The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sadhanamala and Other Cognate Tantric Texts of Rituals c16.t2: 2. Jāṅgulī
The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sādhanamālā and Other Cognate Tāntric Texts of Rituals c16.t2
- Language
- English
2. Jāṅgulī
c16.t2.1
Jāṅgulī is widely worshipped amongst the Buddhists as a goddess who cures snake-bite and even prevents it. According to a Saṅgīti in the Sādhanamālā she is as old as Buddha himself, and the secret of Jāṅgulī and the mantra for her worship are said to have been imparted to Ānanda by Lord Buddha. Besides, the Saṅgīti, four Sādhanas describe the procedure of her worship and give elaborate mantras for the extraction of poison from the body of the snake-bitten. These four Sādhanas describe three entirely different forms of Jāṅgulī, two with one face and four arms and one with three faces and six arms. Images of Jāṅgulī are found in Tibet ¹ and China ².
c16.t2.2
¹ Getty : GNB, p. 123
c16.t2.3
² Clark : TLP, II, pp. 204, 217, 281
c16.t2.4
(i)
c16.t2.5
Colour—White Symbol—Snake, or Viṇā Mudrā—Abhaya
c16.t2.6
In two Sādhanas Jāṅgulī is described as having one face and four arms. In both cases she is alike in all respects except for the weapons she carries in her hands. In one of the Dhyānas she is described as follows:
c16.t2.7
“Ātmānaṁ Ārya-Jāṅgulīrūpāṁ sarvaśuklāṁ caturbhujāṁ ekamukhāṁ jaṭāmukuṭinīṁ śuklāṁ śuklavasanottarīyāṁ sitaratnālaṅkārabhūṣitāṁ śuklasarpairvibhūṣitāṁ sattvaparyaṅke upaviṣṭāṁ mūlabhujābhyāṁ viṇāṁ vādayantīṁ dvitīyavāmabhujena sitasarpadhāriṇīṁ aparadakṣiṇenābhayapradāṁ candrāṁśumālinīṁ dhyāyāt...”
c16.t2.8
Sādhanamālā, p. 253.
c16.t2.9
“The worshipper should meditate himself as Ārya Jāngulī who is all white in complexion, four-armed, one-faced, wears the Jaṭāmukuṭa and a white scarf. She is decked in white ornaments of gems and white serpents and rests on an animal. She plays on the Vīṇā with the two principal hands, carries the white snake in the second left and exhibits the Abhaya mudrā with the second right, and is radiant like the moon.”
c16.t2.10
In a second Sādhana she is said to exhibit the Varada mudrā in the second right hand. Fig. 137 illustrates a Nepalese drawing of the two-armed form of Jāngulī.
c16.t2.11
(ii)
c16.t2.12
Colour—Green Mudrā—Abhaya Symbols—Triśūla, Peacock's feathers and Snake.
c16.t2.13
The second variety resembles the first in many respects, but the Sādhana¹ does not mention the animal-seat or the particular Āsana in which Jāngulī should stand or sit. The symbols also are different namely, the Triśūla, peacock's feathers and the snake. The mudrā, however, is the same Abhaya mudrā.
c16.t2.14
¹ Sādhana No. 121, Sādhanamālā p. 251.
c16.t2.15
(iii)
c16.t2.16
Faces—Three Arms—Six Vāhana—Snake Colour—Yellow
c16.t2.17
The third variety of Jāngulī has three faces and six arms. Two Sādhanas in the Sādhanamālā, one in prose, and the other in verse, describe this form. The Dhyāna contained in one of these runs as follows :
c16.t2.18
“Ārya-Jāngulīṃ ātmānaṃ jhaṭiti niṣpādayet pītāṃ, trimukhāṃ ṣaḍbhujāṃ nīlasitadakṣiṇetaravadanāṃ khaḍgavajrabāṇadakṣiṇahastatrayāṃ satarjanīpāśaviṣapuṣpakārmukavāmakaratrayāṃ sphītaphaṇāmaṇḍalaśīraṣṭhāṃ sarvadivyavastrābharaṇabhūṣitāṃ kumārīlakṣaṇojjvalāṃ Akṣobhyākrāntamastakāṃ dhyātvā...”
c16.t2.19
Sādhanamālā, p. 248
c16.t2.20
“The worshipper should quickly conceive himself as Ārya-Jāngulī, who is yellow in colour, three-faced, and six-armed: Her faces to the right and left are blue and white. She carries the sword, the Vajra and the arrow in the three right hands, and the Tarjanī with the noose, the blue lotus and the bow in the three left hands: She rests on the expanded hood of the serpant, is decked in celestial ornaments and dress, is resplendent with the auspicious marks of a virgin, and bears the image of Akṣobhya on head. Thus meditating...”
c16.t2.21
The Hindu goddess Manasā or Viṣahari has a marked resemblance to the appearance of Jāngulī and some of the Dhyānas in the Hindu Tāntric works for the goddess distinctly give her the epithet of "Jāngulī".
Linked texts (1)
- Sādhanamālā — Sanskrit