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Deoananda's Dream
An Interpretation of its Symbolism
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'the showers of bounties' 72 With divine association it became mangalika object in folk religion It has been listed in Ramayana73 as one among the auspicious objects which were collected for Rama's coronation ceremony Bull standards on tribal coinsit indicate that some sort of cult might have been developed around it by that period Ils solitary figures on coins, as Coomaraswamy75 observes, stand for Siva in symbolic form But in our view76 it should be treated as a cult representation The idea about the bull being the mount of a god appears to have originated not before somewhere between first century BC and first century AD77 As regards the association of bull with Buddhism, it is difficult to ascertain the exact significance with certainty In Buddhist literature sometimes Buddha is given the epithet of Sakyapungava, meaning 'Bull-hero, Eminent person', and sometimes it is said that Buddha was born in Vrsabharası 78 According to Fa-hien who visited a great part of India between 404–410 AD Buddha was represented by symbols only, namely the wheel and bull's head 79 However Jains also included it in their mythology as an auspicious symbol
As far as the lion is concerned it is accepted as a symbol of power and royalty throughout the world from very ancient times In India, on the one hand it is not to be found in the mythology of the Indus people (so far) and on the other hand Vedic poets were deeply impressed by it as a wild beast who wanders about and lives in hills 72 For the various meaning of the word, see, Monier Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary, p 1012 73 Ayodhyakanda 14 36 38 74 According to JN Banerjea (DHI, P110) these figures are associated with contemporary religious cults He differentiates between bul) on standard and bull before yupa In his paper Devices on some tribal coins', (IHQ, Vol XVI, D 497) he adduced grounds for explaining the 'bull before the yupa' symbol as associated with Sulagava sacrifice of the grhasutras 75 Comaraswamy, AK, HIIA, p 45 76 For this theory see my thesis A Critical Study of Indian Art Motifs, D 386 (Unpublished, but can be seen in the Library of University of Rajasthan, Jaipur) 77 Banerjea, op cit, p. 129 and 154 78 See, JUPHS Vol V (New series), Part I, pp 28 29, CE Benjamin, The Art and Architecture of India, P 49 79 Maisey, Sanchi and its Remains, p 84
