Paranavitana 1954 - Moonstones

The Significance of Sinhalese 'Moonstones'
Author(s): S. Paranavitana
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Artibus Asiae, Vol. 17, No. 3/4 (1954), pp. 197-231
Published by: Artibus Asiae Publishers
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S. PARANAVITANA, C.B.E., PH.D.:
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SINHALESE

'MOONSTONES'
THE SEMI-CIRCULAR SLABS, CALLED MOONSTONES, PLACED AT THE FOOT OF THE
flights of steps leading to ancient edifices at Anuradhapura,are well-known to students of

Indian art. The sculptural design, in its main features, consists of a half-lotus in the centre,
surrounded by concentric bands of a row of geese, a foliated pattern and a procession of
animals. The moonstone1 at the so-called Dalada Maligavanear the Thuparama at Anura-
dhapura- not the best of this class of sculpture - has had the distinction of being the
subject of one of the articles on 'Masterpieces of Oriental Art' contributed to the Journal
of the Royal Asiatic Sociey 2 by Dora Gardiner (the Hon. Mrs. Richard Hare). The moon-
stone which excels all others of this type, not only by its technical perfection, but also for
its marvellous preservation, is found at a building which has been referredto as Mahasena's
Pavilion. About this, Mr. H. C. P. Bell, the pioneer of Ceylon archaeology, has remarked:
'The tout ensembleof this work is masterly in breadth and freedom of execution, and can-
not fail to leave its impress on the mind of all art worshippers.'3
No one who sees any of the half a dozen examples of the moonstones at Anuradhapura
will indeed fail to be impressed by the technical perfection and refinement of the carving in
general, of the skill of the sculptor in making the intractable gneiss yield delicate details of
the animal and vegetable forms, of the vigorous realism, the sensitive modelling and sug-
1 Sinhalese sanda-kada-pahana (=candra-khanda-pasdina), literally, 'moon-piece-stone', a word still in
current use, is met with in the I3 th century Saddharma-ratnavali (Colombo, I925, p. 387). The variant
a.da-sahda-pahana (=-Skt. ardka-candra-pdasna), 'half-moon-stone', is found in the Amdvatura (edited by
Sorata Thera, Colombo, 1948, p. I54) of about the Ioth century.
2
.R. A. S. for 1946, p. 23.
3 Annual Report of the
Archcological Survey of Ceylon, 19I -I 2, p. 30.
I97

Fig. i
Moonstoneat the so-calledMahasena'sPavilion,
in the Abhayagiriarea,Anuradhapura
S. Paranavitana: The Significance of Sinhalese 'Moonstones'

gestion of movement noticeable in the animal forms, of the intricacy and rhythm of the
foliated scroll, of the architectonic quality of the lotus design in the centre, or of the in-
tegration of the various elements of the design to form a satisfying whole. While admiring
these and other aspects of the technique and form of these moonstones, the discerning
observer cannot fail to question whether the purpose of the sculptors who fashioned these
masterpieces was limited to creating pleasing forms and exhibiting mastery of technique,
without having any idea to communicate to the spectator by means of their work. In other
words, are these moonstones form without content? That their purpose is not merely de-
coration is suggested by the juxtaposition of such dissimilarmotives, and by a consideration
of the circumstance that the sculptor has lavished his efforts on an architectural member
which would certainly have been trodden upon by every one who entered the building at
the entrance to which it is placed, and left large areas of stone masonry more appropriate
for ornamentation conspicuously bare and plain.
The earliest investigator to opine that the Sinhalese moonstones were meant to com-
municate an idea was Mr. Bell. In 1891, he, with his assistant, Mr. (later Dr.) D. M. de
Z. Wickremasingha, excavated the Vijayaramamonastery to the north of Anuradhapura,
and discovered smallbronze figures of the guardiandeities of the quarters(dik-pzlas),buried
under the floor of each of the four porches at the cardinalpoints of the edifice. Associated
with the figures of the dik-palas were also found bronze figurines of animals- the elephant
on the east, the horse on the south, the lion on the north and the bull on the west. These
animals are not the vehicles of the respective guardiansof the quarters.
Judging from the positions in which the effigies of the four animalswere found at Vijaya-
rama, coupled with the detail of Buddhist cosmology according to which four rivers flow
out of the Anotatta lake from the four directions, respectively, through mouths of these
four animals, Mr. Bell concluded that they symbolised the quarters: elephant, east; horse,
south; lion north and bull, west. Further, Mr. Bell inferred that the purpose of representing
these animals on moonstones at the entrance to buildings was to indicate that these shrines
were open to all Buddhist worshippers of the four quarters.' This theory of Mr. Bell with
regard to the significance of the four animals on the moonstones was accepted by
4 Surveyof Ceylon,Sixth ProgressReport, ul/yto September,I891, p. 16.
See Archaeological
198

Dr. V. A. Smith,5 who made use of it to explain the symbolism of the same four animals
on the monolithic pillars of Asoka. Prof. J. Ph. Vogel6 has also adopted the theory, which
has recently been further elaborated by Dr. Benjamin Rowland.7
Mr. William E. Ward appearsto be inclined to attach greater significance to the open lotus
rosette which fills the inner half-moon area. In his opinion, 'since the "moonstone" is the
first step to a temple, monastery or palace, it is plausible to consider that this "lotus" step
becomes part of the symbolical offering of oneself when entering a sacred place.'8
The above attempts to explain the symbolism of the moonstone take into consideration
one or two features of the many motives which constitute its design. Mr. Bell and those
who have elaboratedhis theory have taken the procession of animalsas the significantfeature,
with just a reference to the band of ha'msas.Mr. Ward's interpretation singles out the lotus.
None has given any consideration to the design on the outer rim, or to the foliated pattern
between the procession of animals and the row of geese, though the foliated pattern is no
less striking than any other feature of the design, and the artists have devoted much effort
to its elaborate and intricate details. In my opinion, any satisfying interpretation of the
symbolism of these moostonesmustones cern itself with the idea behind each one of their
several features. And, just as the formal aspect of the design needs the integration into a
satisfying whole of the various elements which comprise it, the interpretation of one of the
constituent features must have a bearing on that of the others. Moreover, the interpreta-
tion of the symbolism of the moonstone must be related to that of sculptures on other
architecturalmembers of the flight of steps of which it is the outermost feature. Nay, the
very edifice to which one is led through the flight of steps must possess a meaning to which
that of the moonstone can be correlated. It becomes necessary therefore to consider the
identity and purpose of the buildings in front of which some of the representative examples
of Anuradhapuramoonstones had been placed.
a Monolithic Pillars or Columns of Asoka in Z. D. M. G. for 1911, pp. 221-40; A History of Fine Art in
India and Ceylon, Oxford, 1911, pp. 59-60, 95.
6 Buddhist Art in India, Ceylon and Yava, Oxford, 1936, p. I .
7 Benjamin Rowland, The Art and Architecture of India, Penguin Books, 1953, pp. 45-46, 216, and The
Four Beasts: Directorial Symbolism in Ceylon in The Art Quarterly for Spring 1953, p. I5.
8
William E. Ward, The Lotus Symbol: Its Meaning in Buddhist Art and Philosophy in The 7ournal of
I99

We start with the building of which the purpose is quite obvious. This is the shrine at
Pankuliya to the north of Anuradhapura,at the foot of the flight of steps leading to which
is a moonstone (No. i), in which the decorative design is not so elaborateas in the examples
we have already noted. In addition to the lotus in the centre, it has a foliated scroll and a
band of only two animals- the horse and the elephant. The design on the outer rim and
the band of hamsas found in other moonstones are wanting in this. Inside the shrine, there
is still to be seen a seated Buddha image, on a moulded asana, with one of the hands in the
abhaya-mudra.On one of the steps is a Sanskritinscription in Grantha charactersof about
the eighth century, which records the name of the person who caused the flight of steps
leading to the abode of the Buddha to be constructed.9 Thus, in this instance, there is
absolutely no doubt that the moonstone belonged to a shrine meant to house a statue of
the Buddha. The moonstone is also approximately dated by the inscription, and as it is of
a simpler type than the well-known examples at Anuradhapura,the latter should be ascribed
to a somewhat later date, i. e. about the ninth century.
The shrine erroneously referred to as Mahasena's Pavilion,10 at which is found the best
moonstone (No. 2) in Anuradhapura(Fig. i, see Frontisp.),contains in its garbha-grhaa lotus-
pedestal with a slot into which a standing image of the Buddha appears to have been fitted.
The pedestal itself, though it is of the same shape as lotus pedestals,is plain,perhapsthe petals
were shown in the coating of lime plaster which covered it. There is thus reason to believe
that this shrine was of the same category as the one at Pankuliya,i. e. an image-house. A
ruined edifice to the south of the so-called Mahasena'sPavilion has a moonstone decorated
with a lotus at the foot of its flight of steps, and in the interior of the building is to be
seen a receptacle with twenty-five cavities of the type usually found placed beneath the
'Mahasena's
pedestals of Buddha images.11 The so-called Queen's Pavilion to the west of
Pavilion',12 at which is moonstone No. 3 in our list, has not been investigated with a view
Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. XI, pp. 135-146.

