monk during initiation, are one way of representing
the numerous transcendent buddhas of the later pan-
theon. Like the earlier icons, bejeweled buddhas are
physically perfect. Gestures, postures, and implements
are used to distinguish them from one another.
Mudras in Buddhist imagery
The enthroned Buddha seated in a meditative or lotus
posture (padmasana) on a tenth- or eleventh-century
Indian sculpture holds his proper right hand in a ges-
ture of meditation and his proper left in the gesture of
touching the earth (bhumispars ́amudra[Figure 1, d]).
The earth-touching gesture illustrates a specific mo-
ment in S ́akyamuni’s sacred biography when he was
challenged by MARA, the personification of EVIL. To de-
fend his right to seek enlightenment, the Buddha-to-be
S ́akyamuni reached down to touch the ground, call-
ing upon the earth as witness to validate the propri-
ety of his quest. The earth responded thunderously,
and Mara was vanquished. Known generically as mu-
dras,such gestures, which have long roots in Indian
culture, may derive from early dance traditions or
from other forms of physical communication. S ́akya-
muni is known to have used one in an early JATAKA
tale (a story detailing one of the lives he lived before
he become a buddha) in order to communicate with
a potential wife. Sixteen such gestures are listed in an
early Buddhist text, while three hundred are found in
a later work.
The four smaller standing buddhas on this same
sculpture illustrate additional moments in S ́akya-
muni’s life: Moving clockwise from the lower left are
S ́akyamuni’s descent from the Heaven of the Thirty-
Three Gods (Trayastrims ́a), which he visited to preach
to his mother; the first sermon; the story of a mon-
key’s offering of honey to the Buddha; and the taming
of the mad elephant Nalagiri, sent by his evil cousin
DEVADATTAto kill him. These events, from a stan-
dardized group of scenes called the Eight Great Events
in a buddha’s life, can be interpreted both as histori-
cal records and as paradigms for the process of en-
lightenment. For example, the taming of the mad
elephant is sometimes understood as a symbol of the
mastery of certain aspects of the self that must be dis-
ciplined.
The specific historical moments illustrated by the
four smaller buddhas are identified by the postures of
the figures, the objects they hold in their hands, and
their hand gestures or mudras. For example, the ges-
ture of fearlessness (abhayamudra[Figure 1, a]) often
identifies the moment when S ́akyamuni tamed the
mad elephant. In this mudra, the right hand is held
upward with the palm facing outward, illustrating the
act of teaching and signifying the Buddha’s ability to
grant fearlessness to his followers.
Most of the mudras found in Buddhist texts are not
used in the visual arts, but instead are performed in
personal devotions and as an aspect of RITUAL. In gen-
eral, deities with their hands held up and open are ac-
tively engaged in the cosmos, while those with closed
hands, or hands held close to the body, are in a tran-
scendent state. The gesture of appeasement or argu-
mentation (vitarkamudra[Figure 1, b]) in which the
thumb and index, middle, or ring finger of the up-
raised right hand are shown touching, indicates teach-
ing, and is one of the most common in visual imagery.
Teaching is also defined by upraised hands with the
thumb and index fingers of both hands touching each
other, a gesture known as “turning the wheel of the
law” (dharmacakramudra[Figure 1, f]). Hands placed
on the lap, one above the other, with palms upward
(dhyanamudra[Figure 1, e]) indicate concentration or
meditation. Donors and other devotees have clasped
palms, a universal symbol of prayer, known as the ges-
ture of worship (añjalimudra[Figure 1, c]).Bodhisattvas
Hand gestures and postures are also used to identify the
innumerable bodhisattvas found in the Buddhist pan-
theon. In early Buddhism, the term bodhisattvais used
to define an individual who, like S ́akyamuni, is on the
path to enlightenment. The aristocratic clothing and
jewelry worn by these figures indicate their active en-
gagement in the world, while the same accoutrements
worn by the great bodhisattvas in later traditions sug-
gest their transcendence. These later figures, a primary
theme in the visual arts, are revered for their decision
to remain accessible to and guide the devout.
MAITREYAis a bodhisattva in the present age, and
will become a buddha in the next. As a bodhisattva, he
is identified by the stupa that is found in his headdress,
which indicates that he carries on the legacy of the cur-
rent buddha S ́akyamuni. The white lotus he holds and
the small figure of the Buddha AMITABHAin his head-
dress identify Avalokites ́vara, the personification of
compassion. Mañjus ́r, the personification of wisdom,
rides a lion and holds a blue lotus that bears a copy of
a “perfection of wisdom” (prajñaparamita) text. Mañ-
jus ́ris sometimes paired with Samantabhadra (whose
name means “universal kindness”) on an elephant. In
addition, Ksitigarbha, or the Bodhisattva of the EarthMUDRA ANDVISUALIMAGERY