Elephants in Jain Mythology

Not only in the Buddhist pantheon but also in Jain faith elephants are perceived as one of the most venerable animal. Elephant is seen as the mount of Tīrthaṅkara Ajitanātha. Jain Syādvāda uses elephant as a symbol to explain the theory of relative truth. The popular tale of the six blind men and the elephant is originally a Jaina parable that illustrates a system of logic central to the faith known as Syādvāda all ideas may be explored from different points of view and all of these views are correct in their own right; to fully comprehend the implications of many ideas, one must scrutinize it from different view-points. In Jain paintings and sculptures, elephants feature mainly as a cognisance of Tīrthaṅkara Ajitanātha and as attendant figures and royal mounts.^[1]

[20. Jain Tīrthaṅkara Ajitanātha, with elephant]

The Tīrthaṅkaras are all considered to be of royal lineage–each one of them a prince who renounced the worldly existence to follow a path of extreme asceticism. As an acknowledgment of their former privileges, the Tīrthaṅkaras are often shown flanked by caparisoned elephants. At the hill-fort of Gwalior in Central India, for instance, a group of towering Jina figures, carved from the living-sand stone hill side, are each embellished with a pair of triumphal elephants over the shoulders. In one of the sculptural panels an elephant and its rider transport reliquary urns towards a prototypal Jain shrine.^[2] Other elephants in Jain art serve a more ritualistic role–mainly of adoration and worship. ādinātha temple at Ronakpur and Pārśvanātha temples contain huge images of elephants, fully modelled.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Ibid., pp. 36-37.

[2]:

V. Ram. Elephant Kingdom–Sculptures from Indian Architecture, p.37.