The ancient and medieval architecture of India: a study of Indo-Aryan civilisation

THE SERPENT OF ETERNITY

53

beattributed to
the politicalgenius ofthe Buddhist
leadersin

adapting
theirpropaganda to the traditional religious
observ-

ances
of Indian daily life. The
thought of the nativity of

Buddhaasthesunrise,ordawn ofa

newspirituallifeforevery

humanbeing, quietlytook the place

of the original Brahmi

concept,

theVedic Creatorwhoopenedthepetalsoftheworld-

lotus.

TheSangha,orthecongregationofthefaithful,meeting

under the village council tree,was equivalent to Vishnu, the

sunat noon—the Preserverwhosemystic

treeor

pillar

upheld

the universe. Siva,symbolised

bythe sunat itssettingand

when below the horizon, who

was the Dissolver of life and

apotheosis of the Vedic philosophy of the cosmos, became

Dharma—the Buddhist law of daily life—superseding the

Brahmanlaw ofsacrificialrites,and pointingthewayto Pari-

Nirvana when the Ego, released from the chain ofhuman

existences,

was merged in the cosmic ocean. Nirvana and

Pari-Nirvana were the two ends of the upright arm of the

cosmic cross,

the pole or axis of the universe, which was

Vishnu's pillar, or

churning-stick,

or Siva's

lingam. It was

worshipped byBuddhistsas amysticfiery

pillar.

The poets and philosophers ofVedic India

pictured

the

night sky

spannedbythe Milky Way, with the seven

bright

planets of the

Great Bear glittering athwart it, as Vishnu-

Nariyanasleepingonthe

seven-headed Serpent of Eternity,

whose

coils encircled the universe.

These planets had once

been the

seven great Rishis who taught the Aryans divine

wisdom. Buddhist

Indiaadoptedthe samesymbolismwitha

differentconnotation. The

sevengreat Rishiswerethe seven

Buddhas.

The serpent was

the cycle of countless existences

through which they

had at last attained to

Pari-Nirvana.

These

were narrated

in the jitakas, as told byvillage

story-

tellers

on starlight nights

under the mystic tree of Vishnu.

The kathaks, or

professional story-tellers, were

probably the

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