Studies in Indian Art c12.s3: 16. Dhyani Buddhas and Bodhisattvas

Studies in Indian Art c12.s3

Language: English

c12.s3.t1 Early References — 2 parts
c12.s3.t2 Evidence of Art — 33 parts

16. Dhyani Buddhas and Bodhisattvas

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The Buddhists believe in a Pantheon consisting of the five Dhyāni Buddhas and five Bodhisattvas emanating from the former. The Dhyāni Buddhas, also known as the Divine Buddhas, are of a passive nature in the process of creation. They remain merged in peaceful meditation and voluntarily restrain themselves from directly associating in the act of creation. They therefore represent the principle of rest in Buddhist philosophy. To create is the duty of their emanations, the Divine Bodhisattvas, who as their counterparts are mainly responsible for controlling and guiding the dynamic aspect of the cosmic forces. There are in the main five Bodhisattvas corresponding to the five Dhyāni Buddhas. The five Dhyāni Buddhas might have owed their origin to the eternity of the five senses and the five elements, with which they are severally connected. According to Advaya Vajra, a writer of the eleventh century, they took their origin from the five Buddhist Skandhas, or rather they were the embodiments of the Skandhas which were held by Lord Buddha to be the constituents of a Being. (Cf. Buddhist Iconography by B. Bhattacharya).

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To the five Dhyāni Buddhas connected with the five senses it was natural that a sixth should have been added in the capacity of one presiding over mind, and as such an embodiment of the five senses collectively. According to the traditions developed in the old Vedic schools mind is the sovereign of the five Prāṇas. The five Prāṇas were identical with the five senses in the orthodox religious schools, and it is no wonder if the Buddhists also worked on the same solid foundations. To impart a symmetrical character to the Pantheon, the five Dhyāni Buddhas were connected in course of time by the Buddhist thinkers with the five mudrās or poses of hands, which the great Sage, Gautama Buddha, had used on different occasions and which consequently were used in Buddhist art to symbolise the great events of his life. Or still further, on account of the number five, they came to be related with the five vargas or groups of consonantal mutes, viz., क्, च्, ट्, त्, and प् and similarly with the five seasons and the five quarters (viz., the four cardinal points plus the centre).

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'It has already been said that the five Dhyāni Buddhas are passive and in deep meditation. For purposes of creation they have each an active counterpart called Bodhisattva. These Bodhisattvas, in successive ages, uphold the creation and then retire and merge again into their original sources. The Bodhisattvas exert their influence over the universe in successive ages through the most exalted of human beings called Mānuṣī Buddhas or Buddhas incarnate. They are a sort of human agent to the Bodhisattvas'. [N. K. Bhattasali, Iconography of Buddhist and Brahmanical Sculptures in the Dacca Museum, p. 18]. Both the Hinayānists and the Mahāyānists believe in a list of twenty-four past Buddhas, each having a peculiar Bodhi tree. Of these the last seven Tathāgatas are designated by the Mahāyānists as Mānuṣī Buddhas, with Maitreya, the coming Buddha, added as the eighth and last of all. The Mānuṣī Buddhas were also made to fit in within the framework of the Dhyānī Buddhas and their Bodhisattvas.

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Fig. 70. Bodhisattva Torso with Suparṇas in the head

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Fig. 71. Bodhisattva head with Garuḍas

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Fig. 72. Head of Avalokiteśvara

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Fig. 73. Bodhisattva Head with two Buddhas in Crest

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Fig. 74. Bodhisattva Head with Dhyānī Buddha

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Fig. 75. Bodhisattva Head from the Collection of R. B. Radha Krishana