9 A. S. C., Seventh
Progress Report, pp. 6-7, 68; Report for 1911-12, Plate LVII.
10
J. G. Smither, Ancient Remains, Anuradhapura, Ceylon, 1894, pp. 59-60.
1 A. S. C. Annual Report for I9II-I2, pp. 34 and 36.
12
J. G. Smither, op. cit., p. 6 .
200

Fig. 2 Moonstone at a shrine near the Thuparama, the so-called Dalada Maligava, at Anuradhapura
Fig. 3 Moonstone at a shrine near the Basavakkulama,to the west of the Ruvanvali Dagaba, at Anuradhapura

to ascertaining its purpose. All the shrines referred to in this paragraphwere in the ancient
Abhayagiri Monastery.
In the inner shrine of the so-called Dalada Maligava(the Temple of the Tooth Relic) near
the Thuparamaat Anuradhapura,the moonstone (Fig. 2) of which has been studied by Dora
Gardiner (No. 4), was found a lotus pedestal for a standing image of the Buddha and some
fragments of Buddha statues.13 Its purpose was therefore the same as that of the shrine with
a moonstone at Pankuliya. To the south of the Thuparama, in a line parallel to the em-
bankment of the Basavakkulama(the ancient Abhayavapi), are three shrines of the same
ground plan and architecturaldesign as those of 'Mahasena'sPavilion'. Each one of these
has a moonstone (Nos. 5-7) at the foot of its flight of steps (Fig. 3). These shrines, being of
the same ground plan as those which housed images of the Buddha, can be inferred to have
served the same purpose, though there is no evidence now left of any Buddha image in
them. When the shrines of Anuradhapurawere abandoned, the images in most of them
appear to have been transported to be the objects of worship in new shrines erected at the
later capital of Polonnaruva.
Thus, among the shrines associated with moonstones at Anuradhapura and its environs,
there is one which still preserves its Buddha image, one has the pedestal of a standing Bud-
dha still left in situ and, in another, a lotus pedestal was found when it was first excavated.
In a fourth is still seen, in situ, the stone receptacle usually deposited under the lotus pe-
destal. It is thus reasonable to conclude that the sculptured moonstones, at least at Anu-
radhapura, were placed at the entrance to shrines of this category. Such a conclusion is
supported by the fact that the two actual examples of moonstones (apartfrom representa-
tions in bas-reliefs) found in India are at the entrance to two apsidal temples, in one of
which the object of worship was a standing image of the Buddha and, in the other, a
stupa.i
Elaborately sculptured moonstones are found at the flights of steps on the cardinal points
of the circularcaitya-g.rha,known as the Vatadageat Polonnaruva.15 Moonstones decorated
13
Ibid., p. 57, Plate LVI.
14
Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India, No. 7 1, Nigarjunakonda by T. N. Ramachandran, pp. 13
& 15 and Plate XII B. 15
Paranavitana, Stupa in Ceylon, Plate XIX.
202

with a lotus-petal design at the edge are also found at the flights of steps of the circular
caitya-grha at Tiriyay, on the east coast of Ceylon.16 In both these edifices, the object
of worship is the small stupa in the centre. Bas-relief representations of stilpas found at
AmaravatIand Nagarjunakondashow moonstones, either plain or decorated with a lotus
design, at the entrance."7 The placing of moonstones at the entrance to the precincts of a
stupa or a cetiya-gharamust have been dictated by the same reasons, for the stzpa and the
image are alike meant to direct the worshipper's mind to the Buddha. The Heranasikha,l8
a manual of conduct for novices, lays down that when a worshipper enters the precincts
of a stupa, he should consider himself as if he were in the presence of the living Buddha.
Assuming thus that the symbolism of the moonstone is conditioned by its being placed at
the foot of a flight of steps leading to an edifice enshrining an image of the Buddha, it be-
comes necessary for us to raise the question: In what manner was the Buddha contemplat-
ed upon when an image of his was installed inside an edifice? The devotee, no doubt,
would have been reminded of the qualities of the Buddha as recommended for the meditat-
ion of Buddhanussati,but in what capacity was the Buddha represented? In this connection,
it is important to note that, apart from a few pieces of sculpture that have obviously been
imported from India,19 no ancient Buddha image has been found in Ceylon, either in the
round or in bas-relief, intended as a representation of an episode in his life, either before
or after the Enlightenment, as we have in such abundancein India, particularlyin Gandhara
and the Andhra country. Nor do we have in Ceylon ancient Buddha images meant as re-
presentations of the main episodes, e. g., the Enlightenment by the presence of the Bo-tree,
the First Preaching by the presence of the deer and the dharma-cakra,and the appropriate
gesture of the hands. It cannot also be said that the colossal recumbent images of the Bud-
dha carved in the living rock are representations of the parinirvana. They are nowhere
referred to as such in literature, being simply called sayita patima or ot pilima, 'sleeping
images'. The Sinhalese artists apparently considered painting to be the appropriatemedium
16
A. S. C. Annual Report for I95 I, p. 29.
17 Paranavitana, Stipa in Ceylon, p. 72, Plate XVa.
18 Colombo edition of p. 22.
I911,
19 Annual Bibliography of Indian Archaeology for I936, pp. I 5-I8.
203

for representing scenes from the career of the Buddha. But such scriptures as the Saddhar-
mapundarzka,in which 'the Buddha doctrine is completely emancipated from its historical
setting,' did not find favour with the orthodox church in Ceylon. How then were images
of the Buddha, manifestly ontological and not historical in their manner of representation,
explained by the orthodox when they, following the practice in the rest of the Buddhist
world, came to set them up in temples specially built for the purpose?
A verse given in the Elu Safidais-lakuna20 an ancient text on Sinhalese prosody - as an
-
example of the metre named Yongi, leads us to a satisfactory reply to this question. The
ELluSandas-lakunahas been ascribed to the thirteenth century, but the examples quoted in
that text have, for the most part, been taken from literary works that were classics at the
time it was written, and were probably much older than the thirteenth century. The verse
that we are now concerned with can, on the evidence of its language, be taken as of the
tenth century, i. e. not far removed in date from that of Anuradhapurashrines containing
moonstones. A literal translation of this verse would be: 'May the Lion of the Sakyaswho,
having accepted the prayer of Brahma, has arrived, by thought, on the summit of the
mountain, for the sake of happiness to the world - (may that Buddha) grant victory to
thee of the strong (lit. great) arm.' What the prayer of Brahmais, and the reference to the
Buddha arriving on the summit of the mountain in consequence of that prayer, are to be
explained from a well-known passage in the scriptures of the Theravada Buddhists. Accord-
ing to the sacred tradition the Buddha, after the Great Awakening, pondered on the pro-
fundity of the Truth that he had realized, and the incapacity of the average man to grasp
such profundities. He, therefore, made up his mind not to proclaim the dhamma. Brahma
became aware of this and, being concerned with the happiness of the world, presented
himself before the Buddha, and persuaded the Awakened One to preach the doctrine.
In the course of this prayer of Brahmaoccurs the following:
'As from a mountain's rocky pinnacle
the folk around are clear to view, so, sage
20 Bamba yadun gena his - age sitin pilipan

n
Diyata setata Sdhas mahabd tata diya dene.
Elu Sandds-lakuna, edited by Valitara Sri
Nanavasa Thera, Colombo, I92I, p. 6.
204

from thy truth's palace,from its topmost height
survey with eye all-seeingfolk beneath
poor thralls of birth and swift decay, whose doom
is that same sorrow thou no more will know.'21
In this passage, the Buddha, who has realized the Ultimate Truth and put an end to
the miseries of existence, is conceived as having ascended the Palace of Truth (dhamma-
mayampasadam); moreover, this palace (pasada) is compared to the summit of a mountain,
from the vantage point of which the Buddha,with his all-seeing eye of wisdom, surveys the
unfortunate beings subject to the sorrows which are the inevitable consequence of birth.
The Palace of Truth is thus synonymous with the summit of the mountain. This identifica-
tion of the summit of the mountain with the Palace of Truth is also echoed in the Saddhar-
maratndvalz,22 a Sinhalese religious treatise of the thirteenth century. Commenting on the
Dhammapada,II, 6, where the Palace of Wisdom is referred to in almost the same words
as the Palace of Truth is in Brahma's prayer, this text says that the ksznasirava (i. e. the
Buddha or the Arhant) ascends the Meru (the cosmic mountain) of Wisdom. This also
explains why, in a number of ancient Sinhalese stUipas,the golden relic casket representing
the Buddha had been placed on the top of a stone fashioned to represent Meru which stood
erect on three props (the Trikuta) in the centre of the relic-chamber.
A tenth century inscription from the so-called Vessagiri monastery at Anuradhapurafur-
nishes evidence to the fact that, in mediaeval Ceylon, shrines which housed Buddha images
were known as pasadas, for this document, among other things, records the grant of ten
kalandas of gold in order to defray the expenses of oil for lamps for the Buddha in the
pahaya (pasada).2 On the other hand, mediaeval inscriptions and the chronicle refer to
religious edifices as pavu or pabbata,'mountain'; in the case of such edifices called 'mount-
ains' that can now be identified, it is found that the name is not justified by their location
on natural eminences.24
21 Lord Chalmers, Further Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. I, p. I 19.
22
Colombo edition of 1925, p. 276.
Epigraphia Zeylanica, Vol. I, p. 25; pahayd Budnat vda telat. Budnat in this phrase clearly means 'for
23
the Buddha'; but Wickremasinghe has translated it as 'to him who sleeps'.
Epigraphia Zeylanica, Vol. I1,p. i88 (Uda Kitagbo-pavu) and p. 47 (Salameyvan-pavu); Ciulavainsa,
24 See
Chap. 52, v. 58 (Silamegha-pabbata) and Chap. 49, v. 30 (Dappula-pabbata). Kitagbo-pavu was a shrine
205

