South Asia: Pala Sculpture and Painting
Artist: unknown
Title: The Buddha Sarvavid Vairocana with Prajnaparamita
Material: stone
Site: Nalanda
Current Location: Nalanda Site Museum, India
Period/Date: ca. 9 th. century
Iconography/Iconology: Sarvavid Vairocana is the form that Sakyamuni
takes in the Sarvadurgatiparsodana tantra.. As such he is the principle
figure of the mandala and generates ten different mandalas. His distinctive
mudra (bodhyangi) is formed by the right hand clasping the forefinger
of the left, indicating the unification of the five skanda into the One
(i.e., sunyata). In general, the Sarvadurgati mandalas have
had thirty-seven deities, and are ultimately rooted in the Vairocana cycles
of the Mahavairocana stura and Sarvatathagatatattvasamgraha
tantra..
The presence of the female figure on Vairocana's left thigh is one of the
rare instances in Indian art when his prajna is actually shown with him.
The prajna, or female, represents both the perfection of wisdom (Prajnaparamita)
and the attainment of universality (sunyata). The male represents
both compassion (karuna) and skillful means (upaya). Their
union (envisioned as a sexual union) demonstrates the attainment of enlightenment
by realizing the non-duality of their respective components.
Stylistic Comments: While they reflect the main streams of Pala tradition,
such small, crudely carved figures of this type were probably used as the
center of the mandala when a sand or powder (dustimandala) was produced.
Because of their esoteric nature it is probably that these images were not
the work of professional carvers but actually done by initiated monk-teachers.
