Book Title: India As Described In Early Texts Of Buddhism and Jainism
Author(s): Bimla Charn Law
Publisher: Bimlacharan Law

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 212
________________ 204 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS that of eulogy (abhinandanahetu).1 The invocation of Siri, the Goddess of Luck, mentioned in the Brahmajāla and other suttas is also typically Vedic.2 The Jātaka description of the four Indian Graces, viz., Asā (Hope), Saddhā (Faith), Siri (Luck) and Hiri (Modesty) as four daughters of Sakka, the king of the gods, is originally Vedio. From the Rgveda to the Jātaka, the trend of the change was from abstract conceptions of the four fundamental female attributes or virtues to their personifications. In the Lalitavistara and the Mahāvastu vorsions of the Atänātiya Sutta, the four varieties of the Goddess of Luok are associated with Virūdhaka, the regent of the southern quarter, and they bear the appellations of Śrīmati or Sriyāmati, Yasamati, Yasahprāptā or Lakshmimati, and Yasodharā. The name of the Goddess as recorded in the Barhut label seems to correspond to Srīmati. The Barhut representation of Sirima has, as shown by Rhys Davids, a_faithful, correspondence in her images as found in the temples of South India. The Siri-Kālakanni Jātaka (No. 383) introduces us to a Siridevi or Lakkhi, who is described as the daughter of Dhataraţtha, regent of the eastern quarter. In this Jātaka, Siri or Luck is compared and contrasted with Kāląkarņi or Misfortune, - the i Digha, í, p. 244f. . 2 Ibrd,, 1, p 11. . 3 Jätaka, v, p 3925

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279