Symbolic Gestures in Buddhism Author(s): E. Dale Saunders Source: Artibus Asiae, Vol. 21, No. 1 (1958), pp.

47-63 Published by: Artibus Asiae Publishers Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3249027 . Accessed: 20/10/2011 21:14
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Artibus Asiae Publishers is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Artibus Asiae.

http://www.jstor.org

E. DALE SAUNDERS

SYMBOLIC

GESTURES

IN BUDDHISM'

maybe divided for the purposeof classificationinto two groups: ymbolic gestures or mudrad2 ceremoniesand those appearingin iconographyboth those appearingin Esoteric (mikkyo)'3 The number is without doubt found in the first group. The and greater sculptural pictorial. took place as far as we know around the VI century A.D., actual classificationof these mudrd and in what is probably the first sutra to codify them, that is to say the Murimandarajukyo,4 there arelisted some sixteengestures.sLater,in the VII centuryalong with the developing codification of Esoteric Buddhism there are listed more than
300.6

However,

of these mudrd, many

belong to relatively unimportant divinities and have, in consequence, only a secondary significance. About ten offer enough interest that their study in detail may be considered useful for one

interestedin the iconography of Buddhism.These are the mudrd of the chief personages of the
Buddhist pantheon. Moreover, this same number includes the principal gestures of all Buddhist art of the Far East. Thus it is the object of this study to present first a consideration of the historic development of the mudrd, and of the idea of the mudrd system, and then an analysis of three symbolic gestures to serve as illustrations. It may be added here that Japanese sculpture has been chosen as a point of departure mainly because Japan is the end-point of the Buddhist
Part of this paper was delivered at the annual meeting of the Far Eastern Association in Washington, I955. is used to render the Sanskrit mudrd,which will be discussed subsequently. Traditionally the The character in IEI Japanese think of in as a seal, and so it is often translated in western literature. Mudra, however, permits of a wide interpretation. Perhaps a generic word like sign would be the best translation. Of course translationslike gesture, ritual gesture, symbolic gesture, are not a literal rendition either of the Sanskrit or the Sino-Japaneseand perhaps in the long run they are misleading. They have been used to simplify the exposition. or apparent doctrine) is that type exposed in and transmitted by texts; Esoteric BudExoteric Buddhism (i. e., kengyo' dhism (mikkyo6or secret doctrine) is that type which requires initiation into certain mysteries before one may attain unification with the godhead. It is characterized by the use of an evolved artistic symbolism, charms, formulas, and mystic rites.

I 2

MahdmanivipulavimanaviSvasupratistitaguhyaparamarahasyakalpardjadhbraz, Taisho Issaikyo (henceforth abbreviated to T.) no. I007, anonymous tr. between 502-5 57. 5 Toganoo, S. Mandara no kenkyz, Koya-san Pub. Co., Koya-san, Showa 7 (I932), p. 483, line 5ff.: "Probably the first sutra explaining the mudrd, the Murimandarajukyo gives only 16 gestures. One century later, according to the Darani-

jikkyo, tr. by Atigupta in the VII cent., the mudrchave increased to more than 300." (L. Renou and J. Filliozat L'Indeclassique, TheJayakhasamhift Payot, Paris, I947, Vol. I, p. 569, para. I169) enumerates o50 mudra.This text dates from perhaps the V century. Mention of other mudrais found in the Daksinamuzrtisamhitd, the
the Ndradapdnicardtra.Bhattacharyya, B., in the intro. of Two Vajraydna Works, places among the first RdmapujLdsarani, Tantric texts containing numerous mudrd, mandala, and mantra, (i) the Manjuirimzulakalpa(T. II9I) and (2) the Guhyasa-

mdja(T. 885). The first dates probably from the II (?) century A. D. and the second from the III (?) century. They presuppose a considerable earlier literature. According to the Daranijikkyo, T. 901, Dharanzsamuccaya? dating from the VII century and attributed to Asaniga. Tr. by Ajikuta (Atigupta?).

47

tradition, but also because the study of Japanese iconography is necessarilypertinent to all countries,the art of which developed under the influenceof Buddhism. The origins of the mudrd may, in a sense, be tracedto the very origins of man himself. Historically, however, we are first aware of a type of gesture in the Vedic period. At this time a vertical movement of the hand was used to indicate the accents of the words of the Vedic ritual.7This was a rhythmic device of grammarians, however, and is but little related to the which appearsonly in post-Vedic gesture as a symbol. In the sense of sign, the word mudrd, in India, designatesvery early the idea of a seal or that impressionleft by a seal. Thus, mudrd, a of the a the ritual and iconographic sense, may be defined as position hands serving as 'seal' or symbol to identify divinities or to 'seal',in the Esoteric sense, the words of the ritual. Philologically, it has an extended meaning which includes that of a specific seal mark, any mark, a seal-ring, a passport, a sign, or money struck by means of a seal. In the Esoteric sense, then, mudrd as a seal of the ritualword connotes a good deal of primitive magic. Mudrd also conveys from muddd the idea of power as seen in the Pali muddika meaning authority.8For in the same way as the royal seal symbolizesthe authorityand power of the king so the gesture symbolizes the divine authorityand magic power of the deity. Tantric Buddhists furthermorebelieve in the identity of mudrd and Sakti.Thus the meaning of mudrd may be summedup in three groups: that of seal, or the mark of a seal, that of pose of the hands, and that of sakti. Actually a relationship between all three may be establishedby startingfrom the idea of matrixwhich may be comparedto a mould utilized for the impressionor stampingof objects. One can readilysee the relationshipexisting between seal and Sakti.It is the relationshipof the womb of a woman in which the child to be born is formed, and the seal which gives to the piece of clay its form or design.9 This same relationshipexists for the finger-pose which is at once a seal and a matrix for the words of the Esoteric ritual. When the first translatorsrenderedIndian sutrasinto Chinese they used the ChineseideoYin alreadyhad a tradition in China.As early as the graphyin (sign or seal) to translatemudrd. Shang dynastythe seal was used for identificationpurposes on bronzes. Subsequently,and until the present day, its presenceon paper, officialdocuments,treaties,pacts, and agreementsserves as a sign of authenticityas well as of faith. In the religious sense, mudrd may be explainedthen as being a "sign of a pact, of a solemn contractwhich binds the worshiperto the world of the divinity and permitshim to become integratedinto this world."IoThe gesture is a sign, a ritual functions to ward off error and to seal, and just as the seal implies authenticityso the mudrd guaranteethe magic of the rite. Yinin the sense of sign rapidlyexpandedits meaning to include the object or attributesthat the Buddha or the Bodhisattvaheld in his hands: the lotus, the sword, the stzpa- that is, any 'sign' of the divinity. It even came to include the sense of mystic formula or dhdrant and the Buddhaimage itself, both of which may be consideredas signs associated with particularpersonages.
7

8
10

9 Ibid., p. 7I5ff.

Przyluski, J. "Mudra,"Indian Culture,April, 1936, Vol. II, p. 7I6: "Going back to Vedic times, however, one finds the word and the gesture on one plane, and being given the same magical or religious importance. The Vaj. Prat., I, 124 notifies that the accents were indicated by moving the hands upwards, downwards, or latterally. Later texts mention ? 52, 53, 54, 55. gestures which marked the accents and explained the sense also." Cf. also Pdninfyasiksd is used with the meaning of authority." Ibid., p. 719: "At Dha., II 4, muddika (from muddd) Auboyer, J., "Moudra et hasta," OrientalArt, Vol., III, I95I, p. I57b.

