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AN EARLY HISTORY OF ORISSA
they are traditionally associated with the four quarters as their guardians, viz., the Elephant with the East, the Horse with the South, the Bull with the West and the Lion with the North. These four animals on the Sarnath Column are thus intended to show that the Dhamma was proclaimed in all the four quarters.
Hence, taking this elephant as the representation of the Buddha, we find that although no actual image of the Buddha has been found connected with the Asokan monuments or even of his time, yet the evidence of the inscriptions, as noted above, goes to prove that the Buddha was represented atleast in the shape of an elephant figure in Asoka's time.
N. R. Ray, however, doubts if the above interpretations of the four animals could, with equal force, be applied to the Asokan animal capitals, since it cannot be said definitely that they are all exclusively Buddhist symbols. Except the horse, the three other animals figure as symbols associated with early Brahmanic tradition and mythology, though the elephant, especially the white one, was considered particularly sacred in the Buddhist legends as well. Dr. Barua, on the other hand, says that these elephants were obviously meant to serve as pointer meaning a sculpture device to draw the attention to the spot where the set of Edicts was engraved. Nothing but the popular notion of mangala (meaning victory, safety, prosperity, auspiciousness) was associated with them.
1. Mookerji, Asoka, p. 91, fn. 1; Cf. also the Paramattha-Jotikā (II, pp. 437-9). Here the elephant is indicated by western quarters. But in the Chetiya-Jätaka (III, P460) all-white elephant is associated with the eastern city-gate.
2. Maurya & Sunga Art, p. 25. 3. AHI, Vol. I, p. 344.
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