Eastern Indian School of Mediaeval Sculpture c8.s2.7

c8.s2.7

(2) Lokeśvara with four hands: “the two additional hands of the four-armed type hold a rosary (akṣasūtra) and a water vessel (kamaṇḍalu) or a book (pustaka).”¹ In a colossal image in the Indian Museum we find that one of the right hands holds a rosary, while the other is in the posture of blessing or bestowing a gift (varadamudrā). The left hands hold a lotus stalk and a water vessel respectively. (I. M. No. 3962)². A similar specimen is I. M. No. 3860³ but it has six arms instead of four. In the case of the larger image, we find a demon kneeling to the proper right of the main figure and drinking something which falls from the lower right hand of the Bodhisattva and a short male standing to the proper left just below the water vessel. These are evidently Sūchīmukha and Hayagrīva mentioned in the Khasarpaṇasādhana of Padmākaramati:—