The Development of Hindu Iconography c16.9

c16.9

drunkenness; (their lord) Vaiśravaṇa should hold a club in his hand'.¹ But there is no dearth of texts describing the iconic type or types of the chief of the Yakṣas, the reason undoubtedly lying in the fact that he was regarded as one of the Guardians of the Eight Quarters (Aṣṭadikpālas). Some of the important Vedic gods like Indra, Agni, Vāyu, Varuṇa and others were his companions in this set-up, and thus he could command sufficient iconographic notice along with them. A careful study of such texts characterising his images brings out several important traits; these are: he is usually two-armed (rarely four), holding a club or mace (gadā) in one of his hands, accompanied by two nidhis (śaṅkha and padma) personified or not, is sometimes terrific in appearance, has either a man (nara, no ordinary or mortal man, but some mythical anthropomorphic type) or a lamb for his mount, is pot-bellied and long-armed. But the fairly long description of Dhanada given in the Viṣṇudharmottara (Bk. III, Ch. 53, Vv. 1-7) contains some interesting additional iconographic traits, the most important of them being his northerner's dress and armour (apīcyaveśa, kavacī), his four hands (the right ones carrying a mace and a spear, the left, a jewel and a pot), his fangs and moustache, and his consort Ṛddhi (Prosperity personified) seated on his left lap. There can be little doubt that many of these features are based on an iconographic type derived from the Kubera (sometimes described as Pañcika) and Hāritī compositions of the Hellenistic art of Gandhāra.² It may also be noted here incidentally that the Kubera figures of the early and late mediaeval periods usually carved on the outer faces of Vaiṣṇava or Śaiva shrines as a Dikpāla retain the pot-bellied feature and hold either a bag or sack (evidently of treasure),