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We thus get the panel of the Dhyānī Buddhas, their corresponding Dhyānī Bodhisattvas, and the Mānuṣī Buddhas, all these together making up a triad, which in import and significance possessed great similarity with the philosophical Hindu triad. The meditative and detached Dhyānī Buddhas represented the prajñāna-ghana or adhyātma aspect, the active Bodhisattvas the prāṇika or adhidaiva aspect, and the mortal Buddhas the ādhibhautika or incarnate aspect of the Absolute. On the stable foundations of this Trinity a host of gods and goddesses were evolved in later Buddhism, and the scheme of the five Dhyānī Buddhas with the related Bodhisattvas is considered to be the most convenient synthesis for introducing order into an otherwise complex pantheon. The following chart illustrates the Divine Buddhas, the Bodhisattvas and the mortal Buddhas in proper relationship to one another and also to the different mudrās, vehicles, skandhas and position in a Stūpa :—

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Early References

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The above Pantheon was not perfected all at once. We do not find the mention of the five Dhyānī Buddhas in the literature of the Mahāyāna Buddhists prior to the time of Indra Bhūti (cir. 700—750 A.D.). We meet with none of them in the works of Aśvaghosha (c. 1st century A.D.), Nāgārjuna (2nd cent. A.D.) and his disciple Āryadeva. We have evidence that during A.D. 148—170 the Sukhāvatī Vyūha or the Amitāyus Sūtra was translated into Chinese. This Sūtra mentions for the first time the name of Amitābha, and his other name Amitāyus, who resides in the Sukhāvatī or Akanishṭha heaven, where he remains in constant meditation and where he is believed to have brought forth the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara into existence. The smaller recension of this Amitāyus Sūtra which was also translated into Chinese between A.D. 384—417, mentions two more names, of Akshobhya as a Tathāgata and Mañjuśrī as a Bodhisattva. It may be noted, however, that Fahian mentions the names of Mañjuśrī, Avalokiteśvara, and Maitreya; Hiuen Tsang the names of Avalokiteśvara, Maitreya, Mañjuśrī, and also Padmapāṇi, Vaiśravaṇa, Sākya Bodhisattva and Hārītī. The latter also refers to many saints deified as Bodhittvas, e.g., Aśvaghosha, Nāgārjuna, Asaṅga, Sumedhas and others. He refers to many of the previous Buddhas also. It-sing, another devout Buddhist traveller (A.D. 671—695), mentions Avalokiteśvara, Amitāyus or Amitābha, Maitreya and Mañjuśrī. [Cf. B. Bhattacharya, Buddhist Iconography].

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It is evident from this that the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara Padmapāṇi and his spiritual father Amitābha or Amitāyus were the most ancient and popular of the Divine Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Of the mortal Buddhas, besides Gautama, Maitreya is most frequently mentioned, both Fahian and Hiuen Tsang making reference to him. It may be because Avalokiteśvara presides over the present aeon, the Bhadra-kalpa, and Maitreya is to incarnate as the future Buddha in the next kalpa, that the worship of these two besides Gautama, the Buddha of the present age, was more popular than others.

Evidence of Art

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We wish to discuss here especially the evidence that is available in Mathura sculpture, relating to the Dhyānī Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Dr. Vogel wrote in his Introduction (p. 38) to the Catalogue of the Mathura Museum:—

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The Mathura sculptures, however, point to the fact that during the Kushāṇa period this Bodhisattva cult was not yet developed. The statuettes, No. A 43 and 68 of the Mathurā Museum are the only figures which can be identified with Maitreya. I do not know of any representation of Avalokiteśvara, not to speak of other less popular Boddhisattvas. Even those well known groups of a seated Buddha between two standing Bodhisattvas, so common in later Buddhist art, do not seem to occur at Mathurā. This is the more remarkable, as such triads were already known in Gandhāra’.

