South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses c9.s14.4

c9.s14.4

Pāsupatamūrti is another fierce form of Siva. This is evidently the form in which he is worshipped by the sect of Pāsupata Saivas, who, according to Dr. Bhandarkar, came into prominence about the second century B.C.² The *Silpasāra* describes Pāsupatamūrti as having ten arms and five faces. According to other *Agamas* the figure may have only four arms. It has a fierce face, knitted brows over its three eyes, and hair red like flames of fire, bristling erect on the head. The god holds in his right hand a trident pointing downwards and in the boon-giving palm of the left he also holds a skull (*kapāla*). Sometimes the handle of the trident is lightly held by both the lower arms, which do not then show the *varada* and the *abhaya* postures. In the back arms are seen the *tanka* and the sword. The protruding teeth and the sacred thread formed of a venomous serpent add to the fierceness of his appearance. For purposes of meditation, however, a milder form is adopted, in which, like Chandrasēkhara, the god is represented standing or seated with a smiling countenance, showing the trident and the *abhaya* in his two right arms and the rosary and the *varada* in the two left arms (fig. 95).