The Indian Buddhist Iconography
by Benoytosh Bhattachacharyya | 1958 | 51,392 words | ISBN-10: 8173053138 | ISBN-13: 9788173053139
This page contains an iconography image of Ten principal Hindu deities: Brahma and represents figure 239 of the book Indian Buddhist Iconography, based on extracts of the Sadhanamala English translation. These plates and illustrations represent either photographs of sculptures or line-drawing reproductions of paintings or other representations of Buddhist artwork.
Figure 239 - Ten principal Hindu deities: Brahmā
Fig. 239: Brahmā
(Peiping)
In the Brahmā group there are ten deities [viz., Brahmā]. They are popular in India and their statuettes occur in the Chinese collection. Their appearance in the Buddhist pantheon is almost the same as we find them described in the Purāṇas and Tantric works of the Hindus. The gods of the Brahma group are described with typical examples in the same order as they appear in the Dharmadhātuvāgīśvara-maṇḍala of the Niṣpannayogāvalī.
Brahmā:
Colour: yellow;
Arms: four;
Vehicle: swan;
The first among the ten gods of this list is Brahmā. His form is given in the following text: “On a Swan appears Brahmā of yellow colour with four arms. With the two principal hands carrying the rosary and the lotus, he displays the Añjali-mudrā (clasped hand), and the two other hands carry the staff and the Kamaṇḍalu”.
Three statuettes of his occur in the Chinese collection. Fig. 238 illustrates one of the three.