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The Hindu Temple v2.c11.s6: The Female Power

The Hindu Temple v2.c11.s6

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The Female Power

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Surasundarī, which means Celestial Beauty,¹²⁵ is but one of the names and types in which the image of Śakti is carved on the walls of the temple. Śakti is Energy, the primordial Power and substance of the world. Māyā,—the visible world, measurable in its forms,—belongs to Brahman as Śakti (‘Vedānta Sūtra’ I. IV, 1-7). She is herself the “ability to act”,¹²⁶ her image is placed next to that of any of the gods. By her activity she attracts and helps the devotee; she is his guide and appeals to all. While every man is not equipped for riding the Śārdūla, he may be led by Śakti and grasp the meaning of her hands (hasta),¹²⁷ postures and actions. While the Śārdūla is the ‘angel’ of active man, the various images of Śakti assist his contemplative and passive nature. The images of Śārdūla (Vyāla), and Śakti are collateral; they alternate on the walls of the temples of Khajuraho and on the capitals of the pillars (Pls. III, XVIII). The rearing body of the animal and the shape of the woman are seen to sway in similar curves; they are one in nature and form though different in functions and appearance, for Śakti is Vāk, the “active power of Brahman proceeding from him” (RV. X. 125) and the Śārdūla is Vāk.

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¹²⁵ ‘Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra’, LVII. 645.

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¹²⁶ ‘Śak’ means “to be able to do something”; ‘ti’ denotes capability.

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¹²⁷ ‘Hasta’ is an attitude of arm and hand, or of the hand only; it is a near synonym of ‘mudrā’. The action, shown by the respective gesture, conveys one or many definite meanings.

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The plan, with the fretted outline of the buttressed fort, of the temple (Figs. on pp. 251, etc.) is akin to a yantra or linear diagram used by the worshipper for a localisation of each of the aspects and powers of God in their hierarchy with regard to the Centre, the immovable Principle. In the Śrī-yantra, the various positions are held by goddesses or powers who are known as Yoginīs,¹²⁸ conjoint energies by whom is effected the work of the Transcendental Power, Mahā-Śakti. They are placed in the yantra in a hierarchy of position, proceeding inward and corresponding to an increasing secrecy and sacredness until the centre is reached where the Supreme Yoginī is, the Mahā-Śakti. Close to the perimeter, yet secret in their power, are a group of Yoginīs; where they reside is the Place of Fulfilment of All Hopes (sarvāśāparipūraka-cakra). They are the Attractions (akarṣinī) of and by the intellect (buddhi), of and by the sense of “I” ness (ahaṅkāra), of and by the faculties of knowledge and action who, decked in love provoking fashion, draw towards themselves the intellect, the notion of “I” ness, all the faculties of knowledge and action, the senses and the body, thought and memory and while they overwhelm them and fulfil their desire they leave them, increased in power, in the region where hopes and desires attain their multifarious objects. With the help of these Śaktis a transformation is then effected of the mind (manovikāra), the faculties and the rest; they approach the Centre in which there is no separateness.

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¹²⁸ ‘Tantrarāja-Tantra,’ ch. IV, 72-73; in the Śrīyantra, 16 Śaktis (gupta yoginīs), the Attractions, are stationed on the 16 lotus-petals near the circumference of the circle. Outside the circle, and within the square enclosure of the yantra are the Dikpālas, the Guardians of the regions and other groups of divinities. The Āvaraṇa-devatās, the surrounding divinities, in both these zones, have their images and correspondences on the walls of the temple.—Yoginīs are attendants of various classes of the Great Goddess who is herself called Yoginī (‘Jñānārṇava Tantra’, XVI. 140 f. ‘Tantrarāja Tantra’, V. 28. Comm. Manoramā.)

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It is in this sense that a further group of beauteous Śaktis is described as Maids (paricārikā) and others are called Messengers (dūtī) of the Transcendental Power, the Mahā-Śakti. In their lotus-hands they carry, each of them, a ‘mudrā’, a raiment, a mirror and various kinds of vessels¹²⁹ (Pls. XI, XII, XIV, XLI, LI).

