Description of Goddess Sri-Lakshmi

SRI-LAKSHMI—Various views are expressed on Sri's original nature. In the opinion of several scholars, she is a fertility goddess of pre-Aryan origin. In the (Manava-grihya-sutra II.13) a hymn invokes the goddess to come to the worshipper in the company of the nagas and the deities. Shri's association with Kubera appears to have been no less ancient than that with Indra. It is further pointed out that Bri is often allied with Vaisravana in ancient texts. She was at one A time also linked with the god Karttikeya. Thus the Grhya sutras (Bodhayana Grhya sutra III.5, Manava Grhyasutra II.13, India in the Vedic Kalpa-sutras, pp. 466-467), contain instructions regarding ceremonies performed in the honour of Sri and Sasthi on the fifth and sixth lunar day of the bright fortnight respectively. In this manner, Sri's association with some non-Aryan divinities supports her original non-Aryan nature. Another view which is perhaps not quite unconnected with the previous one, is that the cult of this goddess was closely associated with the cult of the great Mother- -goddess represented in the nude female terracotta figurines and stone rings from Indus Valley site, and from small rings decorated with the figures of a nude goddess found from Basarh, Takshasila, Tajghot, etc. often associated with the makara and other animals and birds. R The interpretation of the term Sri has been a matter of considerable speculation among scholars. According to Danielou, the word Sri is found in the Vedas in the sense of 'fortune*. 'Fortune' may not be originally connected with sri. Sri according to Rajmade means to shine, to bloze. According to H. Von stietencron (Indische Sonnenpriester, Comm 11.a) Sri's original identity = Iranian W A

$ 118 Asi, female companion of Mithra-sri appears in the Sun-temple and is placed in front of Surya. Sri in the Rigveda - an abstraction, connoting the idea of beauty, welfare and pleasing appearance. According to Danielou, Lakshmi is the goddess of fortune. Regarding her, Iyengar says : 'Lakshmi, the wife of Visnu is to start with, an Aryan divinity, the Indian counterpart of the goddess connected with the harvest or corn and with wealth, beauty, pleasure, victory and well-being, whom we find in the Italic world as Ceres among the Latins At the same time, the author points out that in her association with Visnu as Gajalaksmi (Saubhagyalakshmi Up I.19) e.g. she is indigenous and pre-Aryan. Gonda disagrees with scholars who think the connection of the deity with rice in Indonesia as a late and indigenous development. But he adds that the Sri-sukta depicts the deity as the guardian deity of the farmer ("Vaidika yugomen laksmi ka svarupa", NPP 63 (3-4), p. 359). Ray suggests the possibility of some relationship between Laksmi and Apam Napat. He points out that there is similarity in the descriptions of the two divinities (Rigveda II 35.10 and the Srisukta), connection with water is one of the common points between the two deities (Rigveda II.353 and Sri-sukta 3, 12-13). Similar is their association with young ladies (Rigveda II.35.4, srimahalaksmi Vrata, 59). The scholhar has not however put forward any evidence in support of his theory. According to Shembavankar "Metamorphosis of Usas", ABORI XVII, 351) Vedic Usas appears as Lakshmi in the later times. That scholar thinks that Jataveda or Agni is implored in the sri-sukta to bring Lakshmi, furnishes the most unequivocal clue to regard Sri as identical with Usas. Again, the sisterhood between

