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The Development of Hindu Iconography c19.s2: Aṣṭadikpālas

The Development of Hindu Iconography c19.s2

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Aṣṭadikpālas

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The Hindu concept about the Dikpālas or Lokapālas, the guardians of the quarters or the worlds, is very old. In the well-developed Purāṇic mythology the names of the deities, and those of the major and subsidiary quarters over which they had their respective jurisdiction, are the following:—Indra is the lord of the east, Yama of the south, Varuṇa of the west and Kubera of the north; Agni, Nirṛti, Vāyu and Īśāna are the respective guardians of the south-east, south-west, north-west and north-east. We do not, however, find this stereotyping in far earlier texts, where there is a great variety in the enumeration of the protectors of the various quarters or the worlds. Early Buddhist and Jaina texts also differ from one another in their characterisation of this group of divinities. Sūrya, Candra, Vāyu, Agni, Yama, Varuṇa, Indra and Kubera, the eight great Devas of the early epic literature, are grouped in some later texts as the guardians of the four chief and four minor quarters, or simply as ‘Lokapālas’. Thus, Manu tells us that ‘a king embodies in his self all the eight Lokapālas, Soma (Candra), Agni, Arka (Sūrya), Anila (Vāyu), Indra, Vittapati (Kubera), Āpapati (Varuṇa) and Yama’.¹ The first list, which is later in point of date, differs from the second one in substituting Nirṛti and Īśāna for Sūrya and Candra in the latter.

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The number, the names and associations of these Dikpālas or Lokapālas are not always constant in the epic literature, and it appears that their regular number was at first four. It is expressly laid down in the Mahābhārata (VIII. 45. 31 f.) that ‘the gods living in the East have Agni as their leader; Yama of noble deeds guards the Pitṛs (manes) in the South; the West is guarded by Varuṇa who also guards other gods; the North is guarded by Bhagavat Soma and the priests’. Hopkins correctly observes that ‘the grouping of Agni, Yama, Varuṇa and Indra seems older than when Kubera is substituted for Agni’.² Four Lokapālas are recognised in the Rāmāyaṇa, and Indra, Yama, Varuṇa and Kubera, respectively imparting greatness, restraint, beauty and wealth to the ideal first king, are the respective guardians of the eastern, southern, western and northern quarters. A comparison may be made of the epic and Purāṇic lists of these gods with the names of the regents of the quarters as given in the later Vedic texts.

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The Gobhila Gṛhyasūtra, while describing the rites connected with the building of a house (vāstuśamana), mentions that ‘ten offerings (bali) are to be made to the regents of the ten regions (diśas)—namely, to Indra (E.), Vāyu (S.E.), Yama (S.), Pitaras (S.W.), Varuṇa (W.), Mahārāja (N.W.), Soma (N.), Mahendra (N.E.), Vāsuki (downwards), and Brahmā (upwards in the sky, i.e., throwing the bali into the air)’.¹ The Atharvaveda, however, enumerates only six quarters (four major ones, the two other ones being the ‘fixed quarter’ and the ‘upward quarter’), and associates with each particular groups of divinities as ‘regents’ and ‘wardens’ (adhipati and rakṣitā). The gods—Agni, Indra, Varuṇa, Soma, Viṣṇu and Bṛhaspati—are the respective regents of the eastern, southern, western, northern, fixed and upward quarters, while the Nāgas—Asita, Tiraścīrāji, Pṛḍāku, Svaja, Kalmāsagrīva and Śvitra—are the wardens of these quarters respectively.² The Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda (Taittirīya Saṃhitā, V. 5-10) also mentions the six quarters with their six regents and wardens, the names of which are the same as quoted from the Atharvaveda; there is, however, a little difference, Viṣṇu being substituted by Yama as the regent of the fixed quarter in this list. There is no doubt that the concept about the fixed group of four or eight Lokapālas (Dikpālas) of later Hindu mythology originated from these later Saṃhitā texts.

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In Buddhist mythology too we find a group of four divine beings associated with the four principal quarters, and the Sanskrit Buddhist texts give us a stereotyped list of four; they are Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the Gandharva king (east), Virūḍhaka, the king of the Kumbhāṇḍas (south), Virūpākṣa, the Nāga monarch (west) and Vaiśravaṇa, the Yakṣa king (north). They are the Catur-Mahārājas of some Buddhist texts, and Pāṇini seems to have had them in his mind when he referred to their bhaktas in one of his sūtras (cf. supra, p. 85). The Jaina literature refers to a group of the Dikpālas, most of whose names and associations being similar to the stereotyped list of the later Hindu mythological texts.¹

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¹ Manusmṛti, v. 96: Somāgnyarkānilendrānāṁ vittāpapatyoryamasya ca || Aṣṭānāṁ lokapālānāṁ vapurdhārayate nṛpaḥ ||

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² Epic Mythology, p. 149.

