The
APSARAS,
according to Hindu mythology, are heavenly nymphs who were originally associated
with water and later with the countryside. According to the great epic, the Ramayana,
their origin can be traced to the churning of the ocean.
When the Apasaras emerged from the water, neither the gods nor the ASURAS
wanted to marry them, so they belonged to everyone and were known as the
“Daughters of Joy”
.
The
Apsaras are charming and beautiful dancers, and are said to be fond of games of
chance. However, according to one tradition, they can also cause madness. They
are sometimes said to live in fig trees and banana plants.
BODHISATTVAS
are “enlightenment begins” who are destined to become Buddha. They put off
the moment when they will enter nirvana and escape the cycle of death and
rebirth, in order that they may help others along the long part to
enlightenment. Bodhisattva are thus living symbols of compassion.
According
to Mahayana, or “Great Vehicle” Buddhism, human beings are some times able
to enter paradise by means of a bodhisattva’s merits and spiritual power
rather than through their own, provided that they call on the bodhisattva in
faith.
BODHISATTVAS ARE FUTURE BUDDHA. They have such compassion for humanity that they
take a vow to attain enlightenment, not just for their personal liberation but
to show others the path they have found. In Mahayana Buddhism, this means that,
even though they have reached the threshold of nirvana, they delay their own
freedom and resolve to stay in the world to help outers. For them, their own
achievement of nirvana is not their only goal. They perceive further stages of
enlightenment to be attained on the route to becoming a Buddha. Celestial
bodhisattvas, such as Manjushri and Avalokiteshvara, are very near to becoming Buddha
themselves, and they act as mediators between the Buddha and mortals. They are
not monks, but lay figures who are often portrayed as princes, wearing elaborate
jewelry and a five-leaved crown. The bodhisattva Maitreya is the Buddha of the
future, a benevolent character who will arrive on earth in about 30,000 years,
when the Buddhism of the present age has expired.
Bodhisattvas
are usually shown robed as Princes, wearing five-leaved crowns. AVALOKITESHVARA
and MANJUSHRI are tow of the best known bodhisattvas.
AVALOITESHVASA
is the most popular BODHISATTVA OR
“buddha-to be” of Mahayana or “Great Vehicle” Buddhism. His name is
translated as “Lord of Compassionate Sight” or “Lord Who Looks From On
High”. The Bodhisattva of the present age, Avalokiteshvara is said to have
emanated from the great Buddha AMITABHA.
Although his residence is in Amitabha’s paradise, he remains in this world in
order to attend to the salvation of humans and animals. He is usually
represented as a handsome man, with several heads and arms.
According
to one myth, when Avalokiteshvara was looking down on the suffering in the
world, his head burst open in pain. Amitabha put the pieces back together as
nine new heads. Then, because Avalokiteshvara wanted to help all creatures, he
grew 1000 arms, and in the palm of each hand was an eye: “From his eyes were
derived the sun and the moon, from his forehead, Mahesvara, from his shoulders, BRAHMA
and other gods, from his heart, Narayana, form his things, SARASVATI,
from his mouth, the winds, from his feet, the earth, from his belly, VARUNA.”
Avalokiteshvara
helps everyone who asks for his assistance. He visits hell to take cooling
drinks to those suffering the heat the damned, and he preaches the Buddhist law
to beings incarnated as insects or worms. He is also said to protect people from
natural disasters and to bless children. Moreover, the bodhisattva is said to
have converted the female ogres of Sri Lanka and to have been given the task of
converting Tibet to Buddhism.
In
Tibet, his name is Pyan-rasgzigs or CHENREZIG.
In China, Avalokiteshvara developed into the goddess Kuan Yin, or Guanyin, and
in Japan into the god, or sometimes goddess, Kwannon.
THE
AVATARS
of VISHNU are his incarnations on
earth in order to help humankind in moments of great crisis. It is generally
accepted that Vishnu has ten avatars, although their number varies, and their
identities are also flexible. Usually, the incarnations are said to consist of
Matsya, KURMA, Varaha, NARASIMHA,
Vamana, Parashurama, RAMA, KRISHNA, GAUTAMA BUDDHA and Kalkin.
