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Studies in Indian Art c9.s2: 6. Pūrṇa-Kumbha or the Full Vase

Studies in Indian Art c9.s2

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6. Pūrṇa-Kumbha or the Full Vase

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The Pūrṇa-Kumbha or the Full Vase is one of the most beautiful decorative symbols of early Indian art. It is the emblem *par excellence* of fullness, and prosperity, of life endowed with all its gifts, moral, material and spiritual. The full blooming, overflowing contents of life are comparable to the plants and foliage luxuriating from the mouth of a jar filled with the life-giving fluid. The potent contents of life must seek their inevitable expression. Just as from a well-planted seed springs into manifest form the plant with its beautiful leaves and charming flowers, so does human life manifest itself as a visible symbol of the most mysterious and attractive force enshrined in Nature. In one word it is the Pūrṇam or the *Plenum* that is life; the rest is its negation. Fullness that is within and that is without, Fullness that is in the cause and that is in the effect—it is this the most loving and assuring thing that we know of on this side of Life. The Upanishads declare the truth as follows—

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पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदम् । पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते ॥
'That is full. This is full. From the full proceeds the full'.

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That (*adaḥ*) and This (*idam*) are like two eternal poles of the law of Life—its cathode and anode which govern this mysterious chemistry. *Plenum* or fullness is the great secret of its eternal pulsation. Fullness is felt by the presence of the quickening force that bursts forth into beauty; its absence or diminution on the other hand marks the negation of beauty, art and life.

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The Ṛigveda, the oldest document of the Aryan life concepts, bears testimony to the conception of the Pūrṇa-Kalaśa. We read there—'Overflowing is the Vase of the Yajamāna. Glory to him. As a bounteous pourer have I filled up the cup for you all to drink'¹.

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¹ आपूर्णो अस्य कलशः स्वाहा । सिक्तैव कोशं सिसिचे पिबध्यै । *Rig.* III, 32, 15.

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Pūrṇa-Kalaśa (Figs. 25-30) is made here the emblem of overflowing divine bounty held at the disposal of the Yajamāna and symbolising an alround plenitude of possessions. The fluid contents flow from the pitcher to the chalice for the sake of human satisfaction.

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There are many other references to Kalaśa in the Ṛigveda occurring in connection with the pressing of Soma and its storage in the Jar which is called Somadhāna, Soma-receptacle (VI, 69, 6; IX, 97, 33).

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The Kalaśa is made of gold, filled with milk (IV, 32, 9), and overflowing (*āpipyāna*, आपिप्यान) with the shining liquid (IV, 27, 5). A definite suggestion is made that the Soma while entering the Jar induces all kinds of beauty to reside in it—विश्वा श्रियः²

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² *Rig.* IX, 62, 19.

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Fig. 25. Sarnath

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Fig. 26. Kapiśā

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Fig. 27. Amaravati

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PŪRṆA-KUMBHAS

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Fig. 28. Sanchi

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Fig. 29. Sanchi

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Fig. 30. Amaravati

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Soma and Beauty (*Śrī*) constitute a pair. Soma stands in relation to *Śrī* as the male principle to the female. Where there is Soma, the Life-elixir, beauty essentially lives with it. Besides beauty, the Full Vase is also invoked as the witness of manifold auspicious enjoyments and blessings¹.

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¹ एतानि भद्रा कलश क्रियाम। —*Rig*, X, 32, 9

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Hence it is that the *Pūrṇa-Kalaśa* is also called the *Bhadra Ghaṭa*, the Auspicious Vase. In the *Atharvaveda* another variation of the name is found, and that is *Pūrṇa-Kumbha* (III, 12, 8). The imagery of the *Pūrṇa-Kumbha* enlivening and vegetating in manifold forms finds appropriate expression—

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"The *Pūrṇa-Kumbha* is the firm substratum of Time. We behold it manifesting in various forms"². This is a very significant passage. The endless stream of time, unfailing and inexhaustible winding out before us from eternity—what is the source of its unfathomable fullness?

