Article: Eight auspicious symbols
The term ‘eight auspicious symbols’ refers to a set of eight shapes or objects highly respected by the Jains and which they use in various religious contexts. The word commonly used to refer to it is the Sanskrit compound aṣṭa-mangala. The word mangala designates anything that brings good luck or well-being in any way, whether an object or a phrase.
The two main Jain sects list slightly different objects as the eight auspicious symbols. For both groups, especially the Śvetāmbaras, these symbols appear in all kinds of artistic media and are widespread in temples, worship and in general life.
Different lists of the eight auspicious symbols
Svastikas and other auspicious symbols in the temple
Image by Cactusbones – Sue Ann Harkey © CC Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0
As often happens, the list of the symbols is different for the two main Jain sects of the Śvetāmbaras and Digambaras.
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1 |
Gilded vase – bhṛngāra |
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2 |
Fly whisk – cāmara |
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3 |
Banner – dhvaja |
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4 |
Powder box or flask – vardhamānaka |
Fan – vyajana |
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5 |
Throne – bhadrāsana |
Umbrella or canopy – chatra |
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6 |
Full water-jug – kalaśa |
Seat of honour – supratiṣṭha |
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7 |
Pair of fish – matsyayugma |
Full water-jug – kalaśa |
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8 |
Mirror – darpaṇa |
Mirror – darpaṇa |
Why these objects?
Auspicious symbols in a Digambara temple
Image by Nalini Balbir © Nalini Balbir
These things are auspicious for different reasons. The meaning of some of these symbols is apparent in wider Indian culture, while the significance of others is less clear.
Some of them – like the throne, the fly-whisk, the banner and the umbrella – are well known as royal insignia.
Others are connected to prosperity, abundance or fertility, for example the full jug or pitcher and the flask of powder. The word used for the latter means ‘increasing’.
The mirror may represent the idea of purity and light.
The meaning of the pair of fish is not that clear. A Śvetāmbara author from the 14th century, Vardhamāna-sūri, interpreted the auspicious symbols. He said that the fish may represent the god of Love, on whose banner they are shown, who has been defeated by the Jina and has come to worship him. Vardhamāna-sūri’s approach tried to connect the auspicious symbols with the Jinas and Jainism, although they can be seen as general signs of good luck in the Indian context.
First three Śvetāmbara symbols
The first three items in the Śvetāmbara list feature among the emblems of some of the Jinas among Śvetāmbaras and Digambaras.
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Symbol |
Digambara Jina emblem |
Śvetāmbara Jina emblem |
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Śītala – tenth Jina |
Supārśva – seventh Jina |
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Supārśva – seventh Jina |
Ara – 18th Jina |
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Śītala – tenth Jina |
Svastika
The svastika – known as the swastika in the West – is a cross with each of its four arms bent at a right angle and turned in a clockwise direction. The word itself connotes ‘good’ and ‘beneficial’. Svasti is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘well-being’. It is is often used as an exclamation, meaning, “May it be well!”
An ancient symbol found in civilisations dating back thousands of years, the svastika is often used to mark persons or things. It denotes good luck in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. It is still widely used today in India, despite its sinister reputation, particularly in the West, after its close association with the Nazis.
In the Jain list of auspicious symbols, the svastika always comes first. The four arms of the svastika are considered to represent the four possible states of existence – gati – in the world of rebirth, namely:
- heavenly being or deity
- hell-being
- animal
- human being.
It is also interpreted as referring to the four parts of the Jain community – caturvidha-saṇgha, which are:
Nandyāvarta
The nandyāvarta is a shape like a labyrinth or a larger form of svastika. The term itself implies something positive, for nandī means ‘joy, prosperity’. This diagram has nine branches, which are said to symbolise the nine treasures of a universal monarch.
Śrīvatsa
Variations and general uses
The Śvetāmbara list is known from at least two Śvetāmbara canonical scriptures.
The Aupapātika-sūtra, the first Upānga, is the standard reference. When King Kūṇika heard that Mahāvīra, the first Jina, was about to preach, he left his palace in great pomp to reach the place of the universal gathering:
While he was mounted on his superb elephant here are the eight auspicious things that were present before him in the following sequence [which forms the standard list]
In the Jambū-dvīpa-prajñapti, the list has the same number of objects but some of the items are different. Here, the eight auspicious symbols of “Umbrella, banner, pot, fly whisk, mirror, seat, fan, and vessel proceeded before the Lord” (quoted in Jain-Fischer 1978: 11).
