Sambodhi 2011 Vol 34

Author(s): Jitendra B Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 11

The Morphology of the 'Trident' Weapon
M. A. Dhaky
The śūla or the triśülal-trident-is the king among the weapon-attributes carried by some Indian divinities. As a consequence, it ranks first among the divyāstras, divine arms. Symbolically, then, it reflects potential just as represents power that is apratikärya (inopposable) and amogha (unfailing).
The triśüla is the chief weapon of Śiva who is hence called śūlin or śūlapāņi, the wielder of the trident-weapon. It is also the weapon par excellence of Candi or Dúrgā in her many manifestations, be they pacific and benevolent (Ambikā-Ksemankari) or terrifying and violent (Mahisamardinī). Some of the tāntric divinities of the Buddhist as well as of the Jaina pantheon, too, adopt it as their premier attribute, symbolizing as it does their numinous potentialities and, equally, their manifest propensities.
The trident-forms noticed in association with the Indian sacred images reveal many formal variations that follow the biaxial rhythm of the regional and period styles. The formal diversifications may have started taking shape seemingly not long after trident's first detectable appearance in the early formulations of Indian iconograms. It attained to its handsomest and the most perfect form in the Gupta period (and times close) in the North;5 its most powerfully conceived form appeared in South India, in the Pallava-Chola periods.
The problems concerning the origin and history of the trident in relation to Indian imagery and its symbology as well as the metaphysical meaning are not considered in the present paper, though for relevance's sake very brief and cursory observations I intend to make in the sequel. The consideration of the trident's diverse regional and period-forms I have reserved for a long paper planned some years ago now, which may some day, hopefully, be written and published. In the present paper I wish to dwell on the morphology of this very distinctive and beautiful weapon. Before going to weapon's formal details, I shall make a few
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Earlier published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society, Vol. XIX, Nos. 1-2, Calcutta 1977, pp. 24-32