119 A-Lakami (poverty, distress), and Laksmi may fairly be traced back to times when dark night was sincerely looked upon as the elder sister of bright dawn (Rigveda III.55.11, I.124.1). Not any valid evidence is put forth in support of this theory. The word Laksmi has been derived by Yaksa from many verbs (Nirukta IV.10). The word seems to be the product of congloromeration of the following verbs among others : Vlancch to mark' or Vlas 'to desire' and Vlag 'to cling'. Gonda explains the appllation Laksmi as mark, sign, token and concludes that Laksmi was originally the deity representing 'signs, evidence or prognostications (of luck and prosperity)'. In the Vedic mythology and ritual, and references are often made to such signs. Thus a man who has a mark (laksman) on the right side, is said to be punyalaksmika (BB VIII # 4 = 4.11), whereas, the case is just the reverse so far as a woman is concerned. This may be compared with the Rgvedic description (Rigveda X : 71.2) that 'the auspicious Laksmi is situated in Vec'. It is obvious that euphemistically Laksmi is connected with good luck only (Aitareya-brahmana II.40). It must be emphasised that Sriand Laksmi originally represented two different concepts which merged together later on (of Gonda). Inconnection with the connotation of the word Sri in the Raveda, it may be noted that the Vedic Sri is a cognate of Latin Ceres, corn (from which cereal is derived). The word possibly goes back to Indo-European origin. Laksmi is the indigenous name of the same or a similar concept. 1 Dr. J.R. Joshi," "Some Minor Divinities in Vedic Mythology and Ritual," Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Pune, pp. 100-105.

120 In the context of Gonda's explanation of the apellation u 'Laksmi' it may be said that Gonda apparently seeks to connect Laksmi with laksma and laksmana, sign or mark. But since Laksmi occurs long before the other two (i.e. in the Khilasakta of the Rigveda), it is almost sure that the other two are either cognates or derivatives or they are independent words of pre- or non-Aryan origin. The most detailed picture of Sri-Laksmi in Vedic literature is found in the Sri-sukta, a hymn in praise of Sri which is part of an appendix to the Rgveda, and which is probably pre-Buddhist in date. This is surely one of the earliest hymns to Sri and associates her with certain symbols and qualities that persist throughout her history in the Hindu tradition. Not surprisingly and in conformity with the meanings of the term Sri in early Vedic literature, Sri is invoked to bring fame and prosperity (V 7). She is said to be bountiful and to give abundance (V 5). She is said to bestow gold on her devotees (V 14), cattle, horses (V I) and food (V 10). She is asked to banish her sister alaksmi, "misfortune" (V 5, 6, 8), who appears in such inauspicious forms as need, poverty, hunger and thirst (8) Royal qualities are suggested when she is described as seated in the middle of a chariot possessed of the best hordes, and delighted by the sound of elephants (V 3). In outward appearance, she is glorious and richly ornamented. She is radiant as gold, illustrious like the moon and wears a necklace of gold and silver (VI). She is often * U

121 said to shine like the sun (V 6, 13) and to be lustrous like fire (V 4). i An important feature of sri in this hymn is her association. with fertility, a feature that was not significantly emphasised in earlier usages of the term Sri in Vedic literature. Her association with fertility suggests her identity as a mother-goddess. Her original connotation in the Khila-sukta is that of a corn- -goddess in which she corresponds to Ceres of the Romans. In the Sri-sukta, she is described as moist (13,14), perceptible through odour, abundant in harvest, and dwelling in cow-dung (V 9). Her son is said to be kardama, which means mud, mire or slime (VII). Clearly fri is associated with the growth and fecundity of moist, rich soil. Her presence is affirmed to be discernible in the mysterious potency of the earth. Although Sri's association with agricultural fertility does not play a central role in her later literary history in Hinduism, this 12 aspect of Sri remains important to this day at the village level. Demeter and Ceres were the Greek and Latin counterparts of Laksmi they symbolise fertility and crops in their persons as also in their daughter Persephone or Proserpine, who is seized forcibly and brought to the nether world by Hades or Pluto (of Pluto means plenty). Dr. S.K. Chatterji has written on the Indo-Chinese and Indonesian parallels of Sri called Dewi Siri, and Vasudhara, is one of the two wives of Kuvera, the god of plenty according to

