Elements of Hindu Iconography v4.c33.s7.5

v4.c33.s7.5

The *āgamas* also recognise him as the master of the *Yakshas* and describe his figure as follows :— The colour of Kubēra according to one authority should be golden yellow and according to another crimson ; the colour of his underwear is to be red, and the upper garment, white. His person should be adorned with all ornaments, including a *kirīṭa*, or a *karaṇḍa-makuṭa*, *kuṇḍalas* and necklaces composed of a series of golden coins. He should be good looking, or even terrific looking and possessing either two or four arms : if the arms are only two, the hands may be kept in the *varada* and *abhaya* poses or the left hand may keep in it a gadā: if, on the contrary, he has four arms one of them should be embracing his consort Vibhavā and another one embracing Vr̥ddhi, seated on the left and right laps respectively of Kubēra; the remaining hands should carry the gadā and the śakti. The Viṣṇudharmōttara states that his left eye should be of yellowish brown colour (piṅgala), that he should be dressed in the fashion of the westerners (āpīcyavēsha), that his body should be protected with an armour, that he should have a pair of moustaches and that there should also be side-tusks in his mouth. All the authorities are uniform in asserting that Kubēra should have a rather big and slightly pendant belly. He may be seated on a padmapīṭha or be driving in a chariot drawn by men or even directly seated on the shoulders of a man. The Aṁśumadbhēdāgama states that the vehicle of Kubēra is a ram. To the right and left of Kubēra there should be respectively the Śaṅkhanidhi and the Padmanidhi whose descriptions are as follows: these two personifications should resemble in shape the bhūtas, that is, with short limbs attached to a large trunk and surmounted by a large face, carrying in their hands lotus flowers. They should be draped in white clothes, adorned with karaṇḍa-makuṭas and placed upon padmapīṭhas. In another place it is stated that he should