Iconography of Sadyojata (or Mother-and-child images)

3 A. (ii) h. SADYOJATA. The images that I propose to identify as those of Sadyojata, were so long known as images of The Mother and Child', and their exact identification has so long been a puzzle. These Mother and Child' images are rather common in north Bengal, the ancient Varendri, and the Varendra Research Society's Museum at Rajsahi has no less than eight images described in its Catalogue published in 1914.

3. A. (ii) h (b) Sadyojata. I (a) Vatuka. 3. A. (ii) g PLATE LIII. TO FACE P. 134.

The writer often had occasion to travel in the villages of the Balurghat Sub-Division of the District of Dinajpur in 1914, in the course of which he constantly met with these images in the villages. The image of Mother and Child, now in the Dacca Museum, was obtained by him in the course of one of these excursions, with the kind help of Babu Devendragati Raya. In Balurghat itself, the head-quarters of the Balurghat SubDivision, there are two images of this class, one under a banyan tree on the west bank of the Atreyi river, opposite the Munsiff's quarters; and the other, in a deserted place, a little to the south-east of the bazar.This deity appears to have been a favourite one of the inhabitants of the ancient Varendri. The sculpture of the Mother and Child' described in Anderson's Catalogue of the Indian Museum, P. 258, also hails from Varendri. It was found in the ruins of ancient Gaur.* Several Madonas are known in the Brahmanical and the Buddhist pantheon, such as Devaki, mother of Krsna; Yasoda, foster-mother of Krsna; Maya, mother of the Buddha Hariti, the protectress of all children; Kausalya, mother of Rama; Parvati, mother of Karttikeya and Ganesa, and so on. Should the 'Mother and Child' images be identified with any of these, or does the image represent a different god or goddess? Let us see what are the general characteristics of these down on a images. In them, a lady is represented lyin couch; she holds a lotus in her right hand. The left hand rests on the pillow and supports the head on the palm. The legs of the lady are placed, one upon the other and a maid shampoos one of the legs. A child, whose feet rest on a lotus, is shown lying down by the left side of the lady. Some *Figured in Mr. R. D. Banerjee's History of Bengal (Bengali) against page 296. The image illustrated by late Dr. Smith in his History of Fine Arts in India and Ceylon, p. 165, also appears to be an image of this class. 18

more maids with fans and fly-whisks, are placed outside the couch, ministering to the comforts of the lady. Above the couch, on the wall, are almost invariably placed the gods Karttikeya and Ganesa, and a Linga, while the Navagrahas i. e., the Nine Planets, and also other figures are sometimes added. The last features are important as they point to a probable identification. Let us note the presence or absence of these on all the Mother and Child' images that have come to our notice. 'Mother and Child' images in the Rajsahi Museum. 1. Linga, Ganesa, Karttikeya and the Navagrahas. 2. Linga, Ganesa, Karttikeya. 3. Linga, Nine Planets. 4. Linga, Ganesa, Karttikeya. 5. Linga, Ganesa, and six sitting figures. 6. Linga, Ganesa, Karttikeya, Nine Planets, four sitting figures, seven kneeling figures (at the bottom). 7. Linga, Karttikeya, Ganesa. 8. Linga, Karttikeya, Ganesa. Image of the 'Mother and Child' in the Dacca Museum. 9. Linga, Karttikeya, Ganesa. Image of the 'Mother and Child' in the Indian Museum. 10. Linga, Karttikeya, Ganesa, Nine Planets. The presence of Karttikeya and Ganesa as well as of the Linga unmistakably points to the Saiva nature of these images. Is it an image of Parvati depicting her as mother of child Ganesa or Karttikeya ? That possibility is precluded by the presence of the adult Karttikeya and

