Arakan Library - Postures and Gestures of Buddha Images Part I

Arakan: - One Who Preserves and Takes Care of Their Own Nationality.

Publication by Arakan Action Association (AAA.)

The Buddhist Art of Ancient Arakan

By U SAN THA AUNG

Postures and Gestures of Buddha Images

Different images of Buddha represent distinct incidents of the Blessed-One are life. These incidents can be identified from the posture of Buddha’s hands or some attendant figures.

The technical term used to denote the hand poses of the images is mudra. Mudras usually indicate some action in which Buddha was engaged. The action is depicted by means of a particular gesture which is the expression of an idea.

We can recognize the following mudras in the Buddhist Art of Ancient Arakan.

1) The Bhumisparsa mudra

2) The Dhyana mudra

3) The Dharmacakra mudra

4) The Abhaya mudra

5) The Abhaya and Varada Combined mudra

6) The Internal Varada mudra

We recognize four attitudes for these images.

They are: -

(1) and (2) In standing or walking posture. Generally speaking, this posture is used in depicting the taming of the Nalagiri elephant or the descent of the Buddha from the heaven of thirty three gods where he went to preach the true law to his mother since reincarnated as a god, for three months. See Picture. Go

(3) In sitting posture. Generally speaking this posture is used in depicting the calling upon Mother Earth to stand witness or the preaching of the Dharmacakra Sermon or the Buddha in deep meditation. See Picture. Go

(4) In reclining posture. This posture is used in depicting the death or the Mahaparinirvana.

We can further differentiate the sitting postures as follows. The term “sana” is used to denote the sitting posture as well as the seat.

(a) The legs are placed one upon the other with both the soles invisible. This sana is called the pariyanka sana. The position of the legs, right on left, is a sign of antiquity. See Picture. Go

(b) The legs are closely crossed with the feet brought to rest on the thighs and the soles of the feet turned upwards with the right foot forward. This sana is called vajra sana or vajraparyarika sana or padma sana. The padma sana is also used to denote the lotus seat. See Picture. Go

(c) A European style of sitting in which both the legs are made to dangle down from the seat. This sana is called pralambana sana.

The Bhumisparsa Mudra

In this mudra, the left hand rests on the lap with palm upward and the right, palm down resting on the right knee and touching the seat or ground below. See Picture. Go

This mudra illustrates the story of Buddha’s calling the earth as his witness for testifying to his attainment of perfect knowledge.

The representation of the Enlightenment or Sambodhi and the incidents connected with it, form the favorite themes with the Buddhist artists of all schools. According to the well known story of the Blessed – One’s life, he called on the earth – goddess Prithivi or Vasudhari to come and be the witness of his perfect knowledge by touching the earth. This mudra indicates the moment when he ceased to be a Bodhisattva and became Buddha. He did this because Mara, the evil one, while attacking the Blessed – One with his fourfold army, challenged him to do is by saying that there was no body near at hand to witness his attainment of perfect knowledge or ealightment.

In Buddhist iconography, this particular posture of touching the earth has become one of the mudras or special attitudes. It is called the Bhumisparsa mudra or the attitude of touching the earth.

The representation of Enlightenment by the artists can be divided into two or three parts. They are (1) the temptation of Bodhisattva by Mara’s daughters, (2) the attack on the Bodhisattva by Mara’s followers and (3) the call on Vasumdhari, the earth – goddess to stand witness.

Mara had three beautiful daughters. Desire, Pleasure and Passion. The temptation by Mara’s daughters, are depicted in one case as follows. There are three groups with two female figures in each group. In one group one female is dancing and the other has adopted an elegant posture. This represent the daughters of Mara exposing their physical charms to the Bodhisattva in order to disrupt him from attaining enlightenment. In the next group both the females or one of them is addressing the Bodhisattva when their allurements have failed. In the remaining group, both female are kneeling in submission with disheveled hair.

The attack on Bodhisattva by Mara’s followers is represented by pictures of Mara himself in the act of shooting arrows towards the Bodhisattva with followers represented as demons. In the story of Mara’s attack, Mara with his demon army attacked Bodhisattva with whirlwind, tempest, flood and earthquakes.

In one huge stele at Jadispur near Nalanda, the demonic army of Mara ranged in vertical rows on both sides of the Blessed – One. They were attacking him with all sorts of weapons. On the leftside of the Blessed – One’s head was a demon with a wheel on one hand while another one below him was shooting at him with arrows. Below this demon was a dwarf throwing stone. A man behind him seemed to be rushing through the air with a sword in his hand. There were four figures on the other side of the Blessed – One representing the army of Mara. They were also rushing to the attack on the Blessed – One.

The answer of Vasumdhari, the earth goddess, to the call of the Master is represented by a woman usually placed on the front side of the pedestal below the Blessed – One. See Picture. Go She is kneeling mostly towards the left but facing front and is wringing the water from her hair brought in a tress in front of her breast testifying the Blessed – One’s merit. Vasumdhari, in this form, is very common in Arakanese Buddhist art.