48

There aremanytheoriesconcerningthe origin of the idea of the mudrda and its use in Esoteric Buddhism. Professor Toganoo"I believes it derives from naturalgestures: calming by raising the hand; offering a gift by extending the hand. Some sources say, without much reason, it was inspiredby the written form of the initial letter of a mantra.I2 might be added,that the mudrd As an iconographicsymbol, mudrd cameinto existencetowardsthe beginning of the Christian era. It accompaniedin a ratherindefiniteway the appearanceof the Buddha image. However, the question of knowing to what distantsources Buddhismhad gone for the idea of a system of gestures is difficult to resolve conclusively. The fact is that at the time of their entranceonto the stage of iconography these gestures had undergone a long evolution. This is manifest in the stereotypedforms that the gestures took in the first Gandharan statuesof India. There is no doubt that from a very earlytime "the theory of mudramust have covered a wide range,for the and the Guhyasamajapresuppose the knowledge of Mafjusrikalpa,the Mahavairocanasutra, numerous gestures."a3 As for pre-Buddhistorigins one may well look to the dance, for since most ancient times, the dance seems to have been, at all times and universally,the spontaneous expression of the magic and the mysteryof primitive rites. In very remote antiquity,dance gestures seem to have evolved towards a religious usage. They became early integrated into a religious ritualism which, while depriving them of their former liberty, imposed on them a hierarchy, a ritual classification which tended to conserve them over the centuries.For the needs of the cult subsequent religions had only to adopt the choreographicgesture to their rites: the idea of a system of gestures as well as the forms had existed for a long time. The dance gesture was essentially rhythmic. The representationof these signs in iconoof the rites tended to blur their former choreographiccharacgraphy through the intermediary onto a plane of secondaryimportance. So it is true that "the elewhich ter, necessarilypassed in an undementaryhand gestures of divinities representediconographicallyare simply mudrd veloped state."I4 - of the use of mudrd In the earlystages- i. e., in Gandhara in Buddhistart, no prescription of a definite nature seems to have established the precise value of symbolic gestures. Rules developed little by little especiallytowards the middle of the first millennium of the Christian era.With the birth of Esoteric Buddhism,the mudrd underwenta certainformalizationand were and with a both which do figure magical.The few mudrd impregnated symbolism metaphysical in the Greco-Buddhistart of Northwest India are given a multiple use. For example,the mudrd of fearlessness,the Semui-in(abhayamudrd), is used for the receptionof gifts or homages, for the expression of welcome, for the submission of the elephant, for the preaching of the doctrine and even for the turning of the wheel of the Law. The differentroles of this gesture are rendered perfectlycleareitherby attributes- the wheel and the deer indicatethe preachingof the Lawor by the presenceof the gesture in a specificsetting. Moreover, if a single gesture plays several differentroles, in the same way a specificepisode of the Buddhistlegend may be symbolizedby severalmudrd. Buddha Thus to representthe preachingof the Law, for example,the Gandharan
II

Toganoo, S. Mandarano kenkyz,p. 474ff.

Renou, L., L'Inde classique,Vol. I, p. 570, para 1170.

I2
13

"A une haute antiquite remonte Fr. tr. by J. Marty, Payot, Paris, 944, pp. 99-I00. bouddhistes, Glasenapp, H., Mysteres en pays indien la pratique de donner aux doigts une forme prescrite, lorsque l'on accomplit des actions sacrees (p. 97).
Renou, L., op. cit., p. 570: "etatfruste."

14

49

which was to forms several variant mudrdother than the Temborin-in (dharmacakramudrd), become the specific predication gesture.I5 Nevertheless, in Gandhara,it was alreadythe practiceto assign certain mudrdto certain the various Buddhaand Bodhisattva:these mudrd personagesprobablyin order to differentiate were laterto become the characteristic sign of such and such a Buddhaor Bodhisattva.With the of became more exact, for the plethora of divinities of the Esoteric world passage time, usage required more and more explicit identification.The Semui-in limits itself to representingthe absence of fear; the Segan-in, charity;the Temborin-in,the preaching of the Law, and so on. But the Buddhist sculpture of Gandharadoes not seem to have come out of what Foucher of the origins of Buddhist iconography. calls the periode flottante At the beginning of the Christianera, the role of the mudra in Buddhist symbolism derives that it owes its full development. Probably from traditionalBuddhism,but it is to Tantrism16 toward the middle of the first millennium A. D. the Indian Asanigahad already developed a mystic doctrine founded at the same time on Yoga practices and on the principal ideas of Buddhism:in this doctrine,figuredtantra,dhiradngI7 and mudrd, all practicesdestined Mahayanist to assurethe identificationof the faithfulwith the supremeunity. In Tantrismthe mudrd passing a the of evocative of the which role in Buddhist had been its sign beyond simple stage legend, Gandhara,possessed substantialmagicalpowers. Esotericismdid not limit itself to raising the a very importantrole in gesture to the level of a metaphysicalsymbol, but it assignedthe mudrd and the mantraI8 enable the the rites as well. Gestures became the bond by which the dharang himself to with the supremeunity. worshiper identify The basic idea of Esoteric Buddhism,the idea on which rises the magico-symbolicsuperstructure,is manifest in the concept of the Three Mysteries:thought, word, and act (mudra). They represent three ways of approachingthe One and are three inseparableaspects of the universal Unity. Equivalent each to the other, they are united in every phenomenon of the ordinaryworld. The doctrine of the Three Mysteries "maintainsthat thought, word and activity are only differentexpressionsfor one and the same reality,for in the great Oneness reign equalityand identity 'in the same way that the ocean has everywherethe same salty taste.' The doctrine of the fundamentalunity of the three actions is a dogma essentialto Esotericism,for it alone permits one to consider as equivalent,or more still, as identical, meditativeimaginations, mystical formulas and exterior, materialthings: such is the condition requiredfor all practical The mudrd, thanks to this triple unity, were endowed with an activity of a magical nature."I9 for which they were checks, guaranteesof transmission. importanceequal to the word (shingon), Their metaphysicalvalue was compounded of a primitive magic which reachedfar back into
du Gandhdra, Is5Cf. A. Foucher, L'Art greco-bouddhique Leroux, Paris,
(homages);
I6

251I (welcome);

255,

27I-275

(subjugation);

233,

245 (gift); I94, 2I2 1922, p. 326: cf. fig. 198, 2Io, 243 (predication); 220 (turning the wheel of the Law).