The passagein which the Buddha is conceived as looking down with compassion on suf-
fering humanity from the height of the Palace of Truth, as if it were from a mountain top,
occurs in no less than six separate texts 25 of the Pali canon, and must have been very fa-
miliar to the leaders of the Church as well as to a considerable number of the lay devotees.
Its emotional appeal would have been patent to the leaders of the Church and, when it
became necessary to adopt the Buddha image for popular worship, they might well have
installed it in such a manner as to remind the devotee of this prayer of Brahma.
The shrines at Anuradhapura,in which the object of worship was an image of the Buddha,
and at the entrance to which moonstones are placed, are built on moulded platforms, the
level on which the image is set up being about 3 ft. above that of the ground. The edge of
the moonstone is flush with the ground. If, as we have surmised, the shrine itself is meant
to represent the Palace of Truth from which the Buddha looks down with compassion
upon beings undergoing suffering in the saimsdra,the moonstone must be taken as the plane
on which those who are still enmeshed in the world flux have their being, that is to say, the
bhava-cakra,the circle of existence or becoming. Though shown as a semi-circle, it is no
doubt meant to be taken as half covered by the base of the edifice, the floor of which, thus,
not only is at a higher level but also extends beyond that of the moonstone in all the
directions except the front. The plane on which the Buddha has his abode is thus meant
to be taken as not only transcending that of the samsara, but also of limitless extent
when compared with the latter. The moonstone is thus a representation of the world, not
however to be understood as cosmic geography (okasa-loka), but in a psychological sense
(sarkhdra-loka).
It is, of course, quite possible that, to begin with, the semi-circularslabs of stone or pieces
of wood at the entrance to a building served a utilitarian purpose. But an object used for
at the site now known as Puliyankulama, where there is no natural feature deserving the description of
'mountain' or 'hill'.
25 For other translations of this
passage, see Vinaya Texts, Vol. I (S. B. E., Vol. XIII), pp. 86-7, Lord
Chalmers, Further Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. I, p. I I9, Rhys Davids, The Book of Kindred Sayings,
Vol. I, p. 173. For the original Pali, see Vinaya-pitaka, edited by Oldenberg, p. 5; Digha Nikaya,
P. T. S. Edition, Vol. II, p. 39; Majjhima Nikaya, P. T. S. Edition, Vol. I, p. i68 and Vol. II, p. 93; Sanyutta
Nikaya, P. T. S. Edition, Vol. I, p. 240 and Itivuttaka, P. T. S. Edition, p. 33.
206

practical purposes in daily life could very well have acquired a symbolical meaning in re-
ligious matters; witness, for example, the wheel. It is also possible that, originally,the shape
and position of the moonstone were considered adequate in themselves to convey the idea
that we have explained above. In this connection, the wordpatika, by which the Mahavamsa
refers to the moonstone,26 appears to be significant, for it can be interpreted as derived
from the root pat, and meaning 'piercer' or 'divider.' It is the moonstone that divides the
phenomenal world from the transcendental represented by the sacred shrine.
However this may be, it appearsto have been felt by some that a plain semi-circular slab
did not adequately express the idea it was meant to convey, and the symbolic language of
the moonstone was at first made clear and definite by the representation of a half lotus in
relief in the centre. For the lotus design appearsto have been the first stage in the decora-
tion of the moonstone. In the moonstone shown in a relief from AmaravatT,datable in the
second or third century of the Christian era, this is the only decorative motive present. 27
In Ceylon, too, there are many moonstones in which the decoration is limited to a half
lotus in the centre, and in the more developed moonstones, the lotus is always present. In
fact, the other motives gravitate round the lotus in the centre, which alone, therefore, ap-
pears to have been sufficient to symbolise the idea to be conveyed by the moonstone.
Now, what does the lotus signify? Dr. A. K. Coomaraswamy, in his Elementsof Buddhist
Iconography,has made an exhaustive analysis of the references in pre-Buddhistand Buddhist
literature which have a bearing on the symbolism of the lotus in Buddhist iconography.
Summarisingthe results of his research on this subject, he states: 'The lotus denotes on-
tologically a firm establishment amongst the possibilities of existence, denotes a birth and
manifestation primarilyin the intelligible, or also and consequently in the sensible, world'."2
'Thus it is abundantly clear that the lotus, flower or leaf, but in actual iconography usually
"flower," arisingfrom or resting on the waters, represents the ground (prthivz)or substance
of existence, both that whereon and that wherein existence is established firmly amidst the
26 Mahavainsa, Chap. XXXI, v. 6I and Vamsatthappakdsinz,P. T. S. Edition, p. 572.

27
Paranavitana, Stipa in Ceylon, p. 72 and J. Burgess, Amaravazi and Jaggayyapeta Buddhist Stipas,
frontispiece.
28
Coomaraswamy, Elements of Buddhist Iconography, Cambridge, Mass., 1935, pp. 59 and 20.
207

sea of possibility.' These conclusions of Dr. Coomaraswamy make the lotus on the moon-
stone significant when taken in conjunction with the hypothesis that the shrine with the
Buddha image in it represents the Prasadaof Dharma,29to which the Buddha has ascended.
Just as the image of the Buddhais placed well above the level of the lotus in the moonstone,
so has the Buddha gone above and beyond birth and manifestation in the intelligible or
sensible world.
If the idea is thus to illustrate that the Buddha transcends all possible planes of existence,
the lotus which occupied the highest level of the moonstone should symbolise the highest
conceivable plane of existence in the intelligible or sensible world. According to Buddhist
beliefs, the highest plane of existence in the world of form is the Brahma-loka,in particular,
the abode of the Pure Beings (suddhavasakayika) who remain in bliss for incalculableaeons of
time before final attainment of Nirvana. MahayanaBuddhists believe in a Pure Abode or
Land of Bliss, where beings destined to attain Nirvana appear seated in the cup of a lotus
on a lion throne. 30 That such beliefs were not unknown to the Buddhists of Ceylon is
proved by the Sinhalese poem Kavsilumina (circa I 3th century) which, in describing the
city of Kusavatiwhere the Bodhisattva was once born, compares it, as the place of origin
of great beings, to 'a lotus which has come into existence in the Brahma-world.'31
The lotus at its centre being thus in itself adequate to represent the idea meant to be con-
veyed by the moonstone, the other motives which surround it in the more developed types
must be meant to emphasize this central idea. They must be meant to express some charac-
teristic of the world above which the Buddhahas risen, and on which he has fixed his bene-
volent gaze; or must suggest the means by which the Buddha has attained to the summit
of the Dharma-prasada,having crossed over the ground of all possible existence, and by
which others who tread the same path may do so. With these considerations in view, we
now proceed to examine the significance of the rest of the motives which constitute the
design of a fully elaborated moonstone, starting with the outermost band of ornament.
29 Prasada may mean 'a terrace' or 'a palace'. See Stella Kramrisch, The Hindu Temple,Vol. I, pp. 134-6
and P. K. Acharya, Dictionary of Hindu Architecture, pp. 420-23.
30
Larger SukhdvatZ-vyuha,translated by F. Max Muller (S. B. E., Vol. XLIX), p. 62.
31 Vg Kusavat nam nuvarek upat sat-sara
Piribo-da-siri-nadan piyum-ev Bamba-tele dunu. Kavsilumina, Canto I, v. 7.
208

This has been described as a cobra pattern by Dr. Vincent Smith,32 border of
foliage by
Mr. J. G. Smither33andpalapeti- a motive common in Kandyanart of the eighteenth century
- by Mr. William E. Ward. 3 In my opinion, what are represented in the outermost circle
of the moonstones are flames; compare the flame represented in the
sculpture reproduced at
Plate 34, fig. 84, of Dr. Stella Kramrisch'sIndian Sculpture.As demanded by the narrow
space
into which they have to be filled, and also by the nature of the theme, the flames are shown
as forked and swaying sideways by gusts of wind. As this band is at the lowermost level
of the moonstone, what is represented therein should indicate a characteristicunderlying
existence, if the moonstone itself symbolises existence or the world. And the Buddhist
texts are never weary in emphasizing that the world is aflame by the fires of desire and
hatred. To quote a few from dozens of possible references, the SamzyuttaNikdya (I, 133)
says:
'On fire is all the world and racked in flames,
Ablaze is all the world, the heav'ns do quake'35
The same text (III, 71) further says: 'Body is on fire, bretheren, feeling is on fire, percep-
tion, the activities and consciousness are on fire.'36 In the Theragathd,the Psalm attributed
to the Arhat Talaputa has the following:
'O when shall I, yoked to the avenues of calm
With deeper vision, see the things of sense
Innumerable - sights and sounds
Odours and tastes and tangibles
And all the inner objects of the mind
As things ablaze and burning,
Yea, when cometh this for me.' 37
The outermost band of ornament of the moonstone thus graphicallyrepresents the underly-
ing character of the world which the Buddha has passed beyond and above. Moreover, to
32 A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon,p, 95.
33 Ancient Remains, Anuradhapura, Ceylon,p. 59.
34: rournal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. XI, p. I45.
35 The Book of Kindred Sayings, Part I, translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids, p. I67.
36
The Book of Kindred Sayings, Part III, translated by F. L. Woodward, p. 62.
37 Psalms of the Early Buddhists, II, Psalms of the Bretheren, translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids, p. 372.
209

the devotee who approaches the shrine, it says that he too must realise this if he were to
attain his goal, which is the same as that attained by the Buddha.
We should now be in a position to judge the appropriatenessof any interpretation of the
idea represented by the procession of animalsin the next band of ornament in the moon-
stone. The four animals,according to views now generally accepted, are held to symbolize
the four quarters.Mr. Bell was, no doubt, right when he came to the conclusion that the
effigies of the four beasts buried under the four entrances to the Vijayarama,in association
with the figures of the respective dikpalas, symbolized the four quarters. The same four
animals surmounting the stelae of vahalkadlas,from the positions that they occupy, must be
concluded as performing the function of symbolizing the cardinal points.38 Similarly,the
figures of animalsin some of the cavities of the stone garbha with twenty-five compartments
(the so-called yantra-gala) under the lotus pedestal of the Buddha image in a shrine at Ma-
dirigiri,39must have symbolized the quarters. Evidence for the practice of burying figures
of animals symbolizing the four quarters has also been recorded from Malaya.40
In all these examples where the figures of animals are evidently meant to symbolize the
quarters,they exhibit one characteristicin common. The figure of one animal occupies a
fixed point in space, and the animal itself is represented as at rest, not moving. This is as
it should be, for the concept of directions is based on that of immobile space. The animals
on our moonstones, on the other hand, in the words of Dora Gardiner, 'chase one another
with the vigour of beasts in a circus ring.' If they symbolize the four quarters, there is also
no purpose of repeating one animal, twice, thrice or four times on one and the same moon-
stone. Moreover, on certain moonstones, all the four animals are not represented. The
Pankuliya moon-stone already referred to has elephants and horses, and a specimen from
Oggomuva (CeylonYournalof Science,Section G., Vol. II, plate LXXXI) contains the figures
of elephants. If the elephants on moonstones symbolize the quarters, and the occurrence
of the four animals indicate the universality of the Buddha-sasana, the occurrence of the
elephants on the Oggomuva moonstone, following the same argument, should indicate that
38
S. Paranavitana, The Stfzpa in Ceylon,pp. 55-6.
39 A. S. C. Annual Report for 1946, pp. I3-4.
40 .
R. A. S. for 1946, p. I45.
210

