Th e Great Men of Jainism In Utero: A Survey
Chapters of several other contributors to this volume attest to the notion in many South Asian religious traditions that the fetus is to be considered as an entity.1 In the cycle of sam․sāra, “transmigration,” a soul enters a new body through the workings of karmic bondage upon conception rather than birth.2 Th is principle is also current in Jainism, the religion of the Jina, a “victor” who has defeated the cycle of sam․sāra and attained moks․a, “fi nal liberation.” According to Jainism, twenty-four Jinas are born consecutively in every time period, to act as a kind of prophet who rediscovers and revives the eternal wisdom, the dharma, at a time when it has been forgotten and spreads it among the people.
The Jinas are also known as the Tīrthan˙karas, the “ford-makers,” they who have created a ford through the ocean of sam․sāra, revealing the path to moks․a. Th e last of these Jinas was Mahāvīra, a contemporary of the Buddha. Mahāvīra’s predecessor, Pārśva, was also a historical figure who probably lived two centuries earlier, but the previous twenty-two Jinas are most likely mythological. Like the Buddhists, the Jainas refute the authority of the Vedas and reject the superiority of the Brahmin caste.
They oppose Vedic ritual and do not believe in an immortal, superior god. Central to Jainism is the principle of ahim․sā, nonviolence, manifested in strict measures to avoid harm to other life forms and extreme ascetic practice. In the centuries aft er Mahāvīra, the Jaina community became divided into two larger traditions: the Śvetāmbaras, the “white-clad,” whose ascetics wear a white cotton garment, and the Digambaras, the “sky-clad,” whose ascetics are nude. This schism prevails to this day.
Narratives concerning fetuses are found in the Jaina hagiographies of the Mahā-purus․as or Śalākā-purus․as, “great heroes.” These mostly mythological heroes, generally sixty-three in number, consist of the twenty-four Tīrthan˙karas, twelve Chakravartin, and nine triads of a Baladeva, Vāsudeva, and Prativāsudeva. Th e twelve Cakravartins are “universal monarchs,” destined to become the rulers over the entire civilized world. Of the triads, the Baladeva and Vāsudeva are half brothers, and the Prativāsudeva is their archenemy. Into these categories the well- known Indian heroes Rāma and Laksmana of the popular Indian epic Rāmāyan․a have been integrated as the eighth Baladeva and Vāsudeva.
Another epic character, Kr․․sn․a, who has become the most famous manifestation of the Hindu god Vis․n․u, his brother Balarāma, and their enemy Jarāsandha form the ninth triad in these categories. Th e life stories of these Jaina heroes are typically the subject of the Jaina literary categories of Caritras or Purān․as, yet the earlier texts of the Śvetāmbara canon already contain accounts of some of them.4 It is thought these works were composed to off er an alternative for the world history of the Hindus as described in their epics and Purān․as. Th e clearest indication of this is, of course, the Jaina adaptation of Rāma and Kr․․sn․a, the most popular of the epic and purān․ic heroes.5 Jainas were prolific composers of Purān․as, and a list of all the known Jaina Purān․as would total several hundred.6 Th e contents of the biographies diff er slightly between the two Jaina sects, the Digambaras and Śvetāmbaras.
In this chapter, I examine and compare the intrauterine accounts of these sixty-three heroes in the two traditions. Given the relative similarity between Jainism and (early) Buddhism and the comparable status of a Buddha and a Jina, I will discuss, when appropriate, the resemblances and differences between the Jaina accounts and that of the Buddha.
Parallels in Hindu literature will also be referred to.7 For this study, I have selected two complete biographies of all the sixty-three Mahā-purus․as, one for each sect. Th e oldest work, dating from the ninth century, is the Mahā-purān․a, consisting of two parts: the Ādi-purān․a of Jinasena, narrating the stories of the first Tīrthan˙kara, R․․sabha, and his son, Bharata, the first Cakravartin, and the Uttara-purān․a of Jinasena’s pupil Gunabhadra, which gives the accounts of the remaining sixty-one characters. Jinasena and
Gun․abhadra represent the Digambara tradition. Th e second text is the Tris․as․․ti-śalākā-purusacaritra by the
3. For more information on Jainism, see W. Schubring, Th e Doctrine of the Jainas, Lala Sundarlal Jain Research Series 15, trans. W. Beurlen (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2000); H. Glasenapp, Jainism: An Indian Religion of Salvation, trans. S. B. Shrotri (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1999); P. Dundas, Th e Jains (London: Routledge, 1992); P. S. Jaini, T e Jaina Path of Purification (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1998).
4. Biographies of some of the Jinas are already found in the Kalpa Sūtra, and Kr․․sn․a occurs in the Antagad․adasāo. See J. Cort, “An Overview of the Jaina Purān․as,” in Purān․a Perennis—Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts, ed. W. Doniger (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993), 185–206, esp. 188–91.
5. P. S. Jaini, “Jaina Purān․as: A Purān․ic Counter Tradition,” in Purān․a Perennis—Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts, ed. W. Doniger (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993), 207–49, esp. 207.
6. Cort, “An Overview,” 185.
7. For the Buddhist material, my primary sources are Sasson’s chapter in this volume and her book Th e Birth of Moses and the Buddha: A Paradigm for the Comparative Study of Religions (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2007).