Tantrism is that type of Buddhism based on the tantra,some texts or portions of texts going back possibly to the VII or VIII centuries. A tantrais composed of four parts:jnfdna, knowledge of the divinity;yoga, concentration; kriya,cult pracmethods of worship. For a general, basic study on tantra, tices, making of images, construction of temples, etc.; carya', consult A. Avalon Principles of Tantra,Luzac, London, 1914 (Vol. II, 1916.) I7 Magical formulas or mystic forms of prayer (Soothill). I8 Charms, spells or short magic sentences, generally terminating in meaningless Sanskrit syllables. E. Conze, Buddhism, Philosophical Library, N. Y. I95 I (?), p. 183, says: "To pronounce a mantrais a way of wooing a deity and, etymologically, the word mantrais connnected with Greek words like 'meimao' which express eager desire, yearning and intensity of purpose, and with the old High German word minn-ia, which means 'making love to."'
'9

Glasenapp, H., Mystires bouddhistes,p.

91.

50

pre-Buddhist times.20 This magic stems from the stratum of occult beliefs of prehistoric India.

For as earlyas the Vedic period, in spite of condemnationby the high cult, magic of an official sort existed, and by a slight modification or addition to the ordinary ritual charms could be
wrought.2I

The Tantricidea of guaranteesof transmissionand especiallythat of contractis reflectedin the Japaneseword kei-in:a contract(kei) sealed(in) by the worshiper,who, by reciting the ritual unites himself with the divinity. This same idea of words and by forming the correct mudrd, the making of a pact with a spirit. The same kei contract is present in the expressionkei-shin, is used to designate the little notches cut in wood and which constitued a form of writing in Chineseantiquity.The notches were a sort of sign, and a relationshipbetween the characterkei as a mark. Similarly,in the may be establishedwith the above mentioned meaning of mudrd a mudrd(in) which, in turn, forms a one contracts or binds (musubu) expression in wo musubu the faithful. The expression inkansuru between the supreme divinity and pact (also musubu) and at the same time of looking at the image of a Buddha. expressesthe act of making a mudrd Here in symbolizes the body of the Buddha and is the concrete form of the hand-sign, while kan (to meditate on) symbolizes the abstractform of the thought. In contemplating (kan)the assuresthe union of statue, the thought of the worshiperis united with the divinity: the mudrd the two. should produce by an action on the nervous system The complete series of ritual mudrd "obtained by certain effects both psychological and physiological. To summarize:the mudrd, certaingroupings of movementsand of gestures are traditionallybased on the results of physiological phenomena: fear, joy, modesty... It is thus that the gesture attains its most abstract subtlety. It is the science of the hidden meaning, of exterior appearances,the fluid formation - but exactly definedby concreteposes - of a traditional,mentalimage which one must project on the sensibilityof the spectatorwho in turn will react accordingto a traditionalpattern.It is a series of suggestions linked by the sequence of the gesture, provoking in the mind of the spectatora subjectivereaction."22 of the first Buddhist statues of India had no preIt has alreadybeen noted that the mudrd cise, iconographic significance.The number of the early symbolic gestures in Gandhara,at Amaravati,and at Mathuraappearsto have been very small. However, little by little, the mudrd multiplied and a specific nomenclature as well as a more exact iconographic meaning were attributedto them. Accompanying the beginning of Esoteric Buddhism, this evolution took towards the VII century.Previous to the codificationof Esotericism,towards place particularly the beginning of the Christian era, the ancient symbols of aniconic representationsof the
20

Concerning the origins of Tantrism in primitive magic, both pre-Buddhist and Buddhist, consult B. BhattacharyyaAn Introduction to BuddhistEsotericism,Oxford Press, London, 1932, chapters I, II, III, IV. Consult also Renou, op. cit., p. 368, para. 745. in 21I Renou, L., op. cit., p. 368, para. 745. "Great importance is attached to the practice of mantra,mudrdand mandala the Vajrayana and hence a great mystic value is attached to the various manifestations of sound, which, according to these teachers, could be visualized in the forms of gods and goddesses. When these divinities appear before the mystic, in which they take their proper seat according to various dispositions, and the mystic, who is now they form a mandala speechless, carries on his worship with the help of the mudra which is now his only language" (Majumdar,R. C. The History of Bengal,Vol. I, U. of Dacca, Ramna, I943, p. 420). 22 Auboyer, J., op. cit., p. i6oa. Actually this passage refers to the mudr. as it is used in the dance, but basically the statement is pertinent to iconography as well.

5I

Buddha,such as the wheel and the lotus, were replacedby the figurationof the Buddhahimself were employed especially to clarify the symbolic sense of the in human form.23The mudrd statue. To a certainextent, then, the former identifying role of symbols such as the wheel and falls to the iconographic, symbolic gesture. the lotus in aniconic representations modificationsin form and conThe spreadof Buddhismacross Asia imposed on the mudrd in sequently meaning. These modificationsmay be explainedin several fashions. In China,for example, it is possible that the artistwho continuedthe Indiantraditionmay have had only superficial knowledge of Indian iconography: he was doubtless even less aware of the texts which served as a basis for sculpture. Working according to more or less simple indications, he was probably little preoccupiedwith exactnessin mattersof art. In India, on the other hand, the sculptorin creating a statue accomplisheda sacred work closely associated with religion. The observance of iconographic details fixed by religious writings was of fundamentalimportance.In non-Indian Asia, however, "iconographictraditionsbecameindistinct and there were createdworks so far from the traditionalpose and so devoid of significantattributesthat they escapedevery attempt at a more precise identification.9"24 Thus in India, certainstatues bore originally one or several At time of attributes. the their passagebeyond Indianfrontiers,some of these attributes specific were lost and there remainedonly a gesture devoid of sense. This gesture was sometimesreproof which the prototype is to be found nowhere duced and endowed with the value of a mudrd, in India. Such is certainlythe case of the An-i-shoshu-in of Kannon and Amida. This mudrd is in of and hand the characterized the mzudrd fearlessness, raised, palm front, Semui-in, by right left souls into an outstretched the hand the apparentlygathering by paradiseof the divinity. No Indian prototype of this gesture is to be found, and it is not bold to suppose that this same left hand originally bore some such attributeas the vase which had become lost at the time of of the statueto the countries of SoutheastAsia and to Chinawhere this gesture the transference first appears. Chineseand Japaneseworks as Moreover, the liberty of interpretationwhich characterizes at considerable to Indian works led times to iconographicchange. On one hand this compared may be laid to the disuse of iconographicaltraditions or simply, in Japan, to a lack of models or of observationon the part of the Japanesecraftsman.On the other hand the Japanesedid not possess a fundamentallyphilosophical or metaphysicalturn of mind. While the Indians laid great stress on iconographicaldetail, the Japanesefrequentlyoverlooked small points in favor of the generalartisticeffect.The explanationmay perhapsbe found in the fact that Japanbeing the end-point of the Buddhisttradition,received a Buddhismalreadymodified by influencesof non-Indian countries and personalities. The Japanese tradition was a composite tradition. Buddhism was a religion that the Japanesehad adopted and not conceived. For the first few centuriesafter the introduction of the religion into Japan,the Japanesewere busy assimilating
23