These two passages show that the auspicious signs present themselves in specific circumstances to persons of rank. These may be either conventional kings or Jinas, who are spiritual kings.
Early representations
The oldest depictions of the eight auspicious symbols are found on the votive tablets of Mathurā, dating back to the second to third centuries CE. The full jug, a pair of fish, the śrīvatsa, the svastika and the powder box can be recognised.
But there are also other symbols that do not belong to the classical lists, like the ‘three jewels‘ – tri-ratna. This indicates some variation before the lists took the standard form known today.
Symbols in the Jain temple
Creating auspicious symbols
Image by ૐ Didi ૐ – Dey © CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
The eight auspicious symbols are a central part of Jain religious life. They are a commonplace sight in many temples in the form of bas-reliefs or sculptures on temple walls. They can be seen most frequently on the door lintel or window frames of wooden domestic shrines.
In Digambara temples the eight auspicious symbols are often found as freestanding metal objects.
It is common to see Jain devotees sitting cross-legged in front of low wooden tables, producing elaborate pictures of some of the auspicious symbols with rice grains.
Creating svastikas and nandyāvartas is particularly widespread because both shapes are linked to the more general concepts of karma and rebirth. Sometimes the eight symbols are incised in the tables.
The worshippers place rice-grains over them and gently wipe them with the edge of the palm so that the grains fill the recesses to reveal the white design of the aṣṭamangala
Jain-Fischer page 11, 1978
The offering-stands, which are made of wood or metal, often have the eight auspicious symbols carved or set in relief. In the Tri-ṣaṣṭi-śalākāpuruṣa-caritra, the 12th-century writer Hemacandra describes how: ‘Below the arches were the eight auspicious signs, svastika, etc., just like those on offering-stands’. (Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra I.3.432, Johnson 1931: 190.)
Symbols in Śvetāmbara art and life
Eight auspicious symbols
Image by British Library © CC0 1.0 (Creative Commons Public Domain)
The Śvetāmbaras have developed the theme of the auspicious symbols into a religious and decorative motif.
The symbols appear both on the pages of manuscripts and on manuscript covers. They also feature in the invitation letters Jain communities in India send to leaders of mendicants, which invite them to spend the next rainy season with the laity. Śvetāmbara ascetics frequently have the symbols embroidered on the cloth they use to protect their monastic equipment.
Manuscript pages
A mangala in the form of words must appear at the start of a Jain text, whether it is a stanza or a sacred formula. Similarly, the eight auspicious symbols are a visual beginning. The symbols can be shown alone or in succession or may accompany the depiction of one of the religious teachers, especially Mahāvīra or his chief disciple, Indrabhūti Gautama.
Placing them at the opening of a text emphasises the connection of the auspicious symbols with passing on religious teachings.
Manuscript covers
Eight auspicious symbols
Image by Victoria and Albert Museum © V&A Images/Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Together with the 14 dreams, the eight auspicious symbols have proven one of the favourite Śvetāmbara themes on manuscript covers – called pāṭhuṃ in Gujarati – since the 18th century.
The Ethnographic Museum in Antwerp in Belgium – now part of the Museum Aan de Stroom (MAS) – has a good selection of such covers. They are made of either cardboard covered with cloth or painted wood. They demonstrate characteristics of the pictorial style of the regions where they were made.
Paintings in invitation scrolls
Invitation scrolls or vijñapti-patras are formal letters inviting a leading monk and his followers, from a certain monastic group, to spend the next rainy season in a certain place. A community of lay Jains sends these letters, the local merchants often sending these on behalf of the wider group.
These invitations take the form of long scrolls with text and paintings. The text consists of poetical description and praises of mendicants and the Jinas. Generally, the opening paintings are the eight auspicious symbols and the 14 auspicious dreams.
An example of an invitation scroll is in the Jain collection at the British Library.
These invitation letters are found in Rajasthan and Gujarat from the 17th century onwards. They are a speciality of the Śvetāmbara Kharatara-gaccha and Tapā-gaccha communities.
Embroideries of the symbols
Monastic bookstand with embroidered svastikas
Image by Nalini Balbir © Nalini Balbir
Śvetāmbara monks and nuns wrap the handle of their brooms or small book-stand – sthāpanācārya – in pieces of cotton or woollen cloth. One or all of the auspicious symbols are often embroidered on them.