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¹ Gobhila Gṛhyasūtra, xiv iv. 7, 37-41 (S.B.E., Vol. XXX, p. 123); cf. also Vogel, Indian Serpent-Lore, p. 198. The Sāmavidhāna Brāhmaṇa mentions the same thing in connection with its description of the Vāstupraśamana ceremony (iii. 3, 5).

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² Atharvaveda Saṃhitā, English Translation by W. D. Whitney, First Half, pp. 133-34.

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¹ They are Indra (east), Agni (south-east), Yama (south), Nairita (south-west), Varuṇa (west), Vāyu (north-west), Kubera (north), Īśāna (north-east), Brahmā (upper region) and Nāga (nether region). In this Śvetāmbara list of the Dikpālas, Brahmā and Nāga are additional ones, the Digambaras leaving them out in their list, and accepting the stereotyped list of the later Hindu mythology; B. C. Bhattacharya, Jaina Iconography, pp. 147-57.

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Rao, in connection with his description of the images of the Dikpālas wrongly observes that ‘all these eight deities held prominent positions in the Vedic period’ (op. cit., Vol. II, p. 515). Two at least among them, Kubera and Īśāna, did not do so, and it has already been pointed out by the present writer that even Patañjali knew Śiva and Vaiśravaṇa (Īśāna and Kubera) as laukika devatās or folk gods (cf. supra, p. 338). The six others are all Vedic deities, some among them being more important than the others. Indra was originally the most prominent of all the Vedic gods, and now in this context he had to be satisfied with the much more modest position of the guardian of the eastern quarter. Indra had really no cult of his own in the proper sense of the term, but the orthodox section of the Indian people undoubtedly paid their homage to him. In the story of the uplifting of the Govardhana mountain by Kṛṣṇa, the worship of Indra by the upper classes of the Indians is alluded to, but this does not necessarily mean that he had his exclusive worshippers. Annual festivals in honour of Indra were sometimes in vogue, and Rao refers to such festivals in Southern India in the early mediaeval period. The Silappadigaram (c. 8th century A.D.) states that Indra festival beginning on the Vaiśākhī Pūrṇimā was continued for 28 days at Kāvirippumpaṭṭinam, the metropolis of the Choḷas. Some details about the manner of celebrating such a festival are recorded in an inscription of Parantaka Chola I (Rao, *op. cit.*, Vol. II, p. 518). The homage that was paid to him, however, was mostly in his capacity as a Dikpāla, and his images were chiefly meant to be placed in a particular part of the shrines of the principal cult deities. Varāhamihira describes his figure in this manner: ‘The elephant (mount) of Mahendra (Indra) is white and has four tusks; (the god) has a thunderbolt in his hand, and has as his cognisance the third eye placed horizontally on his forehead’.¹ The Viṣṇudharmottara gives us an elaborate description of the four-armed Śakra (Indra) in which are not only mentioned his third eye and the four-tusked elephant mount, but is also mentioned his four-armed consort Śacī seated on his lap; the symbolism underlying all his other iconographic traits are also elaborated there (Bk. II, ch. 50, vv. 1-13). The Amśumadbhedāgama and a few other south-Indian texts describe the image of Indra in more or less identical terms, the god being two-armed, his hands carrying either śakti and aṅkuśa, or, vajra and aṅkuśa (or a nīlotpala); he has usually two eyes, but some enjoin that he should be shown as four-armed and three-eyed, the third eye placed horizontally on the forehead.