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But since the above was written in 1910, important evidence has accumulated which warrants us to revise the above view in regard to the origin and early development of the Bodhisattva cult at Mathurā. There are nine sculptures, all products of the Mathurā school, which I came across during my recent compiling of an uptodate Catalogue of the antiquities in the Mathura Museum and my studies relating thereto. They are discussed below:—

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1. Standing Bodhisattva [B. 82, deposited in the Lucknow Museum]:—Completely preserved figure on a railing pillar. Halo of scalloped border round the head. He wears heavy earpendants, a flat torque and a flat triangular necklace as are found on the image of Parkham Yaksha and on the colossal Bodhisattvas of Mathura. A scarf thrown on the shoulders and a dhoti with a girdle tied over it, are also similar to other Mathurā figures of the Kushāṇa period. The right hand is raised to shoulder in abhayamudrā, and the left hand holds an amṛita-ghaṭa. The mukuṭa on the head is the chief item of interest, as it shows the effigy of a Buddha seated cross-legged with right hand in abhayamudrā and the left holding saṅghāṭi. The image is undoubtedly of the Kushāṇa period, about the 2nd century A.D.

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This image is illustrated by Dr. Coomaraswamy in his History of Indian and Indonesian Art, plate XXI, fig. 78. It is wrongly described as Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara on p. 233 of that book. Dr. Coomaraswamy published it again as fig. 17 in his well known essay entitled 'The Origin of the Buddha Image' [The Art Bulletin, 1927], where the figure is correctly identified as Bodhisattva Maitreya (p. 38). Even if the miniature figure of the spiritual Buddha in the crest of the crown were absent, this image would easily be identified as Maitreya on account of the presence of the amṛita vase, which is invariably associated with Maitreya in Kushāṇa art (Cf. Maitreya Images, A. 43, A. 68, in Dr. Vogel's Catalogue]. The abhayamudrā of the right hand of the Dhyāni Buddha, however, leads additional confirmation to the identification, and according to the table given before, the Dhyāni Buddha should be called Amoghasiddhi. That the cult of the Dhyāni Buddha in respect to Maitreya had been established as early as the second century A.D. during the Kushāṇa period is proved beyond doubt by this image.

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2. Upper Fragment of a Bodhisattva head [No. 2367, now deposited in the Mathurā Museum, originally obtained by me from Mahadeva Ghat, Sadar Bazar, Mathura]:—Fortunately, enough portion is preserved to reveal the true character of the image. The Dhyāni Buddha is seated in padmāsana in abhayamudrā, and has a circular halo of segmented border. On both sides there is a worshipper standing with folded hands, and each has a halo round the head. The composition and style of the figures are extraordinarily similar to those of the group on the top of the relic casket from Kanishka's Stūpa at Peshawar. We may be justified in identifying the two attendant figures, whose divine rank is beyond doubt, as Indra and Brahmā. The Dhyāni Buddha is without a lotus-seat. This piece also must belong to the same period as the Bodhisattva Maitreya given above. The Dhyāni Buddha also on account of the abhayamudrā should be identified as Amoghasiddhi. This head was described in the *Ann. Bib. of Indian Archaeology* for 1934, p. 14 [*V. S. Agrawala, Acquisitions to the Mathurā Museum*].

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3. Head and Bust of Bodhisattva [No. 2361, obtained from Dig Darwaza, Mathura; now deposited in the Curzon Museum. Material red sandstone. Age about 2nd century A.D.]. There are traces of a halo at the back. Loose locks falling on both shoulders. The ornaments are the same as on the Bodhisattva Image No. A. 45 in the Mathurā Museum [Dr. Vogel's Catalogue, Plate X], viz., pearl string round the neck, flat torque, profuse pearl necklaces held below with *makara-mukha* clasps, chain and pendant *padaka*, amulet string (*rakshā-viṭikā sūtra*) and *gāruḍa keyūra* on the arms. The head is slightly inclined to the right in a position in which the gaze is directed towards the left arm, which is thrown obliquely towards the stomach. [Fig. 70]