List of the Sixty-three Mahà-purus․as
Tīrthan˙kara Cakravartin Baladeva Vāsudeva Prativāsudeva
Supārśva
Suvidhi
(Pus․padanta)
Śītala
Śreyām․ sa +Acala/*Vijaya Tripr․․s․tha Aśvagrīva
Vāsupūjya +Vijaya/*Acala Dvipr․․s․tha Tāraka
Vimala +Bhadra/*Dharma Svayambhū +Meraka/*Madhu
Ananta Suprabha Purus․ottama +Madhu/
- Madhusūdana
Sanatkumāra Sudarśana Purus․asim․ ha +Niśumbha/ *Madhukrīd․a
Kunthu Kunthu
Ara Ara +Ānanda/
- Nandis․en․a +Purus․apun․d․arīka/ *Pun․d․arīka +Bali/*Niśumbha
+Subhūma/
Malli *Padma *Nandimitra *Datta *Balīndra
Nami +Haris․en․a
Nemi
Mahāvīra Brahmadatta Balarāma Kr․․sn․a Jarāsandha
Śvetāmbara, Hemacandra, dating from the twelfth century. Th e Tris․as․․ti-śalākāpurusa-caritra was translated into English in its entirety by Helen M. Johnson between 1931 and 1962.
To help the reader, I have listed the names of these heroes according to the two texts in the accompanying table. In cases where the accounts diff er, the variants of Hemacandra are indicated with a plus sign (+), those of Jinasena or Gun․abhadra with an asterisk (*). In the vertical rows, the names of the different heroes are given chronologically, beginning with the earliest. The five horizontal columns 8. Johnson’s translation is commonly employed as the basic source for Hemacandra’s biographies of the Śalākāpurus․as. Therefore I have made use of her translation, in addition to the original Sanskrit edition. Th e translation of the Sanskrit from the Digambara version is my own.
separate the different categories of heroes. Some vertical rows contain more than one name, indicating that these heroes, albeit of different categories, lived around the same time.
The Tīrthan˙karas
Th e First Tīrthan˙kara, R․․sabha, the “Bull”
Because he is the first Tīrthan˙kara of our era, both authors accord considerable space to the biography of R․․sabha. Hemacandra devotes some fifty verses to the description of his conception, gestation, and birth. At the appropriate time, R․․sabha’s soul descended from Sarvārthasiddhi, the highest heaven, immediately below the Siddha-loka, the abode of the liberated souls. We have here a noteworthy difference with the Buddhist accounts which state explicitly that every Bodhisattva must spend his penultimate existence in Tushita heaven, and not the highest heaven, a somewhat puzzling issue in the hagiographies of the Buddha.
R․․sabha’s soul entered the womb of Marudevī, the wife of Nābhi. Nābhi was the seventh Kulakara, “patriarch” of our era, a progenitor of the human race, comparable to the Manus of Hinduism. At the moment of his descent in Marudevī’s womb “there was happiness for all creatures in the three worlds from the destruction of pain, and also a great light.”10 Th e manifestation of light at the time of conception and during gestation is very central in the prenatal account of the Buddha. Although it recurs regularly in the descriptions of other Jaina heroes in the selected texts, the theme of light is more developed in Buddhist narratives. Moreover, it appears to be a common element in many biographies of heroes.11
That night, Marudevī has a dream in which fourteen objects enter her mouth:
(1) a white bull,
(2) a four-tusked white elephant,
(3) a lion,
(5) a fl ower garland,
(6) the moon,
(7) the sun,
(8) a banner,
(9) a water pitcher,
(10) a lotus pond,
(11) an ocean of milk,
(12) a vimāna, a heavenly abode,
(13) a heap of jewels, and
(14) a smokeless fire.
At dawn, the queen narrates the dreams to Nābhi, who mistakenly interprets them as a prediction that their son will be the next Kulakara. Distraught by this faulty interpretation, the Indras, the leaders of the gods from the different heavens, come to Marudevī and explain the objects of which she dreamed one by one as indications that her son will be not only an extraordinary, powerful, heroic ruler, but also the reviver of the true dharma, the “faith,” showing the way to salvation: O Mistress, from the sight of the bull in your dream—a son will be to you, able to lift up the chariot of dharma sunk in the mud of delusion. From the sight of the elephant, O Lady—your son will be the greatest of the great, and the sole abode of great power. From the sight of the lion—your
9. For a discussion on this subject, see Sasson, Birth of Moses, 92–93. Note that although the Buddha has to spend his penultimate life in Tus․ita, the heavens where the future Jinas reside prior to their final birth differ.
10. H. Johnson, Tris․as․․tiśalākāpurusacaritra, Vol. 1: 100 (Baroda, India: Oriental Institute, 1931–62).
11. Sasson, Birth of Moses, 122–23, 127, and 161–63. See also Sasson’s chapter in this volume.
son will be a lion among men, resolute, always fearless, a hero with unflinching valor. From the fact that Śrī was seen, O Lady, is indicated that your son, the best of men, will be the Lord of the Śrī (Glory) of the sovereignty of the three worlds. From the sight of a wreath in a dream— the sight of your son will be auspicious, his rule worn on the head like a wreath by all the world. O Mother of the World, that a full moon was seen in your sleep means that your son will be pleasing, a joy to the eye. Th at you saw a sun means that your son will be the creator of the light of the world by destroying the darkness of delusion.
That you saw a great banner in a dream, O Lady, that means that your son will be a dharma-banner, the founder of a great line. Th at you saw a pitcher full of water means that your son will be a vessel filled with all the supernatural powers (atiśayas). Th at you saw a lotus-pond, Mistress, means that your son will take away the pain of those who have fallen into the desert of sam․ sāra. Th at your Ladyship saw an ocean means that your son will be inaccessible and accessible.
That you saw a heavenly palace, a marvel to the earth, O Lady, means that your son will be worshipped even by Vaimānika gods. Th at you saw a heap of jewels with flashing light means that your son will be a heap of jewels of all the virtues. Th at you saw a flaming fire enter your mouth means that your son will absorb the dignity of other dignitaries. O Mistress, it is indicated by these fourteen dreams that your son will be Master in the world extending for fourteen rajjus.12
Several of the objects dreamed of by Marudevī are well known as omina predicting good luck. The Agni Purān․a, an encyclopedic Hindu Purān․a, describes a dream of an elephant, a bull, and gold as prophesying good fortune. It further mentions an elephant, full water pitchers, jewels, fire, and an image of a god among the items a prosperous king should preferably see upon returning from a journey.13 Jainas seem to have a thorough tradition of divination in which dreams frequently occur as auspices. Dream science is elaborated on in the canonical texts and in Jaina epic and narrative literature descriptions and references abound.
Th e white elephant entering the mother is well known from the fetal narrative of the Buddha. Though the Jaina accounts describe the dreams by summing up rather static images, in the Buddhist sources Māyā’s pregnancy dream contains more action and flow: Māyā is taken to a lake where she is bathed, clothed,
perfumed, and adorned and then laid down to sleep in a golden fairy palace near a mountain. Th e Bodhisattva, in the shape of a white elephant, arrives there, enters the palace and splits open her side, as if entering her womb. Th is elephant is in some texts described as having six tusks.15 Bollée suggests these six tusks are “probably an
12. Johnson, Tris․as․․tiśalākāpurusacaritra, Vol. 1: 102–103.
13. M. N. D. Shastrī, Agni Purān․a, A Prose English Translation, Vol. 2: 823–25, Chowkhamba Sanskrit Studies 54 (Varanasi, India: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, 1967).
14. Glasenapp, Jainism, 449–50; Schubring, Doctrine of the Jainas, 25–26. For various accounts of dreams in Indian culture, see C. Bautze-Picron, ed., Th e Indian Night, Sleep and Dream in India Culture (New Delhi: Rupa, forthcoming). 15. Sasson, Birth of Moses, 113–14.
intended advantage” over Indra’s four-tusked elephant Airāvata.16 In the accounts of the selected Jaina texts the elephant in the dream is usually explicitly described as Indra’s four-tusked mount, Airāvata himself. If we follow through Bollée’s logic, this six-tusked elephant of the Buddhist accounts can be seen not only as a claim to the Bodhisattva’s superiority over Indra, but over the Jina as well.
Another significant difference with the conception of the Buddha is that in the Jaina texts the elements dreamed of enter the mother through her mouth. Th e Buddhist account in which the elephant enters her womb through her side, as opposed to through her vagina, has been explained as eliminating any association of the Buddha with sexuality and freeing him from pollution through contact with bodily fluids.
The entrance through the mouth could be seen as a similar effort to create the idea of an “immaculate”—that is, asexual—conception for the Jina. Th is motif may further be connected with the many stories in Indian literature of women conceiving asexually through the oral ingestion of semen or another substance. Vālmīki’s Rāmāyan․a, for instance, narrates how the queens conceive from eating the celestial porridge procured by the king during a sacrifice for obtaining sons. In the Buddhist Jātakas we come across the story of a doe becoming pregnant by eating grass and drinking water mixed with the Bodhisattva’s semen.
During her pregnancy, Marudevī becomes beautified by the fetus in her womb: her naturally dark complexion becomes fairer, her breasts swell, her eyes and hips become wider, and her gait becomes slower. It is characteristic of the Jina that while residing inside the womb, he causes her no pain or fatigue. For Nābhi he brings about extraordinary honor, makes the wishing-trees especially fruitful and the earth free from hostility. Th e Buddhist accounts are very similar in this respect.19
Th e humane qualities of the future Jina influence Marudevī’s behavior, making her especially compassionate toward all. Already as a fetus, the Jina embodies ahim․sā. Moreover, his presence stimulates this nonviolence in his mother. Th e narratives of the Buddha are alike again describing how, in Sasson’s words, he “radiated through her body and she became the expression of all that he was and would be.”
Jinasena’s Ādi-purān․a is entirely devoted to the biography of R․․sabha. It narrates the events of Marudevī’s pregnancy in the twelfth and thirteenth parvans in more than two hundred verses. Th e miraculous events begin before the descent of the Jina in the womb of Marudevī, with the construction of the city of Ayodhyā by the gods (12.69–83) and a rain of gems (12.84–101).
One day Marudevī has sixteen dreams, which indicate she will give birth to a Jina.
Then one day the queen was asleep in the palace on a soft bed, splendid with a colorful cover like the waves of the Gan˙gā. In the fi nal three hours 16. W. Bollée, “Physical Aspects of Some Mahāpurus․as, Descent, Foetality, Birth,” Wiener Zeitschrift fu¨r die Kunde Su¨dasiens 49 (2005): 10.
