Leaf from a Jain Manuscript: Yoga-shastra: Seated Yellow Jina Shantinatha Enshrined

Rendered with alacrity and charm, the painting is independent of the Sanskrit text, an influential work on the practice of yoga in the Jain tradition written by the scholar Hemachandra who lived from 1089 to 1172. The yellow Jina Shanti, recognizable by the deer in the pedestal, is honored with crown and jewels, and he wears the white lower garment permitted by members of the "White Clad" sect of Jainism. His medita1ive concentration is indicated by his slightly cross-eyed gaze fixated on a point beyond the nose. Attendants, dancers, and elephants pouring ablutions from above celebrate his liberated state and visually set off the monumental body of the Jina.