++ 122 the Mahayano-pantheon. Dr. Chatterji writing on these goddesses in the Far East has connected them with their Indian counterpart Sri or Laksmi. These are goddesses of plenty and beauty? Almost everywhere the figures corresponding to Lakshmi hold a sheaf of corn, or the Greek cornucopia in her hand, as Dr. Chatterji. found in the case of the Indo-Chinese figure. The hymn to Sri also mentions two objects that come to be consistently associated with sri throughout her history, the lotus and the elephant. She is seated on a lotus, is the colour of a lotus (V 4), appears like a lotus (V 5) is covered with lotuses and wears a garland of lotuses (V 14). Throughout her history, in fact, Sri-Lakemi is often called Padma and Kamala "lotus". The popularity of the lotus in Indian art and iconography, both Buddhist and Hindu, suggests a complex and multivalent meaning associated with the lotus. As expressive of Sri-Laksmi's nature, two general meanings seem apparent. Firstly, the lotus is a symbol of fertility and life which is rooted in and takes its strength from the primordial waters? Her association with the lotus, a symbol of fertility again establishes her as a mother-goddess. The lotus symbolises vegetative growth that has distilled the life-giving power of i 2 Dr. S.K. Chatterji, "A Brahmanical deity in Indo-China and Indonesia". 3 F.D.K. Bosch, "The Golden Germ" Gravenhage : Mouton, 1960, pp. 81-82.

4 1. 123 the waters. Maury interprets the lotus as a symbol of the female sexual organ, which also emphasises the meaning of the S lotus as the source of all life or a symbol of all life. The lotus and the Sri-Laksmi by association, represents the fully developed blossoming of organic life. The lotus suggests a growing expanding world world imbued with vigorous fertile power. It is this power that is revealed in Sri-Laksmi. She is the nectar (the rasa) of creation which lends to creation its distinctive flavour and beauty. Organic life impelled as it is by this mysterious power, flowers richly and beautifully in the creative processes of the world. The second meaning of the lotus in relation to Sri-Lakshmi refers to purity and spiritual power. Rooted in the mud but blosA common motif in Hindu and soming above the water, untainted by the mud, the lotus represents spiritual perfection and authority. Buddhist iconography is the lotus seat. Srinaksmi thus suggests more than the fertilizing powers of moist soil and the mysterious powers of growth. She suggests a perfection or state of refinement that transcends the material world. She is associated not only with royal authority but also with spiritual authority, and she combines royal and priestly powers in her presence. 4 Curt Maury, "Folk origins of Indian Art" (New York : Columbia University Press, 1969, p. 114. 5 Curt Maury, op. cit., pp. 110-111. X

124 One of the most popular and enduring representations of Sri-Lakshmi shows her flanked by two elephants in the so-called Gajalaksmi images. The elephants shower her with water from their trunks or empty pots of water over her. Images of Sri Laksmi with elephants are probably meant to ☐☐ portray the act of royal consecration. The central ritual action of the Vedic royal consecration ceremony, the Rajasuya, was the abhiseka ritual, in which the king was consecrated by having auspicious waters poured on him to bestow authority and vigour on him. In so far as the elephants in these images of Laksmi may be understood to be portraying the abhiseka, they bestow the } qualities of fertility and royal authority on Lakshmi, herself the source of these very qualities? In the Brahmanas too, some mention of Sri is found. She grants success to the people. She is shining and great on account of her qualities; she is a protectress of Indra and the order? In Satapatha-brahmana 11.4.31, she is personified in the form of a beautiful heavenly woman driven from the person of Prajapati by his asceticism. The original connotation of Sri in the Khila sukta-sukta is that of a corn-goddess in which she corresponds to Ceres of The goddess Sri-Laksmi was associated with the growth the Romans. 6 J.C. Heesterman, "The Ancient Indian Royal Consecration", (The Hague $ Mouton, 1957), pp. 114-122. 7 of Gonda, "Ancient Indian Kingship", 37. notes that Laksmi abhiseka in some texts and is said to dwell in the royal umbrella. 8 Taittiriya-brahmana III : 3:11:20. 9 Taittiriya-brahmana II : 3:11:20.

