Description

In Jain cosmology there are numerous heavens in the upper tiers of the universe, above the mortal realms in the middle world and the hells below. The lowest twelve heavens are the paradiseskalpas – in which dwell the Vaimānika gods.

Each heaven has an animal as its emblem.

Animal symbols of the 12 heavens

Animal in painting

Name of animal in caption and meaning

Heaven

1. black antelope

mṛga – antelope

Saudharma

2. buffalo

mahiṣa – buffalo

Iśāna

3. boar

varāha – boar

Sanatkumāra

4. tiger

sīha – lion

Māhendra

5. goat

chaggala – goat

Brahmaloka

6. frog

sālūrā – frog

Lāntaka

7. horse

haya – horse

Śukra

8. elephant

gaya – elephant

Sahasrāra

9. snake

bhuyaṃga – snake

Anata

10. unicorn-rhino

khaḍgī – rhinoceros

Prāṇata

11. bull

vṛṣabha – bull

Aruṇa

12. white antelope

gheṭo – white antelope

Acyuta

There are several differences between the animals in the painting and the names in the text.

  • number 3 is supposed to be a boar, with a tusk shown in the painting, but it looks more like a sheep
  • number 4 is referred to as sīha or ‘lion’ in the text but it looks more like a tiger with an elephant’s trunk in the painting – Indian artistic representations of lions often show them as tigers because while the tiger was common on Indian territory the lion was never so
  • number 6 is named as a kind of frog in the text but the painting is not a naturalistic depiction – paintings of frogs in Indian art often resemble the strange form seen here
  • number 10 is referred to as khaḍgī, which normally means ‘rhinoceros’ – the rhino is found in Assam in eastern India so it is not certain whether a painter from Western India would have known what it looks like, and the animal in this painting looks rather like a unicorn.
  • number 12 is a white antelope in the text but the painting looks like a ram, and the Gujarati word used in the corresponding caption indeed means ‘ram’.

Note that the bull has the hump characteristic of Asian cattle.