This iconic
representation of Vishnu is known by various names: Vaikuntha, Vaikunthanatha
(Lord of Vaikuntha), Caturmurti (four-fold representation), Caturanana
(four-faced), Para Vasudeva Narayana, Vishnu Caturmurti, Vishnu
Caturanana and Vaikuntha Caturmurti (four-faced Vaikuntha). The use of Vaikuntha in the name also
suggests that the form represents the Para (Ultimate Reality) form of
Vishnu
The Pancaratra text
Jayakhya Samhita, describes the images of Vaikuntha with human, lion, boar
and fierce heads and its worship (Bhattacharya, 1967: 46). We find more information about the form of
Vaikuntha in the following literature: Parameshvara Samhita (19,541-43),
Ishvara Samhita (21, 579-581). Paushkara Samhita (38, 300-302),
and Padma Samhita (10 – 11). The Vishnudharmottara
Purana, refers to Vaikuntha with eight hands and four faces in four
cardinal directions. Each of these faces
is endowed with two hands holding the wheel and the mace for Vasudeva, the
pestle and plough for Samkarshana, the bow and the arrow for Pradyumna, and the
shield and the sword for Aniruddha. The
eastern face is placid, the southern is that of a lion, the western is fierce
(Kapila) and the northern is that of a boar (Shah, 1961: I, ch.44 &
85). The Bhagavata Purana (VIII.
5, 4.) and the Vishnu Purana (III, 2-4) record that Vaikuntha was born
of Vikuntha, the wife of Sage Subhra; the Mahabharata (Vishnusahasranama,
verse.57) enumerates Vaikuntha as one of the epithets of Vishnu.
The Narasimha and
Varaha heads found on the Vaikuntha Caturmurti form is transference of
the incarnation aspect to the more philosophical, that is, the Vyuha aspect. Banerjea points out that the lion and the
boar faces are primarily associated with Pancaratra Vyuha and not with
the Narasimha and Varaha incarnations (Banerjea, 1956: 410). However, the growing importance of these two
incarnations resulted in their being the preferred forms of the Caturvyuhamurti.
The earliest Caturmurti
or Vaikuntha image found so far belongs to the second century BCE, Sunga period
(Srinivasan, 1979: 41). This sculpture
was found at Bhita, Uttar Pradesh, and is now in the State Museum, Lucknow
(Fig.1). The important feature in this
image is that it has been sculpted in the round. On all four sides, one can see
the four faces by circumambulation.
Although the image has four heads, one side of the head has a crown and
heavy ornaments, which make it prominent.
This figure must be Vaasudeva, his right hand in abhaya mudra and
the left hand holding a decorative jar.
He wears both upper (uttariya) and lower garment (dhoti).
To the right, we find a damaged human head and below that the theriomorphic
form of Narasimha as a seated lion. On his right appears another full standing
figure without a crown and his hair is parted in the middle and falls in
strands on either side of his shoulders.
Both the hands are broken, the attributes are not clear. Adjacent to the left side of the crowned
figure, there is a defaced human head and below that a theriomorphic form of
Varaha in standing posture. He is in the
attitude of worshipping Vasudeva with two of his hands in anjali mudra.
Another image of
Vaikuntha belonging to the third century CE, Kushana period is from
Sapta–Samudri well at Mathura (Fig.2).
Although the image is in a highly damaged condition, enough remains of
this statue to ascertain the Vaikuntha iconography. The bust of Vasudeva has four arms, the
natural right hand is in abhaya mudra and the left holds a conch. In this sculpture, Samkarshana is directly
represented instead of his theriomorphic form of a lion that explains the
concept of the caturvyuhamurti form practiced in the Kushana period
(Srinivasan, 1979: 40).
During the Gupta period, Vaikuntha images were available in plenty, according to Puranic accounts. An early bust of Vaikuntha datable to the fifth century is in the National Museum, New Delhi. Two small images from the Mathura Museum, no. 771, and No.D.28, depict the lion’s head to the right and the boar’s head to the left, thus reversing the position of the animal heads. It appears from some of the Gupta images from Mathura that there was no rigidity about the position of animal heads of Vaikuntha in this period (Agarwala, 1972: 13).
This Caturmukha form of Vishnu is described as Caturatman in the Rajatarangini (IV, 500, V, 25) of Kalhana. The iconography of Vaikuntha Caturmurti was influenced by the Gandhara tradition, which impacted the iconographic depictions of sculptures of Northwest India, particularly those made in Kashmir. A Vaikuntha image from Avantipur is a good example of the Kashmiri style, housed at the Srinagar Museum (Fig.3). A dagger is tucked in the waist belt of the God, and the third eye on the forehead of the fourth face at the back is noteworthy.
A ninth century CE fragmentary Vaikuntha Caturmurti in the Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai, illustrates the classic Kashmiri type (Chandra, 1974: 29) (Fig.4). The central figure has a human face wearing an elaborate triple crested crown. The body is ornamented with earrings, a necklace, the yajnopavita, and the Srivatsa mark on the chest. On the right of the central face of Vasudeva is projected the head of a lion, and to the left, that of a boar. On the reverse appears the fierce-looking face of Kapila.
A standing Vaikuntha at the National Art Gallery, New Delhi is a good specimen of a bronze icon of this god from Kashmir (Fig.5). The Vaikuntha bronze from the Hari Rai temple at Chamba is a masterpiece and it is under worship. A Lakshmi-Vaikuntha from Kashmir is a seated figure on Garuda (Fig.6). Vaikuntha has four arms, with lion and boar faces projecting on either side of his neck. Lakshmi is seated to the left of Vaikuntha who is lifted by a four-armed Garuda.
The Western Indian Himalayan images of Vaikuntha are also more in number. A stone image from the Chamba Hills is preserved in the Bhuri Singh Museum. The three-headed Garudaruda deity rests his upper hands on the heads of standing personified attributes of the mace and wheel. The deity rests his legs on the uplifted hands of Garuda while his personified cognizance, the Cakra Purusha and Gada Devi, are supported on the wings of the bird. A few early Vaikuntha images of this kind have been found from the Kangra region of the Punjab. An eighth century temple at Masruru and a medieval temple of Siva at Baijanath preserve Vaikuntha images (Agarwala, 1972: 18).
The antiquity of Vaikuntha Caturmurti sculpture belongs to the 2nd c. BCE, but the iconic evidences found so far suggests that its present form developed during the Gupta period, around the 4th—5th c. CE. The presence of Vaikuntha Caturmurti, found in Kashmir and North-West India, suggests that the worship of Vishnu in this form developed as a cult between the 8th to 10th c. CE. The icon received royal patronage from King Avantivarman, the founder of the Utpala dynasty (reign: 855-883 CE); temples built in his reign often depict Vaikuntha Caturmurti. He became the tutelary deity of the Karkotas and Utpala dynasties of Kashmir.
Dr. G. Balaji
Assistant Professor
C.P.R. Institute of Indological Research, Chennai
Bibliography
Agarwala, R.C., 1972, Nrsimha-Varaha-Vishnu Images and Some Allied Problems, Lalith Kala, Bombay, pp. 11-21.
Banerjea, J.N., 1956, Development of Hindu Iconography, Calcutta.
Bhattacharya, B., 1967 ed., Jayakhya Samhita, Vol. 54, G.O.S., Baroda.
Chandra Moti, 1974, Stone Sculptures in the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay.
Srinivasan, D., 1979. Early Vaishnava Imagery; CaturVyuha and Variant Forms, Archives of Asian Art, Vol-32, :39-54, University of Hawai’i Press, USA.
Source: Journal of Indian History and Culture, 21st Issue, September 2015.