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¹²⁹ In the yantra of Bhuvanesvarī, the Maids (paricārikā) have their place outside the lotus-petals; ‘Śaradātilaka’, ch. IX, 38—40; the Messengers (dūtī) surround the Primordial Śakti imaged as Tripuṭā (ch. X. 92).

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The Śaktis or Yoginīs are working energies subservient to the Great Śakti. On the walls of the temples they are figured in all directions as Celestial Beauties. They perform this work by the side of the gods whose activity their presence releases. Indian astrology knows the Yoginī as a cosmic power. It moves from day to day, from place to place, in all directions.

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By the side of the eight Regents of the directions of space, by the side of each of the several groups of gods, the Celestial Beauties are placed embodied in their archetypal forms. They display them in rhythms and gestures and by their attributes which they have in common with the Yoginīs.

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In the macrocosm they operate as branches and part aspects of the Transcendental Power, conjointly with the Supreme Principle as Yoga-māyā, the manifestation of the universe. In the microcosm, with reference to man, Yoga-māyā is the power of reintegration; the Yoginīs are maids and messengers, the ‘angels’ of the Transcendental Power. The Attractions in the outer circle of the yantra, the Celestial Beauties on the walls of the temple, serve man, the devotee; they satisfy his response to them so that, increased in power, released from their attractions and transformed, he proceeds in his devotion towards God in the innermost sanctuary of his heart and in the temple. They help man towards reintegration, akin to those celestial damsels (apsarās) who appear at the time when he, a knower of Brahman departs from this world: "Him approach 500 celestial damsels, 100 carrying scented powders, saffron, turmeric and the like, in their hands, 100 carrying fruits, 100 carrying various ornaments and 100 carrying garlands. They adorn him with ornaments befitting Brahmā himself. Thus adorned with Brahmā ornaments and knowing Brahman he goes to Brahman."¹³⁰

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¹³⁰ ‘Kauṣītaki Brāhmaṇa Upaniṣad’, I. 4.

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The Celestial Beauties belong to the Āvaraṇa-devatās, "surrounding divinities". Their number is large. Their figures are repeated on the temples, all round the walls, to either side of each god, and as on the Kandariya and Devī Jagadambā Temples, in all the three belts of sculpture. (Pls. I and III). Such supererogation in carving their figures, alike in type yet indefinitely modified in each instance by a particular rhythmical consistency, shows repetition itself as a power in whose comprehensive rhythm are interwoven the images in rows and storeys. It is made concrete by art in the figures of the gods and the celestial women who, though they resemble the human shape, are unlike it. For the divine (daiva) and the human form "are born from one parentage. The divine form is endowed with more intellect (buddhi). The human form is not so endowed with intellect.”¹³¹

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¹³¹ ‘Matsya Purāṇa’, ch. CXLV. 14-16.

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The form of the Celestial Beauties is, of embodied intellect; by art this intellectual (paramārthika) body is made concrete.¹³² It is different from the physical body of flesh and bones and which is of the earth. The qualities of the celestial body are those of the atmosphere, pervaded as it is by the light of the sun and where blows the wind and the gale of the Spirit. It is the region of movement; the celestial bodies are built up by movement only. In the “air-world” (bhuvas; antarikṣa) the gods dwell; man moves in it and breathes. In its movement, his living body is of the air-world and one in nature with that of the gods. Indian sculpture, whose subject is the gods, knows only of this celestial body. It consists of movement and is resilient with the breath that courses in its smooth channels.

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¹³² ‘Garuḍa Purāṇa’, ch. XV. 45-68.

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Other names and forms, other image of Śakti are: Apsarā,¹³³ Nāṭakā,¹³⁴ Yakṣiṇī¹³⁵ and Dig Devī.¹³⁶ Being active power and causal stress, her image is an embodiment of movement; as Apsarā she is the movement in the atmosphere, as Yakṣiṇī she is the movement in vegetation, as Nāṭakā she is the movement in the body of man and is shown as a dancer. Her iconography describes her various ‘places’; they are not sharply defined. Her associates, such as bough and tree (Śālabhañjikā; Pl. LX)¹³⁷ and flowering vines (Pl. XVIII) declare her images as Yakṣiṇī.