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BRAHMA,
according to Hindu mythology, was the creator and director of the universe. He
was the father of gods and humans alike, and in classical Indian thought, he
forms a trinity with VISHNU and SHIVA.
The three gods are collectively known as the Trimurti. Vishnu and Shiva
represent opposing forces and Brahma, the all-inclusive deity, represents their
balancing force.
Brahma
was also the personalized form of Brahman. Originally, this term referred to the
sacred power inherent within a sacrifice, but it came to refer to the power,
known as the “Absolute”, which lay behind all creation.
While the god Brahma meditated, he produced all the material elements of the
universe and the concepts that enabled human beings to understand them. In each
day of Brahma’s existence, the universe is created, and in each night, it is
reabsorbed. Within each of these cycles, there is four successive ages, or YUGAS,
beginning with the Krita Yuga, or golden age, and ending with the Kali Yuga, the
present age of conflict and despair.
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GANESHA
is
the Hindu god of wisdom and literature, and the son of PARVATI, the wife of the
great god SHIVA. He is portrayed with the head of an elephant and a potbelly,
a symbol both of his greed and his ability to dispense success. He has four arms
but only one tusk. An extremely popular deity, he is invoked at the outset of
new undertakings. He is regarded as the patron of business, and business people
hold ceremonies in his honor. He was traditionally the first scribe of the great
Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. He was
said to have been so keen to write it down that he tore off one of his tusks to
use as a pen.
One
myth tells how, when Shiva was away from home, Parvati grew bored and lonely.
She decided to make herself a baby and created Ganesha, either from the rubbings
of her own body, from dew and dust, or from clay. She later ordered the child to
stand guard outside the entrance to her rooms. When Shiva returned home and
tried to see his wife, Ganesha, not realizing who he was, barred his entrance,
where upon Shiva knocked his head off Parvati was distraught and demanded that
her son be brought back to life. The first head Shiva could find was that of an
elephant. Parvati was delighted. Ganesha subsequently looked after the ganas,
Shiva’ attendants.
According to another myth, Parvati invited the god Sani, the planet Saturn, to
visit her son. However, she had forgotten how dangerous the god could be and
when he looked at Ganesha, the child’s head burst into flames. BRAHMA told
Parvati to repair her child with whatever she could find, which turned out to be
the head of the elephant, AIRAVATA.
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GARUDA,
according to Hindu mythology, was the prince of birds and the son of the sage
KASYAPA. According to one account of Garuda’s birth, Kasyapa had two beautiful
wives, Kadru and Vinata. The sage promised to provide both wives withheirs.
Kadru chose to give birth to 1,000 splendid serpents, whereas Vinata asked for
only two sons. However, Vinata requested that her sons’ strength and prowess
should surpass that of Kadru’s offspring.
Eventually,
Kadru laid 1,000 eggs and Vinata laid tow. After 500 years, 1,000 serpents
emerged from Kadru’s eggs. However, Vinata’s tow sons failed to appear.
Impatient, Vinata broke open one of her eggs to find and embryo with only the
upper half-developed. The embryo became Aruna, the red glow of dawn. Aruna
cursed his mother and ascended into the sky, where he remains to this day.
Another 500 years passed and Vinata’s remaining egg finally broke open to
reveal Garuda.
Another tale tells how, in order to free herself from a curse, Vinata was forced
to acquire AMRITA, the elixir of immortality and to give it to her nephews, the
1,000 serpents. Vinata asked Garuda to seize the drink from the gods and, after
a mighty struggle, he succeeded in doing so. He put the drink down in front of
the serpents, but said that they must purify themselves before drinking it.
While they were busy performing their ablutions, INDRA retrieved the Amrita, as
had been previously arranged with Garuda.
