Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-16T12:16:28.424Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

XIV. The Fravashi of Gautama

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

Elizabeth Colton Spooner
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

On the reliefs of the Gandhāra School, in all scenes where Gautama is shown, and thus in constant association with him, there appears a figure which has been the subject of much discussion. He is called Vajrapāṇi by reason of the thunderbolt which he either grasps by its middle, or supports on the palm of his hand. This thunderbolt is the exact copy of the weapon which Indra, or Sakka, holds; but in these sculptures it is not so much a weapon, to my mind, as it is a symbol of divine authority, which is a matter of importance for the interpretation of the figure.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 48 , Issue 3 , July 1916 , pp. 497 - 504
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1916

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

page 497 note 1 Grünwedel, & Burgess, , Buddhist Art in India, pp. 89–90.Google Scholar

page 497 note 2 Op. cit., p. 88.

page 498 note 1 Foucher, , L'Art Gréco-Bouddhique, p. 358.Google Scholar

page 498 note 2 Smith, Vincent, History of Fine, Art in India and Ceylon, p. 108.Google Scholar

page 498 note 3 Foucher, , loc. cit.Google Scholar

page 503 note 1 Cf. A Glimpse into the Work of the B.B.R.A. Society during the last 100 Years, p. 115.Google Scholar

page 504 note 1 Grünwedel, & Burgess, , Buddhist Art in India, p. 195.Google Scholar