Proceedings and papers of National Seminar on Jainology

Author(s): Yugalkishor Mishra
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

Page 56

Some Observations on Navagraha Cult in Jaina Art
From the foregoing, one can notice that the Jaina planetary panels emerged during the early medieval period. Banerjee contends that Navagraha reliefs were a medieval convention practised as a prophylact measure for the safety of the temples. In this connection, he refers to the earliest extant Navagraha Sculpture of a late Gupta fragmentary Sandstone relief from Sarnath.
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Shastri refers to Varahamihir's injunctions for the preformance of grahaśānti or grahayajña before launching on a military campaign. As pointed out at the outset that the planetary concepts practised by the sculpture is born out of astrological concept. Indian astrological texts i.e., Jyotiṣāstra made significant progress paticularly in relation to planetary dogmas and started taking shape in the form of siddhantas in 5-6th century AD. This period is synchronized with the advent of a number of scholars like Aryabhatta (476 AD), Varahamihira (500 AD), Bramhagupta (575 AD). This period closed with Bhaskaracarya who flourished before the advent of the Turko-Afgan rule in India. It is interesting to point out that King Ballala Sen of Sen Dynasty-a contemporary of Bhaskara wrote Adbhuta Sagara, an astrological treatise. Similarly, another King of early medieval period, King Bhoja of Dhara was a great scholar of Jyotișa and compiled an astrological text known as Bhoja Samhitā.
But in India, astrology was a despised profession earlier. Buddhist text Brahmajālasutta, Jaina Scripture Uttaradhyayana Sūtra and Brahmanical code Manusmṛti-all castigated astrology in unequivocal terms. Farrington describes the similar position in relation to early Greek civilization and astrology. He even mentions about the police measures against the astrology. But the position changed with the inter emperors like Theberius, Nero and others who extended patronage to them. As mentioned above, Indian situation changed so fundamentally that some of the kings were themselves astronomers. It was raised to the status of Royal profession i.e., Rāja-Jyotiṣa. Varahamihira enjoins upon the rulers to follow his following injunctions:
"A king, who desires to maintain fame and all round success, must engage the services of astrologers who are clever in the science of prognostication."
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Dealing with the chronology of the nodal point of the change, Filliozat pointed out that earlier Indian astronomy was strictly cosmographical; but during the first century AD, through influences from Mesopotamia and Greece later became astrological.7
Similarly Macdonnel noted that as a result of Greek influence this change started taking place from 200 AD8.
This metamorphosis can be synchronized with the transition from antiquity to medievalism in Indian History. According to Yadava, the central