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HINDU ICONOGRAPHY
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them. He, therefore, offered worship to Siva and asked for Siva's Wheel. Vishnu daily offered one thousand lotus flowers to Siva. One day he found that he was short of one flower. He promptly plucked one of his eyes which were comparable to the lotus (Kamala-nayana) and offered it to Śiva. Greatly pleased, Siva presented to Vishņu his own Wheel.
front hands which are held in the añjali mudra (folded hands before the chest). In the other two hands he carries a battle-axe and black deer. He is accompanied by his consort Suyasu.
Nandikeśvara is often also represented as a bull-faced human being.
3. Nandisanugraha-mūrti
This is the story of how Nandikesvara or Adhikaranandi attained grace at the hands of Siva.
According to one account, the sage Sălankāyana, who for a long time was without a son, practised severe austerities to get one. Vishnu, pleased with his devotion, blessed him with a son of great virtue, who sprang up from the right side of Vishnu and resembled Siva. He was given the name Nandikeśvara.
In another account, a pishi (sage) named Nandi is said to have performed great penance on the Mandāra mountain. Siva was mightily pleased and appeared before Nandi. The latter requested Siva to make him the head of his gaņas. Siva granted him the boon asked for.
Another story tells us about a blind sage named Silada who began to practise severe austerities with a view to getting a son not born of mortal parents. On god Indra's advice, he began to offer worship to Siva. The latter was so pleased with his devotion that he himself offered to be born as his son. And so as Silada was performing a sacrifice, a young lad appeared in the room, who looked the duplicate of Siva, carrying in his hands the trident, chisel, mace and the thunder- bolt. Siva gave the lad the name Nandi.
Nandi began to live in the ashrama (hermitage) of his father and became well-versed in the Vedas. He now looked like any other boy. Learning that he was short-lived, the boy Nandi began to offer worship to Siva very fervently. Greatly pleased, Siva appeared before him and embracing him threw his own garland round his neck. The boy now began to look an exact duplicate of Siva, with three eyes, ten arms, etc. Siva now exempted Nandi from old age and death and made him head of his ganas. Nandi was then married to Suyasu, the daughter of the Maruts.
In many Saiva temples of South India, Nandi appears as an exact duplicate of Siva. He can be recognized as Nandi by the position of his two
4. Vighnesvaranugraha-mūrti
Vighnesvara is the name of Ganapati when he had a human head on bis shoulders. The SivaPurāna tells us that he was created by Parvati during the absence of her consort Siva to guard her privacy. When Siva returned, he found his path to the apartments of Parvati blocked by a new gate-keeper, who would not allow him entry. Incensed, Siva sent his ganas (attendants) to destroy the troublesome gate-keeper. But Siva's hosts returned discomfited. Then Vishnu tried, and after him Kärttikeya, but to no purpose. Finally, Vishnu through his māyā (Illusion) created confusion, and then Siva cut off the head of the gate-keeper.
When Pārvati learnt of this, she was so furious that she created numerous powerful goddesses to fight the gods. Närada finally interceded on behalf of the gods, and promised to bring Vighnesvara back to life. Siva asked the gods to proceed to the north and bring to him the head of the first living being they met. They saw an elephant and promptly cut off his head. Siva fixed this on to the shoulders of Vighnesvara, who now became Gajānana (with the face of an elephant). Siva made him the chief commander of his ganas and called him Ganapati (the lord of the ganas). He also promised his son a place of importance among the gods. Henceforth, Ganapati was to be the first to be worshipped on all occasions, otherwise, the object and prayers of the Yajamāna or sacrificer would not bear fruit.
5. Kirātārjuna-murti (Pls. 31-32)
Arjuna, the third of the Pandava princes, desired to acquire from Siva his powerful päsupatāstra and therefore proceeded to the Himalayas to offer him worship. Pleased with his austerities Siva approached Arjuna as a hunter (kirāta). At this moment an asura assumed the form of a boar to attack Arjuna. As the latter aimed his arrow against the boar, the hunter asked him to refrain from shooting it, since he had seen the boar first. The two could not agree and both shot the boar and killed it. Highly incensed, Arjuna started a