125 and fecundity of moist, rich soil, which is evident in verses thirteen and fourteen of the Sri-sukta in which she is described as moist, perceptible through odour, abounding in harvest, and dwelling in cowdung. Her presence was affirmed to be discernible in the mysterious potency of the earth. She was very closely connected with agricultural fertility and prosperity, presumably because agriculture had made real progress during the Later Vedic age. The operation of tilling the soil meant (asnow), the cutting of furrows in the field with the wooden ploughshare drawn by bulls, the sowing of seeds in the furrows thus made, the cutting of the corn with the sickle, the laying of the bundles of corn on the threshing-floor, threshing and finally sifting and winnowing. Irrigation was known, and helped cultivation. Agriculture was the mainstay of the Rgvedic Aryans. Their living and prosperity depended almost solely on it. Therefore agriculture played a very important part in their lives. Since agricultural prosperity depended on the fertility of the soil, the goddess Sri-Lakami was of no mean importance to them. Although sri's association with agricultural fertility does not play a central role in later literary history in Hinduism, this aspect of Sri remains important to this day at the village level. The hymn to Sri also mentions two objects that come to be consistently associated with sri throughout her history, the lotus and the elephant. First, Her association with the lotus suggests two things the lotus is a symbol of fertility and life which is rooted in and takes its strength from the primordial waters. The lotus and the

! 126 the Sri-Laksmi by association, represents the fully developed blossoming of organic life. The lotus suggests a growing, expanding world imbued with vigorous fertile power. It is this sri-Laksmi. power that is revealed in Sri-Laksmi Secondly, the lotus in relation to sri-Lakem₁ refers to purity and spiritual power. Rooted in the mud but blossoming above the water, untainted by the mud, the lotus represents spiritual perfection and authority. One of the most popular and enduring representations of Sri-Lakshmi shows her flanked by two elephants in the so-called Gajalakami images. The elephants shower, her with water from their trunks or empty pots of water over her. Images of Sri with elephants are probably meant to portray the act of royal consecration. In so far as the elephants in these images of Laksmi may be understood to be portraying the abhiseka (the central ritual action of the Vedic royal consecration ceremony, the Rajasuya), they bestow the qualities of fertility and royal authority on Lakshmi, herself the source of these very qualities. Sri in the Eqveda is considered as an abstraction. Connoting the idea of beauty, welfare, pleasing appearance, wealth and victory i.e. with good fortune. She is, therefore, invoked for fame and prosperity, and is said to be bountiful. She is thus associated generally with good fortune and also with anything that is auspi❤ cious. She is invoked along with other gods and goddesses at the beginning of the marriage ceremony. Sri is beseeched to favour the devotee 10 and is prayed to Sri make them prosperous 11 Mahanarayana-upanishad I:48 Manava-grihya-sutra II : 13:6. chang

127 At the beginning of the marriage-ceremony, sthalipaka 12 offerings are made to Sri, and other gods and goddesses. In the Vaisvadeva rite, offerings are made to Sri. 13 The Grhyasutras make some special reference to sri. Thus, the householder when he enters the newly-built house, is enjoined "to murmer a prayer to Sri, which means : "I take refuge with sri, May she enter myself I Further, one is enjoined to offer an oblation on the dhanyanicaya with, "To Sri, to prosperity :" This clearly confirms Sri's identity with the Corn-goddess of which Ceres another Indo-European manifestation. i mhmd A While applying bhasma, cinder, on the breast, one is enjoined to recite the formula: 'Srir bindurasi' Similarly in the Vaisvadeva. rite, one is enjoined to make the bali-offerings with 'Adoration - (thus) in the bed at the head. Similarly an offering with 'To sri, to Prosperity', is made in the cow-pen or in a pond. The formula which is to be recited while the madhuparka is being to eatens may be translated as, "Truth: Glory : Sri : Sri 93 May Sri rest on me ! " This formula may be compared with the one found elsewhere,' in which the terms satyasrih and yasaarih are attributed to the madhuparka. Sri is regarded as the support of all, and is known through smell, she is unassailable, perpetually prosperous, rich in cowdung 12 Kathaka-grihya-sutra XVII : 1. 13 Baudhayana-grihya-sutra II : 8.3.

