Dr. Priyatosh Banerjee (Indian and Central Asian Scholar)

Dr. Priyatosh Banerjee (An Exponent on Indian and Central Asian Art)

HINDU TRINITY FROM CENTRAL ASIA

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In the Museum fur Indische Kunst, Berlin, there is an illustrated leaf, in somewhat damaged condition, of a Manichaean manuscript, which shows among other things, four Hindu deities on a decorated carpet. This illustrated leaf was found in Qoco, (easter Turkistan); and on stylistic and other grounds it is ascribable to c. eighthninth century A.D. It has been described in detail by A. von Le Coq in his monumental work, Die Manichaeischen Miniaturen, pl.8a. p.50. It has also been reproduced as frontispiece of the book, Painting of Central Asia, by Professor M. Bussagli.

 

 

VIII. Detail of a Manichaen Miniature from Qoco, eighth-ninth century, Berlin Museum Collection. (After the frontispiece, Painting of Central Asia by Professor M. Bussagli)'

All the four Hindu deities (pl.VIII), painted in flesh colour, are seated in kneeling posture, and they show a vigorous modelling. Of them, the one, in extreme left, as already identified by Le Coq is Ganesa, whose individual representations have been found in many parts of Central Asia. He has an elephant's trunk with two pointed tusks, and two prominent and vigorously drawn eyes. He is two-armed; the right hand is placed on the thigh and the left holds a bowl of golden colour. He is adorned with a necklace and armlet, also depicted in the same colour. Again, he has a golden crown (of a Sassanian type) placed on a white turban with concentric lines in black. There is a circular halo in green around his head. He is clad in a green dhoti with a golden border, and has a blue uttariya as upper garment.

The other Hindu deities of the panel identified perhaps for the first time here, are Vishnu, Brahma and Siva, representing the Trimurti. Vishnu is shown here with a boar's head (having a decorated red border behind it ) and this, as is well known represents his Mahavaraha aspect or boarincarnation. In his Varaha incarnation he rescued the Earth from below the water. The epics and the Puranas describe Vishnu's feat as Mahavaraha in highly poetic terms. The theme has found ample representation in the plastic art of both north and south India (for example, at Udaigiri and Eran, Madhya Pradesh; Mahabalipuram near Madras; Badami, Mysor; Kanauj, Uttar Pradesh, etc.)

As described in the texts, the Mahavaraha's head is shown here with fierce eyes and prominent white tusks. His left ear, open to view is erect and the locks of his hair rise up in dishevelled manner. This poignant delineation testifies to the skill of the artist as well as his thorough acquaintance with the Indian religious traditions and literature.

Utkshipta-balah khacharah kathorah

Sata vidhunvan khara-romasaa-tvak/

Khurahatabhrah sita-damshtra-iksha-

Jyotirbabhase bhagavan mahidhrah//

The lower part of the present Vishnu figure, as his Varahavatar is usually represented in art, is in human form. He wears a blue dhoti with golden border and has a green scarf round his neck. He is also provided with ornaments, such as a necklace and armlets in Golden colour. He is tow armed; he holds in his left hand a vajra in dark green colour and his right hand hangs down on his knee. It may be noted that the vajra (thunderbolt) is not a usual attribute of Vishnu in the panel is of great interest. Here he is perhaps looked upon as the chief of the Hindu Trinity in which case, as an all-God, he may possess any attributes, Sarvapraharanayudha, as the Vishnusahasranama describes him.

Next to Vishnu, is shown Brahma with a prominent black moustache and a flowing beared in blue. He has long blue hair brushed back, tied with a band of brownish colour. His halo is in pink colour. He seems to have a golden necklace round his neck. He has two hands; the right hand is raised, probably holding a lily, while the left holds a golden bowl as in the case of Ganesa. Further, like the latter, he wears the same kind of uttariya and dhoti.

Brahma is called chaturanana, four faced, but his representation with a single head, as shown here, is also not rare in Indian art.

The last of the group is Siva (the left portion of the figure below the arm is, however, damaged and gone). His identity is well established by the presence of the third eye on the forehead. His right hand is placed on the knee and in the left hand he holds a long sword. He is represented with a moustache (please compare the other Siva figures from Dandan-Uliq, and Balawaste and Budha and Bodhisattva figures of Kizil, Bezeklik, etc.). Further, he is shown also with a beard which is generally met with in Bhairava figures. He has black hair the curling locks of which fall on his cheeks and behind the shoulders. He wears an elaborate crown in golden colour on a white turban covering the head as is the case with the Ganesa described above. Behind the head is a halo (a part of which alone is visible) in dull orange colour.

The diety is dressed in a jacket of red and blue colour, and is provided with ornaments including armlets, and a necklace all showing in golden colour.

In spite of his beard and moustache, the figure has a feminine look, further enhanced by the long locks of hair on the cheeks and shoulders.

