A History of Agriculture in India v1.c33.s8.1

v1.c33.s8.1

Under the patronage of the Kushan rulers, a school of sculpture developed at Mathura whose favourite theme is depiction of *Yakshis*. The *Yakshis* or *vrikshakas* are auspicious emblems of vegetative fertility. The famous *salabhanjika* pose in which a woman is shown plucking flowers of a *sal* tree derives from the nativity legend of the Buddha in the Lumbini Garden, where Mayadevi, supported by the *sal*-tree, stretching her arm to catch the flowers, delivers the holy child. This seems to have provided the basis for the woman and tree motifs which are so frequently seen in the Buddhist sculptures of Bharhut, Sanchi, Amaravati and Mathura. From its association with the birth of the Buddha, the *vrikshaka* motif became a symbol of fertility and women prayed to it for gifts of children. *The Mahabharata* also speaks of dryads (*Vrikshaka* and *Vrikshi*) as "goddesses born in trees, to be worshipped by those desiring children".⁶ In the ancient city of Sravasti, Salabhanjika festival was celebrated with great zeal when the *sal*-trees flowered. The *sal*-trees in full blossom were worshipped for offspring.