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¹³³ Apsarās are the celestial dancers in Indra’s heaven (Pls. LXVIII, XL). Their name signifies “moving in the water”, in the celestial vapour; they are the movement in the atmosphere while the Yakṣiṇīs are the movement in the trees. The Apsarās are the consorts of the Gandharvas and are also known as Surāṅanās or celestial damsels (cf. Surasundarī). The ‘Tantrarāja Tantra’, IV. 58-70, tells how to control Apsarā and Yakṣiṇī.

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¹³⁴ Nāṭakā, as a rule, is the designation of the dancing female figures on the walls of the temples; cf. “Mayamata”, XVIII. 6, where Vyāla (=Śārdūla) and Nāṭakā appear by the side of each other.

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¹³⁵ Yakṣiṇīs (‘Tantrarāja-tantra’, XVII. 50-53) are young and beautiful woman-spirits in fine raiments who give the Sādhaka all worldly goods he may desire. In this limited function, however, they carry the heritage of their past when Yakṣa was equivalent with Divinity (Devatā; see also the images represented and inscribed in Barhut, Barua, op. cit.).

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¹³⁶ Dig Devīs or Dig Nāyikās are the Women of the Quarters; they are frequently referred to in inscriptions (Candela Inscr. ‘Ep. Ind.’ I. p. 212; inscription from Ittagi, dated A.D. 1112. ‘Ep. Ind.’ XIII. p. 36 f.) of which some, for example, ‘Ep. Ind.’ XIII. p. 205, describe how the “precious pearls of the king’s stainless virtues adorn the girdles of the Ladies of the Quarters of Space” or how the Dig-nāyikās “wove the fame (of the king) into pearl strings which they ever wore” (‘Ind. Ant.’ VI. p. 65, grant of Govinda II Rathor, 750-810 A.D.).

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¹³⁷ The group of the ‘Woman and Tree’ is known as Śālabhañjikā; or Śālabhañji (S. S. LXVI. 30-32). Cf. Coomaraswamy, ‘Yakṣas’, I. p. 32 f. The Śālabhañjikā is frequently carved on the brackets of capitals or forms the bracket of the Ucchālaka (Pls. XVIII, LX). The Nāṭakā, Pl. LXIV, also forms a bracket, but of the ceiling of the Maṇḍapa.

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Vibrant power is the celestial beauty of her images; they all resemble the Great Goddess whose ‘eyebrows are the entrance arches of the Palace of the Lord of Love’¹³⁸ and whose eyes are like fishes, playing in the lake of the beauty of her face. This beauty in her belongs to God and is His reflex; He is seen himself to assume the state of Śakti so that he may be confronted by His own felicity with all its contents.¹³⁹ Śakti reflects by her Form (rūpaṃ) the Light (prakāśa) which is God.¹⁴⁰ She mirrors the Light of Consciousness-Bliss (cidānanda). Because she acts as its mirror, she is also shown holding a mirror in her hand (Pl. XIV).¹⁴¹ If the boughs of her tree are like her arms and the curves of the creeper like her own movement,¹⁴² if the tree-woman is one idea and composition, the mirror-woman is another type or sculptured group of Śakti; the former being a reiteration of the underlying theme by two kinds of shape, that of vegetation and that of woman, their interplay, affinity, and identity as movement, the latter enacting the drama of the reflection seen in the mirror and of the living being. "The reflection of the face seen in the mirror is nothing in itself as separated from the face; so is the living creature (jīva) in itself nothing, a reflection of Consciousness in the mind—that self-abiding Consciousness in its true state am I"¹⁴³ says Supreme Consciousness of itself. Śakti exemplifies it, on her own level, with luxurious grace and sadness, or any of the emotions which belong to the human face.

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¹³⁸ ‘Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa, Lalita Sahasranāma’, 6.

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¹³⁹ This relation is that of the 'enjoyer' and the 'enjoyed' (bhoktā; bhogya). Abhinavagupta who lived at the time when the most ingenuous and diversified images of Śakti were carved (c. 1000 A.D.) says: "The God of unsurpassed felicity is called the enjoyer. Desire and such other contents of His self are what he enjoys. It is for this reason only that he assumes the state of Śakti" ('Tantrāloka', śl. 190; comm.).