the shrine in question, if not the Buddhist Church, was only for people coming from the
east, which is absurd.
The presence of the figures of other animals in addition to those symbolizing the four
quarters on the limestone borders round the moonstones at the entrance to shrines at Na-
garjunakondaalso goes against this hypothesis. On the outer semi-circular border fitted to
the edge of the moonstone at the entrance to the patima-ghara (Buddha-caitya)at Nagarju-
nakonda, the lion occurs five times, the elephant twice, the deer, horse, boar, bull and buf-
falo occur only once each. On the corresponding border (fragmentary) of the moonstone
at the entrance to the cetiya-ghara (Stipa-caitya), the animals shown are lion, buffalo and
horned lion.41 The number of different kinds of animals around the completely preserved
moonstone at Nagarjunakondais not four, six, eight or any other found in the enumeration
of quarters in Buddhist or Hindu writings.
These four animals are also represented in other earlier sculptures of Ceylon in a manner
inappropriate to their being interpreted as symbols of the four quarters.42 On the stelae
flanking the vahalkadasof early stUipas,figures of these four animals,alternating with those
of nude boys, are shown as springing from and flying out of stems originating from pots.
The vertical arrangementof the animals on these stelae, their representation as flying into
space, and the nude figures coming between them, cannot be satisfactorily explained on
Mr. Bell's hypothesis. Springing from the stems represented on these stelae, and in the em-
brasuresformed by the windings of the stems of creepers, are sometimes found the figures
of other animals,in addition to those taken as symbolising the quarters.
Enough evidence has been adduced, I think, to establish that these four animals, for the
reason that they have been made to symbolize the quarters under certain conditions, must
not be taken as performing that function wherever they occur in Buddhist art. A word,
for the reason that it had been used with a particularmeaning in a given context, need not
have that same meaning everywhere it occurs. Pursuing this analogy, and keeping in mind
that a study of the various contexts in which a word occurs helps one to understand the
41 Nagarjunakonda(Memoirsof the ArchaeologicalSurveyof India,No. 7I), pp. 13

T. N. Ramachandran,
& 15.
42
A.S. C. Annual R197,
Reportfor Plate III; S. Paranavitana, Stiipa in Ceylon,pp. 53-54 and Plate X.
21

changes in meaning it graduallyundergoes, we may examine certainreferences to the quarters
in pre-Buddhistand Buddhist writings,in order to demonstrate how symbols which represent-
ed the four quarters could have acquired a different significance in course of time.
The earliest reference to the cult of the quarters in ancient India is found in two hymns
of the Atharvaveda"3 (Book III, 26 and 27). In the first of these two hymns, each of the
six quarters (the four cardinal points, zenith and nadir) is invoked to be gracious and to
bless the worshipper. In the second hymn, after mentioning the overlord, the defender and
the arrows of each quarter, and paying him homage, the priest says, 'who hates us, whom
we hate, him we put in your jaws.' The quartersaccordingly appear to have been consider-
ed as spirits capable of bringing disaster to men unless duly propitiated.
Turning now to the Buddhist scriptures, in a discourse delivered to King Kosala,the Bud-
dha addresses the monarch as follows: 'Suppose a man were to come to you from the east,
a man loyal and trustworthy, and were to say: "May it please you to know, sire, that I
have come from the eastern districts, and that I there saw a great mountain high as the sky
moving along, crushing every living thing as it came, whatever you can do, sire, do it." And
suppose other men came, from west, north and south, all three loyal and trustworthy, and
brought similarmessages. And you, sire, seized with mighty dread........ what is there that
you could do?' The king replies: 'In such a mighty peril, lord, what else could I do save
to live righteously and justly and work good and meritorious deeds?' The Buddha then
explains the parable:'I tell you, sire, I make known to you, sire - old age and death come
rolling in upon you, sire' and continued to emphasize that there is no other deliverance
from the perils of old age and death than 'to live righteously and to work good and me-
ritorious deeds.'4 For our present purpose, the interest of this discourse is that four great
perils are represented as coming from the east, west, north and south, and the perils of old
age and death are said to be more real than these imaginaryperils. The old belief about the
malevolent nature of the four quarters must have lent point to the parable, and the perils
of old age and death (and, as the commentator points out, those of misfortune and disease)
are all but identified with the four quarters.
43 Atharvaveda-sayhiita, translated by W.D.Whitney, (Harvard Oriental Series, Vol. VII) First Half, p. 133.
4< The Book of Kindred Sayings, Part I, translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids, p. ff.
125
212

The ancient beliefs about the quarters have been made use of by the Buddha, in Sigala's
Homily, to propound the most exhaustive rules of conduct for a householder met with
anywhere in the Pali Canon. The Buddha, it is said, saw the householder Sigalaat breakof
day worshipping the quarters (six as in the Atharva-veda). Interrogated by the Buddha,
Sigala said that he did this as his dead father had exhorted him to do so every morning.
The Buddha thereupon told Sigalathat the latter did not worship the quartersin the proper
way and, requested by Sigalato instruct him, identified each quarter with persons to whom
a layman has obligations - parents, the eastern quarter; teachers,the southern quarter;wife
and children, the western quarter; friends, the northern quarter;servants, the nadir;religious
preceptors, the zenith - and detailed the mutual obligations of each.5 We are not concern-
ed here with the ethical excellence of the teaching embodied in this discourse. What is of
interest to us in our present investigation is that the Buddha, after detailing the manner in
which each 'quarter' has to be ministered, ends with the same refrain with the necessary
variation with regard to the particularquarter,e.g.: 'Thus is this eastern quarter protected
by him and made safe and secure.' The Pali word translated by 'secure' is appatibhaya,
literally, 'not perilous'. This refrain indicates that the normal belief then was that the
quarters if not properly ministered to, constituted perils.
In fact, this discourse appearsto use the word meaning 'quarter'-disa - in the sense of
'peril.' One of the duties of teachers towards a pupil is stated to be disasu parittanam
karonti. Taking disa in its known meaning of 'quarter', this sentence should be literally
translated as '(they; i. e. teachers) affordprotection (to him, i. e. the pupil) in quarters,'which
does not convey much sense. The old commentator, who, as a matter of course, took disa
to mean 'quarter', is at great pains to make this sentence convey a reasonablemeaning. For
instance, he explains that the teacher by the very fact of imparting knowledge of arts and
sciences affords protection to the pupil in every quarter, forgetting that, if this was what
was intended by the sentence, it is redundant, for the imparting of knowledge of the arts
and sciences is given separately as one of the duties of teachers towards the pupil. An al-
ternative explanation is that the teacher takes the necessary measures so that the pupil, on
his return home after completing his education, does not come into harm's way at the hands
45 T. W. and C.A. F. Rhys Davids, Dialoguesof the Buddha,part III, pp. 173-I84.
213

of bandits, wild beasts, serpents etc. 6 This, clearly is beyond the power of a teacher to
ensure. If we, on the other hand, assume the word disa in the above quoted sentence to
be synonymous with bhaya,'fear', 'danger' or 'peril', and translatethe passageas '(they i. e.
teachers) afford (him, i. e. the pupil) protection in (the event of) perils', it lays down one
of the obvious duties of a teacher towards a pupil at an age in which the pupil lived in the
house of the teacher during the course of his studies, away from his parents. In such cir-
cumstances, it was the clear duty of the teacher to look after the pupil in case of any
danger like sickness, famine, etc. The very word parittana is indicative of protection in
fear or danger.
However this may be, this association together of 'quarter' with 'peril' in two religious
discourses which, in the past, must have been as frequently expounded to the laity as they
are today, must have had the effect of identifying the one with the other in the popular
mind, so that symbols which originally represented quarters came in course of time to
signify perils also. It is not difficult to imagine how, in times preceding the age of the Bud-
dha, when towns and villages in India were separated from one another by large stretches
of forests with their unknown dangers, the 'quarters' outside inhabited localities were con-
sidered to be pregnant with fears, dangers and perils. And, as listed in the Anguttara Nikaya,
the perils, like the quarters,are four in number: birth, decay, i. e. old age, disease and death.7
But this enumeration was not hard and fast. We have seen that, in the Parable of the
Mountains delivered to King Kosala,the Buddha mentions only old age and death, though
four perils are said to be crushing their way from the four quarters. The commentator,48
in supplying the other two, includes 'misfortune' (vipatti) not included in the enumeration
in the Anguttara Nikaya. Some may have taken into account other 'perils' also.
On these grounds, I conclude that the four animals on the more elaborate moonstones of
Anuradhapuraare meant to symbolize the four perils. Interpreted thus, the band of animals
is designed to illustrate another characteristic of existence in the world which the moon-
46 Sumangala-vilasini, P. T S. Edition, pp. 954-5 5.