Garuda was a devotee of VISHNU, the preserver of the universe, and he was chose
by the god to be his mount. He appeared whenever summoned by Vishnu’s thought,
and fought with him against demons and demonic serpents. Garuda is depicted with
the head, wings and claws of an eagle. In Buddhism, garudas are divine bird-like
creatures.
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TIRTHANKARAS
/ Jainism
JAINISM
IS AN INDIAN RELIGION and philosophy, which offers an austere path to
enlightenment. Much of its mythology was inherited from Hinduism, including huge
numbers of gods, and ideas on the structure of the universe, but Janis differ
from Hindus in that they do not believe in the idea of creation, considering
that time is cyclic. Jain ascetics attempt to conduct their lives following five
vows: to injure no living thing (because everything has a soul); to speak the
truth; to take only what is given; to be chaste; and to achieve detachment from
places, people and things. Their examples in following this discipline are 24
tirthankaras, or “spiritual teachers”, who have appeared in the present
cycle of time. A tirtha is a ford or
crossing-place, or a sacred place, person or path, which enables believers to
cross over into, liberation from an endless round of rebirth: for Jains, the
tirthankaras were the builders of the ford.
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THE
GUARDIAN KINGS,
according to Buddhist belief, guard the four quarters of the world and protect
the Buddhist law. They are said to live on the mythical Mount MERU,
at the gates of the paradise of INDRA,
the protector of Buddhism. The Guardian Kings are acolytes of the BODHISATTVA
AVALOKITESHVARA.
Originally,
they were regarded as benevolent, but they developed into menacing warriors.
They are usually shown wearing armor and helmets or crowns. The kings are said
to have assisted at the birth of GAUTAMA
BUDDHA and to have held up the hooves of his horse when he left the palace
of his father for the outside world. In Indian art, they are usually shown
riding elephants, whereas in Tantrism they are often shown trampling demons.
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HANUMAN
is the monkey
god of Hindu mythology. He is regarded as the patron of learning and is the son
of VAYU, god of the winds. According
to one myth, Hanuman once tried to snatch the sun from the sky, thinking it was
something to eat. To prevent the catastrophe, the war god INDRA threw his thunderbolt
at the monkey, smashing his jaw.
In the great Hindu epic the Ramayana,
Hanuman is the minister of the monkey king Sugriva and the loyal companion of
RAMA, the famous AVATAR or incarnation of VISHANU,
the preserve of the universe. Hanuman assisted Rama when the hero was locked in
battle with the demon king RAVANA, who
had run off with Rama’s wife, SITA. It was Hanuman who discovered Sita’s whereabouts,
on the island of LANKA, Ramvan’s kingdom.
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HEVAJRA
is a YIDAM, or tutelary god,
worshipped in Mongolia, Cambodia, Thailand and Tibet, He is usually represented
with four legs and eight heads; his body is blue, and his heads are different
colors. He is sometimes shown alone, but often in Yab-Yum, the posture of
embrace, with his SHAKTI or
corresponding female energy.
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INDRA,
one of the chief deities of Indian mythology, is a god of storms and war. He
appears in the Rig-Veda – the
ancient hymns forming part of the Veda, the sacred knowledge of Hinduism – as
the king of the gods. Indra is red or gold in color, and is large, fierce and
warlike. In his right had he carries a thunderbolt, which he uses either to slay
his enemies or to revive those killed in battle. He is said to ride through the
heavens in a chariot, often said to be the sun. In later times, he was
frequently depicted on the elephant, AIRAVATA.
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KALI,
the “Black One”, is the terrifying aspect of the great mother goddess and
SHAKTI of SHIVA. The personification of death and destruction, she is said to
spring from the forehead of DURGA, another aspect of the goddess, when she
becomes angry. Kali is usually depicted with blood-red eyes, four arms and with
her tongue lolling out of her mouth in search of blood. She is naked, but for a
girdle of severed heads or hands, a necklace of skulls sand a tiger skin.
