War in Ancient India c6.s6.t2.1

c6.s6.t2.1

The Gāndhāra sculptures may next be examined. Burgess identifies a figure holding Vajra or the thunderbolt, its form not apparently primitive, with that of Māra the tempter. Others identify it with Vajrapāṇi, the Bodhisattva, and Indra. There is, again, a figure in the Lahore Museum representing two soldiers, of which there is a Plate in the *Journal of Indian Art and Industry*.¹⁴⁹ Both are meagrely draped. They wear only loin-cloths. The knees and feet are left uncovered. In the one we notice a belt round the waist, a sheath with a sword the hilt of which is held in the left hand. On the back of the other soldier is seen a shield of almost oblong shape and also a sort of oval disc. But the face of this one is much mutilated. We noticed the part played by elephants in the Ajanta frescoes. There is a figure in the Mokalji's temple.¹⁵⁰ at Chitore representing an elephant pitted against another—a story often mentioned in literature. In the course of her observations on the Gāndhāra sculptures and early coins from Alexander’s time, Mrs. F. H. Andrews remarks: ‘It is in architectural, sculptural and mural decoration in India that the elephant is seen at its best.’¹⁵¹