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¹⁴⁰ The beauty of Śakti lies in the coincidence of her form and meaning, it is a projection of her image as it is in God, into visibility by means of art. Her perfection is not only in her dance of productive intentness (Pls. XXI, XXII), but also in her destructive will as the dancer of death. Cāmuṇḍā, the seventh Mātṛkā, is carved as a dancer, on mediæval temples (Bhūleśvar Temple, 'Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Inst.', vol. IV. Fig. 7) ; and in earlier reliefs.

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¹⁴¹ The mirror is "pure knowledge" (V.D. III. ch. XLVIII. 16). The mirror is one of the attributes of Pārvatī, and also the Lotus flower.—Goddess and mirror within a lotus flower in full bloom are carved in Barhut (Barua, op. cit. Pl. XXXI).

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¹⁴² Latā is both creeper and woman; a slender girl, any woman.

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¹⁴³ 'Hastāmalaka', 3 (Sāyaṇācārya, 'Śaṅkara Digvijaya').

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While Śakti looks at herself in the mirror or experiences herself in her movement to which she yields, while she produces it, she becomes conscious of herself in any of her shapes and wondering she knows and greets herself.

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Wondering she enters the palace of her person and touches her body in a new awareness (Pls. XIII, XV, XVI) while she discovers her egoity, her own and particular "I"ness in the many tasks which she performs as part and maid of the Great Goddess.

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In her wondrous beauty, where the 'person' meets her Power, Śakti bends over Ahaṅkāra, the "I" concept, which is but herself tainted by her entry into this world of duality (Pls. XVIII, XIX). The goddess is near to losing her divinity while her beauty becomes animated by emotions (Pls. LX, LXIV, XIII).¹⁴⁴ So far and no further do these angels descend for the sake of the souls in bondage (paśu) whom they introduce to the higher hierarchy.

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¹⁴⁴ Hindu, Buddhist (Pl. XXXVIII) and Jain (Pl. XX) images are referred to here without discrimination as the principle "Śakti" is realised by the orthodox and also the unorthodox devotees and craftsmen alike.

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The problem of egoity (ahaṅkāra) is particularly given shape in mediæval Indian sculpture. It may be due to some extent to the infiltration of new, Northern elements (Gujars, Ahirs, India thinks in images; the image (mūrti) itself is beheld as a divinity. "Mūrti (image), the wife of Dharma (the Order of things in the cosmos and Righteousness in man), is Form, luminous and charming. Without her, the Supreme Spirit (Paramātman), whose abode is the whole universe, would be without support."¹⁴⁵ Her charm and attractions are those of the Anima Mundi, cosmic vitality, active in the middle region (antarikṣa), in space. There the temple has its extension.

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¹⁴⁵ 'Brahmavaivarta Purāṇa', II. 1. 145.

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etc.) into the people of India, and intensified by the strain and apprehension caused by the Muslim invasion.

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Its expression differs in kind and degree in the various sculptures (Pls. XIV, XII, XVI, XVII) not only in their countenance but throughout the whole figure or also the whole group and its parts. The perfection of movement has not everywhere the same serenity (Pl. XX against Pls. XVIII, XIX). Vehement in its resilience it finds its balance in the upper part of the body (Pl. XX) ; in another image the body stiffens in dancing frenzy in a vertical of high tension (Pl. XXI). Emotional overemphasis leads to a tortured expression of some of the figures, to a cramped linear movement (of the fluttering scarves, for example, Pls. XXI, LXIII), to harshness in the contrast of modelled form and the flat ground of the relief (Pl. XI), to a violent antithesis of light and the deepest shadows (Pl. XXI) and to an elimination of modelling (Pl. LIV) in sculptures of a subsequent phase. Starkly assertive, the "I" conceit subjects the 'curves of life', the sinuosities of the vibrant form of Śakti, to impervious accents (Pl. LIV). They lend zest and incisiveness to some of the carvings (Pl. XLII) while in less gifted hands (Pls. XL, LXIII) they deaden Indian sculpture.

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