Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c12.s2.t1.20

c12.s2.t1.20

The Yaksha and Nāga cults in the repertoire of the Bharhut have a preponderating share. These are tutelary divinities which had a stronghold on the minds of the people, probably greater than that of Buddhism itself. The worship of the Nāgas and of the Yakshas was almost universal and has come down to our own modern times. The Stūpa of Bharhut, and for the matter of that all subsequent Stūpas, stand witness as to in what high esteem these two cults were held by the people. In the Maha list we have one called Vaiśravaṇa-maha, i. e. worship of the God Kubera and we have evidence of it in the important statue of Kupiro-Yakho. Similarly the worship of other godlings was associated with these two cults of Yakshas and Nāgas whose names have been found on their sculptures as pointed out above. There were many such deities whose names at Bharhut we know only by the accidental labels. The Gandharvas and the Apsarasas who go together both in Brāhmanical and Buddhist mythology formed an important section of the cult of tutelary deities and have found full acceptance at Bharhut in the numerous scenes of music and dance without which the sculputures will loose much of their gaiety. The authors of the religious stone epic to be sculptured on the Stūpa were so much in love with and under the influence of the religion of the common people, rather than of Buddhism that an open admission of a large number of these common deities have become preserved. One such instance is the figure of Sirimā Devatā. In a list of the followers of different obscure religious cults we find the devotees of Śrī-Devatā, i. e. Goddess Śrī, who was the same as Śrī-Lakshmī, the ancientmost Mother Goddess referred to in the Vedas and conceived of as the consort of Nārāyaṇa. She was the daughter of the ocean showing her original connection with the Sāgara-maha and was accepted as the Goddess of Fertility and Abundance. In Bharhut figures she is depicted as being sprinkled over by two elephants and standing on a full blown lotus rising from a Pūrṇaghaṭa. This is invested with great meaning for the Full Vase with blooming lotus flowers and buds was accepted as a vivid symbol of the cosmos (bhū-padma-kośa) and the individual. In the Atharva we find mention of the Pūrṇa-kumbha-Nārī motif, the Full Vase Woman which seems to have taken the form of Śrī-Lakshmī standing on the Auspicious Jar and vitalising it with her immortal spirit. The Sirimā cult was accepted by the Buddhists, Jainas and the Hindus and was universal in each household, the Goddess being specially worshipped on the Dīpāvalī night. In Buddhist art she was accepted as the consort of Kubera side by side with Bhadrā. We find her depicted not only at Bharhut but also at Sanchī, Bodhagaya and in the Jaina caves at Udaigiri.