Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v2.c75.s3.93

v2.c75.s3.93

Stūpas—a reference has already been made to the Stūpas and the tradition of enshrinemnt therein, of the Dhyānī Buddhas and their Śaktis. Stūpas, though falling in the domain of architecture, really represent the aniconic form of worship in Buddhism. Aniconism has always preceded before iconism. Stupas therefore may be taken as the first representation of this universal truth, **Triśaraṇas**—are the next evolution of the Buddhist aniconism-cum-iconism. The three jewels—Dharma, Buddha and Saṅgha—came to be represented both in symbolic and in human form. Nepalese Buddhists were the first to conceive the Holy Triad in human form. "When represented in art, Dharama shows the Añjali against the breast in the first pair of hands and carries the rosary and the double lotus in the second; Buddha shows either the Samādhi or the Bhūmisparaśaṇa Mudrā; and Saṅgha, a male divinity shows the Dharmacakra Mudrā in the first pair of hands and the rosary and the book in the second pair.'