17. Sasson, Birth of Moses, 115–17.
18. Vālmīki’s Rāmāyan․a 1.15; M. Boisvert, “Conception and Intrauterine Life in the Pāli Canon,” Studies in Religion/ Sciences Religieuses 29, 3 (2000): 305–306.
19. Sasson, Birth of Moses, 120, 129–30.
20. Ibid., 118.
of the night she saw the following sixteen auspicious dreams, which praised the birth of the Jina. She saw Indra’s huge elephant, muttering and roaring, rutting from three places, like a thundering autumn cloud filled with rain. She saw a huge, thundering, drum-necked bull, white and bright like a lotus, like a pool of nectar. She saw a lion, its body glittering like the moon, its head blood-red, as if its body was made up of the moonlight and the twilight. She saw Padmā [Laks․mī] on a high seat made of lotuses, bathed by divine elephants and golden pitchers, as if it were her [Marudevī’s] own glory. She saw two garlands with bees intoxicated by the fragrance of the flowers, as if they were delightfully humming in a song they had commenced. She saw the moon radiating from its full disk with the stars, as if it were her own smiling lotuslike face with pearls.
She saw the sun rising up from the Eastern mountain, removing darkness, as if it was that golden pitcher for her own blessing. She saw two golden pitchers, their surfaces covered with lotuses, as if they were her own prominent breasts with her hands as lotuses. She saw two fish in a pond with blooming lotuses, showing as it were, the breadth of her own eyes. She saw a divine lake, with water yellowed with the filaments of floating lotuses, as if entirely of liquid gold.
She saw the unsteady, overflowing ocean, resounding with gushing waves, and drizzling, as if it were high laughter. She saw a leonine high throne with sparkling gems and gold, displaying the superior grace of the top of Mount Meru. She saw a heavenly palace, radiant with excellent gems, as if the gods gave her a birth house for her son. She saw a Nāga palace rise up, bursting through the ground, as if it had risen to rival the chariot of the sun it sees in front. She saw a heap of jewels filling the sky with its rising rays, as if it were the treasure of the goddess Earth that was displayed. She saw a blazing, shining, smokeless, beautiful, harsh fire, as if it were the corporeal splendor of her son. And she saw a high bull with a golden body and a thick neck entering her mouth at the end of her dreams. (12.102–20)
The seventeenth dream of the bull will determine the name of the child as R․․sabha, “bull.” Marudevī awakes and goes to her husband, Nābhi, to whom she describes the dreams. Nābhi explains that they predict she will beget an extraordinary son (12.121–62).
Compared with Hemacandra’s account, three dreams are diff erent: the image of a banner has been dropped and those of two fi sh, of a throne, and of a Nāga palace have been added. Th e pitchers and wreaths have been doubled. Th e Agni Purān․a mentions fi sh and a throne as prosperous images.21 In Buddhist lore, inauspicious dreams numbering sixteen are at the center of the Mahāsupina-Jātaka. Except for the number, there seems to be no other connection between this Buddhist story and the dreams of the Jina’s mother in Digambara literature.22 21. Shastrī, Agni Purān․a, Vol. 2: 84–85. 22. E. B. Cowell, ed., Th e Jātaka or Stories of the Buddha’s Former Births, trans. R. Chalmers (London: Pali Text Society, 1957), 187–94.
Indra sends six goddesses, the Dikkumārīs, to Marudevī to serve her during her pregnancy (12.163–255). In Hemacandra’s version, Marudevī is attended by the Dikkumārīs aft er the birth of her son.23 Th e Buddhist accounts too mention how the queen is served by goddesses who clean and massage her body.24 Despite her condition, the queen suff ers no discomfort, and here too the glow that radiates from her is emphasized: Th en she bore a luminous radiance which had entered her body. She became utterly glowing like the East. (12.157) Th e fetus did not cause his mother any pain: does a fi re, refl ected in a mirror, burn? Her slender waist also remained as it was with its three folds. Nevertheless, the fetus and that superior glow grew. Th ere was no pain in her belly. Her nipples did not become dark blue, nor did her face become pale. Th e fetus grew miraculously. (12.160–62)
Ajitanātha
Hemacandra’s narration of Ajita in utero is substantial. Here we find some new narrative elements which were not present in the account of R․․sabha’s conception and birth. At the appropriate time, Ajita’s soul descends into the womb of Vijayā, wife of King Jitaśatru, causing happiness even for the beings in hell. Thereupon Vijayā has a dream in which she sees fourteen elements enter her mouth:
(1) a white elephant,
(2) a white bull,
(3) a lion,
(4) the goddess Śrī,
(5) a flower garland,
(6) the moon,
(7) the sun,
(8) banners,
(9) a water pitcher,
(10) a lotus pond,
(11) an ocean,
(12) a vimāna, a heavenly abode,
(13) a heap of jewels, and
(14) a smokeless fire.