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The *mukuṭa*, again, is of more than usual interest. It has a projecting central rosette and is held fast by a metallic fillet. The rosette is occupied by a facing Garuḍa squatting with spreadout wings. Surmounting the fillet is a row of three smaller Garuḍas on the right and another similar row on the left. The total of Garuḍa figures thus comes to seven, which of course must have been a symbolic number. According to the Bodhisattva doctrine Garuḍas serve as the vehicle of Bodhisattva Maitreya. In that case this and similar other images with Garuḍa emblem in the crest must be representing Maitreya. The symbolism of the *Sapta Suparṇas* may go back to much older Vedic tradition, and it may well have been adopted as a counterpart of the symbol of the seven Nāga hoods common in Buddhist art. The *Suparṇas* represented the celestial powers of Light, and the Nāgas the titanic powers of Darkness. The Sun was sopken of as the Great Suparṇa, and his seven rays or the seven vital airs were symbolised as the *Sapta Suparṇas*. The eternal feud between the Suparṇa and the Nāga has also been found represented in Mathura art of the Kushāṇa period. [Smith's *Jaina Stūpa*, plate XXV, fig. 1]. The *sapta-suparṇa* Bodhisattvas therefore might have represented enlightened Beings, *i.e.*, Buddhas, in whom Pervfect Wisdom had triumphed over Ignorance or Darkness.

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4. Bodhisattva Head [No. 510, acquired in February 1915 from the site of Katra Keshavadeva, deposited in the Mathura Museum; material grey white stone, about 3rd century A.D.]. The head and crown are similar to No. 3 above, and the arrangement of the Garuḍa figures is also alike, though not so well preserved. There is a continuous pearl string held in the beak of all the Garuḍa figures and fastened at both ends with small rosettes attached to the crown. [Fig. 71]

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5. Bodhisattva head preserved in tact above the *nāsā mūla sūtra*. This head is illustrated by Dr. Coomaraswamy as fig. 21 in plate VI of his *History of Indian and Indonesian Art*. On page 230 he writes—'male head from Mathurā (fragment). Mottled red sand stone. Maurya or *Śuṅga*'. The present whereabouts of this antiquity are not given, but it is likely thta like the head in fig. 20, it forms part of Dr. Coomaraswamy's private collection. It is incorrect to take it as of the Maurya or Śuṅga period. On stylistic grounds this head must belong to the Kuṣāṇa period, being similar in treatment to numerous other Kuṣāṇa Bodhisattva heads.

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The head is illustrated by Dr. Coomaraswamy in three-quarters profile. There is a band above the fillet. In the centre we notice a crescent, and a row of seven Garuḍa figures on the proper left side. Obviously a similar line of Garuḍas adorned the right side. The crescent is absolutely a unique feature so far as Mathurā art is concerned. Mr. Hargreaves, however, noted its provenance in Gandhāra specimens of Buddha and Bodhisattva figures. He writes, "The most interesting of the group are Nos. 835 and 858. Both show a seated Buddha in the centre, with hands folded in the attitude of meditation, dhyāna, and with a number of smaller standing Buddha figures at an angle on either side, while a noticeable feature of both is the crescent moon above the central Buddha's head. Nos. 850 and 859, having a Bodhisattva with three radiating figures on either side, are worthy of attention as the former has a crescent¹ above the head and one of the radiating figures bears a trident". [H. Hargreaves, Handbook to the Sculptures in the Peshawar Museum, p. 86]. It would be interesting to know the age of the Gandhāra specimens and also to institute a comparison with our figure. But pending good photos and further details of the Peshawar figures we must not venture a definite identification.

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6. Bodhisattva Padmapāṇi or Avalokiteśvara head [No. 2336, deposited in the Mathurā Museum. Reproduced in Plate IV, C, and described on p. 14 of the Annual Bibliography of Indian Archaeology for 1934, Vol. IX.] The Dhyāni Buddha in the centre of the crown is seated in padmāsana on a lotus, and has both hands in dhyāna mudrā. He wears an elaborate saṅghāṭī covering both shoulders. There is a scalloped halo at the back of his head. There are three Garuḍas on his right and three on the left, above the fillet fastening the crown over the ringlets. There is an ūrṇā dot between the eyebrows. The material is red sand stone at the back with a patch of grey white colour in front.