Like Shiva, Kali has a third eye in her forehead. In one hand she holds a
weapon, in another the severed head of a giant, while her remaining two hand, in
contrast, are raised in blessing. Her devotees regard her as loving mother
goddess who can destroy death as well as demons.
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KRISHNA,
According to Hindu mythology, is an AVATAR
of VISHNU, the preserver of the
universe. He is traditionally referred to as the only complete avatar. A divine
hero, krishna is said to have been miraculously born in the town of Mathura in
northern India. The gods wanted to destroy the evil oppressor King Kamsa, and so
Vishnu decided to be born as the eighth son of the king’s sister Devaki.
According to none story, Vishnu plucked out two of his hairs, one black, one
white. The black hair became Krishna and the white hair BALARAMA, Krishna’s older brother. Krishna’s name means the
“Dark One”.
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NAGAS,
according to Hindu belief, are semi-divine but powerful serpents that guard the
treasures of the earth. They are often associated with fertility but can
occasionally prove dangerous. Whereas some nagas are depicted with several
heads, others are represented as human beings. The naga Vasuki was used as a
rope in the myth of the churning of the ocean and was afterwards worn by SHIVA
as a girdle that had the power to dispel demons. When the great god VISHNU
is resting, he sleeps on the naga known as Sesha, or Ananta. Seshas’s hoods
shade the god, but his yawns cause earthquakes.
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THE
MOTHER GODDESS
DEVI,
OR MAHADEVI (“THE GREAT GODDESS”), is a composite figure who includes
various aspects of the female deity in a series of contrasting incarnations. In
the earliest Indian cultures, the mother goddess was Shakti, the source of all
energy in the universe, the creative force who brought fertility to the earth.
Some of her manifestations were associated with natural forces, such as Ushas,
the dawn, and Ganga, the river. Later she was subsumed in the patriarchal Hindu
creation myth as the on sort of Shiva. In this role she continued to appear in a
variety of incarnations. Some were benign, such as Sati and Parvati, both of
whom were loving and caring, but others were terrifying, such as the warrior
goddesses Durga and Kali. Although she lost her autonomy in her new role as
consort, she was still the creative force. While Shiva embodied potency, Shakti
was the energy needed to release his power.
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SHAKTI
means “Force”,
“Power” or “Energy”. In Buddhism, shaktis, who are female, embody the active energy
of the male deities with whom they are often shown in a sexual embrace known as
Yab-Yum. The five main shaktis correspond to the five male DHYANIBUDDHAS
or the “Great Buddha of Wisdom”: Vajradharisvari corresponds to RATNASAMBHAVA,
Pandara
corresponds to AMITABHA and Tara to
AMOGHASIDDHI. When in Yab-Yum, these
shaktis may hold a cup made from a skull.
In Hinduism, Shakti is regarded as the creative force of SHIVA and is worshipped
under many names, including PARVATI,
Uma, DURGA and KALI. Shaktism is an aspect of Tantrism. Shakras worship Shakti and
revere her as the life force and the energy that maintains the universe. As a
means towards experiencing the supreme really. Shaktas use sexual practices, including
those shown in the Kamasutra, the manual of erotic art. However, in some sects,
these practices are meditated upon rather than actually performed.
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DHYANIBUDDHAS,
the Mandalas, Aksobhya
FIVE
GREAT MYSTIC BUDDHAS appear together in the “Mandala of the Five Jinas”, and are
therefore known collectively as Dhyanibuddhas, or “Meditation Buddhas”. They are
said to have arisen from the Adibuddha, or “Primeval Buddha”. Jinas, or spiritual
conquerors, are those who have overcome the perpetual cycle of rebirth and human
suffering. As subjects for meditation, they each represent a different aspect
of the enlightened consciousness. Mandala is the Sanskrit word for a circle: a
mandala is both a symbolic picture of the universe and as aid to meditation, helping
the onlooker to achieve different states of mind. For ritual purposes, the mandala
is traced on the ground using colored powers, which are brushed, away afterwards.
