Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v2.c75.s3.32

v2.c75.s3.32

and they represent the first hierachy of gods in Buddhist pantheon. All other gods emanate from one or the other or five or four of them collectively and they invariably bear the effigies of their masters on their head. The first five Divine Buddhas owe their origin to the theory of the eternity of the senses according to Āryadeva—vide Pr. Laks. p. 277 (the very first verse) or to the eternity of the five Skandhas, the elements (—vide ibid). As regards the last or (the sixth) that is Vajrasattva, he is a later incorporation and is generally believed to be the priest of the five Dhyānis A more rational view would be to take the first five of them as representing the five mudrās which Lord Buddha made sacred on memorable occasions; as is evident from their representations in the art. All of them closely resemble each other, the prominent difference being the positions in which the hands are held and the vāhanas on which they ride. Both these traits signify mūdrās (cf. the writer's thesis below in which these Vāhnas are also included into the broader connotation of Mudrās—vide the Chapters on Mudrās). Every Dhyānī is always represented in a sitting posture on a full blown double lotus which attitude is known as the Dhyānāsana (cross-legged). The other attributes being bare head, curly hair, eyes half closed in meditation (dhyāna). These are dressed like a monk. As regards their allocation in the Buddhist shrine, the Stūpa (the Budhist Universe), they, except Vairocana and Vajrasttvava are generally represented on the four sides of it facing the cardinal points. Vairocana being the deity of the inner shrine often remains unrepresented but sometimes he is seen between Ratna and Amogha. Now without going into further individual details (which may be seen in the Pr Laks, p. 277 and Bhattacharya's book—'Indian Buddhist Iconography') their tabulation may be seen in an appendix to this page in which numbers from first to fifth represent Amitābha Akṣobhya, Vairocana, Amoghasiddhi and Ratnasambhava respectively: