Elements of Hindu Iconography v4.c30.6

v4.c30.6

This deity is called Śāsta because he is able to control and rule over the whole world; etymologically therefore, the word means a ruler of a country, and is sometimes applied to teachers and fathers. The *Amarakośa* applies the name to Buddha also. The Tamil Nighaṇṭus call him by the additional names Sātavāhana, the rider of the white elephant, Kāri, the wielder of the weapon known as *śeṇḍu*, the consort of Pūraṇa and Puṣkalā, the protector of Dharma and Yōgi; they also state that the vehicle of Śāsta is the elephant and the crest of his banner a cock. The names, rider of the white elephant, Yōgi, the protector of Dharma coupled with the significance of Buddha applied to Śāsta in the *Amarakośa* incline one to conclude that Buddha as conceived and worshipped in the Tamil country was ultimately included in the Hindu Pantheon and a Purāṇic story invented for his origin at a later period of the history of Hindu Iconology. The name Sātavāhana is also very noteworthy as it has been assumed by a dynasty of powerful kings of the earlier centuries of the Christian era.