Cognizances On The Images Of Tirthankaras
By Umakant Premanand Shah
Summary
This article by Umakant P. Shah explains how images of the 24 Jain tirthankaras are identified by cognisances (lãnchanas) carved below their seats. The earliest canonical texts, such as the Kalpa Sūtra and the Niryuktis, give lives of the tirthankaras but do not list their cognisances; even the Āgamas omit them. Shah notes that the first textual reference occurs in the Avasyaka Niryukti, which simply mentions that Ṛṣabha was called so because he had the sign of a bull (ṛṣabha) on his thigh. The Vasudevahindi (c. 5th century) gives lives of several tirthankaras but makes no mention of their cognisances, while early Digambara works like the Varāṅgacaritra and Jatasimhanandi’s Purāṇas similarly ignore them. Lists of cognisances appear only in later texts such as the Tiloyapannatti and the Pratiṣṭhāśaroddhāra, which differ in details. For example, Hemacandra’s list assigns the falcon to the fourteenth tirthankara Anantanātha, whereas the Digambara list gives him the bear; for the tenth tirthankara Śītalanātha, Hemacandra gives the śrīvatsa, but the Tiloyapannatti gives the svastika, while the Pratiṣṭhāśaroddhāra assigns him the śrīdruma (kadamba) tree. These differences suggest that the lists were not finalised until well after the Jain sects had separated. Since literary evidence for lãnchanas is later than the origin of image‑worship, Shah argues that archaeological evidence must be used to estimate when the idea arose. He dates the finalisation of the cognisance lists to around the late fifth century CE, near the second Valabhī council, because this period marks the final separation of the Digambara and Śvetāmbara sects and the adoption of fully developed Jina images. The earliest surviving sculpture showing a cognisance is a Gupta‑period image of Neminātha from Rajgir: the head is broken but the pedestal shows a conch, the cognisance of Neminātha according to both sects. Earlier Kusāṇa‑period sculptures from Mathurā lack cognisances. Shah concludes by appending a list of the 24 tirthankaras with the cognisance used by each sect.
Conclusion
Shah shows that the Jain practice of identifying the tirthankaras by distinct cognisances is a comparatively late development that probably became fixed only in the fifth century CE. Early scriptures and commentaries lack such lists, and the first firm textual evidence is in the Tiloyapannatti and other medieval works, which themselves disagree. Archaeological finds, such as the Gupta‑period Neminātha image from Rajgir, indicate that cognisances were adopted once fully developed Jina images appeared. Recognising these symbols helps scholars correctly identify tirthankara images and understand how sectarian traditions diverged.