The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sadhanamala and Other Cognate Tantric Texts of Rituals c13.s2: 2. Siṁhanāda
The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sādhanamālā and Other Cognate Tāntric Texts of Rituals c13.s2
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2. Siṁhanāda
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Colour—White
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Āsana—Mahārājalīlā
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Vāhana—Lion
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Symbols—(i)Sword on lotus, (ii) Triśūla entwined by a snake
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Four Sādhanas also are devoted to the worship of Siṃhanāda, who is regarded by the Mahāyānists as the curer of all diseases. He is one of the most popular forms of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, and his images are by no means rare in India. At Patan in Nepal, all the more important monasteries have two images of Siṃhanāda, either in stone or in bronze, on either side of the stair-case leading to the sanctum. He appears in many forms only slightly different from one another. The four Sādhanas alike describe him as follows:
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"Ātmānaṃ Siṃhanāda-Lokeśvararūpaṃ bhāvayet, śvetavarṇaṃ trinetraṃ jaṭāmukuṭinaṃ nirbhūṣaṇaṃ vyāghracarmaprābhṛtaṃ siṃhāsanasthaṃ mahārājalīlaṃ candrāsanaṃ candraprabhaṃ bhāvayet. Dakṣiṇe sitaphaṇiveṣṭitaṃ triśūlaṃ śvetaṃ, vāme nānāsugandhikusumaparipūritapadmabhājanaṃ. Vāmahastāt utthaṃ padmopari jvalatkhaḍgaṃ". Sādhanamālā, p. 63.
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"The worshipper should think himself as Siṃhanāda Lokeśvara of white complexion, with three eyes, and the jaṭāmukuṭa (crown of matted hair). He is without ornaments, is clad in tiger-skin, and sits on a lion in the attitude of princely ease. He is seated on the orb of the moon and is radiant like her. In his right there is a white trident entwined by a white snake, and in his left there is a lotus-bowl full of fragrant flowers. From his left hand rises a lotus on which there is a sword burning like fire".
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Images of Siṃhanāda are by no means rare and are rather easy to identify because of clear-cut symbols. Fig. 99 is the famous image of Siṃhanāda from Mahoba carrying a rosary¹. Fig. 100 is a Nepalese statue at the gate of a monastery. Fig. 101 illustrates a sculpture from Magadha, while Fig. 102 is a small bronze of Siṃhanāda without the lion, from Nepal. Siṃhanāda wears no ornaments and this feature of his images differentiates him from Mañjuśrī when he is on the back of a lion.
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¹ First published by K.N. Dikshit. : Six Sculptures from Mahoba in the A. S. I. Memoir No. 8, pl. Ia, p 2.
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Siṃhanāda is popular both in Tibet² and in China³.
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² Getty : GNB, pp. 60, 61, 69.
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³ Clark : TLP, II, pp. 199, 265. For the Magadha specimen see JRAS, 1894, pl. 1.
Linked texts (1)
- Sādhanamālā — Sanskrit