Ganesa above on most of the images. The placing of the feet of the child on a lotus indicates that he is an important divinity, perhaps Siva himself, and we naturally bethink ourselves of the Sadyojata form of the god. Sadyojata means 'a child just born', one just arrived from the other world and yet unsullied and untainted by contamination with this world. These images exactly represent the idea conveyed by the word Sadyojata. Unfortunately, the Dhyanas for Sadyojata given in the Tantras do not describe him as a newborn babe, which is the inherent meaning of the name. But it appears from a passage of the Lingapurana that the child aspect of Sadyojata was also not unknown and the sculptors of Varendri may have used a Dhyana on those lines describing Sadyojata as a new-born babe. This Dhyana, however, I have not yet succeeded in finding out. In Lingapurana, chapter IX, (Vangavasi Edition, Bengali Translation, page 17) the following passage occurs :- "From Brahma in deep meditation sprang a child with white eyes and red nails, hands and body. When Brahma saw this Supreme Lord Sadyojata, he took him on his breast and again sank in deep meditation. The knowledge that this newly born babe was the Supreme Lord then came to him and he worshipped the child.' This does not account for the image of the Lady, by whom the child lies. The presence of Karttikeya and Ganesa suggests that the two main figures may be those of Siva and Parvati, while the presence of the Navagrahas point to the fact that these images may have some connection with the marriage of Siva and Parvati, as the latter feature is also to be met with in the Kalyana-Sundara or Vaivahika images, depicting the marriage of the divine couple. The Brahmapurana, in chapter XXXVIII, Page 177, has the following, in connection with the marriage of Siva and Parvati :-

came "When the divine daughter of the Mountain with a garland in her hands to the assembly of gods where she was to choose her husband, Siva, in order to test her, assumed the form of a child and was found sleeping on the lap of the bride. She, perceiving the child and coming to know through meditation that he was the god Siva himself, accepted him with pleasure. Then the daughter of the Mountain, glad to receive the husband that her heart desired for, returned from the assembly holding the child against her breast." From the above, we now appear to have arrived at an explanation of these mysterious 'Mother and Child' images of Varendri. It appears that these sculptures represent Siva in the form of a babe by the side of Parvati. These images thus appear to be only a variety of the Vaivahika images. An image of this class found at Khetlal in the Bogra Dt., now in the Rajsahi Museum, has a short inscription towards the top. This inscribed image has been noticed by Cunningham in vol. XV. of his Archaeological Survey Reports, where he reads the inscription as Vansonigralatima and fails to give any explanation of it. As these short inscriptions are most often labels recording the name of the image or that of the donor, or both, a satisfactory reading of the inscription on the image from Khetlal is worth an attempt. The first two letters are undoubtedly vam and so. Cunning. ham read the third letter as . If it is to be read as ni, it must be read as ni, i. e., na with a long . But the loop above na is hardly pronounced enough to authorise us to read it as a long. It is certainly better to read the letter as na. The next letter is a puzzling one. Cunningham reads it as gra, but he ignores tiny, circle hangin the very prominent and complete, but from the upper end of the hooked perpendicular line. It is possible to read this letter only as an ill-

formed tha. It appears to have resemblance to no other letter in the alphabet. The next letter is clearly la and Cunningham also takes it as la. But he ignores the tiny loop attached to the end of the perpendicular line. This looks like the vowel mark for ? or u, but is actually neither, as it does not begin from the end of the perpendicular line. But certainly, such a prominent mark cannot be meaningless. The inscription, shortly to be discussed below, on a 'Mother and Child' image in the Nahar collection at Calcutta, ends with pratipa(a)lita and when we have obtained vamsonatha in the beginning of the present inscription, and the next word is an undoubted la, we at once think of the word lalita. It is then only that it is possible to recognise that the loop at the end of the perpendicular line of la is definitely not a but is only a Kakapada (√) to signify that something has been left out. When we find that a similar sign appears at the end of the inscription, followed by the vowel mark for a, it becomes clear that the fifth letter is to be read la. ! Cunningham reads the last letter as ma which is altogether inadmissible. It can at best be read as a, but that is also not correct. If it had been a, the left arm of the right perpendicular line would have touched the ta-like part of a further down. appears to be ta. The correct reading therefore, The letter between la and ta appears to be a bungled one, but it can easily be recognised as the alternative form of la which, with the usual form with wavy loops, is frequently used-sometimes in the same word-in the Deopada stoneinscription of Vijaya Sena. The vowel mark for long i is attached to the letter, thus making it l₁. The redundant perpendicular line running across the letter, appears to be the result of hesitation on the part of the stone-mason, whether to

