Elements of Hindu Iconography v1.c12.9

v1.c12.9

under the name of Āyudha-purushas and are also concretised as images. Some of them are represented as males, some as females and some as eunuchs. For instance, the Śakti and the Gadā are worked out as females; the Aṅkuśa, the Pāśa, the Śūla, the Vajra, the Khaḍga and the Daṇḍa as males; and the Chakra and the Padma as eunuchs. The sex of a personified Āyudha is however determined merely with reference to the gender of its name in Sanskrit. Thus, the gender of the words śakti and gadā is the feminine, hence the Āyudha-purushas representing them are to be females: similarly, the words chakra and padma are in the neuter gender, and the weapons denoted by them are consequently represented as eunuchs. In the same way vajra and the other words mentioned above are in the masculine gender and the corresponding Āyudha-purushas are sculptured as males. It is required that the Āyudha-purushas should be made according to the aṣṭa-tāla measure, that they should each have only one face with a pair of eyes, that the head should be adorned with the karaṇḍa-makuṭa and that each of them should have only two hands held over the chest in the añjali pose. When their hands are in the añjali pose the particular emblem or weapon which each of them is intended to represent, is shown over the crown worn on the head; otherwise, the weapon or emblem is placed between the hands.