Part 6: Personal description of Ṛṣabha

In youth the feet of the Lord were soft, red, like the inside of a lotus, warm, firm, free from perspiration, with smooth soles. As if for removing distress of those bowed (at his feet), the Lord’s cakra appeared, and the wreath, goad, and banner, like those of the elephant of Śrī always present. The conch and the pitcher shone on the soles, and the svastika on the heels of the Master’s feet like pleasure-houses of Lakṣmī. Fleshy, round, high, like a serpent’s hood, the great toe of the Master was marked with a śrīvatsa, like a calf. The Lord’s toes were like the flame of a lamp, motionless, steady, shining, touching each other, straight like petals of a foot-lotus. Nandyāvartas shone on the soles of the feet and toes of the Lord of the World, copies of which served as a foundation for the establishment of dharma on earth.^[1] Barley-corns beneath the joints of the toes of the Lord of the World shone with the well-marks^[2] as if sown for the wedding of the World and Lakṣmī. Like a bulb of the foot-lotus, the heel was rounded, long and broad; the nails resembled the hood-jewels of the serpents of the great toe and other toes. Hidden ankles of the Lord’s feet attained the extreme beauty of the round pericarps of golden lotus-buds. The upper part of the Lord’s feet, gradually arched like a tortoise, the veins invisible, had smooth skin and was free from hair. The Lord of the World’s lower legs were fair, resembling the legs of deer, strong, adorned with flesh covering the bones. The Master’s knees, round, covered with flesh, gave the appearance of mirrors put inside a cover filled with cotton. His thighs, soft, smooth, gradually filled out, gave the impression of mature plantain-stalks.

His loins were long, fleshy, thick, broad, firm; his waist resembled the middle of a thunderbolt in its slenderness. A deep navel gave the impression of a whirlpool in a river; the abdomen was smooth, fleshy, soft, straight, level. The breast, broad as a slab of gold, high, marked with the jeweled background of the śrīvatsa,^[3] had the beauty of a playground of Śrī. Firm, massive, high shoulders resembled the hump of a bull; armpits had little hair, were curved, free from the odor of perspiration and dirt. Massive arms, terminated by hands like serpents’ hoods, hanging down to the knees, were like nooses for restraining fickle Śrī. The Ford of the World’s palms were reddish like a young mango-shoot, not hard from work, not perspiring, with fingers touching each other, warm. Like the feet, the hands were marked with the rod, disc, bow, fish, śrīvatsa, thunderbolt, goad, banner, lotus, chauri, umbrella, conch, pitcher, ocean, Mandara, makara, bull, lion, horse, chariot, svastika, sky-elephant, palace, gateway, and island. The thumb and fingers were red, straight, springing from the red hand like shoots from a wishing-tree, adorned with rubies on the ends. The barley-corns shone clearly on the Master’s thumb-joints, the causes of the preeminent growth of the best horse of fame. On the ends of the Ford’s fingers whorls to the right, indicating success in everything, assumed the appearance of a conchshell turning to the right. At the beginning of the lotus hands three lines, like lines for counting, shone, indicating, “Three worlds are to be rescued from misery.”

Round, not too long, purified by three lines, having a deep voice, the neck was like a conch. Fair, round, with waves of light the Ford’s face was like another moon, free from spots. Soft, fleshy, smooth, the broad cheeks of the Ford were like golden mirrors of Vāc and Lakṣmī dwelling together. The ears, pretty with inside convolutions, hanging to the shoulders, were like pearl-oysters on the bank of the river of the beauty of the Lord’s face. The lips were like bimba-fruit; the teeth were like thirty-two jasmine-flowers; the Supreme Lord’s nose gradually widened, with a gradually arched bridge. Neither small nor large, his chin was fleshy, round, soft; the Protector’s beard was dark, thick, glossy, soft. The Ford’s tongue, begetting the contents of the scriptures having twelve aṅgas, was not too thick, soft, reddish, like the young shoot of a kalpa-tree. His eyes were white with black in the center, red at the ends, as if they had insets of sapphire, crystal and rubies. They reached to the ears, their eyelashes black as collyrium, wide-open, like blossoming lotuses filled with clusters of bees. The dark, curved eyebrows of the Lord bad the beauty of a creeper that had appeared on the shore of the lotus-pond of the eye.

The Lord of the World’s forehead was broad, fleshy, round, firm, soft, smooth, like the moon of the eighth day. The Master of the World’s head, gradually arched, rivaled in appearance an umbrella with its face turned downwards. The round, tall head-dress on the head-umbrella of the Great Lord, indicating lordship over the three worlds, took on the appearance of the projecting point (of an umbrella). The hair on the Lord’s head shone, black as bees, curled, soft, glossy, like the waves of the Kālindī. His skin, fair as the interior of (a ball of) yellow orpiment,^[4] smooth and dear, shone on the body of the Lord of the Three Worlds, as if it were anointed with melted gold. The hair on the Master’s body was soft, dark as bees, having an unique source (i.e., his body), fine as lotus-fiber. The Lord, marked with these various remarkable signs like an ocean with jewels, for whom indeed was he not one to be worshipped?

Supported by Mahendra, with chauris held by Yakṣas, with Dharaṇendra acting as door-keeper, with an umbrella held by Pracetas,^[5] surrounded by gods saying “Long live! Long live!” unassuming, the Master of the World passed his time agreeably. Resting on a seat brought by the gods, his feet put on Balīndra’s lap, the upper part of his body resting on the couch of Camarendra’s lap, attended on all sides by Apsarases who had handkerchiefs in their hands, (even though) indifferent, he saw a celestial concert.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The nandyāvarta, a kind of svastika, is one of the 8 auspicious signs.

[2]:

Yavas are the lines beneath the joints. Vāpī is one of the marks on hand or foot.

[3]:

The śrīvatsa, originally a curl of hair, came to be a mark with the general shape of 4 petals, frequently represented enclosed in a rectangular background.

[4]:

Gorocanagarbha. Gorocana (as actually used) comes in a ball of compact powder which is much lighter on the inside than on the external surface.

[5]:

The only Jain Pracetas that I have been able to locate is Varuṇa, the Lokapāla of the West. For the other names, see App. I.