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YAŚASTILAKA AND INDIAN CULTURE
Each goddess has four arms, and in their hands they carry symbols belonging to the gods they represent. The arrangement is not always the same." Various sculptures representing Siva and the Seven Mothers are found in the temples at Un in the southern part of Indore State.
The worship of the goddess Aparājitā is mentioned by Somadeva in Book III as part of the general description of the court life of Yasodhara. In three verses recited by a bard the blessings of the goddess are invoked for the success of the king in warfare. We are told that Aparajitā, called also Ambikā, grants victory to kings on the battlefield, and is herself incarnate in their arms and weapons. The stars are the pearls on her hair, and the sun and the moon are her eyes: the celestial river is her robe, and the oceans are her girdle, and the Meru mountain is her body. She is worshipped by Indra, Siva, Brahmā and Vişņu. It is clear from the Devimāhātmya section of Mārlandeyapurāna (chap. 88 ff.) that Aparājitā, Ambikā, Durgā, Kātyāyani, Gauri, Bhadrakāli etc. are different names of Candikā; they are to be regarded rather as different forms of Candikā, and worshipped on different occasions for special purposes. The meditation of Aparajita is recommended in the medieval Tantric work Īsānasivagurudevapaddhati in the course of the ritual prescribed for the worship of Gauri:4 and it is interesting to note that one of the rites is meant for the king and prescribed to ensure his victory in war. The same work treats in detail of the worship of Durgā, who is significantly described as capable of destroying hostile armies. Aparājitā is thus one of those deities whose worship was favoured at the royal court as a means to vanquishing the enemies of the king.
We learn further from Yasastilaka that the worship of Aparajitã took place on the Mahānavami day, and the occasion is, in fact, more important than the name of the goddess. The Mahānavami festival is mentioned
1 Cousens (op cit.), p. 87. For some other details see the Vooabulary apponded to
the English Translation of the Naişadhacarita, under Ambikā. 2 See Appendix III. In the Chaubara Dera temple the sculpture occurs twice on doors.
An elaborately carved door bears the Seven Mothers with Śiva in the centre, all dancing. Over a door in the small Śiva temple to the north of the Chaubara Dera we have representations of the Seven Mothers with Śiva piaying on a lyre. One of the lintels in the temple of Nilakantheśvara represents Stva as dancing with the
Seven Mothers. 3 Yaśastilaka 3. 459-461. 4 ....*37749tait yargftoft, facilisi mtariorare il' (Mantrapada) 23. 51. 5 Ibid. 23. 57 6 3749r Tester Titan Ibid. 25, 19
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