47 Cattari'mani bikkave bhayini. Katamani catidri, jdti-bhayam, jard-bhayam, vyddhi-bhayami,marana-
bkayam. Imani kho bhikkave cattdri bhaydni. Anguttara Nikdya, P. T. S. Edition, Vol. I, p. 120.
48
Sdratthappakdsin7, P. T. S. Edition, part I, p. i68.
214

stone as a whole is meant to symbolize. Such an interpretation fits in well with the manner
in which the animals are depicted on the moonstones. In the four moonstones numbered
4 to 7, the animals starting from the right are represented as following one another in the
order of elephant, bull, lion, horse. The quartet is repeated twice, and at the left hand corner
the elephant appears again, suggesting the continuance of the procession in the half of the
circle to be taken as hidden from view by the base of the building. In moonstones number-
ed and 3, there are three quartets, the thirteenth animal at the left end being an
2
elephant. Thus the animalsare following each other in a never ending circle. This is samsara
with its never ending circle of birth, decay, disease and death.
We cannot be quite certain as to the peril which each animal was meant to represent; but
if we take the first one from the right, towards which they are moving, as the first of the
perils as they are manifested in the world, we may take the elephant to symbolize birth;
the bull, decay; lion, disease and horse, death. But difference of opinion is possible as to
whether decay or disease should follow birth. The last of the quartet, horse, may indicate
death. This is of course on the assumption that the other three perils follow as a conse-
quence of birth; but one could argue that birth itself is a consequence of death. In the
Telakataha-gdthad,9 death is compared in one stanza (No. 15) to the bull, and in two others
(Nos. 21 and 22) to the elephant.
Just as the Buddha, in the Parable of the Mountains, enumerated only two of the perils,
namely decay and death, some would have considered it sufficient so symbolize only two
perils; we have, thus, only two animals,the elephant and the horse, in the Pankuliyamoon-
stone. Perhaps these two are meant to represent birth and death. Again, some could
argue that the other three perils were consequent on death or birth, and be satisfied with
portraying only one animal; so we have a procession of elephants in the Oggomuva moon-
stone. The samsara can be characterizedas a cycle of births. Birth or death occurs only
once in a life time, whereas disease is of frequent occurrence. Hence, one animal may
recur oftener than the others. On a moonstone at the Bo-tree temple, we have three
animals in the following order: elephant, bull, elephant, bull, elephant, horse, elephant,
bull, elephant, horse, elephant, bull, elephant, bull, elephant. On the moonstones at Polon-
49 7ournal of the Pali Text Societyfor 1884, pp. 5-68.
215

naruva,for example on those at the Vatadage,instead of a single band of animals, we have
two or three separate bands each consisting of a procession of one animal, the bull being
absent. The Bomaluva and the Polonnaruva moonstones were perhaps carved at a time
when the symbolism of the animals was forgotten, but the theme is capable of various per-
mutations and combinations.
If we take that the animals symbolize the perils, their representation on the stelae at the
vahalkadascan also be satisfactorily explained. The stems with spreading leaves springing
from pots found on these stelae, like similarmotifs on the pillars on the gateways at Sanchi,
are obviously representations of the Tree of Life,50 kappa-rukkhas, which, in the Apadana5
and other Pali texts, are referred to as being set up in the vicinity of stipas. In popular
belief, the kappa-rukkhais supposed to produce all desires. In the kappa-rukkhasshown on
the stelae of Ceylon dagabas,the nude figures of boys, or erotes as we may call them, are
obviously meant to represent desires (kdma), which life brings forth. But Life is not pro-
ductive of desires only. It also produces birth, decay, disease and death. Thus we have the
figures of the four animals alternatingwith those of the erotes. The animals,starting from
bottom, are not always in the same order as they are on the moonstones, but the elephant
generally comes first. In the DakkhinaThupa stele, there is a figure of a vyala in addition
to the four familiaranimals. In the Mirisavatiyastele, the elephant is followed by a maned
lion, bull and a succession of three maneless lions. In the creepers (kalpalata) decorating
these stelae, the same four animals are shown in the embrasuresformed by the windings of
the stem. The symbolism again is that the creeper of life harbours hidden perils. On these
creepers also, there are at times animals other than the familiarfour, a circumstance which
can be explained by the fact that the perils of life are not limited to the stock number of
four. On the facia between the two upper string-courses of the western vahalkadaat Mi-
risavati Dagaba, there is a procession of the four animalswith the figure of a man shown
twice.52 The man, possibly, represents karma by which these perils are led to affect the lives
of beings.
50 For the representations of the Tree of Life at Saiichi, see The Monumentsof Sa chi, by Sir John Marshall
and Alfred Foucher, Vol. I, pp. 142-147, and Coomaraswamy, Elements of Buddhist Iconography, p. 7 ff.
52
51 P. T. S. Edition, pp. 90-91. J. G. Smither, Architectural Remains, Anuradhapzra, Ceylon,Pl. XXI.
2i6

The arrangement of animals,including the deer, buffalo and boar, in addition to the four
on AnurIdhapuramoonstones, in a band round the rim of the plain moonstone at the en-
trance to the image-house at Nagarjunakonda,can also be explained if we take them to sym-
bolize perils.5 The devotee, once he has crossed the moonstone and entered the shrine, has
symbolically overcome the perils of existence, and arrived at a place where he is immune
from them. The idea of the Buddha having gone beyond and above the world surrounded
by these perils is also conveyed.
The arrangement of figures of animals in front of the flight of steps leading to a ruined
shrine, probably dating from the seventh century,54 which housed a colossal Buddha image
of limestone, about 40 ft. in height, at a place called Maligavilain the Uva Province of
Ceylon, appears to have been carried out on the same principle as that of the abovemen-
tioned moonstone at Nagarjunakonda. The ground in front of the flight of steps leading
to the shrine at Maligavilais paved with rectangularslabs of limestone. The central slab of
the row next to the lowermost step has a raised semi-circulararea with a band of lions, and
on the slabs in front and on the two sides of it are representations of various animalsin
low relief. The central slab of the outermost row shows figures of six lions arranged in
sets of three moving towards the centre of an outer band in a semicircular area in low
relief. Here, too, the pilgrim, in entering the shrine, leaves the figures of animals behind
him; that is, he symbolically goes to a place where perils no longer can overtake him.
The four beasts on the abacus of the Sarnath capital, too, become more significant if they
are interpreted as symbolical of the four perils, rather than the four quarters. Here, too, the
animalsare not stationary as is necessary if they are to be explained as signifying the quarters.
They are shown as running away, as if in terror, with the wheel (dharma-cakra) behind
each of them. Here, in my opinion, we have a very graphic illustration of the perils which
beset the world, i. e. birth, decay, disease and death, being chased away as a consequence of
the Buddha's rolling the Wheel of the Law at Isipatana,as Sarnathwas known in the Bud-
dha'stime. In fact, the eradicationof these very four perils of birth,decay, disease and death is
53 Ramachandran, Nagarjunakonda, (A. S. I. Memoirs, No. 71) pp. 13 & 15.

54 This shrine appears to be the Patima-vihara recorded as a work of Prince Dappula of Rohana in the
Cilavansa, chap. 45, vv. 43-44.
217

said, in words attributedto the Buddha himself, to have been effected with regardto them-
selves, by the five disciples to whom the Enlightened One preachedhis message for the first
time at Isipatana.55It is therefore quite appropriateto have such a graphic representation
of the perils being chased away on a monument erected to commemorate the turning of
the Wheel of the Law, at the spot where that momentous event took place.
The third band, from outside, of the elaboratelydecorated moonstones contains a handsome
undulating scroll of leaves and flowers, i. e. a creeper. In the Pali Buddhist scriptures,there
are frequent passagesin which craving or desire (tanha) is compared to a creeper. For in-
stance, in the Dhammapada,XXIV, 7, we read: 'The streamsflow everywhere; the creeper
(of craving) springing up gets fixed. If you see that creeper spring up, cut its roots by
means of wisdom.' 5 In the Theragdthd,57craving or desire is called 'the creeper of desire
with varied twinings'. Craving (tanhan)is of three categories, craving for pleasure, craving
for existence and craving for getting rid of existence. The creeper must symbolize craving
for existence, i. e. the desire for life.
The creeper figures with precisely the same significance in the well-known parable of
'the man in the well' given in the Mahabharata, 8 to illustrate the nature of samsara. This
parable has been delightfully put into English as follows: 'A Brahmin, losing his way in a
forest, fell into a pit. As he fell, he caught hold of the creeper on the edge and hung "like
a ripe fruit", while at the bottom of the pit a monster opened his greedy mouth to devour
him and at the root of the creeper two mice, one white and one black, gnawed at the feeble
support. As if this were not enough, a black elephant, with six heads and twelve legs, came
up to crush him. But in the hollow of the tree which stood by the pit, bees had made
55 Lord Chalmers,FurtherDialoguesof the Buddha,Vol. I, p. 123.

56The translation is that of Sir S. Radhakrishnan, Dhammapada, Oxford University Press, I950, p. I63.
The word in parenthesis has been altered by me from 'passion' to 'craving'. The whole chapter is on
tanha and the creeper, therefore,as is expressly stated in the old Sinhalese commentary,must refer to
'craving'in particular,and not to passions in general.
57 Theragatha, P. T. S. edition, v. 1004, tanhd-latamnbahuvidha anuvattanimn.Mrs. Rhys Davids in Psalms
of the Early Buddhists, II, p. 371, translates the phrase as 'the creeper of Desire with all its tendrils twin-
ing far and strong.
58 Northern Recension, Citrasala Press, Poona, 193 , XI, 5.
218

