The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sadhanamala and Other Cognate Tantric Texts of Rituals c23.13

c23.13

The Buddhists as a proof of their aversion to the followers of the Brahmanical faith, made their gods trample upon Gaṇeśa. Thus in the Indian Museum images of Parṇaśabarī and Aparājitā, and in the Baroda Museum image of Vighnāntaka, etc., the deities have been represented as trampling Gaṇeśa under their feet. In the two Vikrampur images of Parṇaśabarī and in the Dacca Sahitya Parisat image of Mahāpratisarā, Gaṇeśa appears below the lotus seat lying prostrate on the ground crushed under the weight of Buddhist deities. Thus did the Buddhists manifest their animosity against the Hindu god, Gaṇeśa, giving him the epithet of Vighna or Obstacle. Their animosity may be further illustrated by the following features of the Sādhanas. The four Hindu gods, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva and Indra have been designated uniformly as the four Māras or Wicked Beings, and several Buddhist gods have been described as trampling them under their feet. The Sādhanas of Prasanna-Tārā, Vajrajjvālānalārka, Vidyujjvālākarālī, and the like, are instances in point. Trailokyavijaya has been represented as trampling upon the prostrate forms of Śiva and Gaurī; Nārāyaṇa has been made a Vāhana or vehicle by Harihariharivāhana. Poor Brahmā has been most severely handled by the Buddhists. The severed head of Brahmā is a favourite trophy in the hands of Buddhist deities According to Hindu traditions, Brahmā should be very old with grey beard, and four heads, and the Buddhist deities mercilessly hold the heads by the matted hair and flourish them in their hands. This is how the Buddhists attempted to exhibit the superiority of their gods over those of the Brahmanical faith. It is a matter of satisfaction, however, that the Hindus never disgraced any gods belonging to the alien faith in this manner. On the contrary, they placed Buddha among the ten Avatāras of Viṣṇu. In this connection it may be pointed out that in the Kālacakra Tantra a work of the 10th century A. D. there is evidence that an attempt was made by the Buddhists to unite with the Hindus under the common banner of the god Kālacakra ‘The Circle of Time’, against the cultural penetration of the Mlecchas. The later history showed, however, that the attempt proved futile.