$ 128 (her quality of a field which is manured with cowdung is noticed here), and is the mistress of all created beings. 15 14 She is immortal, and is held to be the goddess of all living creatures! 16 * The Grhya-sutras (Baudhayana-grihya-sutra III.5, Manava-grihya-sutra II.13, of Ramgopal, "India of the Vedic Kalpasutras", pp. 466-7), contain instructions regarding ceremonies in honour of Sri and Sasthi on the fifth and sixth lunar day of the bright fortnight respectively. - In this manner Sri's association with some non-Aryan divinities supports one aspect of her non-Aryan origin. In the Manava-grihya-sutra II.13, a hymn invokes the goddess to come to the worshipper in the company of the nagas and deities. It can be seen that the people looked upon Sri as the personification of an abstract idea connoting the attributes of beauty, welfare and pleasing appearance and primarily plenty and prosperity. She was invoked by the worshipper for granting them favours, and also for bestowing prosperity on them. They considered her as their support, and regarded her as unassailable, immortal, prosperous and the goddess of all living beings. She played some role in the sacrificial ritual of the people too. She is held throughout to be a minor goddess, in the Vedic pantheon. 14 Mahanarayana-upanishad I 1 47. 15 BSS I : 2:18. 16 Manava-grihya-sutra II : 13:6.

129 the L From the above discussion it may be seen that Sri-Laksmi described in a relatively late hymn, the so-called Khila-sukta of the Rgveda, as the mother of created beings (prajanam bhavasi mata), was an embellished form of the primitive Mother-goddess representing the Earth (Bhudevi) as well as her fertility. For, the people depending primarily on the earth for their living discovered good fortune and even prosperity in the life-producing The goddess of fortune, Demeter or Tyche in Mother-goddess. Greece, Fortuna or Abundantia in Rome, Ardochsho in Persia or Laksmi in India was a local development of the Mother-goddess of chalcolithic period 17 who was the dominant figure in the ancient Near East as well as the Indus Valley. The chalcolithic culture was everywhere characterised by matriarchy, a cult of the productive powers of nature and the Mother-goddess. These characteristics are vouchsafed for, as 18 it is shown by the archaeological evidences, in the civilisation of Mohenjodaro and Harappa. The Rgveda, the earliest literary monument of the Aryan and Brahmanical tradition, primarily pays respect to the male deities who enjoy a superior position in comparison with a handful of female deities. The goddess Sri-Laksni does not appear among the divinities of the Vedic Pantheon. first reference to the goddess is found in a late hymn, one of the so-called Khilas (supplement), appended to the Reveda. It is. The 17 Zimmer, "Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilisation", New York, 1962, p. 92. 18 A.K. Coomaraswamy, op. cit., p. 3.

130 significant that all the traits that characterise Lakshmi in the epics and the Puranas as well as in art are found in this hymn. Most probably, the Aryans borrowed the concept of the Mother- -goddess or Earth goddess, the presiding deity of fortune based on agriculture, from the Pre-Aryan Indians. This Harappa element in Aryan culture is probably due to the survival of the Harappa 19 people as slaves and serfs of the Aryan invaders. The Rigveda hymns refer to the destruction of the 'walled cities' which might indicate the cities of the Indus Valley. However, the Aryans were ready to imbibe the culture of the conquered people, though at a later stage. A parallel of Sri-Lakshmi may be found in Ashi Vanguhi, the Persian goddess of fortune and wealth. Like Shri-Lakshmi, she granted her followers glory and all the desired things. Like her Vedic counterpart she was also endowed with radiance. Although a process of personification seems evident in the origin of the goddess Sri in Vedic literature, it may be that her origins like in pre-Vedic Indo-European traditions in which goddess of royal power are common. It has long been known that the authors of the Vedas are Indo-Aryans, and therefore, related to other Indo-European peoples. As regards the goddess Sri, it is significant to note that goddesses like her, goddesses associated with royal power and authority, are found in the several 19 History of Mankind, Vol. I, ed. J. Houokes and L. Wooley, p. 406.