We have a tradition, which is observed to this day to close a meritorious ceremony by the donor dropping droplets of water from a cup while the presiding monk offers prayers for the merit done, thereby treating the mother earth as a witness.

The Dhyana Mudra

This mudra is also called Samadhi mudra, or meditative mudra or samahita mudra. See Picture. Go

In this particular pose, the palm of the right hand is placed in that of the left hand and both together are laid in the crossed legs of the seated image. This is the attitude of ardent meditation. Occasionally, an alms bowl or mendicant bowl or a vase round, oval or pointed, may rest on the hands. See Picture. Go

This mudra, unlike the Bhumisparsa mudra, belongs to many moments showing Buddha’s life before and after Enlightenment. Some of the moments are listed below.

1) When after seeing the last of the four signs namely a wandering religious monk, he sat on his pleasance, thinking.

2) When after hearing the news that his wife Yasodhara had given birth to a son one morning, he sat up in bed that same night and saw his women sleeping like corpses.

3) When he did his first meditation after renunciation.

4) When after six years of fast and penances, he rejected extreme asceticism and accepted Sujata’s rice – alms. Here the alms bowl is present.

5) When he sat with alms bowl in lap under the hood of Muchalinda Naga. It has been said that after enlightenment, there was a great storm in Both Gaya and rain fell in torrents for several days. At that time a Naga king, named Muchalinda, protected the Buddha by coiling his body around that of the Blessed – One and spreading his hood as an umbrella over the Blessed – One’s head.

6) When he sat in the House of Gems (Ratana Ghara) meditating the abhidhamma in the fourth week after his Enlightenment.

7) On his first visit to Rajagriha, before he gained enlightenment, when he was visited by king Bimbisara who offered him his throne.

8) On his first visit to Rajagriha, after enlightenment, when king Bimbisara presented the Bamboo Grove (Veluvana).

9) When he reformed a very proud and despotic king Jambupati. Here Buddha was regally attired in royal regalia and could be seen as a Cakravartin or King of the world. He was in dhyana mudra with a mendicant bowl in his hands.

In addition to the above moments there may be many more moments showing Buddha’s life with Buddha in this mudra.

The Dharmacakra Mudra

This pose symbolize the first preaching of the law by the Buddha at Sarnath. Buddha preached his first sermon at the outskirts of Benars city in a park then known as the Deer Park (Mrigadava). This place is now called Sarnath.

Indian images of the Buddha in Dharmacakra Mudra from the Gupta period onwards have the left hand near the heart with the tips of the middle finger and the thumb joined together. The palm of the hand turned towards the heart. In the case of the right hand the tips or the thumb and the forefinger are made to touch each other, so as to form a circle, the other fingers are kept open. The palm of the hand is facing the front. See Picture. Go

The Gandhara image of the Buddha in Dharmacakra Mudra, however, has a different positioning of the hands. The palm of the left hand in a cup form is turned upwards and that of the right hand turned towards the heart. See Picture. Go

Figuratively speaking, the posture of the hands in both cases, is setting thence – forward the wheel of the law in motion. The ideology here is characteristically expressive. Buddha was in the act of explaining and teachings the true knowledge he obtained through his own efforts.

What is this true knowledge? An extract from Dhammacakkappavattanakatha. Mahavagga, Part I, pp 15-16, about this true knowledge will not be out of place here.

“Now this, O monks, is the noble truth of pain: birth is painful, old age is painful, sickness is painful, and death is painful. Contact with unpleasant things is painful, separation from pleasant things is painful and not getting what one wishes is also painful. In short the five khans has of grasping are painful.

Now this, O monks, is the noble truth of the cause of pain: that craving, which leads to rebirth, combined with pleasure and lust finding pleasure here and there, namely the craving for passion, the craving for existence, the craving for non-existence.

Now this, O monks, is the noble truth of the cessation of pain: the cessation without a remainder of that craving, abandonment, fore-saking, release, non-attachment.

Now this, O monks, is the noble truth of the way that leads to the cessation of pain: this is the noble Eight-fold Path, namely, right views, right intention, right speech, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.”

This Dharmacakra mudra hand pose is not only used to represent the first sermon at Mrigadava (Sarnath) but also the miracle of Sracasti. In addition to these, this hand pose represents the preaching of Dharmacakra sermon as in the case of our Arakanese Sculpture which will be discussed below.

The first sermon at Mrigadava

After attaining Enlightenment the Buddha was in doubt whether he should spread his wisdom to the world. The god Brahma descended from heaven and persuaded him to do so. He then left the place and journeyed to the Deer Park (Sarnath). There he met his five former companions. These five companions were his former disciples who had left him when he gave up the austerities. To these five former disciples he preached his first sermon thus setting in motion the wheel of the law. They were very much impressed with his teaching and once more became his disciples.

Arakan Library was founded by a group of Arakan Action Association (AAA) in exile in Thailand from Burma in 2007 doing to voice for the knowledge, the people democratic and human rights.

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