Jain Journal 1980 04

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 35

The Woman and Tree Motif Salabhanjika-Dalamalika in Prakrit and Sanskrit Texts with Special Reference to Silpasastras including Notes on Dohada and related Jaina Texts
GUSTAV ROTH
On the faces of temples in Bhuvanesvara, Konaraka and elsewhere a motif is depicted very frequently, which appeared to me as a garland in its whole composition: a woman under a tree, raising her aim and bending down its branch. The movement of the figure with the pronounced curve of the right hip,1 the small waist, the movement continued by the raised arm, which flows into the branch of a tree, like a creeper, produces in line with the tree, the appearance of a garland as a whole. The question may be asked about the designation given to these art-motifs by the craftsmen of ancient times.
The earliest inscribed pieces of this motif appear in Bharhut, belonging to the Sunga period, its approximate date being first century B.C. The originals can be studied in the Indian Museum at Calcutta. There are three 'woman and tree motifs' attached to the pillars of the stonerailings, one inscribed as Culakoka Devata, standing on an elephant the second inscribed as Canda Yaksi, standing on a fish-tailed sheep, the third, whose inscription only mentions the name of the donor, stands on a horse. They are thus denoted as belonging to the class of minor deities. But no other specific term appears in these inscriptions. The same negative result is obtained regarding the 'woman and tree motif' in Sanci and Mathura.
J. Ph. Vogel has already dealt with this subject in his interesting article: "The Woman and Tree or Salabbanjika in Indian Literature and Art. In his article this motif is denoted as Salabhanjika. His interpretation is mainly based on the 53rd story of the Avadanaśataka,1 in which a flower festival, called Salabhanjika, celebrated at Sravasti in the Jetavana garden donated to Buddha by Anathapindaka, is mentioned. A girl, beholding Lord Buddha, bestrewed him with Sala-blossoms. Later she