131 Indo-European traditions. "The Irish goddess Flaith or Flaith Eremis is a good example". 20 A few references may be noted in connection with the iconographical evidence of Sri-Lakami's relation with the lotus :- 6 The lotus-seat or the Padmapadapitha is found in the 21 Maurya-Sunga terracottas and at Sanchi and Sharhut. 66 m.v The more common representation of Laksmi on coins i that in which she is seen either as standing or as ky kya seated on a lotus with a lotus in her hand. The earliest depiction of this figure is found on some uninscribed coins of Ujjayini, where she is seen seated, facing, on a lotus. Laksmi standing to front and holding a lotus in her uplifted right hand was the characteristic local device of the coins of the Hindu rulers of Mathura. On a unique silver coin of the Yaudheyas in the British Museum is found the figure of the six-headed Karttikeya on the obverse and that of a female deith standing on a lotus on the reverse. The female figure is taken to be that of Laksmi by Allan and Banerji. On two uncertain coins in the British Museum, one having the legend Jyesthasa and the other virasena, there is a female figure standing and holding a stalk of flower growing beside her, suggesting one aspect of Laksmi in which she stands on a lotus flower, with lotus flowers 20 Alf Ailtebutel, "The Ritual of Battle Ithaca", NY : Cornell University Press, 1976, p. 176. 21 A.K. Coomaraswamy, op. cit., p. 42.

132 22 23 24 and leaves on long stolks. spreading on either side; of the Mohenjo-daro seal representing a tree-goddess standing between the branches of the tree. Allan takes both figures as Lakami. 22 "In a magnificent pillar relief from Sharhut, ca. 175 B.C.) inscribed Sirima Devata (see Barua, B & Sinha, K.N., Barhut Inscriptions," 1926, pp. 73-78), the goddess Mother Sri (of the designation "Mother Sri in the Sirikalakanni Jataka) is represented as holding an object in her raised 933 23 right hand which must certainly be a lotus. 66 on a coin of Azes of late 1st century B.C. in the British Museum, Sri-Laksmi is represented as standing on a lotus, wearing a dhoti with possibly a lion to the right: 66 A female figure seated in a peculiar pose on the raised pericarp of a lotus flower carved on a section of a fragmentary caping stone from Amaravati (beginning of the 2nd century A.D.) can be identified as Sri, lotus designs are all around the goddess, and the mythical makara in front of her gazes at her with its wide open "25 eyeB. 16 At one place in stupa at Sanchi of the Sunga period Sri-Lakshmi Laksmi is depicted as Kamalalaya. There are blossoming lotus flowers in both hands of the figure and the figure 226 is shown standing in the growing lotus plants. Sm. Bela Lahiri, "Lakami on Early Indian Coins," (Foreigners in Ancient India and Lakshmi and Sarasvati in Art and Literature, ed. by D.C. Sircar, University of Calcutta, 1970, pp. 127-130. A.K. Coomaraswasy. "Early Indian Iconography & II. Sri Laksmi, Eastern Art, Vol. I, No. 3, 1929, p. 179 A.K. Coomaraswamy, op. cit., Vol. II, 1930, p. 242. 25 J.N. Banerji, "The Development of Hindu Iconography" University of Calcutta, 1956, p. 374. 26 Dr. Niranjan Ghosh, "Concept and Iconography of the Goddess Contd.

