Studies in Indian Art c13.s2.15

c13.s2.15

The glory of Gupta art is fully exemplified in the Gupta Śiva-liṅga from Uchahara area. Śiva's face shows the perfect expression of *samādhi* as described by Kālidāsa in the *Kumārasambhava* (III. 44-50). The gorgeous matted locks in two tiers are charmingly depicted in an orderly fashion, with a girdling band in the middle and strands of descending locks on the two sides also arranged in a happy manner. The whole treatment is distinguished by a balance and well defined features, and the effect of eminence imparts dignity to the expression. It is the *unnaddha-jaṭā-kalāpa* of the poet, but without the ophidian ribbons which would only be scaring in such a serene countenance. The digit of the new moon above (*bālendu*) and the vertical eye in the forehead below (*kapāla-netra*) perfectly balance each other in a face aesthetically perfect, and the neat *akṣamālā* on the neck serves as the fitting base of an ascending symbolism. The moon is the symbol of Soma, the ambrosial essence of life and the death-conquering principle of mental illumination or *samādhi*. According to the *Ṛgveda* (X. 90.13) the moon is the symbol of the cosmic mind of the Creator (*candramā manaso jātaḥ*), representing its basic serenity and peaceful coolness which nothing can disturb, as also an orderly fluctuation of light and darkness manifesting as the brightness of creation and the invisibility of its withdrawal. Kālidāsa has brilliantly interpreted the moon symbol by speaking of Śiva's mind as collected in perfect concentration (*samādhi-vaśya manas*) and restrained from the sense attractions of the 'nine doors' in the citadel of the body (*nava-dvāra-niṣiddha-vṛtti*). It is the condition of the withdrawal of the mind into its own unmanifest source or centre expressed in Vedic terminology as *hṛdaya* (*hṛdi vyavasthāpya*). The introvert gaze was a typical feature of *samādhi-mudrā*, and all the five points detailed by the poet are here represented, viz., the slightly beaming pupils made motionless, the eyelashes still, the vision directed to the centre of the eyebrows, the rays shooting downwards, and combined effect of it all being one of self-vision. It is difficult to escape the impression that the artist of this perfect image had a real grasp of the poet's conception of Śiva in *samādhi*. In the whole range of Indian sculpture this particular Śiva-liṅga is hard to be surpassed for the expression of spiritual contemplation or *samādhi* in its face. It is verily the flaming lamp of supreme wisdom, untrammelled by outer flickers—a *niṣkampa pradīpa* in the words of Kālidāsa. It is only in the Gupta age that we find such perfection gracing the endeavour of the artist. He was no doubt a real genius who captured a vision of the truth in one of his rare moments. The image seems to have been carved in the last quarter of the 4th or the first quarter of the 5th century when Gupta art was at its best. The height from base to top of the liṅgam is 38" and that of the head 10".