Until around the beginning of the Christianera the Buddha had been represented by symbols, such as the wheel of the Harvard U. Press, CamLaw, the throne, the pillar, the tree (cf. Coomaraswamy, A. Elementsof Buddhist Iconography, for the omission of the Buddha itself was p. Ioff., bridge, I935, fig. 4-10), image mperative, proscribed as it is in several passages of the Buddhist cannon (cf. Soper, A., "Early Buddhist Attitudes toward the Art of Painting," Art Bulletin,
June, 1950, p. 148).

24

chinoise du Ve au XIVe siecle,Van Oest, Paris, I925, Siren, 0. La Sculpture this phenomenon.

p.

I32.

The An-i-in is an excellent example of

52

ratherthan developing it. Thus it is naturalthat the iconographic variantsof differentinspiration are reflectedin the art of this country and that the details of the iconographicaltraditionof India were modified. Before the mass of documents and of both confused and contradictorytraditions it has seemed necessaryto attempt to put some order to the informationavailable.Such seems to be the usefulness of this study. Indeed, as M. Siren affirms:In every statue "the gesture and the attitudes are precisely the essential symbolic element: therefore it is a question in general of formulas more definite than general types or than attributes.In fact, these latter are in many for us to glean from them indicationsof the cases much too undeterminedor undifferentiated name and the role of a Buddha or of a Bodhisattva: only the gesture and the pose render the personage intelligible as the symbol of a religious or metaphysicalidea. That is why it is indispensable to know the postures and the gestures that are most often met with in Buddhist imagery in order to understandthe meaning of the statues."n25 It may prove worthwhile at this point to proceed to an examinationof three of the more important gestures in Buddhist sculpture. The first and perhaps the most frequently figured gesture in Buddhiststatuesis that of the Semui-in (abhayamudra), gesture of fearlessness:it is the in in the hand raised as seen X Shaka of the Seiryo-ji (fig. i). The century right appeasement Semui-in is often accompaniedby the Segan-in (varamudr6), which is the position of the left hand of the statue in figure I: the Segan-inis the mudra of charity,of giving. These two mudra of a in by reason similarity meaning have tended to blend. In Japan the designation Semui-in may apply either to the hand raised with the fingers stretched upwards, or lowered with the fingers stretcheddownwards. Sutratexts support this statement.However, even when the title of Semui-in (that is, mudrd of fearlessness)is attributedto the lowered hand, the symbolism is none the less that of Segan-in (mudrd of charity). Certain texts tend to relate these mudrd by them a that The the of common of bestows giving bestowing. Segan-in meaning: gift charity from that the Buddha to the Semui-in The essential of e., (i. meaningdiffers beings), intrepidity. in that the upwardstretchedfingersof the Semui-inindicatethe act of offeringwhile the Segan-in downward stretchedfingersindicatethe act of conferringfrom above to below, from the higher level of the Buddha to the lower level of Sentient Beings. The dominating idea of gift tends probably to unite these gestures: gan (vow of eharity) and mu-i (intrepidity)noting only the distinction of kind and of aim of the gift. Certain mudrd like the Segan-in are made without distinction by either one or the other hand. The Semui-in on the contrary is uniquely a mudraof the right hand, and from the II century in India across CentralAsia and Chinathis gesture is iconographicallyconstant. Since the beginnings of Buddhisticonography in Gandharathe exact position of the hand seems to have changed: on the first statues of India it is at shoulder level as can be seen in the second century Mathuratype (fig. 2). But it gradually lowered until around the V century when it seems to have become definitelyfixed at somewhat above hip level.26 This is apparentin such statues as the IV century Saltanganjtype of fig. 3. The Northern Wei Buddhist figure now in the possession of the Metropolitan Museum of New York shows a not uncommon Chinese version of this gesture (fig. 4). It would appearhere that the traditionof the gesture has suffered
25 26

Ibid., p. 133.
Kramrisch S., Indian Sculpture, Oxford U. Press, London,
I933,

p.

I6I,

fig. 41 and fig. 59.

53

MH

MH

Fig. i

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

1H
Ml

MH

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Fig. 6

Fig. 7

MH

Fig. 8

MH

Fig. 9

Fig. io

Fig. ii

MH Mt'

