Studies in Indian Art c11.s5.1

c11.s5.1

According to Mahāyāna iconography Vasudhārā is a consort of Jambhala. She is believed to be an emanation of Ratnasambhava, and sometimes of Akṣobhya, but in sculpture she is more ancient than either of her spiritual fathers, the two Dhyānī Buddhas named above. According to a note in the *Sādhanamālā*, p. 89, only three sādhanas are devoted to her worship, and in one of these only she is said to bear the image of Akṣobhya. In two others, she is assigned to the Dhyānī Buddha Ratnasambhava, which word means 'born of jewels'. Vasudhārā, literally 'custodian of *Vasus* or riches', found her appropriate male counterpart in Jambhala, the god of wealth, and both were made dependent for origination on Ratnasambhava, the latter event taking place at a much later date, since the incorporation of this Dhyānī Buddha into the pantheon of the divine Buddhas was in itself a subsequent accomplishment.