The Development of Hindu Iconography c19.s2.11

c19.s2.11

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.