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Five thousand years of an auspicious mark, from Indus Valley seals to the temple walls of Nara.

The word The four gatis The seal Mohenjo-daro The meander 1940 Everything, in one list

Section 2 of 6

The four gatis

A doctrine carried in four arms.

A carved stone panel with geometric relief in a temple wall, raking light — In Jain teaching the four arms are a count, not an ornament — the four states a soul may be born into. These pages follow that doctrine from the manuscripts that carry it to the excavated tablets that date it.

The four gatisIn Jain teaching the four arms stand for the four states into which a soul may be born, which makes the figure a diagram of doctrine.
The eight auspicious thingsIt appears as one of a set of eight, and the set is what gives it its position in the tradition.
Kankali Tila, MathuraAn excavated Jain site whose sculpture and votive tablets are among the earliest dated material evidence in the tradition.
Palm leaf at PatanManuscript libraries preserve the mark at the head of texts, which dates its use in writing rather than in stone.

Five thousand years of an auspicious mark, from Indus Valley seals to the temple walls of Nara.

The word The four gatis The seal Mohenjo-daro The meander 1940 Everything, in one list About Contact

Su, asti, ka — conducive to wellbeing.