17. THE WEDDING CEREMONY OF VARDHAMANA MAHAVIRA, HIS MEETING WITH HIS FAMILY MEMBERS AND HIS TALK WITH FRIENDS

The picture depicts five incidents from the house-hold life of Vardhamana-Mahavira. The first scene shows the wedding of princess Yasoda with Mahavira. The second scene shows mother Yasoda loving and fondling her own daughter. The third includes the meeting of Bhagavan Mahavira with his wife and daughter. The fourth depicts Bhagavan Mahavira and his friends talking. In the center in a circular scene Bhagavan Mahavira is purposely drawn as an archer. Tirthamkaras are Ksatriyas. In spite of their being followers of non-violence, they use weapons if necessary for the welfare of the people. Tirthamkaras may be kings and even emperors. Then they have to declare deadly wars.

Note :- Hundreds of years have passed but so far no one has depicted the incidents from household life of Bhagavan Mahavira either in thousands of manuscripts of the Kalpasutra-Barasa or in the sculptures or in the temples. I felt it unfair either to neglect the wife of Bhagavan Mahavira-Tirthmkara of to ignore the natural incidents taking place in his life. So I decided to put before the world a few incidents from his life for the first time.