Śiva as Vāmana
Śaivism in the Vākāṭaka Age
This unusual representation of Śiva from the 4th-5th century CE, excavated at Mansar, Maharashtra, is derived from the epithets of hrasvāya and vāmanāya found in the Śatārudriya Kṛṣṇayajurveda Taittirīya Samhita. It is a very important and impressive early sculpture of the four armed Śiva as vāmana (a plump dwarf), shown with bulging belly, heavy limbs, large nose, lips and a short statured body characteristic of sculptures of the Vākāṭaka age. He is seated on a cushion against a large round decorated pillow. He is in a jovial mood, with attributes like chandrakalā, the crescent moon, kapāla, skull, aṣṭapushpikā, the eight favoured flowers, akṣa-māla or rosary in hand, the tāṭaṅka ear-jewel on the left ear proclaiming his eternal ardhanārīśvara hermaphrodite form and nāganūpura, serpent anklet. The pearl necklace has an elaborate pendant suspended from a string of circular plaques; besides the ornaments, he is adorned with a snake, and his hair hangs in curls on right side.
The Vākāṭakas were powerful rulers and one of the most glorious dynasties that flourished in South India from the 3rd to the 6th c. CE. The empire at its peak extended from Mālwā and Gujarāt in the north to the Tuṅgabhadrā in the south and from the Arabian Sea in the west to the Bay of Bengal in the east. They were great patrons of literature. The liberal patronage they conferred on Sanskrit and Prakrit poets soon gave rise to some of the greatest works of literature and brought innovations such as the Vaidarbhī and Vacchomī* rītis into prominence, with poetic greats like Kālidāsa immortalising them.
The founder of the dynasty was Vindhyśakti (I), who was succeeded by his son Pravarasena, ‘Pravīra’ according to a purāṇic account which also mentions four sons of the mighty (vīryavat) Pravīra; two of them we know from later epigraphic evidence as Sarvasena I and Gautamiputra, the founders of the Vatsagulma and the Nandivardhana branches of the Vākāṭaka respectively. Pravarasena, said to belong to the brahmin Viṣṇuvṛddha gotra, ruled as a sovereign monarch (samrāj), during which rule he performed four Aśvamedha, a Vājapeya and several other prestigious Vedic sacrifices, a status never attained again by any Vākāṭaka king.
Śaivism in the Vākāṭaka Age
Members of the dominant, eastern branch of the Vākāṭaka dynasty were predominantly Maheśvara worshippers, with the noteworthy exception of Rudrasena Il and his remarkable Gupta wife Prabhāvati Guptā, both of whom followed the Bhāgavata faith of her family. Rudrasena I, for example, is standardly referred to in the Vākāṭaka pedigrees as “foremost among the devotees of Lord Mahābhairava” (atyantasvāmimahābhairavabhakta). This is in itself an important piece of evidence for the history of early Śaivism, because it is among the first attestations for the terrifying form of Śiva as Mahābhairava. Subsequently the Vākāṭaka rulers used more general royal titles, such as atyantamaheśvara or paramamaheśvara to exemplify their faith. The name Śiva itself occurs in connection with the ancestral claim of Rudrasena that he descended from the Bhāraśivas, a “House that was installed by Siva, who was pleased that its members wore His emblem, the liṅgā, placed as a load on their shoulders”.
In inscriptions of Pravarasena II, the son of Rudrasena and Prabhāvati Gupta, we encounter the claim that he “established the kṛta yuga (on earth) by the grace (prasāda) of Śambhu” and that he “carried as his weapon the lance, by the grace (prasāda) of Śambhu”.
The Mansar Śiva
The site where the image was found amongst the rubble in 1972, a hillock called Hiḍimbā Tekḍī, 5 km northwest of the Vākāṭaka headquarters Nandivardhana (identified with the village Nagardhan, 6 km to the south of Ramagiri), and also the sheer quality of the sculpture and its make in red sandstone point to royal patronage. Stylistically the image is a trait-d’union between the stocky (vāmana, hrasva) Śaiva images of Mandhal and some of the yakṣas/bodhisattvas of Ajanta. Considerations of style lead to a dating of the image in the second quarter of the fifth century and thus to a connection with the Vākāṭaka king Pravarasena II. From textual, i.e. epigraphical, evidence we know that Pravarasena, who confessed to be a Maheśvara, had a large temple complex built, which he used as an official state sanctuary, the Pravareśvaradeva kulasthāna.
To express his devotion to his Lord, Pravarasena built the Pravareśvara temple at the new capital Pravarapura, which has yielded some of the most intriguing and beautiful Śaiva sculptures in existence, including the justly famous ‘Mansar Śiva’. Given the references to Śambhu in Pravarasena’s inscriptions it is tempting to see in this unique image an expression of the concept of Śambhu ‘the Benevolent’. The name of the temple (devakulasthāna), Pravareśvara, is among the first examples of royal sanctuaries dedicated to a chosen deity (iṣṭadevatà) incorporating the ruler’s name. These temples became a characteristic feature of most early medieval kingdoms in which Śaivism was the norm.
It can be inferred that the Mansar idol was housed in the Pravareśvara Temple and evidence of the vāmana Śiva and its connection with the political context of its time would make it appear plausible that Pravarasena II built his new palace in the vicinity of this state sanctuary, i.e. a little to the west of Ramagiri and Nandivardhana. The Mansar Śiva is thus an important piece of evidence in the reconstruction of the political and religious crossection of the time, which could explain why this figure, in the words of Joanna Williams, has no ‘exact parallel in iconography.’ The Mansar Śiva shows the advancement made not only in artistic expression, but also in the views of the Maheśvaras. It represents a Śiva who appears to be domesticated, offering a benign smile and love to his devotees, whereas wild traits, the ithyphallic mark, third eye and weapons are absent — probably the subtle influence of the Bhāgavata sāmpradāya of the king’s predecessors and neighbors.
The image combines in an asymmetric but harmonious way two principal, though opposing aspects of the god of the Maheśvara sect — life and death, represented on the one hand by the life-renouncing Paśupata yogin who conquers death in the cremation ground, symbolized by the skull on his head, and on the other hand by the life-affirming ‘Ruler of the World’, who graciously bestows blessing upon his subjects, a precious gift presented in his right hand that reaches out towards his devotees. Because ‘the All-highest’ (Pravareśvara) ‘is the greatest among the gods and because he has the great world as his domain and because he protects the great universe’, he is traditionally known as the Great God, Mahādeva, an epithet fitting of this Śiva image, which may be viewed as an epitome of the Maheśvara faith of the Vākāṭakas.
*Vaidarbhī (वैदर्भी) refers to a type of rīti (‘style’ or ‘essence’ of Sanskrit poetry); Vacchomī (वच्छोमी) is another rīti, synonymous with Vātsagulmī — which evolved during the reign of Sarvasena of the Vākāṭakas (mid-3rd century CE)
References and further reading:
- Satarudriya: Vibhuti of Siva’s Iconography’ by C. Sivaramamurti
- The Vākāṭakas: An Essay in Hindu Iconology by Hans T. Bakker
- Śaivism in the Gupta-Vākāṭaka Age, Peter Bisschop
- Inscriptions of the Vakatakas by Mirashi, V.V., 1963 published by the Archeological Survey of India
- The Vākāṭakas and their place in the history of India by S. K. Aiyangar
- Vakataka Art and the Gupta Mainstream, by Joanna Williams (published in Essays on Gupta Culture edited by Bardwell L. Smith)
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