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Devananda's Dream
An Interpretation of ils Symbolism
pairs, known as diggajas stand in the four or eight quarters of the sky 56 Airavata helps Indra in bringing rains by drawing up waters from the under world 57 Puranas and early Buddhist literature refer to it as one of the seven ratnas68 of a chakravartı ruler Sucli a great honour was bestowed on it probably because in legends it was associated with the king of gods not as an ordinary animal but as a celestial ratna which was produced by the devas and asuras from the nulky ocean Its association with royalty enhanced its value in ihe eye of Buddhists, since they believed that Buddha was a chakravarti king 59 Therefore, it was natural for them to regard this ratna as one of his symbols In order to impress the supernatural personality of Buddha various stories were invented in the carly Palı texts One of them is connected with the dream of Maya deyi, the mother of the Buddha, in which she saw a white elephant desending to her womb 60 It was regarded as a sign of the divine nature of her conception
Therefore, from the very beginning elephant became the symbol of fertility and status It took birth from the celestial waters, it brings water for rains from the sea and like the clouds pours it from his trunk It is also associated with Sri, the goddess of plenty and vegetation This association made the elephant a symbol of life and generative force as well as of prosperity or abundance This idea was beautifully expressed in a modified form on the Bharhut Vedika where lotus creepers are emerging from its mouth 62 How56 See, Sabdakal padrum, Vol II, p 709 57 C H Zimmer, Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization, p 102 f, The Art of Indian Asia, p 160 58 Br Puruna, I1 98, II 29 71ff Matsya Purana, 142 63-75, Vayupurana, 57 66-81, Cowell (tr), Dioyavaduna, p 45 59 For its representation in early Buddhist art see Coomaraswamy, AK. La Sculpture de Bharhut, pl XXIV, fig 61, Marshall, J, Manuments of Sanchi. Vol '1. 183 It is also intersting to note that according to Mati posaka Jotaka (Cowell, The Jatakas Vol IX, No 455, P 58) once Buddha took birth as an elephant It is referred as 'gajatame' (Agrawala, VS, Indian Art, pl XX, fig 41) 60 Suttanipata, Sela Sutta, Dighanı kaya, Lakkhana Sutta 61 According to S Br Sri was crcated by Prajapati (XI 4 3 1) out of waters Sometimes she said to have arisen from the lotus and to delight in sound of elephants Probably it refers to the thunder of clouds (Cf Gonda, J, op cit, p 213, in 10) 62 Cunningham, A, Bharhut Stupa, pls XLI-XLVIII Cf also Marshall, op cit. Vol III, p. LXXIV, fig 3b, pl LXXXII, 44a, pl LXXXVI, 68a, Lalitakala, No 14. pl XX11
