The Development of Hindu Iconography c14.8

c14.8

Poduval has reproduced as many as 45 mudrās, which are described by him as añjali, vandanī, yoni, vaināyakī, hṛdaya, śiras, śikhā, kavaca, astra, netra (-dvaya, -traya), garuḍa, galini (gālinī?), surabhī, abhivāhinī, stāpini (sthāpanī?), sannidhāpanī, sammukhī, avakuṇḍanī (avaguṇṭhanī?), prasādanī, sannirodhinī, śaṅkha, gadā, padma, paraśu, hariṇa, abhaya, varada, śūla, kapāla, cakra, five types of prāṇāhuti (perhaps symbolising the offering of five vital breaths or pañca prāṇaḥ, viz., prāṇa, apāna, samāna, udāna and vyāna), śara, cāpa, kūrma, jala, gandha, puṣpa, dhūpa, dīpa, nivedya (naivedya), and matsya. A careful analysis of these names shows that some are connected with the deities to be worshipped, while others, with the worshipper, a third set again symbolising the upacāras used in worship. A glance at his plate will show that there is a close parallelism between the pose outlined by the position of the hands and fingers, and the name by which the pose is described. To refer to one or two instances: the vaināyakī-mudrā characteristically outlines the elephant head of Vināyaka with its lolling trunk, the śaṅkha-mudrā, a conch-shell, the hariṇa-mudrā, a deer-head with its antlers, the kapāla-mudrā, a skull with its concave side shown up, matsya-mudrā, a fish and so on. But most, if not all, of these, were adopted by the devotee or the aspirant after salvation in the ritualistic performance of his pūjā or sādhanā. Reference should also be made, in this connection, to Poduval's diagrams of several mudrās which are used by the Nambudiri chanters of the Sāman hymns in Kerala; he has photographed as many as twenty-five of such hand-poses from actual life, assigning no name however to any of them.¹