It may also be a picture of a three-dimensional object, such as a sculpture or
even a building. Mandalas can also be visualized during meditation-they do not
have exist physically.
AKSOBHYA, the “Immovable”, was a monk who took an oath that he would never
again feel anger or revulsion. His adherence to his vow eventually resulted in
his attainment of enlightenment. He is the Buddha of the eastern paradise,
Abhirati, where the virtuous are reborn into a land without evil or suffering
and where they can quickly achieve nirvana. He touches the earth with his hand
to symbolize his enlightenment.
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SHIVA
is one of the
principal Hindu deities who, together with VISHNU and BRAHMA, forms
the Trimurti, or triad of great gods. He is believed to have developed from RUDRA,
a minor deity who appears in the Rig-Veda,
the collection of ancient Hindu hymns dating from between 1500 and 900 BC. It
seems that the god grew in stature after absorbing some of the characteristics
of an ancient fertility god sometimes referred to as “proto-Shiva”. Representations
of this god, sitting in the position of a yogi and associated with animals and
plants, have been ascribed to the Indus Valley culture, which dates from before
1500 BC. Shiva
can be kind and protective, but he is also terrifying and is found in such places
as battlefields and cremation grounds. He is offer shown decorated with a string
of skulls. Although he is a god of creation, he is also the god of time and thus
the great destroyer. He is a fertility god, but his also as ascetic who has conquered
his desires and lives on Mount Kailasa in the high Himalayas, deep in the meditation
which deeps the word in existence.
Although
Shiva brings death, he also conquers death as well as disease and is invoked to
cure sickness. He is sometimes depicted as half-male, half-female. The
conflicting qualities and attributes found within the god are intended to
symbolize a deity within whom all opposites are reconciled. Even Shiva’s nave,
which means “Auspicious”, is intended to reconcile and propitiate the dark
aspect of his character, which caused him to be known as the “destroyer”.
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TARA
is one of Tibetan
Buddhism’s most popular deities. Her name means both “She Who Delivers” and “Star”.
She is regarded as an emanation of the BODHISATTVA AVALOKITESHVARA and is said
to have been born from a lotus floating in one of his tears in order to help him
in his work. According to another account, Tara was born in a beam of blue light,
which shone from one of Avalokiteshvara’s eyes. She embodies the feminine aspect
of compassion and incorporates the essence of the goddess. As a result, her name
is sometimes applied to other female deities.
The
earliest representations of the goddess date from the sixth century AD, when
Tara came to be regarded as the SHAKTI, or sometimes the wife, of
Avalokiteshvara. In Tibet, where her cult spread widely in the 11th
century, it was said that the goddess was reincarnated in every virtuous woman.
Since then she has been worshipped widely as a personal deity. There are 21
different forms of Tara, each of which has its own color, posture and
attributes, and they all can appear to be either peaceful or wrathful.
The most common forms are Green Tara and White Tara. In Tibet, the White Tara is
often said to be a form of the Green Tara. She is believed to be a form of
SARASVATI, the wife of BRAHMA. The Green Tara, said to be the original Tara,
holds a blue lotus in each hand to signify her compassion. The consorts of the
seventh-century Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo are said to have been embodiments of
these two Taras. When red, yellow or blue, Tara is said to be in a menacing
mood, whereas when green or white she is said to be gentle and loving. Tibetan
Buddhists believe that their ancestors are Avalokiteshvara in the form of a
monkey and Tara in the form of a rock ogress.
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VISHNU
is one of the most important gods of Hinduism and the most widely worshipped
Together with SHIVA and BRAHMA, he belongs to the triad of great gods known as
the Trimurit. The preserver of the world, Vishnu is majestic and at times
terrifying. One the whole, however he is a benevolent deity and far less
frightening than Shiva. Vishnu’s devotees, the Vaishnavas, regard him as the
supreme god: one of his many epithets is the “Highest God”. Brahman, the
Hindu concept of the “Absolute” or supreme reality, is sometimes depicted as
Vishnu.
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