History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.: Naga–Vakataka Imperial Period c14.s4.t1.124

c14.s4.t1.124

36. Of Buddhism and Jainism alone we have monumental evidence in the period of the Kushan rule. Of the orthodox worship of the Hindu system we have no trace in monuments. And we have¹ no trace of earlier orthodox monuments, although we know that orthodox motifs and orthodox architecture and orthodox iconography had already been established facts before the earliest Buddhist monuments were erected. That Hindu temples of various styles and Hindu Gods and Goddesses of various forms existed before 300 A.D. is proved by their elaborate and scientific treatment in the Matsya Purāṇa, and orthodox books are full of reference to them.² In the face of that evidence there can be no manner of doubt that before the Gupta period the national art and architecture of the orthodox Hindus had reached a point which was not repeated in all its details in the revivalist period of the Bhāraśivas, the Vākātakas and the Guptas. This is established by the internal evidence of Buddhist and Jaina monuments themselves. To take one example: There was no scope for the rise of the Apsaras in sculpture on Buddhist and Jaina sepulchral memorials. But we do find the Apsarā with her lover, the Gandharva, in loving attitude at the Bodh-Gaya railing gate, at the Mathurā Jaina stūpas, at the Nāgārjuni Koṇḍā stūpas, etc. The origin of the Apsarā motive is not to be found in Buddhism and Jainism but in the Hindu texts (e.g. in the Matsya Purāṇa), which at least go back to the third century. Their treatment with citations of 18 previous authorities shows that they must go back centuries earlier.¹ The Hindu texts lay down that the doorways must be decorated with Gandharva-mithunas, the Gandharva couples ², and that Apsarases, Siddhas, Yakshas and others must be sculptured on the temples. The toilet scenes at Mathurā are of Apsarases in their characteristic, toilet-bathing poses which give them the name 'water-nymphs'. Now, where did the Buddhists or Jainas get the Apsaras from; from where did the Buddhists and Jainas get their Gaja-Lakshmī; wherefrom did the Buddhists get the Vaishṇavī carrying the Garuḍadhvaja ? My answer is, they got them from the orthodox Hindu buildings. There they had become too stereotyped for the architect and the mason to ignore; without these motives and decorative icons no building could be regarded as a sacred building when the Buddhists started erecting their sacred monuments which had to be in the style current in the country. On Hindu temples they all have a meaning, mystic (yogic) and traditional, dating back to the Vedic age and Vedic conceptions and are intimately connected with the previous history of Hindu mythology, which faithfully descended down to the last days of Hindu sacred architecture and iconography. But they have no meaning with Buddhist and Jaina structures where they are mere architectural, conventional decorations, i.e. borrowed and repeated from orthodox Hindu buildings. The orthodox buildings themselves of the pre-Kushan period are completely wiped out. And, who destroyed them? My answer is, the Kushan rule destroyed them. It is recorded ³ that one of the early Kushans destroyed temples of the Sacred Fire and raised in their places Buddhist temples. We see from the recorded policy of the Kushan viceroy that he suppressed Brahmins and orthodox castes and made the popu-