66 133 A statuette of Laksmi 7 1/2 inches in height is preserved in the Mathura Museum and its number is 878. It stands between rising lotus-creepers. The figure shows her right hand in abhayamudra and in the left hand she holds a lotus parasol (padmapatra). Over Lakshmi's head we see a canopy which is common in the female images of the Kusana period. The feet of that figure are missing. From terracotta we know something about the iconic form of the goddess Lakshmi. The goddess in various forms is represented on terracottas found in various states. The representation of the goddess Laksmi may be seen on a terracotta plaque found at Basarh in the 2nd century B.C. not only by the general style, but by the pearlfringed bracelets, similar to those of figures in the old reliefs at Bhaja, and not seen elsewhere. The figure of the goddess is shown as standing with her hands on the hips. Around her it may be seen that the lotus plants are growing. The presence of wings rising from the shoulders of the goddess is undoubtedly a unique peculiarity. How the goddess Sri-Laksmi took wings, it is difficult to say definitely. Such wings are not unknown from certain male figures from Bharhut (the deities on the Prasenajit and Ajatasatru pillars). This feature is definitely un-Indian. Possibly it may be that the Iranian influence came to Bihar after the Saka invasion of the Norther India during the 1st century B.C. Such with finds marked Iranian influences prove that Saka culture 127 had penetrated much further than Mathura. A 26 (contd.) of abundance and fortune in three religions of India, " University of Burdwan, Burdwan, 1979, p. 55. 27 Dr. Niranjan Ghosh, op. cit., pp. 57-58.

134 * 4 A few references may be noted in connection with iconogra❤ phical evidence of Gajalaksmi : The Gajalaksmi motif 1.e. the goddess Laksmi being anointed by two elephants, is a feature of Indian art from remote antiquity and has received detailed notice in iconographic texts. The motif has been represented in the early Buddhist art of Bharhut, Sanchi, Bodhgaya, and elsewhere (V.S. Agrawala opines that even the stupas were erected due to the common efforts of all people, irrespective of their faith (Bharatiya Kala, p. 161), though the possibility of the Buddhists appropriating this motif to depict Mayadevi (Buddha's mother) being given bath by two nagas at the time of her delivering the child Siddhartha (Buddha) cannot be ruled out (Marshall J.. The Monuments of Sanchi, p. 96, note 1. Moti Chandra also holds a similar view("Our lady of Beauty and Abundance Padma Sri. Nehru Abhinandan Granth, 1949, p. 511). For an opposite view, see Majumdar, N.G., A Guide to the Sculptures in the Indian Museum, Pt. 1, 1937, p. 21, note 1). Foucher's view (Foucher A., On the Iconography of the Buddhas Nativity (MAS/1, No. 46), pp. 2 and 21) that Gajalaksmi has its prototype in Maya is generally unacceptable to scholars as the antiquity of the concept of the former goes to an earlier period of the latter (Marshall, op. cit., p. 96, note 1). The seals bearing the Gajalaksmi motif have been found at Basarh, Bhita, Nalanda, Rajghat 7728 Kausambi, Ahichchatra, Eran, Tippera etc. 66 The device known as 'Abhiseka of Laksmi', typifies the ancient Indian conception of prosperity, and occurs on coins, datable between the third century B.A. and the first century A.D. 28. Kiran Kumar Thapbyal, "Gajalaksmi on seals". Foreigners in Ancient India and Laksmi and Sarasvati in Art and Literature, by D.C. Sircar, University of Calcutta, 1970, pp. 112 & 13.

135 The earliest known numismatic issue to bear the device of Abiseka of Lakshmi' appears to be an uninscribed copper coin of Kausambi datable to about the third century B.C. Laksmi, on the coin, is depicted as standing, although the details are not so clear. The device is seen on the coins of some early Ayodhya kings who seem to have flourished in the second and first centuries B.C. The most distinct and artistic representation of the standing Gajalakshmi device, is, however, found on the silver coins of the Indo-Scythian king Azilisges. That the Gajalaksmi device was very popular in the second and first centuries B.C. is amply demonstrated 29 by the Bharhut and other sculptures ta Sanchi 2nd c B.C.-- Lotus, a pair of elephants pouring water ont the seated Mayadevi (Gajalaksmi in Brahmanical art, originally the Mother goddess, a fertility divinity), Elephants symbolize rain-bearing clouds. 66 1/30 Triratna Janma = Mayadevi seated or standing on a lotus with or without elephants pouring water (also Jain) but after 3rd c A.D. disappears from Buddhist and 31 Jain art and represents Gajalakshmi.. a Orissa (130 - 50 B.C.) -- Udayagiri, Khandagiri, Hathiqumpha. On the Ranigumpha cave, stands Mayadevi with elephants --- Gajalakami in Hindu art. 29 Bela Lahiri, op. cit., pp. 126-127. 2732 30 K.B. Iyer, "Indian Art", Asia Publishing House, 1958, p. 17. 31 A.K. Coomaraswamy, "History of Indian and Indonesian art".p.64. 32 A.K. Coomaraswamy, op. cit., p. 36,

