J
Jabali
A famous sage in Hindu mythology and
sonof the sage Vishvamitra. Despite his
biological origins, Jabali eventually
becomes associated with his father’s
sworn enemy, the sage Vasishtha. As a
member of Vasishtha’s group, Jabali
becomes one of the advisers to King
Dasharatha, the father of the god-king
Ramain the epic Ramayana.
Jada
(“inert,” “insentient”) In a philosophical
context, the word jadais used to desig-
nate physical matter, which is inert and
devoid of cognitive functions. In a more
extended sense, the word can refer to
any person completely lacking religious
capacities, sensibilities, or interest, and
who is, thus, from a religious perspec-
tive, simply inert.
Jagadamba
(“Mother of the Universe”) Epithet of the
Goddess, highlighting her creative and
generative capacities. See Goddess.
Jagadisha
(“Lord of the Universe”) Epithet of the
regional deity Jagannath, and by exten-
sion the god Vishnu, to whom
Jagannath has been connected as a form
of Krishna, the eighth avataror incar-
nation of Vishnu. Jagadisha is the name
given to Jagannath in the Dashavatara
Stotra, the opening hymn in the
Gitagovinda, a lyric devotional poem
composed by the poet Jayadeva. In
modern northern India, the name
Jagadisha is used in one of the most
popular and best-known devotional
hymns, the JagadishaArati, a hymn
directed more particularly to Vishnu.Jagamohan
In the temple architectureof Orissa,
one of the major forms of the northern
Indian Nagarastyle, the jagamohan is
the entrance porch to the temple, which
provides a transitional space between
the outside world and the sacred space
further in. In Orissan temples, the jag-
amohan tended to be low and squat, in
sharp contrast to the deul, or main
internal area, a beehive-shaped tower
under which the image of the temple’s
primary deityresided.Jagannath
(“Master of the Universe”) Presiding
deityof the Jagannath temple in Puri.
Puri is and has long been a major center
for Hindu culture, a circumstance that
has underlined and reinforced
Jagannath’s importance as the city’s
presiding deity. Although Jagannath is
identified as a manifestation of the
god Krishna, his roots lie elsewhere.
He is generally considered to be an
autochthonous (“of the land”) deity,
who was originally the local deity of Puri
but who has been assimilated into the
wider pantheon as a form of Krishna,
and therefore, by extension, a form of
Vishnu. This assimilation shows
Jagannath’s importance and influence
in the local setting, since he could not
be simply marginalized. It is also an
example of the Vaishnava tendency
for such assimilation, most often
through the doctrine of the avatarsor
divine incarnations.
In the Puri temple and other icono-
graphic representations, Jagannath
invariably appears as a member of a trio:
Jagannath (Krishna) appears on the
right, his brother Balabhadra
(Balarama) is on the left, and the small-
er figure in the center is their sister
Subhadra. This triadic grouping and the
depiction of a female figure are veryJabali