A JAIN SANDSTONE STELE OF A TIRTHANKARA, POSSIBLY MAHAVIRA Central or Northern India, 12^th-13^th century. Finely carved in openwork with the central tirthankara standing between two pillars atop a square base and below a stepped roof, both carved with stylized lotus petals, a halo behind his head, the serene face with heavy-lidded eyes, broad nose, full lips, and elongated earlobes, the hair in tight curls. The deity is flanked by a vyala standing on a recumbent elephant’s head to either side.

Provenance: From a noted Belgian private collection.
Condition: Excellent condition, commensurate with age. Extensive wear, minor losses, nicks and scratches, signs of weathering and erosion, structural cracks, encrustations.

Dimensions: Height 43 cm

Jinas are depicted in only two poses: kayostarga, standing, or dhyani, seated in meditation, and due to the identical poses and expressions they are distinguished mainly by their vahanas, or vehicles, appearing at the feet of the figures or carved on to the pedestals. In the present example, the pedestal is missing and therefore an exact identification of the Jina is not possible. However, Mahavira is the most commonly represented of the Tirthankaras in the kayostarga attitude, and for this reason an attribution seems appropriate.

The earliest extant Jain images date to the first century C.E. and were created in the area around Mathura, the center of much religious activity. Jainism is India’s third great ancient religion and was founded contemporaneously with Buddhism from which it differed by its advocating the attainment of a spiritual life through asceticism. This may account for the conventional depiction of Tirthankaras in a rigid frontal pose. The term Jina, meaning “Conqueror” or “Victor of over Life” is applied to one who, like the Buddha, has attained perfect knowledge. Tirthankara meaning “He who has crossed the Ford” of rebirth and attained perfect freedom, is equivalent to Jina. In many respects, and more particularly in the seated poses, the Jina figure has many parallels to the Buddha image with the exception that, among the Digambara sect of Jains, the figure is always nude and the chest bears the srivasta.

The nudity of Jain saints was a practice of both asceticism and their belief in non-possession, dating back to the days of Mahavira. However a schism arose in around 79 C.E., extensively recorded in their literature, about what constitutes total renunciation. At the time Jain monks separated into rival factions, the Digambaras “clothed with the sky” or nude and the Svetambaras, “clothed with white”, who partially clad themselves with white cloth. According to inscriptions the Svetambaras worshipped the nude image without objection and for both sects the Jinas and the saint Bahubali are represented naked while all other deities are clothed and even ornamented.

This sculpture not only possibly represents Mahavira but more, it symbolizes man disregarding the material world and his animal nature. The figure is a human being transformed into a god-like state and the worship of it is not a two-way interaction but a meditation, where the deity is not expected to grant favors but rather to exemplify a state of being attainable by all.

Auction result comparison: Compare a related sandstone stele of a seated Mahavira, dated circa 10^th century, 99.2 cm high, at Bonhams New York in Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art on 14 March 2016, lot 74, sold for USD 62,500.