This version differs slightly from Hemacandra’s description of the dreams of R․․sabha’s conception, namely in the appearance of the elephant before the bull and no specification of the ocean as an ocean of milk as the eleventh. Thereupon Śakra’s (Indra’s) throne shakes and through clairvoyance he comes to know that the future Jina has been born. Together with the other Indras, he descends from the heavens to pay homage to Queen Vijayā and explains that the dreams signify that she will bear a Tīrthan˙kara. He then orders the god Dhanada (Kubera) to fill the city with jewels, gold, etc. as he did at the time of R․․sabha. Note here that in the R․․sabha story Hemacandra describes Dhanada building the city at his coronation as king. In Jinasena’s version, he builds the city before the birth.
Buddhist parallels appear to be limited to the gods and goddesses adorning Lumbinī garden prior to the birth in one text.26 Thereafter, in Hemacandra’s account, King Jitaśatru explains the dreams as a sign that she will bear an eminent son, without further specification. Thus, here the order of Indra’s explanation and the king’s
23. Johnson, Tris․as․․tiśalākāpurus․acaritra, Vol. 1: 105.
24. Sasson, Birth of Moses, 137.
25. Johnson, Tris․as․․tiśalākāpurus․acaritra, Vol. 1: 149–50; for Jinasena’s version, cf. Ādi-purān․a 12.69–83.
26. Sasson, Birth of Moses, 135.
explanation has been switched compared to the R․․sabha story.27 Then Śakra orders the goddesses to attend to Vijayā:
Vāyukumāra-women always removed dust, grass, sticks, etc., from all parts of the house of the mistress. Meghakumāra-women, like slavegirls, sprinkled the ground of the court-yard of her house with perfumed water. Th e goddesses of the season rained five-colored flowers, as if eager to give a respectful reception to the Lord in embryo. Th e women of the Jyotis․kas brought light at pleasure and at the right time, knowing the wishes of the mistress. Forest-goddesses made festoons, etc., like slave-girls, and goddesses praised her in song, like women-bards. In this way Queen Vijayā was served daily by the goddesses, like their own chief deity or like a superior one.
This motif is absent from R․․sabha’s intrauterine account; however, there the Dikkumārīs attend Marudevī and her son after the birth.29 In his description of the pregnancy of Vijayā and of Vaijayantī, the mother of Sagara, the second Cakravartin, Hemacandra depicts the women as being beautified by the fetus in words resembling those describing R․․sabha’s mother Marudevī.3
Unlike Hemacandra, Gun․abhadra is relatively brief about the conception of Ajita.
In that [Jambū]dvīpa, in Bhāratavars․a, lived the king of the city of Sāketa, an Iks․vāku, named Jitaśatru, from the lineage Kāśyapa. In his house Ailavila [[[Kubera]]] for six months every day incessantly dropped three and a half crores of gems on Śakra’s orders. In the month of Jyestha, with the rise of Rohin․ī and only one digit of the moon remaining before the Brahma-muhūrta, Queen Vijayasenā, her eyes perturbed by sleep and fear, saw a rutting elephant entering her mouth, preceded by sixteen dreams. In the morning King Jitaśatru, who could see with clairvoyant knowledge, explained to her the fruit of these dreams upon her request: the Lord, luminous through his clear and correct perception and his triple knowledge, had come from Vijaya [[[heaven]]] to that womb, pure as crystal. (48.19–24)
The only substantial change with regard to R․․sabha’s account is that here an elephant, the supreme symbol of sovereignty, enters her mouth instead of a bull. Gun․abhadra is equally brief about the conception of the other Tīrthan˙karas and more or less follows the same pattern throughout the Uttara-purān․a as we find in
27. Johnson, Tris․as․․tiśalākāpurus․acaritra, Vol. 2: 29–33.
28. Ibid., 36.
29. Johnson, Tris․as․․tiśalākāpurus․acaritra, Vol. 1: 105.
30. Johnson, Tris․as․․tiśalākāpurus․acaritra, Vol. 2: 36–37.
his description of Ajita.31 Six months prior to the descent of the Tīrthan˙kara’s soul, the gods drop a rain of gems on the house of the king.32 In the night of the incarnation the queen has the sixteen dreams, after which she sees an elephant enter her mouth. The motif of the elephant is not mentioned explicitly in the accounts of Candraprabha, Suvidhi, Vāsupūjya, Dharma, Śānti, and Ara. The dreams are interpreted by her husband, the king.
In his portrayal of the descent of Candraprabha, Nami, and Nemi, Gun․abhadra adds some verses, describing the goddesses attending the mother, which conform to Jinasena’s account of R․․sabha. A recurring motif is first found in the description of Śītala’s descent in the womb, when the gods come to celebrate the occasion. “The gods came with love and performed austerities for the first auspicious event” (56.28a). This is repeated in the accounts of all the following Tīrthan˙karas, except Vāsupūjya.
Hemacandra is very concise about Candraprabha, Śītala, Vāsupūjya, Vimala, Ananta, Dharma, and Munisuvrata, where he merely refers to the queens having fourteen auspicious dreams. For the other Tīrthan˙karas, he gives some additional elements.33 He lists all the dreams in the stories of Sambhava, Abhinandana, Śreyām․ sa, Śānti, Kunthu, and Nemi. As in the accounts of R․․sabha and Ajita, the dreams are interpreted by the king, sometimes assisted by astrologers, and by the Indras.34 Similar to R․․sabha, Hemacandra describes how the fetus grows without causing any discomfort to his mother in the stories of Sambhava, Abhinandana, Sumati, and Nami.