The above discussion prove beyond doubt that the subject of the present panel is the Hindu Trinity or Trimurti accompanied by Ganesa. The Trimurti to a Brahmanic conception is the manifestation of the supreme spirit in three forms, Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. According to the original theory of Brahmanism, no one of these three ought to take precedence over the other two. They are equal and their functions are sometimes interchangeable, so that they may represent the supreme lord (Paramesvara) and each may take the place of the other. The following hymns on Trimurti in Kalidasa's works are significant:

Namastrimurtaye tubhyam praksrishteh.

Kevalatmane/

Gunatraya-vibhagaya paschadbhedamupeyushe/

(Kumarasambhava, II.4)

namo visvarije purvam visvam tadanubibhrate/

atha visvasya samhartre tubhyam

tredhasthitatmane/

(Raghuvamsa, X, 16)

In the early portions of the epics, Brahma is assigned the highest place. But vishnu and Siva came into prominence gradually. Though Brahma retained his nominal superiority throughout, the epics are mostly devoted to the praise of Vishnu and Siva. As sectarian rivalries were very keen and strong between the followers of these two deities, attempts were made to reconcile their claims by declaring their essenctial unity or oneness. Addressing a hyumn to Mahadeva, Arjuna says: "Adoration be to Siva in the form of Vishnu and Vishnu in the form of Siva, the destroyer of Daksha's sacrifice to Hari-Rudra."the Santi Parva narrates furious fight between Rudra and Narayana. Brahma came and dissuaded Rudra from fighting and asked him to propitiate Narayana. Being praised by rudra, Narayana siad to him, "Hw who knows thee knows me, he who follows thee loves me, there is no distinction between us, do not entertain any other idea."

This idea of Hari-Hara finally developed into Trimurti as we find in the Harivamsa. The following statement of Markandeya, dwelling on the essential unity of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva is worth quoting: Markandeya says: "I perceive no difference between Siva who exists in the form of Vishnu and Vishnu in the form of Siva….. He who is Vishnu is Rudra; he who is Rudra is Pitamaha; the substance (murti) is one, the gods are three, Rudra Vishnu and Pitamaha….." (Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, Vol.VI, pp.236-238).

The conception of Trimurti, thus envisaged, became instrumental in reconciling the sectarian difference of the neo-Brahmanic religions and responsible for the creation of a liberal monotheistic view point which characterises so much the Indian religious thought.

The present panel shows the popularity of the worship of the Trimurti in Central Asia during the early medieval period. To my knowledge, no other example of the present subject has been discovered as yet in this region. In fact, the Trimurti panels of ancient and medieval periods are also rare in the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent. An example of the Trimurti, however, is preserved in the Peshawar Museum, Peshawar, West Pakistan. The image in question was found in a small village mound of Charasadda, the ancient Pushkalavati. The central figure in this sculpture is Siva leaning against his vehicle, the bull; the head to the proper right is that of Vishnu and the corresponding one to the other side is that of Brahma distinguished by his grisly beard. On stylistic grounds, it has been ascribed to the second century A.D. This example shows that the Trimurti cult became popular as early as the Kushana peirod.

Before we conclude we may refer to a few other interesting features of the present panel from central Asia. Normally, in the Trimurti panels Vishnu is shown with a human head and not with a head of the boar as seen here. Incidentally, this may also point to the popularity of the worship of Vishnu as Varaha avatara during the eighth-ninth centuries A.D. this seems to be corroborated by the fact that King Bhoja-deva (ninth century) who seems to have been a great devotee of Vishnu issued a series of coins showing Vishnu's Varaha avatara with the legend Srimad-adivarha.

Further , as is well know, in the representation of Varaha avatara of Vishnu, he is generally shown as raising the goddess, Prithvi (earth) from below. But in the present panel from Central Asia the Earth goddess in conspicuous by her absence. It may be due to two facts. Firstly the Varaha Avatara of Vishnu is also depicted sometimes, though not very often, without the Earth goddess (as for example, the late Pratihara Bronze varaha of the National Museum, pl.IX); and secondly here in the Central Asian panel, the main stress is on the general role of Vishnu as a member of the Trimurti, rather than on Vishnu's special exploits as boar incarnation.

Another important thing to notice in the panel is the presence of Ganesa. He does not seem to have any special role to play here. His presence can, however be explained by his popularity as a god of success. In India also, he appears often with the matrikas and other deities as an auspicious god, without, however, any other special significance in relation to the main subject or theme of the panels.

Now to the left of the panel under consideration there appear some other figures (one of which alone is visible in the plate VIII) representing Manichaean deities described in detail by A. von Le Coq, as mentioned above.

 

 

IX. Varaha, bronze, late Pratihara, tenth-eleventh century A.D.

P. Banerjee

   

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