SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Religion has no vocabulary to address its ultimate subject, the transcendent. Instead, religions draw on their immediate environment to address the subject metaphorically. In a metaphor, meaning is transferred from a tangible environment (source domain) to a subject that is beyond describability (target domain) to make this subject accessible. One of the predominant areas from which religions take their metaphors is that of kingship and military conquest. This article will explore how Jain literature as well as visual representations employ metaphors related to these fields to express and shape the perception of the Jina. A particular focus will be on the changing visual representation of the Jina. The article demonstrates how visual metaphors of kingship are incorporated and become essential instruments in the process of gradual deification of the Jina.