Jignasa Journal Of History Of Ideas And Culture Part 02

Author(s): Vibha Upadhyaya and Others
Publisher: University of Rajasthan

Page 83

Encapsulated as Material Artistic Response / 299
Vārāhī, Indrānī and Camunda. The origin of these sapta-mātṛkās is found rooted in various traditions in the Purānas, and according to the Varaha-purana their origin is related to the battle between Śiva and Andhakāsura, as the Andhakasura was wounded the blood drops from his wounds gave birth to another Andhakasura, and so to help fight Śiva created fire from which arose a śakti who was called Yogeśvarī, and she drank up the blood and thus the birth of a new Andhakasura was halted. Later to help Śiva defeat the asura, the gods Brahmā, Maheśvara, Kumāra, Viṣṇu, Varāba, Indra and Yama sent in the same order the independent śaktis Brahmi, Maheśvara, Kaumārī, Vaiṣṇavī, Vārāhī, Indrāṇī and Camunda who killed Andhakasura. In Märkandeya-purana's Durgāsaptasati the tale of the origin of sapta-mātṛkās is related to the incident of Raktabīja and Sumbha-Niśumbha, as when goddess Camunda was encircled by the these asuras, the gods Brahmā, Śiva, Kārtikeya, Visņu and Indra etc. produced out of their bodies certain sakti, who went to Camunda, all of them reflected the attributes and the vehicles of the gods they emerged from. The list of sapta-mātṛkās in Devīmāhātmya is similar but changes to include Narasimhi along with Camunda, and thus finds the number of matṛkās to eight. But essentially these sapta-matṛkās appear to be the śaktis of Katyayani. What is significant is the fact that these sapta or the aṣṭamātṛkās as the case may be, emerge/out of the masculine domain and are supportive of the male enterprise of a 'just war,' whereby they not only appear to be actively supportive to the male enterprise but also aggressively participating to win wars. Rupamandana's list of matṛkās does not include Narasimhi, and the mätṛkäs sculptural prescription entails the tradition of making the images of matṛkās on the matṛkāpatta which has Vireśvara in the beginning and Gaṇeśa in the end, while the centre serially has the images of Brahmi, Maheśvarī, Kaumārī, Vaiṣṇavī, Vārāhī, Indrānī and Camunda, and is similar to the order found in Matsya-purana.33
The sixth chapter of Rupamandana which details the Jaina Iconography, makes it abundantly. clear that though the images of twenty-four Tirthankaras is not very dissimilar from each other. yet their attributes, colour, sasana-Devata, and devis (the yakṣa and the yakṣini), (kevalavṛkṣa and cāmaradhārī and camaradhāriṇī are not included in the list of Rupamaṇḍana) are indicators of the various specific Tirthankaras. Sutradhāra Maṇḍana has described the sculptural traditions of the Śvetambara sect, and amongst the śāsana-devis mentions Cakreśvarī, Ambika, Padmavati and Siddhayika. In a significant understanding of the puraṣārtha, the fineness of the salagrama is pointed out for attaining maximum result, and thus for achieving dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa this particular kind of Śila should be worshipped. Similarly, if a lingam is deficient in varna or colour and lakṣaṇa or the attributes, but is still of interest then it could be continued to be worshipped, because it was considered a giver of dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa." The tendency to seek puruṣārthas through the means of act of worship, is found to be much deviated from earlier times, wherein essentially the 'exertion' the purūṣārthas now appear to be generally received through the benevolence of the gods, by sheer act of ritualistic worshipping in the temples.
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Temples have been considered to reflect in a succinct symbolic manner the material world of the people. The tradition of the process of fixing the images with the specific iconographic features which had begun to be established by the Gupta period (Brheasamhita, Visnudharmottara Purāṇa) or a little earlier, that began to become vast and systematized in the early medieval period especially between the eighth to the thirteenth century, for example in the Bṛhatsamhita without mentioning the names and the numbers of the matṛkās they were associated as attributes of the respective gods, while in the Markandeya Purana's sub-text of Devi-mähätmya, and further in the Aparajitaprechha and