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This Avalokiteśvara head is almost an ancient duplicate of a similar Avalokiteśvara head in the Sanchi Museum [B. 30, Plate XV of the Catalogue of the Museum of Archaeology at Sanchi, also p. 38] Both these heads cannot be later than the 3rd century A.D. It is practically certain that a group of Mathurā artists was working at Sanchi during the Kuṣāṇa period. Images in Mathurā stone and style have been discovered at this site [Cf. Sanchi Museum Catalogue, A. 83]. Specially interesting is the inscribed pedestal of the image of Bodhisattva Maitreya. On the front of its pedestal is a figure of Bodhisattva Maitreya seated cross-legged, wearing usual ornaments including amulet string, and holding a small amṛta-ghaṭa in left hand. [A. 84, Sanchi Museum,, photo on plate VIII (b) of A.S.R., 1912-13, Pt. I [Fig. 72]

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7. Bodhisattva head [No. 2573, obtained by me in 1935, from the village of Kota—Chhanora on the Delhi road about 3 miles from Mathura] Material, spotted red sandstone of darker colour. Early Gupta period. :-The middle portion of the crown above the head, nose and chin are damaged. The hair is held by a fillet, and above it is a double garland, all three held together on either ends by lotus medallions. On proper right side surmounting the upper garland band, is a *Garuda* figure just above the lotus clasp. Next to it is a Buddha figure seated cross-legged between two dwarf trees, the left of which is lost. There is then a gap of 8" on account of the wearing off of the surface. On the proper left side is again a Buddha figure, with one dwarf tree and one *Garuda* figure on its left. Between the two Buddha figures there is room, exactly enough for three more Buddha figures flanked by trees. It is probable that in all there were five Buddhas seated in *padmāsana* between two *Garudas* on the crown of the Bodhisattva's head. Dr. B. Bhattacharya remarks in his book, *Buddhist Iconography*, that the images of Maitreya sometimes bear the figures of the five Dhyāni Buddhas on the aureole behind them. In that case this would represent the head of Bodhisattva Maitreya, carved in the Mathurā art of the Gupta period, incorporating in it elements of later iconographic evolution. [Fig. 73]

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8. Bodhisattva head [No. 1944, purchased from Major Bridge in Mathura Cantt., and now deposited in the Museum. Material spotted red sand stone. Gupta period, about 5th—6th century A.D.]:-The head is much water-worn. It shows in the crest the effigy of a spiritual Buddha seated in *padmāsana*, with right hand suspended below in an attitude which cannot be deciphered at present. The Buddha is flanked by two respectant lions, who according to the table of the Dhyāni Buddhas serve as vehicles of the Divine Buddha Ratnasambhava. It is therefore probable that this head belonged to an image either of the Bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi or his mortal Buddha Kāśyapa. That the images of Kāśyapa Buddha were carved at Mathurā as early as the Kushāṇa period, is borne out by a recent find mentioning the name of the Kāśyapa Buddha (described elsewhere in this book), in Kushāṇa Brāhmī characters. [Fig. 74]

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9. Bodhisattva head :-This head is neither deposited in the Mathurā Museum nor the present provenance of it is known. I have recovered a photo of it from the collection of photos left behind by the late R. B. Pt. Radha Krishna. On the back of it I find the following entry :-

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No. 383, Ht. 8", Weight 2½ seers or 5 lbs. Price £10,

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It is obvious that the owner sold it away to some museum or private collector. The photo, however, is very clear. We see in the high crown a Divine Buddha seated in *padmāsana* on a lotus seat, and having a prominent round halo at the back of half the body. The Buddha wears an elaborate robe covering both shoulders. The left hand holds the *saṅghāṭī*, while the right one is held in *varada mudrā*. On either side of the Buddha is a lion standing rampant on the fillet, facing in opposite directions, and holding pearl festoons in the mouth. From the attitude of the right hand and the lions, the Dhyāni Buddha can be identified with Ratnasambhava as in No. 1944. This Buddha figure must be assigned to the Gupta period. [Fig. 75]