honey, and the sweet stuff fell in thick drops within easy reach of the hand of the hanging
man. Then, forgetting the near danger, the Brahmin stretched out his hand and ate the
honey greedily'. This parable,related by the sage Vidura, who as Vidhura figures as a wise
man in the 5Iatdkas,is thoroughly Buddhist in spirit, and must have been current among
them, for it is the subject of a sculpture from Nagarjunakonda. 9 In it, the Brahminstands
for every one of us. The forest is the circle of existence. The monster in the pit (a Naga)
is Time the destroyer. The creeper is the desire for life (jivitsJa). The six-headed and
twelve-legged elephant is the year with its six seasons and twelve months, the mice being
the days and nights. The drops of honey are the pleasuresof life we snatch at with no con-
sideration of the menacing perils.
The undulating stem of the creeper depicted on the moonstones is in accord with the
characterisation of the creeper of craving (desire) as 'of varied twinings' (bahuvidhanuvat-
tanim) in the Theragathi, and perhaps by itself symbolizes tanha-lat$,the leaves and flowers
being manifestations in life due to this craving which, according to the old Sinhalese gloss
of the Dhammapada,is compared to a creeper for the reason that it connects and inter-
twines one state of existence with another. It is worthy of note that the creeper has leaves
in abundance, but little of flowers or of fruit. In some examples of moonstones (e. g. No. 5)
a bird is shown sucking the honey in one of these sparseflowers, just as beings in the circle
of existence, birds of passage as they are, succeed in snatching such pleasuresof life as come
their way at rare intervals.
The symbolism of the moonstone so far as indicated by the three outer bands, therefore,
is that the world - the circle of existence - is at base on fire, and is a continued succession
of the four perils of birth, disease, old age and death. Not mindful of the nature of the
world, the craving for life flourishes vigourously, diversified in its manifestations, but pro-
ducing little that the beings wandering in the cycle of existence can find for their enjoy-
ment. So far, in the most beautifulanimaland vegetable forms that the chisel of the Sinhalese
Buddhist sculptors has succeeded in extracting out of intractable stone, the world has been
shown for what it is (yathd-bhhtam)so that a state of non-attachment to it is brought about
59 Prof. J.Ph. Vogel in Revue des Ars Asiatiques, XI, pp. I89 ff.
219

in the mind of the devotee who is duly instructed, and the Buddha above is looking down
on him with compassion.
Gazing at the moonstone further in the direction of the shrine, the pilgrim of olden days
would have noticed, as the sight-seer of today does, the row of geese in the fourth band
from outside. In contrast to the violent and agitated swaying of the flames in the outer-
most band, the headlong rush of the beasts in the second, and the intricate intertwinings of
the creeper in the third, the geese move in a dignified and orderly manner- the fact that
they are moving being indicated by the gestures of the heads and the position of their legs.
The goose (haminsa)in India and Ceylon has the reputation for ability to discriminate
between good and bad; when given a mixture of milk and water, it would drink the milk,
leaving the water behind.60 We can, therefore, guess what the attitude would be of a person
symbolized by the hamisatowards the world as characterised by the three outer bands of
the moonstone. In keeping with this guess of ours, the hamsas have turned their backs
towards the creeper of craving. What is symbolised by this band of hamsas is explicitly
stated in a Dhammapada verse (VII, 2): 'The thoughtful exert themselves; they do not
delight in an abode; like swans who have left their lake, they leave their house and home.' 61
In the majority of the moonstones, the fact that the hamsas are leaving their lake is indicat-
ed by the attitude of the birds; but some artists appear to have felt that the idea had not
been clearly expressed, and have adopted other devices not to leave their intention in doubt.
In three of the moonstones, (Nos. 2, 3 & 6) the hamsas carry lotus buds in their beaks,
probably suggesting that they are carrying them as provender on their journey. Kalidasa,
in the Meghadzuta(I, 12) says that, at the advent of the rainy season, when the haimsasstart
on their journey to Lake Manasa,they carry bits of shoots of the filaments of the lotus as
provender. On another moonstone (No. 7), the heads and necks of the birds project out
of their circle and invade the narrow plain band separatingthem from the creeper - clearly
a device to suggest that the birds are leaving their place of sojourn. To show the birds in
actual flight would not have fitted to the design as a whole, and also would not have been
in keeping with the architecturalpurpose which the moonstone had to subserve.
60 J. Ph. Vogel, The Goose in Indian Literature and Art in Art and Letters, Vol. XXVIII, pp. 17-24.
61
Radhakrishnan, Dhammapada, p. 89.
220

In the majority of moonstones, the band of hamsas comes just outside the lotus in the centre.
The ham'sasbeing symbolical of those who leave their house and home, the lotus to which
they lead must indicate the fruits obtained by such renunciation. We have already touched
upon the symbolism of the lotus and if, as we have surmised,it represents the pure abodes
(suddhavdsa), those who have left their house and home must be considered as having
attained the stage of 'no-return' (anaigamin). Asvaghosa, in the detailed account of Nanda's
attainment of arhatship,describes this stage of progress in the following words: 'Having
overcome those foes who attack from the rear, in order to pass out of the Kamadhatu
sphere, and having reached by Yoga the fruit of not being subject to rebirth on earth, he
stood as it were at the gate of the city of Nirvana'. 62 And the lotus on the moonstone
touches the lowermost step of the flight leading to the shrine which, in our opinion, is a
representation of the Palace of Truth, i. e. Nirvana.
In two of the moonstones (Nos. 2 and 3), the band of hamsas is separatedfrom the lotus by
a scroll, the flowers of which resemble water-lilies. This scroll is far less complicated in its
design than the outer one, symbolizing therefore a state of existence in which the force of
taha has been kept under control. The designers of these moonstones perhaps felt that
the state symbolized by the lotus should not immediately follow the representation of those
who leave house and home, and that an intermediate state was necessary. Perhapsthis band
is meant to represent existence in the heavenly worlds.
We have now dealt with all the details in the design of the moonstone and given our in-
terpretation of them. The moonstone is placed at the foot of a flight of steps which,
through a porch, leads to the inner shrine where stood the image of the Buddha. If the form
and design of the moonstone had a significance, could the symbolism have extended to the
flight of steps and to other related features of the architecture?
That we have to answer this question in the affirmative,so far as the flight of steps is con-
cerned, is suggested by the Saddharmmaratnaval.63 This work, in explaining Dhammrapada,
II, 8, in which the arhant is said to look down with compassion on suffering humanity
from the height of the Palace of Wisdom (paina pasada), just as the Buddha is requested in
62 The Saundarananda, translated by E. H. Johnston, Oxford, p. i o6.
63 Colombo edition of
I925, p. 276.
22

Brahma'sprayer to do so from the Palace of Truth, informs us that the saint attains that
height by means of the flight of steps named r/ksa-pratipatti. 64 Again, with reference to
the comparison of the saint who has ascended the Palaceof Wisdom to one who has climb-
ed a rocky height, we are told that the Meru of Supreme Wisdom is reached by the ladder
of the paramitds. Neither of these, the riksa-pratipattiand the paramitas, seems, however, to
fit into the symbolism of the moonstone as we have explained it, and in most of the shrines
the number of steps is not that of the rik.sa-pratipattinor of the paramitas.
If the image on the raised platform represents the Buddha in the Palace of Truth, and the
moonstone symbolizes the world or the circle of existence, the members of the architect-
ural scheme between these two levels must necessarily signify the means by which the
Buddha has ascended to that height. One who would ascend to the platform of the shrine
first takes his stand on the moonstone which, as we have seen, not only characterizesthe
world as evil, but also suggests that there is a way of deliverance from it. Are not the
hamsas shown as having their backs turned on it? Evil as this world is, it, however, affords
the possibilities for one so minded to rise above it, for the Buddha himself attained to the
height of the Dhamrnafrom being in the world. But on what has one to stand in order to
be ready for the ascent? The Buddhist texts are very definite on this point. Sila, or ethical
conduct in the world, is the ground on which one has to take his stand 65 so as to rise to
higher levels. An important aspect of stla is purity of life (djtvapprisuddhi),66and the lotus
is the symbol of purity; though originating in the mud, the lotus is not contaminated by it.
The lotus on the moonstone, in addition to the significance that we have already attached
to it, may stand for the person of pure conduct who is not defiled by worldly passions.
Stla is the first of three stages by which one can attain to the realisation of the Truth, and
the second stage of the Path to be followed after one has taken his stand on sila is samadhi,
concentration of the mind, the last being panna (Skt. prajna) transcendentalwisdom. In the
Digha Nikaya,7 the course of spiritual training leading to the final goal of Nirvana is di-
64 Lukha-patipada in Pali. The four vows of making use of coarse food, coarse raiment, simple dwellings
and coarse medicaments. See Cullaniddesa, P. T. S. Edition, p. I82.
patitthaya, Visuddhimagga, p. 4.
65 Sila-pathaviyamhi
66
Visuddhimagga, pp. 22-30.
67 Kassapa-sZhandda Sutta, DZgka Nikiiya (P. T. S. Edition), pp. 161-177, Rhys Davids, Dialogues of tke
222

vided by the Buddha himself into three stages, called the attainments (sampadad)
of sila, citta
and pafin. The great work of Buddhaghosa,in which the Path to Purity is expounded in
detail, is in effect a commentary on a text 68 wherein these same three attainments are given
as the means by which the tangled web of samsara can be unravelled. Asvaghosa calls the
course leading to the goal of Nirvana a path of three stages69 (triskandhammargam), szla
samddhi and prajnd.
The Buddha himself, in three discourses of the Majjbima Nikaya, has given details of
the practice of samadhi which led to the Great Awakening.70 He entered successively
the trances (Pali jhana, Skt. dhyana) numbered one to four, in each of which the mind
becomes rid of certain psychic factors which impede spiritual vision. Instead of the clas-
sification of the jhanas into four, consistently followed in the Sutta-pitaka,the Abhidham-
ma, by splitting the second of the Sutta-pitaka classification into two, takes the jhanas as
five. According to the Sutta-pitakascheme of trances, ratiocination (vitakka) and reflection
(vicara) are suppressed together in the second trance, while, according to the Abhidhamma,
ratiocination is separately subdued in the second trance, and reflexion in the third; the third
and fourth of the Sutta-pitakaclassificationthus becoming the fourth and fifth of the trances
according to the Abhidhamma.7'Now, the shrines at Anuradhapuracontaining elaborated
moonstones, with the exception of one which will be dealt with later, have four or five
steps leading to a huge monolithic landing occupying the entire area of the porch. Each of
the steps, therefore, symbolizes one of the jhanas, the number four or five indicating whether
the Sutta or the Abbidhammaclassificationhas been followed. The Mahaviharais consistent
in providing five steps from the moonstone to the landing.
If the flight of four or five steps symbolizes samadhi, comprising four or five jhanas, the
Buddha, Part I, pp. 206-240.