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² पूर्णः कुम्भोऽधिकाल आहितस्तं वै पश्यामो बहुधा नु सन्तम्। —*Atharva*, XIX, 53, 3

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The seer explains that an overflowing *Pūrṇa-Kumbha* exists in the womb of Time and presides over the endless manifestations of the eternal and powerful time process. The latter quality is symbolized by the significant Vedic word '*Bahudhā*'. That which is in the womb of the Vase is one, invisible and indivisible. When it becomes 'many' (*bahudhā*), it manifests outside and appears at its mouth. The branches and leaves on the top of the Full Vase convey beautifully the diversified urge of the creative process. They represent its infinite fullness.

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According to the divine law as explained in the *Śatapatha*, the All and the Full are verily one³. Again, what is all or the whole is also full⁴ and conversely, that which is full is necessarily universal or cosmic⁵.

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³ सर्वं वै पूर्णम् —*Śat.*, IV, 2, 2, 2; V 2, 3, 1.

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⁴ सर्वं वै तत् यत् पूर्णम् —*Śat.*, IV, 2, 3, 2,

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⁵ सर्वमेतत् यत् पूर्णम्, —*Śat.*, IX, 2, 3, 43.

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The *Pūrṇa-Kumbha* is thus a charming symbol of double *entendre*, signifying the one becoming the many, and the created many attuned to the universal whole. The manifestation of the life-force from the womb is the most subtle and mysterious thing that we know of in the whole panorama of our existence. Its creation is a sacred and sublime act, an event fit for universal rejoicing. The gods seem to sing with joy when life recreates life. This process is ceaseless like the ever-unfolding process of time. What can be the secret of its inexhaustible power? The poet conceives that there is the *Kumbha* or the Full Vase enshrined in the innermost secret of the womb which contains the infant, and this vase is said to be the real progenitor by the force of its inherent mysterious powers¹. In this sense the Full Vase would be considered a representative symbol of the hidden vital force, and its fluid contents signify life itself. The infant that grows out of the womb and attains to full human majesty in due course epitomizes the virtues of the symbolical Full Vase. He is Pūrṇa, full and overflowing with prosperity and blessings (*Bhūti* and *Āśis*) and besides—

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¹ कुम्भो वनिष्ठुर्जनिता शचीभि- यस्मिन्नग्रे योन्यां गर्भोऽन्तः। —*Yajus*, XIX. 87.

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'Enjoyments, pleasures and delights gladness and rapturous ecstasies.
Laughter and merriment, dance and play have made body their home².'

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² आनन्दा मोदाः प्रमुदोऽभीमोदमुदश्च ये। हृसो नरिष्टा नृत्तानि शरीरमनु प्राविशन्॥ —*Atharva*, XI. 8. 24.

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Such is the spirit of joy and fulness in the Full Vase.

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The specific association of the *Pūrṇa-Kumbha* with dwellings and homes which it was used to adorn is explicitly stated in the description of the completion ceremony of a new house in the *Atharvaveda*³:—

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'O fair damsel, bring hither to us the *Pūrṇa-Kumbha*, filled with streams of clarified butter, blent with nectar. Bedew these drinkers with a draught of Amṛta. May the reward of our pious works (*iṣṭā-pūrta*) guard this dwelling'.³

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³ पूर्णं नारि प्रभर कुम्भमेतं घृतस्य धाराममृतेन संभृताम्। इमान् पातुनमृतेनासम्ह्यीष्टापूर्तभि रक्षत्येनाम्॥ —*Atharva*, III, 12, 8.

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Here we are brought nearer to that charming conception which is familiar from the Buddhist literature, viz., *Puṇṇaghaṭa paṭimaṇḍita ghara*, (पुण्णघट-पटिमंडित घर), a house embellished with a Full Vase (*Dhammapada Aṭṭhakathā, I, 147*).

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The representations of this delightful symbol occurs in art and sculpture and continue from the Śuṅga to the medieval period. They are seen in a pleasing variety of forms (*Figs. 25-30*).

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