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The above nine antiquities furnish valuable evidence for a proper study of the beginnings and growth of the Dhyāni Buddha and Bodhisattva cult in the philosophical schools of the Mahāyāna Buddhists at Mathurā. We are well aware from the extended studies of Dr. Coomaraswamy that Mathura took a leading part in the origin and development of the Buddha image [*vide his essay on the Origin of the Buddha Image*]. It is therefore in the fitness of things that the creative and prolific genius of her artists should have been employed to carve also the various Bodhisattvas who appeared with the rise of Mahāyānism. The available specimens from Mathurā include the following special classes of Buddha images:

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1. Images of Gautama Buddha seated under a *pipal* tree in *padmāsana*, wearing no ornaments, but styled as ‘Bodhisattva’ in the epigraph on them, *e.g.*, A. 1 from Katra.

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2. Image of the Buddha, Śākyamuni, similar to the above, but styled as ‘Buddha’, *e.g.*, A. 2 from Anyor.

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3. Freestanding Bodhisattvas, of colossal type and muscular built, carved in the round, like the Sarnath Bodhisattva of the year 3 of Kanishka’s reign. Compare also the massively built standing Bodhisattva No. A. 40 in the Mathurā Museum, wearing dhoti, scarf, girdle, torque and flat necklace like the Parkham Yaksha.

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4. Life size statue of freestanding Buddhas, built as above, but not wearing ornaments, *e.g.*, A. 63 of the Mathurā Museum.

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5. Seated and standing Bodhisattvas wearing an amulet string along with other ornaments. Cf. A. 45 and A. 46 of the Mathurā Museum.

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6. Seated Buddhas wearing elaborated drapery covering both shoulders, as A. 18 and A. 21 etc., evidently influenced by Gandhara specimens.

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7. Friezes showing a panel of ‘Sarva Buddhas’, or seven Buddhas or sometimes eight including Maitreya. Cf. I. 7; l. 37. Similar rows of Buddhas with attendants are found in the Graeco-Buddhist art of Gandhara.

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8. Statues of Maitreya with the distinguishing symbol of the *amṛta ghaṭa*, which are common at Mathura. Compare A. 43, A. 68.

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9. Statues of the previous Buddhas, which have no distinguishing marks, their identity being revealed by the inscribed labels on their pedestals. Two such images have been discovered so far in the art of Mathura, *viz.*,

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(a) Dīpaṅkara Buddha preserved in the Lucknow Museum, B. 22. Originally found from the bed of the Yamunā with an inscription of the early Gupta period.

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(b) Image of Kāśyapa Buddha recently found at Mathurā. Kāśyapa was the mortal Buddha related to the Dhyāni Buddha Ratnasambhava. This image is of the Kushāṇa period, though the two heads of Ratnasambhava are of the Gupta period.

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10. Images of the Dhyāni Buddha-Bodhisattvas. Of this group heads relating to the last three Divine Buddhas only, *viz.*, Ratnasambhava, Amitābha and Amoghasiddhi, have so far been found. In terms of the Buddhist Pantheon, they are respectively connected with Kāśyapa, Gautama and Maitreya, the three Buddhas who are also known independently from other specimens at Mathura.

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The above account reveals a vastly complicated background behind the Buddha iconography of the Kuṣāṇa school, in which both indigenous as well as extraneous influences played a considerable part. For a religious history of Buddhism as reconstructed from its Iconography, the early school of Mathura sculpture provides valuable and ample material which must be minutely studied before definite conclusions can be arrived at. A *Corpus* of all Buddha figures found in Mathura art will be of the utmost importance in solving some of the knottiest problems in relation to the origins of Buddhist iconography.

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Closeup of the Yakshi. From Bharhut Rail-pillar

Linked texts (2)

Sukhāvatīvyūha (larger) — Sanskrit
Kanishka stupa

Studies in Indian Art c12.s3: 16. Dhyani Buddhas and Bodhisattvas

Contents

16. Dhyani Buddhas and Bodhisattvas

Early References

Evidence of Art

Linked texts (2)