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¹ Bṛhatsaṃhitā, Ch. 57, v. 42: *Śuklaścaturviṣāṇo dvipo Mahendrasya vajrapāṇitvam | Tiryaglalāṭasaṃsthaṃ tṛtīyamapi locanaṃ cihnam ||*

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Some of the earliest representations of Śakra or Indra are to be found in the Buddhist relief compositions of Gandhāra and Mathura. He and Brahmā are the two acolytes of Buddha, and his iconography has some fixed character in these reliefs. His so-called ‘basket-like’ head-dress is nothing but an alien adaptation of the kirīṭa, and vajra is one of his constant emblems there. In the red sandstone relief from Mathura illustrating the scene of the visit of Indra to Buddha residing in the Indraśālaguhā, the god is accompanied by his mount, the elephant Airāvata. Some of the stone reliefs in the Paharpur basement illustrate a few of the Dikpālas, and one of them shows two-armed Indra standing, facing east, before his mount, holding an indistinct object (? a citrus) in his left hand, his right hand being in the varada pose; he has a jewelled kirīṭamukuṭa on his head with a halo behind it and the horizontally placed third eye on the forehead (K. N. Dikshit, *Paharpur*, p. 46, Pl. XXVIId). The four-armed figure of Indra seated astride on the back of his elephant from the Chidambaram temple has its front hands in the *varada* and *abhaya* poses, the back ones carrying the *aṅkuśa* and *vajra* (Rao, *op. cit.*, Vol. II, p. 520, Pl. CL).

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Agni, the lord of the south-eastern quarter is not described in the *Bṛhatsaṃhitā*. The *Viṣṇudharmottara* gives us an elaborate and characteristic description of the god, in which he is bearded, four-armed, four-tusked, three-eyed, riding a chariot with smoke standard drawn by four parrots and driven by wind, having his consort Svāhā on his left lap, holding flames, trident and rosary in his hands. (Bk. III, Ch. 56, vv. 1-10). The *Mahābhārata* describes him as having seven red tongues (*saptajihva*), with smoke for his standard and head-gear, holding a flaming spear, riding on a chariot drawn by seven red horses, the winds being the wheels of his chariot; the god has seven faces, a huge mouth, red neck, tawny eyes, bright gleaming hair and golden steed (*Epic Mythology*, p. 97; these descriptions of Agni are collected by Hopkins from the various sections of the Great Epic). The Āgamas characterise the god as having four arms, three eyes, red *jaṭās*, with the front hands showing *varada* and *abhaya* poses, the back ones holding *sruk* and *śakti*. The figure of Agni (of the mediaeval period) reproduced here (Pl. XLV, Fig. 4) does not correspond to any of the descriptions just quoted. It shows the pot-bellied two-armed god seated on the back of his mount (a ram or a goat) in the *paryaṅkāsana* (so-called ‘European fashion’) holding a rosary in his right hand and a water-vessel in his left; he has beard, an angry stare, long waving flames emanating from his body, sacred thread and a few ornaments. The Paharpur basement figure of Agni of an earlier date shows the two-armed god standing holding a rosary and a water-vessel in his two hands; flames issue forth from his sides, but his mount is not shown (K. N. Dikshit, *ibid.*, p. 48, Pl. XXXII, Fig. b). The figure of Agni from the Śiva temple at Kandiyur (Travancore) described and illustrated by Rao (ibid., p. 524, Pl. CLII) is very interesting. The god has two goat-heads (according to some Purāṇic texts, Agni has a goat as his mount) seven arms and three legs. It has some affinity with the Chidambaram sculpture described as Agni by Rao; but in it the god stands in front of a bull (ibid., Pl. CLIII, Fig. 2). It has, however, been pointed out by the present writer, that the Chidambaram figure may really represent Yajñapuruṣa, one of the minor manifestations of Viṣṇu (J.I.S.O.A., Vol. XIV, pp. 46-7).

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Yama, the guardian of the south, is described in the Bṛhatsaṃhitā simply as ‘having a staff in his hand and riding on a buffalo’ (daṇḍī Yamo mahiṣago; Ch. 57, v. 57). The Viṣṇudharmottara gives us an elaborate description of the four-armed god seated on a buffalo with his consort Dhumrorṇā on his left lap, his right hands holding a staff and a sword and the left ones a trident with flames and a rosary, a face with flames issuing from it being shown on the top of the staff (it might thus stand for a khaṭvāṅga); Citragupta dressed as a Northerner (udīyaveśa) holding a pen and a leaf in his hands on his right and the fierce-looking Kāla (Time, the destroyer) holding a noose in his hand on his left are his characteristic attendants reminding us of the companions of Sūrya, Kuṇḍi or Piṅgala and Daṇḍī. Sculpture No. 39 on the south basement wall of the Paharpur temple has been identified by Dikshit as Yama. The two-armed god stands erect holding a long noose passing over his head with the ends hanging down; a male and a female attendant stand on his either side, perhaps standing for Citragupta and Dhumrorṇā; but his characteristic iconographic traits (staff in his hand and buffalo as his mount) are missing here. Besides, pāśa (noose) is almost invariably described in the texts as an emblem of Varuṇa. The Chidambaram figure of Yama illustrated by Rao (ibid., Pl. CLII, Fig. 1) shows the two-armed god standing erect in front of his mount, his right hand holding a noose, the left one resting on a club.

