The Buddhist Art of Ancient Arakan ( VI )

By U SAN THA AUNG

A Tablet of Auspicious Symbols and a Lustration Pot

The square tablet of porous white sandstone which can be seen in See Picture ( Go ), was found together with a bronze pot, a stone dinner plate, and two cart-loads of artifacts, in 1965 by workers of the Construction Corporation, while digging earth to build the Mrauk-Oo Vesali road. The site of the find lies on the right of the road as one proceeds from Mrauk-Oo to Vesali, and about one furlong before one reaches the Thinkyattaw Junction Pagoda. The tablet and the pot are now deposited in the Mrauk-Oo archeological shed.

The face of the tablet measure 6.5 inches by 6.5 inches. This square face is divided by three bands in the form of concentric circles, into a radiant design. The innermost band surrounds a circular shaped depression about two inches in diameter. This innermost band and the next which is about 0.7 inch from it, enclose what one might consider as 43 lotus petals, or perhaps the spokes of a wheel. The outermost band is 1.03 inches from the middle band, and these two concentric circles enclose the twelve auspicious symbols.

The twelve auspicious symbols, taken anti-clockwise, beginning with the srivatsa symbol, are: - (1) a srivatsa diagram (2) a deer, (3) a peacock king (Mauryaraja), (4) a pair of fly-whisks (Camara), (5) a brahmani duck (Hamsaraja), (6) a right-voluted conch (Sankha), (7) a dhvaja-stambha, (8) a bull king (Usabharaja), (9) a goad (Ankusa), (10) a white umbrella (Chattra), (11) a full vase with a plant (Purna kalasa) and (12) a pair of fish (Suvannamacchayugalam).

The four corners of the tablet which lie outside the third band, are decorated with relief's that look like lotus buds and leaves. All these are finally surrounded by a square, beaded border.

The bronze pot, which was found together with this tablet, has a rounded base, three bands around its neck, and a detachable lid. Its rounded base fits exactly into the depression at the centre of the tablet.

But what actually is the tablet? As it has twelve symbols, is it a tablet representing the twelve signs of the Zodiac? Or is it a tablet of worship like the Visnupattas of the Hindus and the Ayagapata of the Jains? Or is it something else?

The twelve signs of the Zodiac are: Aries, Taurus, Gemini Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius and Pisces. In Spiritual Cosmology, Aquarius, the eleventh sign of the Zodiac, is symbolized by the Water-carrier, carrying a pitcher full of water, and Pisces, the twelfth sign, by a pair of fish, depicted with tablet, the eleventh and the twelfth figures are a full vase and a pair of fish respectively. The fact that these figures correspond in this of the divinity of the signs of the Zodiac.

Hence it may be deduced that the Srivatsa diagram occupies the first sign, viz. Aries of the Zodiac. It is also the first cardinal point, i.e. the East. The first, fourth, seventh and tenth signs, or the four cardinal points (the East, North, West and South) are stamba, and the white Umbrella respectively. Actually these four figures represent the King's regalia. They derive from the concept of the King as cakravatin or “world ruler”. Hence it is difficult to interpret this tablet as representing the twelve signs of the Zodiac.



Let us now compare this tablet with the Visnupattas of the Hindus and the Ayagapata of the Jains.

N.K. Bhattasali, in his book “Iconography of Buddhist and Brahmanical Sculptures in the Dacca Museum, 1929, p.p.89.93” has described the Visnupattas in detail. According to him these are square of stone or metal, with the image of Visnu engraved on one side and his ten incarnations depicted on the other. They are a special class of votive relief, and Hindus usually hang them on the mat-wall of their dwellings as a sacred object to receive occasionally homely worship.

Dr. G. Buler, in his article “Spcimens of Jaina Sculptures from Mathura, P 314, Epigraphia Indica Vol. II”, wrote about the Ayagapata of the Jains as follows: - Ayagapata is an ornamental slab, and the term may be appropriately rendered by “tablet of homage or worship” since such slabs were put up in temples, as the numerous inscriptions on them say “for the worship of the Arhats”.

In the light of the above descriptions, can the present tablet be a Buddhist “Ayuagapa”? Here we do not have any image of the Buddha. Instead there is a vacant spot in the centre of the tablet in the shape of the circular depression. Perhaps the explanation of the absence of the Buddha image can be found in Dr. Foucher’s book “The beginning of Buddhist Art”. In this book he wrote about the ancient stone-carvers of India carrying out the strange undertaking of representing the life of the Buddha without Buddha. After citing a number of examples he wrote that those selected examples sufficed to demonstrate that the ancient Indian sculptors abstained absolutely from representing either Bodhisattva or Buddha in the course of this earthly life. Such is the abnormal, but indisputable fact of which every history of Buddhist art will have, at the outset, to render account.

