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Elements of Hindu Iconography v4.c34: The Asvini-Devatas

Elements of Hindu Iconography v4.c34

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The Asvini-Devatas

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THE twin-gods, the Aśvini-dēvatās, were playing an important part in the Vēdic period. Yāska says in his *Nirukta* that these gods Aśvins were so-called because they pervaded everything (*vyaśnuvātē*), one of them with moisture and the other with light; but Aurṇavabha derives the name from *aśva*, a horse. Who these gods were the commentators of the Vēdas themselves are not able to answer; some say these were personifications of heaven and earth; others of day and night and yet others, the sun and moon. Prof. Roth thinks that they represent Indra and Āditya and that they are the harbingers of the Dawn to usher whose existence they hurry on in their chariot. In the *Ṛigvēda* they are said to be the sons of Vivasvat and Śaraṇyū in one place, of the sky in another and of the ocean in a third. The *Taittirīya-samhitā* calls them the youngest of the gods and the brothers of Ushas. They are also associated with Sūryā, the daughter of the sun, and are held to be young, beautiful, bright and agile and as wearing lotus garlands; they were possessed of wonderful therapeutic power and are said to have helped many with this power of theirs. We have already seen that they restored the head of Yajña-Nārāyaṇa which was accidentally severed. They are described as always riding in a chariot drawn by fleet horses. Nothing very definite about these gods or their position in the Vēdic mythology is known and yet it is a well-known fact that they are very often invoked in the Vēdic literature.

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In the Purāṇic period different stories are given for the origin of the Aśvins. For example, the Varāhapurāṇa gives the following account of the birth of the Aśvins. Sūrya (the sun) married the girl named Saṃjñā who was offered by Tvaṣṭa and begot through her Yama and Yamunā. Saṃjñā, however, was able to bear no more the heat of Sūrya and resolved to run away from him. Leaving behind her her shadow (chḥāya) and assuming the form of a horse (baḍaba) repaired to Uttarakuru. By Chḥāyā, Sūrya had two children named Śani and Tapati. All the children of Sūrya were ill-treated by Chḥāyā and Yama and Śani complained against her to their father. For this they were cursed by Chḥāyā as the effect of which Yama had become the lord of the prētas, but the hard lot was mitigated by the

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intercession of the father who made him even in this accursed state to be the god of Dharma and be also one of the Lōkapālas, guarding the southern quarter of the Universe; and Śani obtained powerfully evil eyes through the curse of Chhāyā. After all these events were over, Sūrya learnt that Samjñā was living as a mare in Uttarakuru, went there in the form of a stallion, joined her and begot the twin children named the Aśvins, who are, in this account, held to be the personifications of prāṇa and apāna, the two vital airs which sustain animal life. In the cosmic evolution, these gods came into existence on the dvitīyā tithi. With the help of their father Sūrya they obtained a place among the gods and became the custodians of the amrita and physicians to the celestials. The Aśvins are known by the name of Nāśatyas. Curiously enough these deities, little understood by even the Vēdic commentators, have received a great deal of consideration in the hands of the authors of the various Āgamas. In fact, a number of Āgamas contain a description of the images of the Aśvini-dēvatās. It is highly doubtful if ever they were sculptured and set up in temples, for at the present time we do not hear of the existence of such images anywhere in India, as svayampra-dhāna deities. No doubt they are carved on the same block of stone as was used for the sculpturing of the image of the sun, as attendants of this latter deity. The following description of the images of the Aśvins is found in the Amśumadbhēdāgama. These gods should be represented as horse-faced and be seated together upon a simhāsana. They should be adorned with a jaṭā-makuṭa on the head, the yajñōpavīta, garlands of yellow flowers, and with all other ornaments. The colour of their body is to be red, like the flower of the pomegranate tree. The Aśvins should have lotus-like beautiful eyes and each only a pair of arms; in the left hand they should keep each a book, while their right hands should be held in the abhaya pose. The right legs of the gods should be hanging below the seat, while the left one must be folded and rested upon it. The names of these gods are given as Nāśatya and Dasra. On either side of the Aśvins should be the figures of the females called Mṛita-sañjīvinī and Viśalyakaraṇī waving chauris (chāmaras). The colour of these goddesses is said to be brown.

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On the left of the Aśvins there should be the figures of Danvantari and Ātrēya, adorned with all ornaments, draped in black garments and carrying in their hands a sword and a shield each. Their colour should be yellow and red respectively.

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In the *Suprabhēdāgama* it is stated that the colours of the Aśvins are white and yellow respectively and that they ought to be clothed in white garments and should have turbans on their heads. The *Pūrvakāraṇāgama* which also contains their description does not differ materially from the above two authorities. But the *Viṣṇu-dharmōttara* gives a somewhat different description. It substitutes instead of the *abhaya* pose required by the *Āgamas* a vessel containing drugs (*ōshadhis*) in their right hands. On the right and left of these gods are to be standing, according to this authority, two goddesses named Rūpa-sampat and Ākṛiti of great beauty and of white (?) and grass green colours respectively, bearing in their hands vessels set with gems; and these must be dressed in white garments.

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Illustrations of the Aśvini-dēvatās might be seen on the sculpture of Sūrya reproduced on Pl. XC, fig. 3, of Volume I of this work.

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ARTAVERTINIAI RITAI

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