Studies in Indian Art c12.s3.t2.8

c12.s3.t2.8

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.