In the accounts of Sambhava and Nemi he mentions how the queen’s beauty is increased by the presence of the fetus. Another recurring motif in Hemacandra’s narratives, already present in R․․sabha’s account, is the remark that upon the descent of the Tīrthan˙kara in the womb, the inhabitants of hell fi nd comfort and a light fl ashes in the three worlds. We find this in the accounts of Sambhava, Abhinandana, Sumati, Śreyām․ sa, Nami,35 and Nemi. Beside these recurring elements, Hemacandra includes some things specific for one Tīrthan˙kara.
Thus, in the story of Padmaprabha, he mentions how the queen has a whim for a couch made of lotuses. Th is is gratified by goddesses. Th is whim later determines the name of the child, Padmaprabha, “beautiful as lotuses.” Th e biography of Malli has a similar motif, where the queen has a whim for sleeping on garlands, leading to the name Malli, from the word mālā, “garland.” Th is motif of dohada, the “pregnancy 31. Sambhava: 49.14–19; Abhinandana: 50.16–19; Sumati: 51.19–23; Padmaprabha: 52.18–21; Supārśva: 52.17–22;
Candraprabha: 54.163–70; Suvidhi: 55.23–27; Śītala: 56.23–28; Śreyām․ sa: 57.17–22; Vāsupūjya: 58.17–20; Vimala: 59.14– 21; Ananta: 60.16–21; Dharma: 61.12–18; Śānti: 63.388–97; Kunthu: 64.12–22; Ara: 65.16–21; Malli: 66.18–32; Munisuvrata: 67.18–26; Nami: 69.25–30; Nemi: 71.29–38; Pārśva: 73.74–90.
32. Note that this is only implied in the account of Śānti (63.397), when aft er the birth of the Tīrthan˙kara, the author states that it had rained gems for fi ft een months: nine months during the pregnancy and six months prior.
33. Sambhava: Johnson, Tris․as․․tiśalākāpurus․acaritra, Vol. 2: 233–34; Abhinandana: Vol. 2: 258; Sumati: Vol. 2: 278–81; Padmaprabha: Vol. 2: 290; Supārśva: Vol. 2: 306; Candraprabha: Vol. 2: 316; Suvidhi: Vol. 2: 326; Śītala: Vol. 2: 339; Śreyām․ sa: Vol. 3: 3–4; Vāsupūjya: Vol. 3: 66; Vimala: Vol. 3: 94; Ananta: Vol. 3: 112; Dharma: Vol. 3: 136; Śānti: Vol. 3: 300–302; Kunthu: Vol. 4: 3; Ara: Vol. 4: 12–13; Malli: Vol. 4: 54; Munisuvrata: Vol. 4: 79–80; Nami: Vol 4:
354; Nemi: Vol. 5: 164; Pārśva: Vol. 5: 379–80.
34. Th is is not mentioned in the accounts of Sumati, Padmaprabha, Supārśva, Suvidhi, Śreyām․ sa, Ara, Malli, Nami. In the account of Śānti, Kunthu, and Nemi, nothing is mentioned about the Indras. In the account of Nemi, the dreams are interpreted by Kros․․tuki and a Muni.
35. In Nami’s account, only the light is referred to.
longing,” which must be fulfilled by the husband, is well known in Indian literature.36 In the narrative of Supārśva, Hemacandra mentions that his mother dreams of a couch of serpents with one, fi ve, and nine hoods.
The biography of Sumati in Hemacandra’s text further contains an interesting story of disputed parentage in which the queen performs a “Solomon’s judgment.” A rich man from the city had two wives who looked very similar. The first wife bore a son, but both women brought up the boy together. When the man died and the son was to inherit all his wealth, both women claimed to be the natural mother of the boy. Due to the women’s strong resemblance, no court, not even that of the king, was able to decide to whom the boy and the property belonged.
The text continues:
Th e King gave the Queen an account of the dispute between the two women; and, wise from the power of her embryo, the Queen said, “It is certainly fitting for a dispute between women to be decided by women alone. Therefore I shall decide the dispute, Your Majesty.” In astonishment the King accompanied the Queen to the assembly. The two women were summoned and questioned, and told the same stories as before. Th e Queen considered the complaint and the answer, and spoke as follows: “In my womb I have a Tīrthakara, the possessor of three kinds of knowledge. When the Lord of the World is born, he will give judgment at the foot of the aśoka tree. So have patience, both of you.”
Th e step-mother agreed, but the mother said, “I will not wait at all, O Queen. Let the mother of the All-knowing, Your Ladyship, give judgment right now. I will not make my own child subject to my co wife for so long a time.” Then Queen Man˙galā gave her decision. “He is certainly her son, since she can not endure delay.
The step-mother can bear delay in this case, indeed, because she considers that it is another’s son and money that are subject to both. Unable to endure her own son being made subject to both, how can the mother endure a delay? My good woman, since you can not endure the least delay, it is evident that the boy is yours. Take him and go home. For he is not this woman’s child, even though cared for and cherished (by her). Th e off spring of a cuckoo, even though nourished by a crow, is a cuckoo.”37
This motif of the Solomon’s judgment recurs in folklore worldwide and knows several versions in India.38
36. See also M. Bloomfield, “Th e Dohada or Craving of Pregnant Women: A Motif of Hindu Fiction,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 40 (1920): 1–24.
