The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sadhanamala and Other Cognate Tantric Texts of Rituals c13.s14: General
The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sādhanamālā and Other Cognate Tāntric Texts of Rituals c13.s14
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General
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The conception of Avalokiteśvara is as old as the third century B. C. He was first ushered into existence by the Mahāsāṅghikas, about the time of Aśoka, in their work, entitled, Mahāvastu Avadāna, where he has been characterised as the "Bhagavān who takes the form of a Bodhisattva, whose duty it is to look round (Avalokita) for the sake of instructing the people and for their constant welfare and happiness" ². This Avalokita Bodhisattva no doubt gave rise to the concrete form of Avalokiteśvara, even before the second century A. D. and his images can be traced from the Gupta period onwards. He first appears in the Sukhāvatī Vyūha ³, and a passage in the Kāraṇḍavyūha where he is said to manifest in all possible forms of godhead for the sake of the ignorant and to bring salvation to mankind, accounts undoubtedly for the great number of his forms. As different people belonged to different faiths, this Compassionate Bodhisattva was obliged to assume the shape of all gods of all faiths, nay, even the shape of father and mother. Avalokiteśvara thus is given no less than 108 forms which are painted on the walls of the Macchandar Vahal at Kathmandu in Nepal with inscriptions for the purpose of identification. All these paintings have been copied out by an expert Nepalese artist, and are illustrated in this book in an Appendix. To this a reference may be made for the numerous forms of Avalokiteśvara.
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² Senart : Le Mahāvastu, Vol. II, p. 294
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³ This work was first translated into Chinese between A.D. 148 and 170 while the smaller recension was translated into the same language between A.D. 384 and 417. Max Muller : Sukhāvatī Vyūha, introduction, pp. iii-iv.
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CHAPTER V