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ICONOGRAPHY OF THE HINDUS, BUDDHISTS AND JAINS
ming Vedic sacrifices, etc. Foreign barbarians will establish their supremacy. Then Vishņu will appear as Kalki, riding a white horse, with drawn sword, blazing like a comet. He will destroy the barbarians, re-establish the four orders and the castes. He will usher in a new era of purity, rightness and peace and then return to heaven.
Sculptural Representation
loosely to the side. She is one wife of Kishna.
Satyabhāmā, the other wife of Krishna, appears on his left. She wears a decorative hair-dress. She holds a flower in her right hand, while her left hangs loosely below (Pl. 30).
The wives of Krishna may wear the karanda crown. IX. VISHNU'S INCARNATION AS BUDDHA
(THE BUDDHA AVATARA) The incarnation of Vishņu as Gautam Buddha does not flatter the Buddhists. This incarnation is symbolic of the deep hatred that the Hindus felt for the Buddhists and their profound contempt for Buddhist teachings. The Bhagavata Purana says that 'as Buddha, Vishnu deludes the heretics (i.e., the Buddhists). In short, the incarnate Deity preaches damnable error. The Purāņa refers to Buddha as the son of Ignorance (Ajñāna), born to deceive the enemies of the gods. As Buddha, Vishnu advised the Asuras to abandon the Vedas, whereupon they lost all their power, and enabled the Suras (Gods) to establish their supremacy. The Buddhists are referred to as naked people, since they do not wear the covering of the Vedas.
General
Face of a horse and body of a man. Or like an ordinary Vishnu image. Hands
He holds a conch, wheel, sword and a shield (khetaka). When he rides a horse, he carries a bow and an arrow. Kalki may also carry a sword, bow, wheel and conch.
OTHER COMMON ICONOGRAPHICAL REPRESENTATIONS
OF VISHNU
Buddha in Representations
General
Short curly hair. Feet and palms should have marks of the lotus. He should be calm and graceful in appearance.
He should be seated on a lotus seat. The lobes of his ears must be pendant. He should wear a yellow rohe. Hands
In boon-giving and protection attitudes.
ADIMURTI-Seated in sukhāsana on the coils
of Serpent Sesha, its head forming a canopy over the god. With four hands holding the
usual emblems. DATTATREYA-Representation of Vishnu as the
Trinity. Represented either as three separate gods standing or sitting side by side, holding their emblems and riding their vehicles; or shown as Vishnu in sitting pose but wearing Siva's crown and ornaments; or shown with three heads, one of each of the three gods of the Hindu Trinity and accompanied by four
dogs-the four Vedas. DHANVANTARIN-Deity of Hindu medicine. Shown
as a handsome figure holding a pot of ambrosia and seated in front of Vishnu's special
emblems. HAYAGRIVA-Vishnu with the head of a horse
on a human body, considered the god of learning. This manifestation must be distinguished from that of Kalki in which the latter has only two
hands. Hayagriva has four hands. LAKSHMI - NARAYANA-A composite representa
tion of Vishnu sitting with the right leg hanging down and the left folded up on which is supported his consort Lakshmi. She holds a lotus in the left hand and embraces Vishnu with
X. THE KALKI INCARNATION (THE KALKI AVATARA)
Vishnu is yet to accomplish this incarnation. Vishnu will descend upon the earth at the end of the present age, which is the Kali-yuga or the Age of Darkness. As the Jews await the coming of a Messiah, the Hindus await the arrival of Kalki, who will destroy all evil, dispel darkness, and once again usher in the Golden Age (the Krita- yuga).
The Agni-Purāna tells us that thoughtless men will begin to do wrong things like inter-caste marriages, not following the Vedas, not perfor.