37. Johnson, Tris․as․․tiśalākāpurus․acaritra, Vol. 2: 278–81.
38. S. Thompson, Motif-Index of Folk-Literature (electronic version) (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1955), entry J1171.1; S. Thompson and J. Balys, Th e Oral Tales of India, Indiana University Publications Folklore Series 10 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1958), 261.
Th e notion that the behavior of the fetus and the mother are linked can be traced back in theoretical accounts on embryology. There it is described that from the third month onward, the mother and fetus are connected by the heart in a state called dvaihrdayya, “the state of two hearts.”
Thus, the feelings and behavior of mother and fetus are identical.39 Accounts of the Buddha show a similarity in their accordance of extraordinary healing powers to his mother because of the presence of the Buddha inside her.
Just as Māyā became an expression of Buddhahood, so too is the mother of a Jina an expression of Jinahood during her pregnancy. Like in the Buddhist stories, however, the connection between mother and fetus is one directional: the fetus thoroughly influences the mother’s behavior, but the mother has no such effect on the child.
Mahāvīra: Fetal Transference
The Śvetāmbara biography of the last Tīrthan˙kara, Vardhamāna Mahāvīra, contains a unique feature compared to the other Jinas and the accounts of the Digambaras. Hemacandra describes how the soul of Mahāvīra descends into the womb of a Brahmin woman, Devānandā. That night she dreams of the fourteen objects associated with the conception of a Jina. Her husband interprets the dream as an indication that she will bear a son learned in the four Vedas. Great wealth befalls the Brahmin family. However, after eighty-two days, Śakra’s throne shakes. By clairvoyance he realizes that the future Jina has descended into the womb of a Brahmin woman. He reflects as follows:
Th e Arhats, teachers of three worlds, are never born in an insignificant family, nor in a poor family, nor in a family that subsists on alms. Rather, they are born in warrior-lines, Iks․vāku, et cetera, man-lions, like pearls originating in pearl-oysters, et cetera. It is not suitable for the Lord’s birth to have fallen into a low family. Yet even Arhats are not able to change strong karma.
This low-family-karma, which was acquired by the Lord showing family-pride in the Marīci-incarnation, has now matured. We always have authority to place elsewhere in a great family Arhats who have fallen into a low family from the power of karma. What king and queen of a great family are there now in Bhārata, to whom the Master can be transferred, like a bee from a jasmine to a lotus?
Here in Bharata there is a well known city named Ks․atriyakun․d․agrāma, which resembles my city, the ornament of the earth, the place of many shrines, the sole support of dharma, unstained by sins, purified by sādhus. Th at same city, free from the vices—hunting, wine-drinking, et cetera, is the means of purification of Bharataks․etra, like a holy place of the earth. Th e king there is Siddhārtha of the Jñāta-line, a descendant
39. G. J. Meulenbeld, A History of Indian Medical Literature, 3 vols., Groningen Oriental Studies 15 (Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 1999–2002), Vol. 1A: 42. 40. Sasson, Birth of Moses, 120–21.
of Iks․vāku, who always considered himself to have his purpose accomplished (siddhārtha) by dharma alone. Knowing the Principles—soul, non-soul, et cetera, a traveler on the road of propriety, he has placed his subjects on the road, devoted to their interests like a father.
He is a kinsman for the rescue of people who are poor, without a lord, et cetera; the refuge of those seeking a refuge, the crest-jewel of the warriors. He has a chief-queen, named Triśalā, the best of wives, the abode of merit, the embodiment of praise-worthy qualities. She, spotless by nature, now purifies the earth by her various qualities like the Mandākinī by its waves. Unspotted by deceit which is the accompaniment of a woman-birth, straightforward by nature, she is a goddess on earth whose name is pronounced auspiciously. Just now she is pregnant. I must make quickly a change by the transfer of her embryo and that of Devānandā.
Śakra then orders his general, the god Naigames․in, to take the fetus from Devā nandā’s womb and exchange it with that from Triśalā’s womb. That night Devā nandā has a dream in which she sees the fourteen elements predicting the birth of a Jina issuing from her mouth. Triśalā dreams of the elements entering her mouth.
Th e antiquity of the motif of fetus transference is evident from the representation of this legend in sculptures from Mathura, depicting the god transporting the fetus, probably dating from around 200 ce. It underlines the anti-Brahmanical attitudes of the Jainas and reflects a conviction that Ksatriyas, the “warrior” caste, are the highest in the social hierarchy, instead of Brahmins, as is clearly described here: in Jaina tradition, a “monarch,” spiritual or material, must be born in the warrior caste, not in a family that “subsists on alms,” clearly referring to Brahmins.42 In the Buddhist narratives, this aversion to Brahmins appears to be less profound.
Although a birth in the warrior caste is preferred, three previous Buddhas were born as Brahmins. Brahmins also figure as the consultants for the interpretation of Māyā’s dream.43 Sasson further suggests that the spectacular life of the Buddha in the womb as described in some texts may be a kind of competitive response to this account of Mahāvīra’s intrauterine life.44 Th e motif of fetal transference was probably not original to the biography of Mahāvīra, since the Digambaras reject it. It has been suggested that Siddhārtha possibly had two wives, a Ksatriya wife Triśalā and a Brahmin wife Devānandā, the biological mother of Mahāvīra, and that Mahāvīra was foisted upon the Ksatriya wife to give him a greater status, dissociating him from a Brahmin heredity. Th e Digambaras simply omitted Devānandā from Mahāvīra’s story, making him the biological son of Triśalā. Th e Śvetāmbaras solved the issue of this Brahmin connection by introducing the fetal transference motif, most likely adopted from the Hindu Krsna story, where Kr․․sn․a’s older brother,
41. Johnson, Tris․as․․tiśalākāpurus․acaritra, Vol. 6: 25–26. 42. Jaini, Jaina Path of Purification, 7–8. 43. Sasson, Birth of Moses, 98, 117-18. 44. Ibid., 124 n. 55.