After Buddha’s parinirvana (death), the Law alone was of importance to the Buddhist order. In milindapanha, we find ther venerable Nagawsena teaching King Menander that the Blessed One is no longer visible except in the form of dharmakaya.

The four principal episodes in the life of the Buddha are, his birth, his enlightenment, the preaching of his first sermon as the Buddha, and or the bull for the nativity, the tree for the enlightenment, the wheel for the sermon and the stupa for the parininrvana.

Assuming that the vacant spot in the centre of out tablet is a representation of the Buddha without Buddha, we can go on and surmise that the two concetric circles surrounding this spot and containing 43 lotus petals or spokes, represents the Wheel of Law, a symbolic representation of Buddha’s first sermon on the outskirts of the city of Benares, in a park then known as Mrigadara. This first sermon has come to be known to Buddhists as the turning of the Wheel of the Law or Dharmacakra pravarttana. If our assumption is correct, the twelve figures above the wheel should represent the sacred symbols connected with Buddha’s life. A study of the representation of the Buddha’s footprint will reveal that many of the symbols can be found among the 108 traditional makes of the footprint.

U Mya’s “A note on the Buddha’s Footprints in Burma”, published in the Archaeological Survey of India Annual Report, (1930-34) gives some very interesting information regarding these auspicious marks. U Mya made a study of the Buddha’s foot-prints in Burma and examined them from the historical and symbolistic points of view. He traced the evolution of the Buddha’s foot-prints bearing the 108 marks in Burma from about the 11th century A.D to the present day. In his article, he also gave a list of these marks as are to be found in the Jinalankara-tica and the Anagatavamsa Atthakatha. He also remarked that the growth in the number of marks in the Buddha’s foot-prints has been gradual. The Lakkhana-sutta mentions only one mark on each sole. It is a wheel with a thousand spokes. The Buddhavamsa adds to it, a streamer, a vajra, a flag, a vaddhamana and a goad. The atthakatha of the Mahapandana sutta mentions more marks is gradual till the 108 marks are mentioned in the Jinalankaratika and the anagatavamsa atthakatha in about the 5th or 6th century A.D.

Ten of the twelve figures on our tablet can be found in the list of 108 auspicious marks.

Our surmise that the centre vacant spot represents Buddha without Buddha, now appears to be a distinct probability. But some questions still remain unanswered. If our surmise is true, then our tablet must be a very old one, that is, it should have been made within two or three centuries after Buddha’s parinirvana. (Since the tablet contains no inscription, it is impossible to date it palaeographically). If this tablet is as old as it should be, the number of figures represented should be less than twelve. Then there is also the question of the bronze pot that exactly fits the central depression or vacant spot. If the tablet is made at the same time as the bronze pot, then could also be carved on the tablet. So it appears that, after all, our tablet is not a votive tablet at all.

Of course, the twelve auspicious symbols can be identified with the symbols used in the Buddha’s foot-prints. However, it must be remembered that the same symbols are also used to identify the Cakravatin. We must consider whether there is a special reason why these twelve particular symbols have been chosen, and whether there is a reason for arranging them in that particular order.

My conclusion is that these twelve symbols can best be interpreted as symbols connected with the cakravatin concept. I shall now attempt to explain why these specific figures have been chosen as auspicious marks, why they have been arranged in that order, and what they signify.

A digression on the individual significance of each is necessary to appreciate their function. Some of the symbols on the tablet have been found on the early coins of Arakan. The Arakanese kings had impressed on their coins the sun and moon symbols, and these were associated with the srivatsa and water symbols in such a manner as to suggest the king’s link with the water which represents the fertility of the country, srivasta, an auspicious home, sun (power) and the moon (peacefulness of the country).


The Peacock and the Deer

These two symbols appear side by side on the tablet, seeming to indicate that they should be interpreted together. They represent the sun and moon. In Buddhist literature the sun and moon first appear as marks on the feet of Buddha as cakravartin, in the Mahapadana sutta.

The peacock is a royal bird in India and has been considered to be the emblem of the Maurya dynasty. Arakanese historians have given the Mauryas a solar origin, from which they trace their own royal lineage.

Mrganka, “deer-marked”, is one of the names for the moon in Sanskrit literature. Hence the peacock and the deer symbols may be interpreted as representing the sun and the moon.
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