68
SZiepatitthaya naro sapaninocittam painain ca bhavayamn
Atpip nipako bhikkhu so imam vijatayejatarm
Visuddhimagga, p. I.
69 vv.
Saundarananda, Canto, XVI, 34-37.
70
Bhayabherava Sutta, Ariyapariyesana Sutta and the Mahdsaccaka Sutta. See Chalmers, Further
Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. I, pp. 12-17, 113-I24 and I70-179.
71 TVisuddhimagga, Vol. I, pp. 168-69 and Dhammasanga,zi (P. T. S. Edition), paragraphs, 167-75.
223

landing to which they lead must necessarily stand for panod, Wisdom or Insight. For the
jhanas are not an end in themselves, but are resorted to in order to make the mind capable
of seeing things as they are. The landings at most of these shrines containing moonstones
are formed of monoliths covering the entire area of the porch. At the so-called Mahasena's
Pavilion, with moonstone No. 2, the landing slab is 13 ft. in breadth, 8 ft. deep and 2 ft.
thick. Of the shrine of moonstone No. 5, the corresponding dimensions of the landing slab
are i i ft., i o ft. and 2 ft. The immense labour of quarrying,transportingand placing in po-
sition such unwieldly masses of stone was not necessary for structural purposes. If the
purpose of these monoliths was to provide a stone pavement for the porch, that could
have been achieved by more economical and labour-saving methods. The conclusion,
therefore, is that the religious purpose to be served by these edifices demanded the landing
slab to be massive and monolithic. In this connection, it is apposite to mention that the
rocky height compared to the Palace of Truth in the passage we have quoted above is
described by commentators as of one mass (eka-ghana),i. e. monolithic. 72
At most shrines with moonstones, the risers of the steps and landing are elaborately carved.
Mr. Smither's description of these features of the shrine with moonstone No. 2 will give a
general idea of the sculpturaldecoration: 'In the centre and at each end of the riseris a squat-
ting dwarf with both hands pressed on the knee and apparently labouring to support the
tread, the projecting portion of which rests on his shoulders.... To the right and left of each
figure is a kind of pilaster, resembling a sheaf of leaves banded in the middle; and between
each pair of these is a sunk and moulded panel, the upper and lower mouldings of which
are embellished with rows of leaves'.73 What Mr. Smither calls leaves are in reality lotus
petals.
The lotus petals in this design on the risers of the steps and landing must be of the same
significance as the lotus on the moonstone. But the structure of the flower has been broken;
therefore, existence (bhava)which the lotus signifies is not totally got rid of though weakened
in the stages of spiritual ascent symbolised by the steps. This is in accordance with Bud-
dhist doctrine. Samadhi only paralyses, but does not altogether eradicate evil dispositions
72 See for example, Saratthappakasin,PartI, p. 199.
73 J. G. Smither, Ancient Remains, Anuradhapura, Ceylon.p. 59.
224

(klesas).74 According to the accounts of the Buddha's Great Awakening, ascribed to the
Buddha himself, the final liberation did not follow the attainment of the fourth or highest of
the jhanas. From that v-antageground, the Buddha acquired the vidya of remembering pre-
and that of the ability of seeing the passing away
vious existences (pubbe-nivasanussati-nana)
and rebirth of all beings in the samisara(cutupapapta-a.na).Finally, he acquired the third
vidya of the realisation of the true nature of the world, which resulted in the eradicationof
the asavas (cankers) and Final Liberation- what is referred to as ascending the Palace
of Truth.75 It is, therefore, the presence of the dsavas which creates the possibility of a
reversion to existence even after the highest state of samadhi had been reached. These
asavas (cankers), literally 'discharges,' are given as four, namely kama, bhava, ditthi and
avijja in Buddhist literature,76but in the Bhayabherava,77
Ariyapariyesanaand Mahasaccaka
discourses, the asavas which the Buddha eradicated after the attainment of the fourth
samddhi, and which therefore must be considered as latent during these trances, are given as
three, sensous desires (kama), continuing existence (bhava) and ignorance (avijja). The
three dwarfs figured on the risers of the steps can therefore be taken as symbolizing these
asavas.
There are mental states other than the asavas which have to be completely eradicated be-
fore the attainment of Supreme Insight. In the Saundarananda,for instance, the poet, after
describing Nanda's attainment of the fourth dhya-na,states that the anusayas were got rid
of before the seeker after Truth reached his final goal.78 The anusayas,'dormant or latent
dispositions, pre-dispositions or tendencies', have therefore to be taken as existing during
all stages of samadhi. Asvaghosa agrees with the Anguttara Nikaya (P. T. S. Edition, Vol. IV,
p. 9) in giving the number of anusayas as seven. But the Abhidharmakosaof Vasubandhu
(Chap. V, vv. 1-2) enumeratesthem as six by taking kamaraga, 'attachment to sense desires',
and bhava, 'attachment to existence', as one, raga. The six sheaf-like pilasters on the risers
of the steps are probably meant to symbolize these anusayas. The artist's preference for
74 Samddhind vikkhambhana-pahdna-vasena,Visuddhimagga, p. 5. See also Saundarananda,Canto 16, v. 35.
75 Lord Chalmers, Further Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. I, pp. i5-16.
76
See P. T. S. Dictionary, s. v. iisava.
77 Lord Chalmers, op. cit., p. 17.
78
Canto XVII, v. 58.
225

six instead of seven might not indicate his acceptance of the views of a particularschool on
this doctrinal point, but might be due to the suitability of this number from the point of
view of design.
At the shrine referred to as Queen's Pavilion by Mr. Smither, there are seven steps between
the moonstone and the landing. The fifth step is broader of tread than the others, indicat-
ing the end of a stage. The first five steps of this shrine can therefore be taken as sym-
bolizing the five jhanas. The two steps between the fifth and the landing stone symbolizing
padnnacan be taken to stand for the two vijjas of remembering previous births and seeing
the passing away and birth of all beings. These two, though coming after the highest
stage of samadhi,may yet be taken as not included in panae. Buddhaghosa, in his Visud-
dhimagga,includes these two vijja under abhifias, which he treats as results (anisamnsa)of
samadhi and deals with before he takes up the detailed exposition of paoa.79 Buddhaghosa
defines painnaias vipassana, 'insight', acquired by the realisationof the dependant origination
of things (paticca-samuppada),which he calls paia-bhumi,80 'the plane of transcendental
wisdom'. In the Nidlna-katha8l as well as in the Buddha-carita,82the attainment of Sam-
On
bodhi follows the realizationof the dependant origination of things (paticca-samuppdda).
the other hand, there are numerous passages in the Digha Nikdya 8 which include pubbeni-
vdsdnussati-nanaand cutupapata-nanaunder the heading of paiad-sampada. The progress
from sila to panna can therefore be symbolized as a flight of four, five or seven steps.
The landing slab symbolizing pana is on the level of the floor of the inner shrine in which
the image stood on its pedestal or throne. Placed againstthe fartherside of the landing slab
is to be seen another smaller slab of stone, on which rests the sill of the doorway through
which the inner shrine is entered. If the landing symbolizes pannaz,what was the smallerslab
to which one steps from the doorway meant to signify? In Buddhist doctrine, Theravada
as well as Mahayana,pafiid (wisdom) is associated with karunia(mercy or compassion). Ac-
79 Visuddhimagga (P. T. S. Edition), pp. 407 ff.
80
Ibid., pp. 5i7 ff.
81
Fausboll, Yataka, Vol. I, p. 75; Rhys Davids, Buddhist Birth Stories, p. I97.
82 E. H. Johnston, The Buddha-carita, pt. II, Translation, pp. 208 ff.
Dzgha Nikaya, P. T. S. Edition, p. I74; Rhys Davids, Dialogaes of the Buddha, pt. I,
83 See for instance
p. 236; P. T. S. Dictionary, s. v. vijja and sampada.
226

cording to Asvaghosa, the result of the Buddha's rememberinghis past births and seeing the
wanderings of beings in the sanmsarawas the development in his mind of a boundless com-
passion towards the whole world. Buddhaghoasaextols the Buddha by saying that his com-
passion, (karunai)embraced all beings, just as his knowledge (paha}) grasped all objects."8
The Buddha surveys the world to look for beings worthy of his mercy and help after rising
from the trance of great compassion (maha-karuna-samapatti).85If the purpose of instal-
ling an image of the Buddha in these shrines was to represent him as looking down with
compassion on suffering beings from the height of the Palace of Truth, there is reason to
conclude that the stone slab which adjoins that which symbolizes panad is meant to re-
present karuna.
The steps leading to the shrines were fitted to wing-stones (referred to as balustrades),each
of which exhibited a makara with a foot resting on a pilaster, from whose open mouth
issues a moulded scroll terminating in a large volute, the top of the scroll being flattened
and ornamented with a series of shallow flutings. Placed againstthe end of each wing-stone
was a stone slab with rounded top (called guardstone) with the figure of a Naga in anthro-
pomorphic form holding a flowering branch in one hand and a pot filled with flowers in
the other. If, as we have attempted to explain, the other features at the entrances to these
shrines had a symbolical meaning, it is unlikely that the sculptures on the balustradesand
guardstones were merely ornamental. And, if we can explain the symbolism of these two
features so as to fit into the central idea sought to be expressed by the shrine itself, it would
lend support to the significance that we have ascribed to the moonstone.
Let us first take the Naga figure. We have alreadyseen that, in the parableof the man in the
well, the Naga stands for Time. A Nagaking called Kala(Time) in the Buddha-carita(Can-
to XII, v. i 6) as well as in the Nidana-kath 86 comes to pay homage to the Buddha-to-be,
when the latter was about to take his seat on the vajrasana under the Bodhi tree. Accord-
84 Karuna viya sattesu pannia yassa mahesino
Neyya-dhammesu sabbesupavattittka yatha-ruci
Atthasalimt (P. T. S. E.) p. I.
85 See DZgha Nikaya, P. T. S. Edition, Vol. II, p. 237 and Dhammapadatthakatha, P. T. S. Edition, Vol. I,
pp. 2 and 367.
86
_adtaka,edited by Fausboll, Vol. I, p. 70.
227