Baladeva, was transplanted from Devakī’s womb into that of Rohin․ī. An added bonus of the Śvetāmbara account is that it made the life in the womb for Mahāvīra all the more miraculous and spectacular.45 As an explanation why Mahāvīra had to spend part of his gestation in a Brahmin womb, Hemacandra refers to his karma caused in a previous birth as Marīci. In that existence, the soul of Mahāvīra was the son of Bharata, grandson of R․․sabha, the first Tīrthan˙kara. When he heard the prophecy that he was to become the last Tīrthan˙kara of our era, Marīci became proud and subsequently acquired nīca-gotra-karma, “low-family-karma” which would ultimately lead him to be conceived in a Brahmin woman’s womb.
As in many of the other narratives, the fetus remains motionless to spare his mother from discomfort. However, unable to feel the presence of her baby, Triśalā became extremely upset:
“Has my embryo fallen? Or has some one taken it away? Or is it dead?
Or transfixed by a spell? If this has happened, then enough of life for me. For the pain of death is endurable, but not that caused by the loss of an embryo.”
With this painful thought, the queen, weeping, her hair disordered, ointments abandoned, resting her lotus-face on her lotus-hand, wearing no ornaments, her lips miserable from sighs, silent even with her friends, did not eat nor sleep. King Siddhārtha grieved when he learned about that; and his worthy children, Nandivardhana and Sudarśanā, too.
When the Jina understood the grief he caused his parents, he moved a finger to show that he was still there. Touched by his parents’ grief, he reflected: “My father and mother have great affection for me, indeed, when they have never seen me. If I should become a mendicant while they are alive, they would certainly acquire much bad karma by indulging in painful meditation because of the delusion of affection.” So in the seventh month, the Lord made the resolution, “I will not become a mendicant during the lifetime of my parents.”
This resolution of Mahāvīra and the fulfillment thereof in his later life exemplifies Jainism’s extreme efforts to implement the vow of ahim․sā, nonviolence. Jaini points out the sharp contrast with Buddhism, which emphasizes the need to abandon worldly life despite familial pressures. Nevertheless, as far as the prenatal
45. See also Couture’s chapter in this volume; Schubring, Doctrine of the Jainas, 32; Bollée, “Physical Aspects,” 12–14. Note that Jaini disagrees with the idea of Triśalā and Devānandā as wives of Siddhārtha given the strict regulations forbidding marriage between Brahmin women and Kshatriya men. See Jaini, Jaina Path of Purification, 8. Jain suggests Mahāvīra was the biological child of the Brahmin couple Devānandā and R. ․sabha dutta given up for adoption to Siddhārtha and Triśalā. See K. C. Jain, Lord Mahāvira and His Times, Lala Sundar Lal Jain Research Series 6 (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1991), 32–33. 46. Johnson, Tris․as․․tiśalākāpurus․acaritra, Vol. 6: 3–6. 47. Ibid., 28. 48. Jaini, Jaina Path of Purification, 9.
accounts of the Buddha are concerned, the texts agree that the queen suffered no discomfort, apart from the baby’s foot pushing against her womb when she tried to sit squatting in Buddhaghosa narrative.
In the Digambara versions of Mahāvīra’s biography this element is absent. They state that Mahāvīra renounced the world when his parents were still alive, though he did so only aft er receiving their explicit permission. Also, no mention is made of the transference of the embryo. Gun․abhadra devotes a mere ten verses to the description of Mahāvīra’s life, prior to his birth:
When he had six months of his life span left before leaving heaven, a wide stream of wealth, with seven crores of gems, fell down every day in the courtyard of the palace of King Siddhārtha, lord of Kundapura, in Bharata, in a kingdom called Videha. In the white half of Ās․ād․ha, on the sixth day, while the moon was in Uttarās․ād․hā, in a palace, situated inside a seven story building, lit up with jewel-lamps, on a jewel couch, decorated with goose-cotton, etc., at the end of the fourth night-watch called Manohara, the triad Raudra, Rāks․asa and Gandharva having already passed, his beloved, Priyakārin․ī, with her graceful mind, lightly asleep, beheld sixteen separate dreams, giving excellent fruits.
After these, she also saw an elephant enter her mouth. Awakened by the sound of the morning drums and by the prayers recited by the bards, she quickly bathed and put on her ornaments, and went to King Siddhārtha with a bow. She was offered half a seat and related the dreams in succession. He informed her of the future fruit of these as she told them. When she had heard the fruits of the dreams, the queen was delighted, as if she herself had obtained that fruit. Th en all the kings of the gods came to them in full glory. They performed an ablution for the auspicious occasion, as it is customary in these instances. Th ey coerced the gods and goddesses and each went to their own dwellings. (74.251–61)
