The description of the hells, of the calculation of their size, and of the punishments inflicted is contained in a 12th-century text. The front (recto) of this page shows two figures pierced by a serpent and a spear, two of the innumerable tortures of hell, while the back (verso) is a diagram of the hells where these punishments are inflicted.
Similar examples:
Esempi simili:
The Jain Cosmology, pag. 67 e 81
34. THE SUN, THE MOON AND A ECLIPSE
Gujarat, 17th century
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11,5 by 26 cm
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The page shows on the recto a description of the images drawn on the verso—the sun, the moon in its different phases, and an eclipse (the sun hidden by a black circle).
Esempi simili:
The Jain Cosmology, pag. 67 e 81
35. THE THREE OCEANS
Gujarat, 17th century
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11,5 by 26 cm
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On the front of this sheet from a 17th-century manuscript appear the three oceans from the continent Nandisvaradvipa, one of the continents of Jambudvipa, where humans and animals can live. Star diagrams appear on the reverse side.
Esempi simili:
Victorius ones, pag. 273
The Jain Cosmology, pag. 117
37. THE 24 TIRTHANKARAS ON MOUNT ASHTAPAD
Gujarat, 19th century
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33 by 21 cm
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38. MALLI THE 19TH TIRTHANKARA
India, 19th century
Distemper on paper
13 by 14 cm
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40. PARSHVA AND THE 24 TIRTHANKARAS
India, 19th century
Bronze
44 by 31 cm
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42.A STANAKAVASI FAMILY
India, 19th century
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13 by 19 cm
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43. Yantra
Rajasthan, 19th century
Distemper on paper
42 by 44 cm
Published: Tokyo, 1979
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44. Gomedha e Ambika
Northern India
12th/13th century
Granite
Cm. 24 x 15
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At the base of the stele are the seven Mother-Goddesses, manifestations of the creative feminine energy (Shakti) who, like numerous Hindu deities, have been co-opted by Jain iconography, almost always with a name different from the original one. Many of these deities of ancient Hinduism, called yaksha (m) and yakshi (f) – protective forces of nature – became assistants to the Jina and are depicted at their side. The assimilation of previous deities is common to all religions and therefore also to Indian ones; Hinduism absorbed many deities belonging to native cults and the same happened for Buddhism and Jainism.
The two central figures are also of Hindu derivation: Gomedha on the left with a lotus flower and Ambika supporting a child with her leg. They are seated in the “royal position” (lalitasana) and in the midst of them stands the trunk of the Ashoka tree on the top of which sits Neminatha, the XXII Jina, wrapped in the long branches.
Published:
The Peaceful Liberators, pag. 137.
45. RITUAL TABLE
Rajasthan, 19th century
Painted wood
Cm. 9 by 42 x 36
Price on request
47.ENTRANCE OF THE INDRA SABHA JAIN CAVE
Ellora,T.& W. Daniell, 1803
Acquatint
48 by 65 cm
Price on request
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