ing to the Nidana-katha,this Naga's life is of incalculable length, the long interval of time
between the appearanceof two Buddhas being only one day in the calendar of Kala. The
pot filled with flowers and foliage in one of the hands of the Naga of the Anuradhapura
guard-stones lends support to the view that he symbolizes Time. For, in a hymn in the
Atharvaveda(XIX, 53) which praises Time, it is said that a full vessel or pot (purrnahkum-
bhah)is set upon Time.87 We may therefore conclude that the Nagaking on these guard-
stones is Time conceived as the producer of all things, just as Time is in the Atharvaveda.
In this connection, it is also of interest to note that, according to I-Tsing, there was the
figure of a god called Mahakala,whose name was explained as due to his colour being
blackened by the oil constantly poured over by the faithful in performing pzjas.88 This is
no doubt an explanation due to a confusion of kala meaning 'black' with that expressing
'time'.
With regard to the symbolism of the makara in this context, we begin by reminding the
readerthat the Indian god of love bears the makara-standard. According to ASvaghosa,89
Mara who assaultedthe Buddha seated under the Bodhi-tree is no other than this Makara-
dhvaja or Kamadeva. Agreeing with this, in Gandhara sculptures, Mara is represented with
a makara-standard.90 Mara is Death; thus we have the association of makara with Death,
often identified with Kala,Time as the devourer of all things. 'Death' in Pali is kala-kiriyay,
'action of Time'. In the ornament called Kala-makara,common on Javanese Buddhist
monuments, two makarasjoin at a grotesque head, called the head of Kala,to form an arch.
This is also the formation of the makara-torana so common in the Buddhist temples of
Ceylon. This association of makara with kala (Time) gives rise to the question whether
the former itself did not at one time symbolize Time. The manner in which the makara is
represented on early monuments enables us to answer this question in the affirmative. As
Prof. Vogel has pointed out,91 the makara started its career as a crocodile, characteristics
87 Atharvaveda-sanhita, translated by W. D. Whitney, Second Half, p. 988.

88 Alice Getty, Gods of Northern Buddhism, p. I44.
89 Buddhacarita, Canto XIII, v. 2.
90 A Foucher, L'Art Greco Bouddhique du Gandhara, Tome II, p. I96, fig. 400 and 40I.
91 Ph. Vogel, Le Makara dans la Sculpture de l'Inde in Revue des Arts Asiatiques for 1930, pp. 130-147.
J.
228

of other animals such as dolphin and elephant being added to it in course of time. In the
earliest known representation of the makara, it appears as a crocodile over the door leading
to the Lomas Rishi Cave at Barabar,92the animal at either end of the arch is shown with
open mouth about to swallow the hind-most of a row of four elephants turned towards the
centre. The elephants are tethered by ropes to stout posts. This appears to be a vivid il-
lustration of the adagekalo ghasati bhutani,'Time devours all beings.'93 If the makara could
devour elephants, need one mention smaller animals? At either end of the architrave of a
torana from Bharhut is a makara figure with open mouth directed towards two elephants
approachinga sacred tree in the centre.94 The elephants here are safe, being separatedfrom
the devouring monster by a stupa on the left and a cetiya-gharaon the right. Fig. 22 of
the Annual Reportof the ArchaeologicalSurvey of India for 1903-04 shows a design in which
three makaras are combined to form a circle, each of the monsters being shown as about to
devour the one preceding it. This would be an apt symbol of Time, with its division into past,
present and future, moving in a circle, one being swallowed by the other. On some of the
guard-stones of Ceylon, behind the Naga figure are makaras,in whose mouths are lions and
pairs of lovers either being swallowed or vomitted forth.95 Hanging from the mouth of a
makara on a spout found at Anuradhapurais the figure of a lion from whose mouth itself
another animal is hanging down -an apt illustration of Nagarjuna's saying that, in this
world, one preys upon the other.96 Thus, there is ample evidence to establishthat in Bud-
dhist art the makara symbolized Time the Destroyer.
Thus, flanking the flights of steps leading to the Buddha shrines are symbolical representa-
tions of Time in both its aspects. Just as the kalpa-vrksa. at the vahalkadasof Ceylon stiipas
illustratedthe pleasuresas well as the perils of Life, so is Time symbolized here as the Producer
as well as the Destroyer. If we accept this interpretation, what is the purpose in having
representations of Time at the entrance to the shrine? The steps symbolizing the various
92
Cambridge History of India, Vol. I, Plate XI, fig. 25.
93 Jdtaka, Fausboll, Vol. II, p. 260. Though this adage is found in a Buddhist work, such maxims could
not be taken as the exclusive property of one religious sect.
94 Cunningham, The
Stipa of Bharhut, Plate IX.
95 See Plate
72, fig. 210 of Vol. I, Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon.
96
Paraspardmisibhrte loke; J. R. A. S. for I936, p. 425.
229

stages of samadhi are fitted to these wing-stones, of which the meaning is clear. Even in the
stage of spiritual development reached by the highest of the jhanas, one has not passed
beyond the relationship of Time. The wing-stone projects out of the landing which sym-
bolizes paniad,and the landing stretches far beyond the wing-stone. Pannd, therefore, leads
one from Time to Timelessness. The main shrine out of which the porch projects is not itself
joined to the wing-stone. Thus, dhammasymbolized by the shrine is Timeless - akalika.
The Buddha has transcended Time and the devotee who enters the shrine through the
flight of steps symbolically passes from the temporal world to one in which Time does not
operate. The makara-toranasat the entrance to Buddhist shrines, the makaras on the gate-
ways of stuipas,and pzirnaghatasplaced at the entrance to shrines, can also be explained in
the same way.
It is not contended here that the makara, the purnaghata the the naga had the significance
that we have here ascribed to them from the very first. It is quite likely that these, to begin
with, were symbols of fertility. The Buddhists very often gave new meanings to words
which the Brahmanashad been using before them; vidya (P. vijja) and carana in Buddhist
literature,for example, do not connote the same things as they do in Vedic texts. Similarly,
the Buddhists may have adopted these symbols from popular religions giving them an inter-
pretation which suited their purpose. And just as the adoption of vidya and carana with
a new meaning by the Buddhists did not make their older meanings obsolete among the
Brahmanas,so symbols like the makara and purnaghata must have continued with their
primitive significance, even after Buddhists and others with a philosophical turn of mind
had attached new meanings to them.
The flights of steps of these Anuradhapurashrines thus symbolize the Path to Purity along
which the Buddha has ascended to the Palace of Dhamma- which Path all Buddhists have
to tread in order to attain their goal. The devotee who steps over the moonstone, ascends
the flight of steps to the landing, and enters the shrine through the doorway, symbolically
performs this act in order to obtain the qualifications (upanissaya) that would enable him,
under favourable circumstances, to follow the course which would by degrees lead him to
the Supreme Insight (vijjia).
All the buildings at Anuradhapura,at the foot of whose flights of steps moonstones are
230

found, may not be shrines intended to house images of the Buddha. The idea could also
have been adopted with suitablemodifications for buildings meant as residences for members
of the sangha who were noted for their sanctity, for the goal which they strove to attain
was the same as that reached by the Buddha- the attainment of transcendental wisdom.
In the twelfth century Polonnaruva, however, the idea behind the moonstone appears to
have been forgotten, and it was considered merely as a piece of decoration. Moonstones
differing in design from those of the Anuradhapuraperiod have been placed at the foot of
flights of steps at the entrances to secular buildings.
If the significance of the various members, including the moonstones, of the flights of steps
be such as we have explained above, the architects and artistswho were responsible for their
creation can be pronounced to have been singularly successful in expressing their idea with
a refinement of the various parts and their integration into a whole which is so satisfying
aesthetically as to be characterised as 'works of rare beauty' even by those of a different
cultural heritage. The artists who created these moonstones and steps have thus de-
monstrated the truth of the saying sabbarm
rasam dhammarasojinati,attributedto the Buddha
himself, which (taking rasa to signify the concept behind 'beauty' in western aesthetics)
may freely be rendered into English as 'The beauty of Truth (dhamra) excels that of all
others'.
23I


Paranavitana 1954 - Moonstones

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The Significance of Sinhalese 'Moonstones'

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THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SINHALESE

THE SEMI-CIRCULAR SLABS, CALLED MOONSTONES, PLACED AT THE FOOT OF THE

flights of steps leading to ancient edifices at Anuradhapura,are well-known to students of

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S. Paranavitana: The Significance of Sinhalese 'Moonstones'

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Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. XI, pp. 135-146.

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20 Bamba yadun gena his - age sitin pilipan

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26 Mahavainsa, Chap. XXXI, v. 6I and Vamsatthappakdsinz,P. T. S. Edition, p. 572.

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Piribo-da-siri-nadan piyum-ev Bamba-tele dunu. Kavsilumina, Canto I, v. 7.

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41 Nagarjunakonda(Memoirsof the ArchaeologicalSurveyof India,No. 7I), pp. 13

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46 Sumangala-vilasini, P. T S. Edition, pp. 954-5 5.

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53 Ramachandran, Nagarjunakonda, (A. S. I. Memoirs, No. 71) pp. 13 & 15.

Cilavansa, chap. 45, vv. 43-44.

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55 Lord Chalmers,FurtherDialoguesof the Buddha,Vol. I, p. 123.

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Buddha, Part I, pp. 206-240.

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p. 236; P. T. S. Dictionary, s. v. vijja and sampada.

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87 Atharvaveda-sanhita, translated by W. D. Whitney, Second Half, p. 988.

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