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Nirṛti, the lord of the south-west, is a Vedic deity like Yama, Agni and Indra, and is conceived there as a god of evil. The description of Virūpākṣa, the lord of the Rakṣas (Rakṣodhipa), given in chapter 57 of Book III of the Viṣṇudharmottara, has been taken by Hemādri as the characterisation of Nirṛti. But Nirṛti is described by the Purāṇakāra in the same context as the wife of Virūpākṣa (bhāryā ca tasya kartavyā devī Nirṛtitastathā, Nirṛtitā, should be Nirṛti, the metre is corrupt), and Virūpākṣa is of a terrific nature; the author says that Kāla (Time) is Virūpākṣa, and Mṛtyu (death) is Ninṛti or Nirṛti (Kālo prokto Virūpākṣo Mṛtyurhi Nirṛtisathā). Sculptures showing Nirṛti are extremely rare, and so the one from Ahobilam illustrated by Rao is very interesting. It shows the Dikpāla riding on the shoulders of a man who seems to be carrying him forward, and he holds a staff in his right hand (ibid., p. 529, Pl. CLIV, Fig. 2). A relief depicting Nirṛti is in the collection of the Rajshahi Museum; the god is shown here riding on the back of a man (naravāhana) and holds in his two hands a sword and a shield; it hails from North Bengal (DHB, Vol. I, p. 463).

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Varuṇa, the lord of the western quarter, holds a pāśa and rides a swan (haṃsārūḍhaśca pāśabhṛd-Varuṇaḥ; Bṛhatsaṃhitā, Ch. 57, v. 57). He is elaborately described in the Viṣṇudharmottara (Bk. III, Ch. 52, vv. 1-21) where he is called ‘the lord of waters’ (yādasāṃpati). According to it, the slightly pot-bellied god (kiñcitpralambajaṭhara) rides a chariot drawn by seven swans, is four-armed (his right hands holding a lotus and a noose, and the left ones, a conch-shell and a jewel-box); his consort Gaurī should sit on his left lap, and Gaṅgā and Yamunā on their respective mounts should be shown on his right and left. Varuṇa and his consort Gaurī are respectively identified with Pradyumna (Kāmadeva) and Rati, and the seven swans drawing his chariot stand for the seven seas of salt, milk, clarified butter, curdled milk, rice-gruel, sugarcane-juice and wine. This elaborate description is not substantiated by actual sculptures which usually show the two-armed god either standing or seated, not on a swan, but on a Makara. The beautiful figure of standing two-armed Varuṇa illustrated here is a side-piece of the Rajarani temple of Bhuvanesvara. It shows the god standing in a very graceful pose, holding a looped noose by its end in his right hand, the left hand being in the *varadamudrā*; the jewelled head-gear, the ear-ornaments, the necklaces, the waist-girdle, the pearl *yajñopavīta*, etc., are all very tastefully displayed (Pl. XLVI, Fig. 1).

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Vāyu, the lord of the north-west in the Purāṇic list of Dikpālas, is described as the father of Bhīma, the second Pāṇḍava, and of Hanumān, the monkey-god, respectively in the *Mahābhārata* and the *Rāmāyaṇa*. The *Viṣṇudharmottara* (Ch. 58, vv. 1-6) describes him as two-armed, his two hands holding the two ends of the scarf worn by him, his garment being inflated by wind (*vāyyāpurita-vastra* emphasising his swift motion), his mouth being open and his hair dishevelled (this also indicates his swift movement).¹ This description follows to a great extent the representation of the Zoroastrian wind-god, Vāta (OA Δ O) on the coins of Kanishka and Huvishka. Rao quotes several other characterisations of Vāyu from such texts as *Amśumadbhedāgama*, *Suprabhedāgama*, *Śilparatna*, *Pūrvakāraṇāgama* and *Rūpamaṇḍana*, all of which, except the last, describe him as two-armed. According to the first of these texts he has a banner in his right hand and a staff in his left, and a ‘lion throne’ (*siṃhāsana*); according to the second he holds a banner and an elephant-goad in his hands, and has a stag mount; the third lays down that he has a flag in the left (the right hand being in the varada pose) and a stag mount; the fourth endows him with an elephant-goad and a stag mount (the emblem in the other hand is not clearly mentioned). The Rūpamaṇḍana describes the god ruling over the north-western quarter as four-armed, his four hands showing a varamudrā, a banner, a flag and a water-vessel; he rides on an antelope, his colour being green (Varaṃ dhvajaṃ patākā ca kamaṇḍalukarairdadhat | Mṛgārūḍho haritvarṇaḥ Pavano vāyudikpatiḥ). In early mediaeval temples of prominent cult gods, Vāyu shown as riding on a stag and hoiding a flag in his hand occupies his allotted corner in the outer side of the structure.