Fig. I2

Fig. I3

a certainmodification.Particularly the left hand in Segan-inis renderedmost indistinctly and, if it is reallythe Segan-in,unorthodoxly. Here is an exampleof the blurringof the iconographic tradition. But the typical Nothern Wei rendition of the Semui-in and the Segan-in, right and left hands, is usually renderedwith characteristic stylized and linearprecision as may be seen in the Northern Wei ShakaTrinity (A. D. 34) in fig. 5. It may be noted that the position of the Semui-in seems to be just about half-way between the hip and the shoulder. This is approximatelythe sameposition of the JapaneseShakaof the Jingoji, Kyoto of the VII century (fig. 6). Traditionallythe position of the hand figuring the Semui-inis said to derive from a legend concerning the Buddha'sjealous cousin, Devadatta, who, wishing to hurt the Buddha, caused him to be attackedby a drunken elephant.About to be trampled, Sakyamuniraised his right hand, the fingers close together. The gesture not only stopped the elephant in his tracks but Accompletely subduedhim. This is why the gesture is called Semui-in,gesture of fearlessness. the to a later variant of this same Buddha raise and from his his hand right cording legend,27 fingersissued five lions who attackedthe elephantand thus saved the life of the Buddha.In the first version, Buddhist benevolence triumphs over evil by inner strength and illustrates the In the second version, the recourseto the force of the lions, concept of "not hurting" (abhimsa). an exterior strength, is of a less spiritualnature. "This intervention of the lions," says Foucher, "constitutesa ratherlate interpolation:these are decadentmethods and we cannot see that this popular expediant was ever present even in the most mediocre works of Gandhara."28 In ritualceremoniesthe officiatingpriest makesthe Semui-inin orderto give sentientbeings fearlessness.But as the legend points out, there is more in this gesture than non-fear,a negative expression: this mudrdexpresses the giving of fearlessness that calms, that tranquilizes the mind.29On a positive plane, this is the gesture of intrepidity,of courage and of audacity.This which was able to protect the Buddha against the elephant, will protect the believer mzudrd, against the assults of evil. Although the symbolism of the Semui-inmay generallybe summed its use and its meaning were still unestablishedin up in the expression"giving of fearlessness," the greaterpart of Gandharanworks where this same gesture representsnot only the absence of fear but also the predicationof the Buddha.30 "Only here the Buddha is teaching after the fashion of a Buddhist image which goes back to a time when the gesture of Teaching, like the rest of the mudra,had not yet been establishedand hierarchized."3I In a passageof the S4trdlaink6ra, the author,indicatedas being Asvaghosa, asksthe following a of the stupa, do the artisans of this world, possessing wonders violator question: "Why, wonderful talent and with holy intent, why do they representthe Buddha with the right hand raised? And the robber of the stuipaanswers his own question: It is so that those who are afraid,when they see his image, may be freed of fear... (for this is the gesture) which gives confidanceto those who are intimidated or frightened."32 Using the idea of fearlessnessas a point of departurethe symbolism of this gesture becomes by extension that of intrepidity:it is the gift of living without fear, gift made by the Buddhato sentientbeings. Such a gift expresses
27 Consult A. Foucher, La Vie du Bouddha, Payot, Paris, 1949, Pp. 288-289. 28 This passage by A. Foucher is quoted from Hackin, J., "Guide-catalogue
29

du Musee Guimet," 1923, p. 8i.

Siren, , O. op. c, . p. 34, calls this gesture "seaudeI'assurance." 30 To the Trayastrimsasgods. 31 Foucher, A., L'Artgreco-bouddhique du Gandhdra, pp. 485-486.
32 Ibid., pp. 327-328.

56

the benevolence of the Buddha but, what is more, it inspires the repose of the spirit and its liberation from the worries and troubles of this world. "Fearis innate, not only in man but in all that has existence. Birds, animalsof all kinds, men, the sun, the moon, the worlds fear continually of being suppressedby each other or of colliding and are not for an instant without fear. It is the state that is called 'the world filled with fear and dread.'Despite the joys and the pleasuresthat one experiencesand which constitute 'agreablefeelings', there exists at the same time the feeling of fear because no earthlyhappinessis perfect. Thus by virtue of believing in and of following the Law, the faithful may arrive at a state which transcendsjoy, pleasure, calumny, pain: it is 'the world of the Buddha free from fear'."33 While the Semui-in may be considered as being a gesture utilized by both Exoteric and Esoteric Buddhism, the Chi Ken-in, mudrd of perfect Knowledge(jindna) is purely Esoteric. In Sanskritthis gesture may be designatedbodhasrtmudrd (?). It is the mudrd figured by the statue of Dainichi (Vairocana)of the Onjo-ji or, as it is commonly called, Miidera. The statue is dated
II75 (fig. 7).

Since the Chi Ken-in is fundamentally an Esoteric gestureit does not appearin Japanbefore the introduction of mikkyo' aroundthe beginning of the IX century.34 Certainauthoritiesaffirm that the Chi Ken-in may have found its origin in the predication mudrd,the Temborin-in. Indeed, as early as Gandharathere existed several variations of the Temborin-in which are statue of Shaka(?) shows sculpturallyvery close to the Chi Ken-in. The III centuryGandharan the particularvariant that some authorities would term the original gesture from which the later bodasrnzmudrd (?) derived (fig. 8). Such a geneology must not be acceptedwithout reserve, for the however, similarityof form is in no way supported by a similarityof symbolic meaning. According to Tantricsymbolismthe ChiKen-in emphasizesnot the propagationof the Law on the example of the Temborin-in but the aspect of perfect Knowledge, the knowledge of Vairocanaas the supremedivinity. Thus two very differentroles of this deity are underlinedby the figuration of the Temborin-inand the Chi Ken-in: the first gesture is attributedto Vairocana as dbydni-Buddha and the second is attributed to Vairocana as ddi-Buddha,for the ddiBuddha produced the d ni-Buddha by means of the actty of the five Knowledges (go chi).35

The Chi Ken-in is the mudrd of Dainichi in the kongokai, the Diamond World. By reducing this gesture to its constituent elements one finds that it is in fact composed of two fists (ken-in) called kenrokongoken(-in),the adamantine,diamond fist, which symbolizes the World of the Diamond, the spiritualworld, with which perfect Knowledge is intimatelyassociated.But it is a militantKnowledge as well, for it representsthe power to destroy the passions of the ordinary world:36it is also the intellectualpower which enables all sentient beings to achieve Buddha
Toki, H., Si do in dtou, Annales du Musee Guimet, Bibliotheque d'etudes, Vol. 8, Leroux, Paris, I899, p. 42. Kobo Daishi or Kfukaiat the beginning of the IX century left Japan in order to study the Esoteric doctrine under the Chinese master Hui-kuo, a disciple of Amoghavajra. Back in Japan in 806, Kukai founded the Shingon sect: in 8I6 he established its center on the summit of Mt. Koya. 35 The five Knowledges are: I Knowledge of the nature of the dharmadhdtu (dharmadhdtu-prakrti-jnina). 2 Mirror knowledge which reflects all knowable (ddarsana-jnana). 3 Knowledge of the fundamental oneness of all things (samatd-jndna). 4 Knowledge of perspicacity which understands all details without confounding (pratyaveksana-jnana). 5 Act perfecting knowledge (krfydnusthdna-jndna). Knowledge of what to do to accelerate the salvation of all beings. 36 Hence this mudrd is also called Nometsumumyokokuan-in or the mudrdwhich is capable of suppressing darkness and (spiritual) shadows.
33 34

