Spectrum of Sarasvatī : Śrutadevī: Śrutadevī (4)

"It is peculiar feature of the text of the recently discovered Praśnavyākaraṇa that, unlike other angasūtras, it is entirely in versified form, but is not presented in the form of dialogue. It begins with an invocation to Mahāvīra and Śrutadevatā, the embodiment of the entire canonical knowledge. Śrutadevatā (Pkt. Sudadevada / Suyadevayā) is mentioned also in the Bhagavatīsūtra, Mahāniśithasūtra and some other Jain texts. In the Jain tradition, the twelve angasūtras are described as her limbs and the fourteen pūrvas as her ornaments. ^[2]

 
Jain scholar Paul Dundas takes the Śrutadevatā referred to in the Bhagavatīsūtra not as Sarasvatī but rather as an all purpose category. Yet, another Jain scholar, Nagasaki Hojun (p.c.) interprets it as Sarasvatī. With the discovery of Jīvabhogin's commentary on the Paṇhavāgarana, it is clear that Śrutadevatā was identified with the Mayūravāhinī Sarasvatī by the end of the seventh century, the date of our commentary. In the third gāthā, Paṇha appears as the title of the text together with an epithet Jiṇapāyaḍa. ^[3]

 
The full Prakrit title appears only in the mantra of Maūravāhinī Sudadevadā, found in the appendix at the end of the manuscript, where the goddess is identified as the paṇhavāyaraṇavidyā, the vidyā venerated in the Paṇhavāyaraṇa (not to be confused with the vidyādevis of later times). The Sanskrit title Praśnavyākaraṇa, however, can be found in chapter colophons of the commentary." ^[4] [Diwakar Acharya: 2008: 188-89].
 

This representation establishes the highest place that the Jaina paramparā has accorded to Sarasvatī alias Śrutadevī. Jaina writers like Bappabhaṭṭisūri, Arhaddāsa and Malliṣeṇa have composed the Sarasvatī-kalpa, analogous with the Bhairava-Padmāvatīkalpa, Ambikākalpa and Jvālinīkalpa. On the door-frame of Jaina temple no. 14 at Khajurāho is the figure of Cakresvarī in the centre flanked by Lakṣmī and Sarasvatī. Prof. M.N.P. Tiwari has noticed eight Sarasvatī sculptures, including those carved on the door-lintels and adhiṣhṭāna of the Pārśvanātha temple (950-70 CE), at Khajurāho [MP: Chhatarpur Dt.].
 

The fully fledged Garland-Bearer Śrutadevī figures are the one from Paṭanceru olim Poṭṭalakere (now in the State Museum, Hyderabad), and the others from Pallu (Rajasthan) and one more in the British Museum, London (which originally belonged to Rajasthan). Let us examine the details.

The image of Garland-Bearer Śrutadevī in the State Museum, mentioned above, is another charming sculpture in the series of notable standing images in the context of Haḷebiḍu images. In fact it could be verily treated as a pañca-tīrthi, because above the profusely ornamented cylindrical crown of Śrutadevī are figures of Five Tīrthaṅkaras. The craftsmanship of the image deserves to be complimented. The icon which represents Jaina traditional trend, 'is endowed with suppleness of form and flexibility of bhangas. She is bedecked with all sorts of ornaments. The minor icons in the complex, the prabha and the Tīrthaṅkaras above are all left without polish, while the main image is highly polished. The inscription in Devanāgari script is dated 1178 CE' [Ghosh (ed), Vol. 3;1975: 573-74]. Poṭṭalakere (s.a. Paṭanceru) thrived as an important Jaina seat up to the 13th century.
 

The four-armed Śrutadevatā image, standing in triple-flexion, from Mahur in Adilabad Dt. of Āndhra Pradesh, now in the Dept. of Archaeology Museum, Hyderabad (AP) is interesting. It has the figure of five Tīrthaṅkaras, three in standing posture and the other two seated, at the top of the sculpture, similar to the image from Paṭanceru. At the bottom are a male and a female devotees seated on either side of deity.

Since Adilabad region, to where the image belongs, is surrounded by Maharastra in the north-west and Madhya Pradesh in its extreme north, the image under discussion shares more the features of northern iconography than the southern. Śruta-devatā has a palmleaf book in her left lower varda-hasta and her right lower arm is varadākṣa and upper arm holds a lotus. Luxuriously ornamented goddess holds a vīṇā, harp, in her left upper arm. The almost conical (five-layered tower-like large, larger than the face) crown, horse-shoe shaped aureole behind the head reflect Śrutadevī's supreme status. The inscription on the pedestal gives its date as 1205 C.E.

* * *