Essay name: Buddhist iconography in and outside India (Study)
Author:
Purabi Gangopadhyay
Affiliation: University of Calcutta / Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture
This work aims to systematically present the development and expansion of Mahayana-Vajrayana Buddhist iconography from India to other countries, such as China, Korea, and Japan. This study includes a historical account of Indian Buddhist iconography and the integration of Brahmanical gods into the Mahayana-Vajrayana phase.
Chapter 2: Indian Buddhist Iconography (a Comparative Study)
16 (of 27)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
34
鈥�
the branches of the tree. A conch shell and a lotus flower
are also associated with Kubera. Padma, Mah膩padma, Sa艅kha,
Makara, Kacchapa, Mukunda, Nanda, N墨la and Kharva are regarded
as the nine gems of Kubera鹿, But this list of nine gems are
not always same in all texts.
+
According to the Hindu mythology Kubera was the son
of the sage called Vai艣ravas or Vai艣rava峁嘺 and he was the
guardian of all treasurers of the earth. We may cite here
an illustration of Kubera discovered from Nalanda (Pl.XXI,
Fig. 2. ).
In Indian Buddhism Jambhala is regarded as one of the
emanations of Ratnasambhava. Jambhala is the deity of wealth
or Buddhist Kubera. But the meaning of Ratnasambhava, is
"Jewel born". Vasudh膩r膩 is regarded as the consort of J膩mbhala.
The Sadhanam膩l膩 describes J膩mbhala in different forms. He is
represented either in single form or in Yab-Yum attitude. When
he is depicted as a single deity he is of golden complexion
and carries the mongoose in the left hand and a citron in the
right hand. When he is represented in Yab-Yum form with his
Sakti he is white in colour. He has three faces and six arms.
In one representation (Pl.XXI.Fig. 3. ) we find that
Jambhala is seated on a pedestal. He is four-armed and hold
a Jambhara (lemon) which is placed in his lower right hand.
1. DHI, p. 30.