57

on the Lotus sutra(HokkegishoXII) one by which, accordingto the Commentary Knowledge37 is enabled to attain nirvdna.38 According to Esoteric symbolism, the index of the left hand (world of sentient beings) is surrounded and protected by the fingers of the right hand (world of the Buddha). The five fingers of the right hand representthe Five Elements which compose man: the little finger, earth; the ring finger, fire; the middle finger, water; the index, air; and the thumb, void. The fingers symbolize also the gokon(pancendriii),9 that is to say, the five organs of the senses treated as the roots (kon)of perfect Knowledge. To these five is added a sixth element, manas the flame (mind). The index of the left hand,which plays the role of the sixth finger,"represents There exists therefore for the sixth elementis a part of his essence."4o symbol of the ddi-Buddha, The two hands symbolize the two the designation "gesture of the six Elements" (rokudai-in).4I (the diamond world) inseparableworlds of the tai^,-kai(the matrix world) and the kong8kai Diamond 42 the left the so-called the index of which are here connectedby hand, finger (kong5shi) which constitutes at once the connection between the hands and the way between the worlds. or spiritualworld is representedby the left, raisedindex which According to Getty, the kongokai joins the right hand whose five fingers representthe taizokaior materialworld. The two hands together symbolize the unity of materialand spiritual, the unity of the cosmic soul and the individual soul, the unity of perfectKnowledge and the noumenal- in Japaneserichibuni.4 this gesture As a specific symbol of the Knowledge of the BuddhaDainichi of the kongokai, of perfectKnowledge, Daichi-in.By makingthis gesturethe Buddha-or is also calledthe mudrd the worshiperwho identifieshimselfwith the Buddha- entersinto possession of the Knowledge It is this knowledge peculiarto kongokai of the Law of all Buddha, in Japanesethe chi-hokkai. that is symbolized by the Dainichi, knowledge of the substantialnature of the Law (dharma)44 Chi Ken-in. Consideredin Japan on a metaphysicalplane as symbolic of the Knowledge of Dainichi or of the five Elements, this gesture takes on, especially in Tibet with the sakti cult,45a clearly sexual character.For Buddhism, the procreatingact is not in itself a reprehensibleone. The union of the sexes is forbidden because it attaches the participantsto life by nourishing the
37

Hence the name Bodaiindodaiichichi-in, the first Knowledge mudrd,which conducts souls to enlightenment, and of the great and marvelous Knowledge of Vairocana. Biroshananyoraidaimyochi-in,the mudrd

lines 22ff. 1916, p. II9o-a, 39 The eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue and the body as the "roots" of Knowledge.
38 Cf. Oda Tokuno Bukkyo Daijiten (i Vol.), Taisho shoten, Tokyo,
40

Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1914, p. 30. Elisseeff, S., "Mythologie du Japon" Getty, A., The Godsof NorthernBuddhism, Libraire de in Mythologie France, Paris, I928, p. 406, notes: "l'index de la main gauche figure 'element illustree, asiatique intellectuel (chi)."And. Renou, L., op. cit., (p. 426, para 85I), adds: "There is also... a theory of sexual union in the form of a flame which penetrates the body of the woman." 4' Getty, A., op. cit., p. 30: "The six fingers represent the Six Elements which, when united, produce the sixfold bodily and mental happiness." 42 The index represents the first of the gochinyorai, the five dhydni-Buddha, products of the Knowledge of the adi-Buddha. 43 Soothill, W. and Hodous, L. (comp.), A Dictionaryof Chinese Buddhist Terms,Trubner, London, I937, p. 360 a, translates the phrase richi: "the noumenal in essence and in knowledge." 44 Cf. Oda, T., BukkyoDaijiten (I Vol.), p. I594-b. For the kongCkai the Knowledge of Dainichi (hokaitaishochi, dharmaceases in the and of the absolute between which (Glasenapp), subject object opposition dhstuprakrtijndna), knowledge is expressed by the Chi Ken-in. 45 "It is probable that the irruption of s'akta ideas in Tantrism, an irruption of which the first documents, at least in the domain of Buddhism, are still untouched, took place at a period when Tantrism was already completely formed" (Renou, L., op. cit., p. 424). Note also the problematicalpresence of a sakti at Mohenjodaro (Renou, L., op. cit., p. 425).

58

passions and desireswhich Buddhismtries ceaselesslyto annihilate.But in the unitary concept of Esotericism, the physical plane becomes involved in the metaphysicalplane and thus permits women to take a place in the religious pantheonin order to representdivinely the passions Now in the Chi Ken-in, the left hand, sentient but of course on a high and spiritualized plane.46 himself as procreator,unifying with the the masculine Vairocana beings, symbolizes principle, feminine principlerepresentedby the right hand. Thus is manifestedthe theory of sexual union in the form of a column of flame which penetratesthe body of the woman. The sexual act is given metaphysicalinterpretations.So it is that the Chi Ken-in symbolizes both the abstract side of Mahayanistinspirationand the concrete side of the life of this world. It is the exalted expression of creation on the human plane and on the divine plane, the expression of an act fundamentallypure, without passion, for the supreme divinity himself accomplishesit. "It is an idea typical of Tantrismthat the notion of the energy of a god emanating from that god may become something objective and may even finish by incarnating itself in a feminine body... The sakti is metaphysically,the line of force according to which the Absolute, the One, is differentiated, creates,acts... Perhaps,the most general and the most well-known is the one where the masculine divinity representsCompassion (karunza) andthe femininedivinity,gnosis, PerfectWisdom (prajna). Gnosis signifies intuitive, fulminatoryvision of the truth which leads to liberation. But this vision is nothing if it cannot unite most closely - and the most intimate embracealone can give an adequate symbol - with Compassion, the active and altruisticforce by which He who knows and who sees sacrificeshimself and expends himself for Him who does not know and does not see. This is what the eyes of the initiate readin the amorous embrace which he has before him on the altar."47 called turning the wheel The third and last gesture proposed for considerationis the mudrd of the Law, in Sanskrit dharmacakramudrd and in Japanese, Temborin-in. From the earliest statues of Gandharathis mudrdis portrayed in the sculpture of all countries whose art deas the Semui-in, however, its veloped under the influence of Buddhism. Unlike such mudrd constructionis far from constant. The most orthodox form may be consideredto be that of the famousShakaof Sarnathdating from aroundthe VI century(fig. 9). More or less similarvariants are to be seen in almost any Buddhist country of the Far East. Yet the Sarnathtype may be considered to be the prototype of such gestures as those seen in the VIII century Shaka (?) of Chandimendut(fig. io), not far from Borobodur as well as in that of the Horyu-ji Amida
(fig. i ) in Japan.

The unestablishediconography characteristicof Gandharais apparentin the III century Shakareferredto in fig. 8. This is a common cast of the Temborinin Gandhara, although there is also the form shown in fig. 12 of the III century Shakain the possession of the Tokyo National Museum. This form often seen in painting is less frequently representedin sculpture even though the Esoteric sects use it as one of the orthodox types of Temborin-in. The VIII century Amida Trinity, a bronze repousse of the Horyu-ji (fig. I3), reflectsthe general outline
46 47

Cf. Glasenapp, H., Mysfires bouddhistes,p. 37. Maraini, F., Tibet secret, Arthaud, Paris, I952, p.

