Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c17.34

c17.34

The form of Viṣṇu sleeping on the cosmic serpent Śeṣa in the ocean was a new conception mingling serveral old and new forms. On the one hand the Vedic idea of the primeval Ocean (Āpaḥ-Samudram-Salilam) and the popular folk-cult of Samudra worship (Sāgaramaha) were there; secondly the idea of a cosmic serpent with its beginning in the Ahi-Vṛitra or Ahir-budhnya, Dragon of the Deep, was now conceived as Ananta which was a stripe of Nāga mythology. Thirdly, goddess Lakṣmī, daughter of the ocean became consort of Viṣṇu present with Nārāyaṇa in his oceanic abode. Fourthly, the milky ocean, which was the source of the auspicious jewels, was conceived of as the watery abode of Nārāyaṇa in his Śeṣaśāyī form; fifthly, the cult of lotus springing from his navel, and of Brahmā as the ancient Prajāpati Creator seated on the cosmic lotus (Bhūpadma). These were the several important elements that intered into the making of this aspect of Viṣṇu’s iconography. The Vanamālā and the Kirīṭa which was the prototype of the Buddhist Chūḍā, also formed distinctive symbols of Viṣṇu’s form in contrast to the matted locks of Brahmā and Śiva.