Jaina Image of Saraswati in The Luck Now Museum
There is a multilated image of goddess Saraswati (J.24) in the povincial museum, Lucknow. It was found in 1889 near the eastern temple of the well-known Kankalf mound and measures 1’9-1/2″, the goddess is sitting squatted on a rectangular pedestal with knees up. Her head is broken and the left breast has been damaged. In her left hand she holds the Scared book, which appears to be tied with a ribbon.
The right hand which was raised probably in the abhayamundra has been lost. The goddess wears a loose cloth round her loins and a part of this cloth covers the shoulders. There is one bracelet on each of her wrist and part of rosary is visible over the bracelet of the right hand.
The image can be dated in the 2nd century A.D., as will be shown shortly
On either side of the main figure there are attendants with hair beautifully dressed. The one of the right of the goddess wears a tunic and holds a jar (Kalasa) in his hands while the attendent on her left is folding his hands in adoration. The right hand attendent appears to be a man of scythic origin from his dress as well as his features.
Tunic was a foreign dress generally worn by sakas and it had not become a common Indian dress in the early Kusana period. There is abundance of proof to show the early foreign invanders, particularly the Scythians and Kusanas had come under the influence of the Indian religions, especially Buddhism and Jainism. There is an interesting inscription of seven lines inscribed on the pedestal of the image .
It read thus“Success” in the year 54, in the fourth month of winter, on the tenth day, on the (lunar day) specified as above, one (statue of) Saraswati, the gift of the smith Gova (Gopa), son of Siha, (made) at the in stance of the preacher (vachaka) Aryya Deva, the sraddhacharaot the ganin Aryya Maghahasti, the pupil of the preacher Aryya Hastahasti, from the Kottiya gana, the Sthaniya Kula, the Vaira sakha, and the Srigriha sambhoga has been set up for the welfare of all beings.
In the avatala my stage dancer (?)” The date 54 here.is to be dated in the Kusana era.commencing from 78 A.D. and corresponds to 132 A.D. The.inscription and the irhage, therefore, belong to the reign of Huvishka, who ruled after Kanishka. Dr. Buhlerjormerly thought the date to be 84. But later on he correctly changed it into year.54 Mr. V.A. Smith read it as 44 .thinking the left hand.symbol to denote 40.
But on close examination the symbol deraly appears to be of 50 and so the reading 54 is sound. From the inscription it is clear that the image of Saraswati was installed in a religious temple by the ironsmith Gopa at the instance of a Jaina precher Of the Kottiyagana.
The name of person mentioned in this inscription exactly correspond to those enumerated in the Mathura Jaina image inscription of the year 52. It is intersting to note that a person named Deva who was acting in year. 52 (130 A.D’4 as the spiritual teacher of a number of people belonging to smith’s caste is found in the same capacity in the year. 54 (132 A.D.)
In this epigraph the names
In this epigraph the names of persons who made donation ofthe statue are given along with the names of their religious preachers and their official titles. The term vachaka desig: nates a reciter or teacher. The word ganin signifies probably the head of. a school (gan). The names of the diferent schools with their sub-divisions (Kulas and sakhas) are also given in this inscription.
In the Kalpasutra of the Jainas there is an enumeration of different ganas, sakhas and kulas. About ten of these gana-names also occur in inscriptions of the Kushana period. In the present-inscription the tachers who are said to have advised the donation of the image belonged to kottiya gana. In other epigraphs kottiya is mentioned as Kodia or kutika gana.
Which split up into four sakhas and tour kulas. According to the Kalpasutra, sushita. Who was ninth in succession from Vardhamana, along with Supratibuddha Originated the Kottiyagana. From the epigraphic evidence it may be gathered that at about the beginning of the Chiristian era there existed a numberof Jaina schools with the different kulas and sakhas.
Which spread up in northern India during the Kushana period. This was an age of great religious activity. Buddhism also underwent a numberof modifications and it split up into two main branches, the Mahayana and the Hinayana sects. In the north, Bodh Gaya grew up as an early centre of Hinayana, while in the south.
Nagarjunikonda and Amaravati became flour- shing centers of Maha yana. A number of inscriptions from Nasik, Nagarjunikonda and Amravati bear testimony to the fact that there had sprung up a number of branches and commninties in Buddhism that prevailed in the south during the first three centuries of the Christian era.
It may be mentioned that the images
It may be mentioned that the images of Saraswati are sometimes met with in the modern Jaina temples mostly of the Svetambara school. But old images like the present one are every rare. Saraswati is primarily a deity ofthe Hindu pantheon. In Hindusim worship of this goddess as the presiding deity of learning and wisdom has been prevalent since veryearly times.
But it is surprising to note that the images of Saraswati in Hindu art are hardly found before the Gupta period, when the image worship of this goddess had become popular. In the early and later Medieval peri ods, beautifully carved and highly.
Decorated images of saraswati were made. The goddess is often represented as the attenddant of Vishnu along with Lakshmi and is depicted as playing on her vina and. Sometimes also holding the Scared Book in one of her four hands. The occurance of Saraswati figure in the Jaina art need not surprise one.
The goddess being the embodiment of learning and the presiding deity of the muses has been given a venerable positionin the Jaina scriptures and The Jaina pantheon and hence she figures in the Jaina sculpture as a symbol of knowledge and wisdom.