91.

59

of the Sarnath Temborin-in and, notwithstandingthe variantsin the figures mentioned above, this kind may be consideredas being one of the more common forms in Japan. By virtue not only of its designation,i. e., turning the wheel of the Law, but also becauseof its shape- the two circles formed by the junction of the thumb and the index recallthe aspect of the wheel - the Esoteric meaning of this mudrd is based on the symbolism of the wlheel.48 This symbolic attribute is present in early Buddhist art.49The pre-Buddhistwheel had very probablywith the Indo-Europeanstaken on a role emblematicof the sun and of fire.soThus in Buddhism Vairocana,sIwho carries this attribute, underlines his clearly solar character:he dispells doubt and error as the sun dispells the morning clouds. Because of a possible identificationwith the sun, the wheel comes to designate the course of the sun, the "revolution of the year: its turning constitutes then the primordialact of creation."s2"In the sense that time is the sun," writes Mr. Coomaraswamy,"a circle is its center: the Wheel representsthe Sun but more exactly the movement of the Sun, in his heavenly car, with one or two correlatedwheels."53 of this attributein Buddhismis maniThe solar character fest as earlyas Barhut andAmaravati.TheBuddha is represented there as the 'sempiternal sun'.54 As a solar emblem, the wheel appearsin a double form, that is to say, the two wheels of the chariot of the Sun at the same time bound together and kept apartfrom each other by the same - in Shingon axle. It is the emblemof the world seen from two differentbut inseparable points55 The sun illuminates sky and Esotericism, the indivisibility of the taizokai and the kongokai. earth: in like manner the two wheels touch one the sky and the other the earth: the axle is identifiedwith the cosmic axis which at once separatesand connects these two points.56 - that is to say, the king who puts in movement In the pre-Buddhistperiod, the cakravartin57
"Dharmatchakra,lit. the wheel of the law. The emblem of Buddhism as a system of cycles of transmigration, the proCrawBuddhism, pagation of which is called Temborin, lit. turning the wheel of the law" (Eitel, E., Handbook of Chinese ford, Hongkong, 1888, p. 47b). 49 Cf. Foucher, A., Beginnings of BuddhistArt, Geuthner, Paris, I9I7, P1.I, col. c, fig. I, 2; also p. I5. 50 Si doin dzou,p. 9. Williams, C., Outlines Customs College Press, Peiping, 193I, p. 392, writes: "and Symbolism, of Chinese the turning of the wheel of the Law was probably connected with the Vedic sun worshipping ceremonies in which a chariot wheel was fastened to a post and turned towards the right, i. e., following the path of the Universal Law which directed the sun in its orbit." Cf. P. E. Dumont, "The Indic God Aja Ekapad, the One-legged Goat," J. A. 0. S., 53,
pp. 326-334.
48

51 Vairocana: from virocana, "who illumines, who lightens; m. sun, sun god, Visnu; moon (Stchoupac, N., Nitti, L., Renou, L., Dictionnaire Maisonneuve, Paris, 1932, p. 672b, s. v. virocana). sanscrit-fran?ais, 52 Combas, G., "Evolution du stupa en Asie," in Melanges chinois et bouddhiques, IV, p. I Io: wheel = sun, revolution of the of the creation the the Buddha For a of Law, Law, year, (p. I I I). bibliography Indian works concerning the revolution of the year, consult Coomaraswamy,A., Elementsof BuddhistIconography, pp. 25 f.
53 Coomaraswamy, A., op. cit., p. 25. 54 Ibid., P1. I, fig. 2 and 3; ca. 200 A. D. 55

56 57

58

AitareyaBrdchamana, VIII, 2 cited by Coomaraswamy,op. cit., p. 28. Consult ibid. for the chariot of the Sun conceived as a three wheeled carriage (tricakra). .Rg Veda, V, 29, 4; and X, 89, 4 (cited in Coomaraswamy,A., op. cit., p. 28). Cakra-vartin:lit. the one who has, who possesses the rotation of the wheel. For the etymology of cakravartin, consult - in other E. Senart Essai sur la legende du Bouddha, Leroux, Paris, 882, p. 3 ff.: "gifted with, possessor of the cakravala terms - he who is limited only by the extreme limit of the world, who, in other terms, possesses it completely." The term cakravartin does not exist in the Veda, but one meets there the notion of a supreme force, so that the idea of the universal king may hardly be considered as an innovation of Buddhism. For the myth of the cakravartin, consult J. Vol. V, 1927, pp. i65-I85. Przyluski "La ville du cakravartin," Rocznik Orjentalistgczny, Glasenapp, H., op. cit., p. I03. "The wheel, originally an arm of the sovereign with which he subjects the whole world, is mentioned in the ancient Dighanikaya(14, i, 30) as being the first of the precious things (ratna) of the universal monarch."

6o

the wheel - uses the wheel as a symbol or as a particulararm.s8Legend affirms that at his The cakravartin investiturea golden wheel fell from the sky.59 is, however, inferiorto the Buddha he who turns the wheel of the Law, conquersthe earthfor Buddhism who as dbarmacakravartin, law. his Thus the wheel presents a double significance:that of destruction by disseminating and that of lighting - both ideas derive from pre-Buddhistnotions. A close relationship is establishedbetween the Buddhaand the universalsovereign, for the Buddhaas the all-powerful - and the wheel as it passes through monarchis he who turns the wheel - that is, cakravartin the world crushes all evil, all error, all enemies of the law. "There where it keeps itself is the unshakeableplace in which should reside such a sovereign, he who by definition is stable, He who moves the firm, omnipresent,linked to the center of the universe whence he reigns."60 wheel, who performsthe creativeact can be no one but a monarchruling over the entire world. The "indestructiblewheel of the Cosmos... illustrates the action of the Buddhist doctrine which crushes all illusion and all superstition, like the wheel which breaks everything over which it passes."6I Wheel of protection, wheel of creation, such are its qualities as the arm of the universal king. Moreover, says the Prasna Upanisad:"He on whom the (sixteen parts) stand fast, as it were spokes on the nave of the wheel, Him I deem the person to be known."62 According to legend the historic Buddhais supposed to have transmittedthe original design of the wheel to his disciples by sketching it with grains of rice gatheredwhile he was teaching in a ricefield. However that may be, anteriorto the representationof the historical Buddha in human form, the wheel, identifiablewith the universal sovereign, was figured in the place of the Buddha.63 This wheel was representedin the form of a PrincipialWheel and supportedby a In the first centuriesof the Christianera, at the time of the representationof universalterrain.64 the Buddhain humanform, the wheel appearssomewhere on his body. It serves to indicatethe sermonin the Deer Park at Benares.The dharmacakramudrd, by taking over a part of the role of the attribute of aniconic representations,symbolizes, in iconographical representations,this same episode of the Buddha legend.65 Moreover the wheel shows an affinitywith the lotus.66Representedfirst of all in the form of a solar disk, the rays of which constitutethe eight67spokes of the Buddhistwheel, this attribute earlywitnessed "a decorativecontaminationwith the red lotus (padma),the cosmological value
59

60 61 Williams, C., op. cit., p. 392. 62 Ele.