attach the long or the short i mark to la. He began with the perpendicular line for short i but finally deciding to attach the mark for long i, he ran the loop of la beyond the perpendicular line. The reading brought out by the above discussion is therefore: Vamsonatha-lalita. The correct expression ought to have been Vamsanathalalita. But it is idle to expect grammar and spelling from these stone-mason's labels. The expression means-The beloved of the Chief of the race.' 'Chief of the race' can only distantly mean Siva. The result derived from the reading, as far as this inscription is concerned, is therefore unsatisfactory. It should be kept in mind that these labels recorded the name of the image and were meant to be understood. We have succeeded in deciphering a somewhat intelligible name where Cunningham read a meaningless series of letters, and we should be glad if any one can suggest any better reading. Indeed, it would have been impossible to read this inscription, especially the last word, but for the suggestion derived from the inscription on the image in the Nahar collection of Calcutta. The inscription on this image is hardly easier to read! The first 4 letters are clearly the usual De [ya] dhammyoya [m]. Then begins the difficulty. It is difficult to determine whether the 5 th letter is a ga or a sa. Go has a circular loop attached to the perpendicular line in the right while the loop of sa is very much the same, but broken in the middle by a downward angle. In the present letter, there is hardly any angle in the loop, but the breach at the point of contact would

ba'sonara labi sa "Mother and Child" and Inscription. Rajsahi Museum. PLATE LIV. TO FACE P. 140. "Mother and Child" and Inscription. Nahar collection, Calcutta,

suggest that the letter is sa and not attached to the letter makes it su. 141 ga. The vowel mark This form of marking is rather old and is seldom met with on this side of 1050 A. D. ' In the next letter, the choice lies between u and da. A comparison with the contemporary letters shows that the hood of u goes up almost to touch the matra, while that of da stops in the midway. The latter is the case with the letter under discussion and so we must determine it as da. The next letter can be accepted as bha without discussion. The next letter, again, is troublesome, and, leaving it aside for the moment, we can read the remaining letters without much difficulty as pratipalita and emend the word to pratipalita. The complete inscription, then, reads as follows:De [ya] dhammyo'ya [m] Sudabha [*] pratipa [a] lita. The letter after bha appears to be a bungled one and it is possible to propose different readings for it. But after the determination of all the letters of the inscription, as above, it is not difficult to suggest that the letter after bha is dra and nothing else. Thus the name of the image becomes Sudabhadra-prtipalita, which, when corrected should read, Surabhadra-pratipalita, i. e. the cherished one of Surabhadra. Here again, 'Surabhadra can only distantly refer to Siva. Surabhadra is the equivalent of Virabhadra, which is only the name of an emanation from Siva. But this much appears to be certain that the masons wanted to signify the same image by the two different terms-Vamsanatha-lalita and 'Surabhadra-pratipalita." These two inscriptions, then, do not bring us much nearer a correct identification of these 'Mother and Child' images and we must wait for better inscriptions to turn up in future. Until that time, it is not unfair to denote these Saiva images.

by a name of Siva, the meaning of which corresponds to the representation.* 3. A. (ii) h Image of Sadyojata in black stone, 18"x 10". 1 ° The image shows a lady reclining on a couch, with her head supported on her left hand which rests on a pillow. In the right hand, she holds a lotus. A baby, with its feet resting on a lotus, lies on the left side of the lady. The legs of the lady are placed in a gracefully bent posture, one over the other the left leg is being shampooed by a maid standing near the feet of the lady. A maid stands near the head of the lady with a Chamara. The images of Karttikeya, Ganesa, and a Linga are placed above the figure of the lady. Found at Nirmal in the Balurghat Sub-Division of the Dinajpur District and presented by the writer. on