136 66 on the railing pillar of Sanchi Stupa No. 2 the goddess Gajalaksmi is seen at the top of a lotus scroll, standing on a lotus with palms joined together in adoration. on two more lotuses at the level of the hip of the goddess the two elephants stand simultaneously raising with their trunks two water pots over her. Two more lotuses are seen on the two sides of the pots. At the lower level the lotus creeper shows a pair of antelopes and lions and a couple from bottom to top. r A statuette (ht. 9 inches) of Gaja-Laksmi has been preserved in the Mathura Museum and its number is 728. A a It is standing Gaja-Lakami. The right hand of the figure is in abhaya pose and the left hand holds a lotus parasol. A pair of elephants are performing abhiseka in the upper corners. This figure is of the Kusana period : There The Head (ht. 1 inch -4 1/2 inches) of an image of Gaja-Laksmi is preserved in the Mathura Museum. are two inverted water jars being emptied on the head of the goddess and held in elephant trunks. It is also of Kusana period. This head has been discovered from Sitala-ghati in Mathura city. 33 "The abhiseka of Sri-Laksmi is depicted on a railing pillar at Bodhgaya, ca 100 B.C. The abhiseka of Sri-Lakshmi is depicted on a tympanum of the caitya-hall at Manmoda, 1st century B.C. 34 A few references may be noted in connection with the iconography of Laksmi in general > - 33 Dr. Niranjan Ghosh, op. cit., pp. 79 and 85-86. 34 A.K. Coomaraswamy, op. cit., Eastern Art, Vol. II, 1930, p. 242.

Sri laksmi figure in Pompeu port brought from India around Mid. 2nd century A.D. by some merchants as the Indian form of Venus stella Maris, the protectress of seafares. 137 Around the 2nd 1/4 upto 1st century B.C. reliefs of Sri-Laksmi have been found on the posts of the statues of tree goddesses. In the early 1st century B.C. 1.e. around 187 - 75 B.C. a figure of Sri has been found on the pillar of the great balus- #35 trade at Bodhagaya. 66 In the late Maurya to the early Gupta period, stone fine work earrings at Bhir mound Taxila and Terracotta or moulded plaques, modelled heads and busts have been found from Pataliputra to Taxila. These represent a standing female divinity with elaborate coiffure dressed in a tunic or nude to the waist, with a skirt of diaphanous muslin. These may be votive tablets or mother goddesses and fertility deities -- prototypes of Mayadevi and Lakshmi a 36 Another relief of Shri-Lakshmi on a medallion of a rail of Stupa No. II at Sanchi is also important. Here the goddess is accompanied by two attendants bearing food, and drink, which may recall the Sri "bringing food and drink", of the Taittiriya Upanisad (1.4). 9937 35 Hermann Goetz, "India: 5000 years of Indian Art, London, 1959, p. 49. 36 A.K. Coomaraswamy, op. cit., p. 15. 37 Dr. Niranjan Ghosh, op. cit., p. 56.

138 An iconographical evidence of Sri-Lakshmi as a goddess of fertility is "The Goddess Sri Laksmi is depicted at times (witness, e.g. her image in the Lucknow provincial Miseum, assigned by V.S. Agrawala to 1st century A.D.), as 'pressing her breast with the left hand' Agrawala notes that the 'motif' of the female figure pressing her breast, the source of all 738 human sustenance, possessed a symbolic meaning. Figurines of the Mother-Goddess pressing or supporting her breast are very common in Crete, etc. 38 V.S. Agrawala, "A short Guide-Book to the Archaeological Section of the Provincial Museum", Lucknow, p. 14; fig. 8.