Oda, T., Bukky6Daijiten, p. I25 9-a, line 22. Consult also Ph-Ed. Foucaut, Histoire du Bouddha Sakya-Mouni,Thorin, Paris, I868, pp. I4-I5, "la rouequi 'vient'." Auboyer, J., "Moudra et hasta," OrientalArt, Vol. III, I95I, p. I56b.

63
64

65 66

p. 27. J. Bosquet (tr.), Prasna Upanisad,Maisonneuve, Paris, 1948, VI, 6, transCoomaraswamy,A., of Bud.Icono., lates: "Celui en qui les seize parties sont fixees, telles les rayons dans le moyeu du char, celui-la, je le connais comme etant 1'Etre que l'on doit connaitre." In Pali texts and later Sanskrit texts, the "person" is called cakkavatti,cakravartin. See Foucher, A., L'Art greco-bouddhique du Gandhdra, fig. 475 a and 475b (Sanci and Amaravati). p. op. A., cit., Coomaraswamy, 33. Foucher, A., op. cit., p. 432: at Lahore, no. I34, the wheel stamps the front of the socle...: "we do not see particularly that the Master had yet adopted the gesture which would later become the characteristicmudra of his predication." Maison franco-japonaise, Tokyo, I931, p. i88a. Note the figure S. Levi, J. Takakusu, and P. Demieville Hdboegirin, (Yakushiji) on this same page. The wheel with I000 spokes appears on the famous engraved stone at Pataliputrawhich
Hsuan Tsang (Ttt. 2087) describes.

67

The wheel with 64 spokes at Amaravati (Coomaraswamy, A., op. cit., P. I, fig. 2 and 3). See the Wheel of Life in J. Przyluski "La Roue de la vie a Ajanta," JournalAsiatique, I5-I6, p. 3I9. Cf. also Waddell, L., "Buddhist Pictorial
Wheel...," Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, I892, p. 134.

6i

of which is enriched by a profound philosophic sense."68 Thus the lotus in full bloom, also bearinga clearlysolar character,symbolizesthe divine birth, the purity of the Law. It is divided into eight petals indicating the eight cardinal points, the eightfold way, etc. In Japan, the of the Shingon sect, which figures a lotus for an axle center from which radiateeight rimbo69 Wheel and lotus spokes, may well speak in this instance for the fusion of these two symbols.70 are in a certainsense the 'secret pivot of the world' aroundwhich the various constitutive elements are disposed in symmetricfashion. In India the wheel placed atop a piller, that is, the recallsthe open lotus at the top of its stem; and in Nepal, the wheel of Vairocana cakrastambha, is representedindeed by a lotus calyx containing the procreativeseeds of the flower.7I Buddhismutilized first of all the symbol of the wheel and then the Temb6rin-inin order to recallthe specificmoment of the Buddhistlegend when the historicalBuddha,having triumphed and begins his firstpredicationin the Deer over the attacksof Mara,demon of evil, attainsbodhi Park at Benares.It is the moment when the Buddha"puts in movementthe wheel of the Law". of the historicalBuddha,the scene was figuredby means of a piller In aniconic representations surmounted by a wheel and flankedby two affronteddeer. In iconographicalrepresentations this same wheel persistsbut figures now either designed on the body of the Buddhaor held in his hands. The Temborin-inin taking over the symbolismof the wheel affirmsthe omnipotence and the sovereignty of the Buddha as well as his identificationwith a universal monarch. But one may go further. The Temb6rin-in,whose form representstwo wheels of the Law and the kong6kai. juxtaposed,recalls in Esoteric symbolism the principialunity of the taizTokai The non-Tantricsymbolism, of course, indicatesthe teaching of the Buddha. In this sense, the of the exposition of the Law. It symbolizesthe destrucgesture is also calledthe Seppo-in,nmudrd tion of human evils as well as the constantprogression of Buddhist doctrines, doctrineswhich reachall sentientbeings and which without limit, like the cosmic wheel, exist universally.It is a symbol which places emphasison the movement of the wheel, the continual movement of the Law, which is constantlybeing transmittedto all beings, and on the "incessantrepetition of the fundamental,moral doctrines of Buddhism."In the JapaneseEsoteric sects, the making of this mudrd, accompaniedby the right ritual word, may take the place for the worshipper "of all preaching,for no predicationis more perfector more efficacionsthanthat of the law."72 Before terminatingthis very cursive expose, it would be fitting, I believe, to make a brief seems to go summaryof the place of the symbolic gesture in Esoteric Buddhism. The mudrd back to far distant sources lost in the earliestperiods of primitive India. In Tantrism,it takes on the form of a mystic instrumentwhich serves to seal a pact between the supreme divinity and the believer. But, as in any religious system, the symbol is not an expressionapartfrom the mystic feeling, exteriorto it: the symbol is the mystic feeling itself. Thus the gesture becomes the expression of the rite, by the fact that it constitutes in effect the immobilizationand the fixation of the rite: it contains all the power of the rite, it is at once static in its figurationand forms a part of the triple "mystery":thought, word, and dynamic in its meaning. The mudrd
68 Auboyer, J., op. cit., p. i56b. 69 Consult Coomaraswamy,op. cit., PI. VI, fig. 25. 70 Cf. the sudarsanacakra(Musee Guimet) Revue desarts asiatiques, Vol. V,
71
72

P1. XVIII, fig. i. I928, the The that in middle of the calyx is found a Nepalese Gods Northern v. writes A., Buddhism, I67 (s. cakra) Getty, of p. Yin-Yang. Auboyer, J., op. cit., p. 157 a.

62

action. This threefold unity is inherent in every thing. Such a unitary concept leads to a close interdependancethrough which artistic forms become the image of the doctrine: the statue - the gesture - are henceforth the concrete manifestationof concepts related to the energies existing in the order of things. The object of the Esoteric system is the psychic union of the believer with the universal Spirit. Yet to arrive at this union, magic formulas are powerless without the gesture. Thus the primitive hand movement of the exorcist assumes great importance by assuringthe exact transmissionof the word. It is the sign of a pact, of a most important contract, for it is the one that binds the worshipperto the world of the divinity and integrates him into that world.

63