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¹ The Venkatesvara Press edition of this text is full of errors, and these have been responsible for strange mistakes in the rendering of passages from its sections on Painting and Image-making by Kramrisch. Thus, *vyādhitāsya*, in verse 3 of Chapter 58 of Book III is translated by her as ‘having a diseased face’. But the word can be easily and correctly emended as *vyāditāsya* and translated into English as ‘having his mouth open’. Hemādri's extracts from this section of *Viṣṇudharmottara* as they appear in *Caturvargacintāmaṇi*, Vol. II, Part I (edited in the Bibl'otheca Indica series of the Asiatic Society) are also very corrupt. Rao's extracts about the description of Vāyu from the *Viṣṇudharmottara* contain also strange errors; thus, *kāṣṭhapūritacakrastu* (should be emended as *vāyyāpūritavastraśca*) in line 2 has no meaning. Again, there is no doubt that *gṛhītacakrāṅkaḥ* in line four of the extract is to be emended as *gṛhītavastrāntaḥ*.

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Much has been said about Kubera, the lord of the northern quarter in Chapter IX of this book. It will be of interest here to note some of his descriptions given in the mediaeval iconographic texts, quoted by Rao. The Aṃśumadbheda describes the god as two-armed, the hands being in the varada and abhaya poses (a club also being shown in the left hand), having a sheep for his mount, attended by his consort and the two Nidhis, Śaṅkha and Padma, in the form of two powerful spirits (bhūtākāraṃ mahābalam). The Suprabheda lays stress on the terrific features of the two-armed god holding a club in one of his hands. The Śilparatna (or a work associated with it) characterises him as a friend of Hara (Śiva), riding a chariot drawn by men, holding a mace in one of his hands, as pot-bellied and long-armed, accompanied by Aṣṭanidhis and Guhyakas on all sides. The Pūrvakāraṇa says that the god rides on a man, is accompanied by the two Nidhis, Śaṅkha and Padma, and holds a club. The Rūpamaṇḍana describes in the first line of one couplet that the god is four-armed, the hands holding a club, a nidhi, a citrus and a water-vessel; the last line of this verse is corrupt, for in it he is described both as gajārūḍhaḥ (elephant-rider) and naravāhanaḥ (riding on a man). The Viṣṇudharmottara description of this Dikpāla has already been commented on earlier (supra, p. 339), and it has been shown how it partly reminds us of the Pañcika and Hārīti reliefs of Gandhāra, the tundila (pot-bellied) feature of the earlier Yakṣas is emphasised in this and some other texts, and a few other traits like the two fangs in his mouth, his bearded face, Riddhi (the goddess of prosperity) seated on his left lap, etc. are added.

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Īśāna, the lord of the north-eastern quarter, is, as his name indicates, a particular aspect of Śiva. The texts endow him generally with such iconographic features as jaṭāmukuṭa, śveta yajñopavīta (white sacred thread), three eyes, a śūla and a kapāla in his right and left hands, a bull mount, a tiger-skin garment, etc. All these are the characteristic traits of Śiva. The Viṣṇudharmottara description of this Dikpāla is, however, very interesting. In Chapters 55-58 of Book III of this text are described the images of Śiva (Īśāna, called also Gaurīśarva in this context), Agni, Nirṛti and Vāyu, one after another, and it can be presumed that they are no other than the lords of the minor quarters in this juxtaposition (though the text does not expressly define their character in this way). Gaurīśarva (Sarva is one of the eight names of Śiva) standing for Śiva (Īśāna) is nothing but another name of Ardhanārīśvara-Śiva, and the description in the text fully proves it. It will be presently noted in connection with the syncretistic icons, but it is curious that this conjoint aspect of Śiva and Umā should stand for one of the Dikpālas.

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