LION CAPITAL OF SARNATH

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Symbolism of the Ashokan Lion Capital discovered at Sarnath is

obscure and has been debated since its discovery about a century

ago. My interpretation is a fresh attempt. The aim of the posting to

seek scholars opinion and wider acceptance of the theory.

In this fresh attempt to interpret the meaning and symbolism of the

lion capital of Sarnath I discovered a very clear reference to its

iconography in an ancient Jain text the Devendrastava (c. 2nd

century BC). According to the text luminous gods which include the

Sun, Moon and other stars are being carried on a chariot driven by

one thousand horses in the north, one thousand elephants in the

south, one thousand lions in the east and one thousand bulls on the

west. It is this configuration and positioning of the animals which

is seen in the lion capital, though single animal represents a group

of thousand. Lion is a symbol of the sun god in Indian tradition as

the face of the animal adorns the crown of Visnu who is a solar god.

Such crowns can be seen in the sculptures of the early centuries.

This tradition of the zoomorphic representation of the Sun god has

continued in Jain tradition till 17th century. The miniatures drawn

in the 16th-17th century manuscripts follow the same imagery of the

sun god. It makes the meaning of the lion capital crystal clear that

when Ashoka wanted to stop the schism in the Buddhist samgha, he

ordained to use the early form of the iconography of the sun god as

held in the Indian tradition, to support the mahacakra, the giant

wheel, atop the lion capital pillar. The giant wheel symbolized

Buddha and His eternal doctrine. To view the full text of the

article visit http://voiceofkashi.blogspot.com

 

LALIT KUMAR