Indian Sculpture c5.s3.t1.8

c5.s3.t1.8

Gestures, for instance, there are of the single figures; and each has its meaning. One of the most frequently repeated gestures of the Buddha, and of other divinities, is the abhaya mudrā (Figs. 41, 45, 55, 59), the gesture of fearlessness. The sculptures in Gandhāra and Mathurā were equally familiar with it. But they rendered it merely as a sign or symbol. With them it did not become artistic form. Iconography refers this gesture to a special incident in the life of the Buddha, when he tamed the raging elephant Nālagiri. But the actuality of the situation has left the mudrā. It is shown when the particular incident is not alluded to and when the figure is not that of the Buddha. The gesture permanently conveys fearlessness. From its intransitive experience it is turned, with open palm, into the transitive reassurance, which the presence of divinity gives to the devotee (Fig. 59). The gesture, in its origin an act, exists now in the timeless state which it establishes itself. It is unchangeable in the duration of its being.