Chaturbhuja () is a concept in
Hindu iconography
Over the millennia of its development, Hinduism has adopted several iconography, iconic symbols, forming part of Hindu iconography, that are imbued with spiritual meaning based on either the Hindu scriptures, scriptures or cultural traditions ...
in which a deity is depicted with four arms. Several
Hindu deities
Hindu deities are the gods and goddesses in Hinduism. The terms and epithets for deities within the diverse traditions of Hinduism vary, and include Deva, Devi, Ishvara, Ishvari, Bhagavān and Bhagavati.
The deities of Hinduism have evolved ...
are often portrayed with four arms in their iconography, featured in
Hindu literature
Hindu texts are manuscripts and voluminous historical literature which are related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism. A few of these texts are shared across these traditions and they are broadly considered Hindu scriptures. These ...
. The iconography of four arms is regarded to symbolise divinity and power, as well as dominion over the four quarters of the universe.
Chaturbhuja is also primarily employed as an epithet for the preserver deity,
Vishnu
Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism.
Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...
.
Description
The earliest
Vaishnava
Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...
images, according to scholar
Gavin Flood
__NOTOC__
Gavin Dennis Flood (born 1954) is a British scholar of comparative religion specialising in Shaivism and phenomenology, but with research interests that span South Asian traditions.
From October 2005 through December 2015, he served ...
, are of a standing two or four-armed figure bearing a combination of the attributes of a conch, a wheel, and a mace in their iconography. This multiplicity convention, in which deities bore numerous limbs and heads in their imagery, was established in the
Mathura
Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...
region, before becoming a custom in later Hindu iconography.
According to author
Nanditha Krishna, the chaturbhuja representation of Hindu deities in their icons is regarded to depict their unlimited potential. It exhibits their divine ability to wield multiple articles, such as weapons, and perform numerous activities simultaneously.
Indologist
Doris Srinivasan Doris Meth Srinivasan is a Professor of Indological studies. She has authored more than 75 publications. She was curator of South and South East Asian arts at Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.
Early life
Doris Meth Srinivasan was ...
states that in both Vaishnava and
Shaiva
Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangin ...
imagery, the Chaturbhuja form is regarded to be the manifestation of a deity who descends upon the earth and performs auspicious acts for the well-being of mankind, typically receiving the veneration of human beings.
Examples
Vishnu
Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism.
Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...
is generally depicted with four arms, carrying his four attributes of the
Panchajanya (conch),
Sudarshana Chakra (discus),
Kaumodaki (mace), and
Padma
The Padma ( bn, পদ্মা ''Pôdma'') is a major river in Bangladesh. It is the main distributary of the Ganges, flowing generally southeast for to its confluence with the Meghna River near the Bay of Bengal. The city of Rajshahi is sit ...
(lotus). His
ten incarnations are also often depicted in their icons with these four attributes, most prominently in his
avatar
Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appeara ...
of
Krishna
Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...
.
Lakshmi
Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...
carries lotuses in two of her hands, the other two expressing the gestures of the
abhaya mudra
The Abhayamudrā "gesture of fearlessness" is a mudrā (gesture) that is the gesture of reassurance and safety, which dispels fear and accords divine protection and bliss in Buddhism and other Indian religions. The right hand is held upright, a ...
and the
varada mudra, sometimes replaced by a
kalasha
A kalasha, also spelled kalash or kalasa, also called ghat or ghot ( sa, कलश , Telugu: కలశము Kannada: ಕಳಶ literally "pitcher, pot"), is a metal (brass, copper, silver or gold) pot with a large base and small mouth, large eno ...
and a mirror.
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
is depicted with four hands in his form of
Nataraja
Nataraja () also known as Adalvallaan () is a depiction of the Hindu deities, Hindu god Shiva as the divine cosmic dancer. His dance is called Tandava.''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (2015) The pose and artwork are described in many Hindu texts ...
. His back right hand holds a
damaru
A damaru ( sa, डमरु, ; Tibetan ཌ་མ་རུ་ or རྔ་ཆུང) is a small two-headed drum, used in Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. In Hinduism, the damaru is known as the instrument of the deity Shiva, associated with Tant ...
(drum), his front right hand expresses the abhaya mudra, the back left hand carries fire upon a vessel or the palm of his hand, and his front left hand expresses the gajahasta mudra. This allegorical depiction of his multiple arms is regarded to indicate his functions of creation and destruction.
Parvati
Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi i ...
is described as four-handed, holding a noose and a goad, and the other two hands portraying the abhaya mudra and the varada mudra in the
Shiva Purana
The ''Shiva Purana'' is one of eighteen major texts of the '' Purana'' genre of Sanskrit texts in Hinduism, and part of the Shaivism literature corpus. It primarily revolves around the Hindu god Shiva and goddess Parvati, but references and rev ...
.
Ardhanarishvara, a composite form, holds a
trishula
The ''trishula'' () is a trident, a divine symbol, commonly used as one of the principal symbols in Hinduism.
In Nepal and Thailand, the term also often refers to a short-handled weapon which may be mounted on a ''daṇḍa'' " staff". Unli ...
(trident) and expresses the varada mudra on the right half, representing Shiva, while the left half holds a lotus, representing
Parvati
Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi i ...
.
Harihara
Harihara (Sanskrit: हरिहर) is the fused sattvika characterisation of Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Hara) from Hindu theology. Hari is the form of Vishnu, and Hara is the form of Shiva. Harihara is also known as Shankaranarayana ("Shankara" ...
, a composite form, holds a trishula and skull-cap in his two right hands, representing Shiva, and a conch and a discus in his two left hands, representing Vishnu.
Brahma
Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 21 ...
is depicted to be holding the
Vedas
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...
and a rosary in his four hands.
Saraswati
Saraswati ( sa, सरस्वती, ) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati.
The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a g ...
is portrayed as holding the instrument known as the
veena
The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps ...
with two of her hands, and an assortment of a book, a
noose
A noose is a loop at the end of a rope in which the knot tightens under load and can be loosened without untying the knot.
The knot can be used to secure a rope to a post, pole, or animal but only where the end is in a position that the loop can ...
, a
rosary, an
elephant goad
The elephant goad, bullhook, or ankus (from Sanskrit ' or ''ankusha'') is a tool employed by mahout in the handling and training of elephants. It consists of a hook (usually bronze or steel) which is attached to a handle, ending in a tapered ...
, and a lotus in her other two hands.
Ganesha
Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped Deva_(Hinduism), deities in the Hindu deities, Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is ...
bears a noose, an elephant goad, a sweet dumpling called the
modaka
Modak ( Marathi: मोदक; Japanese: 歓喜団; Thai: โมทกะ or ขนมต้ม; Malaysian: Kuih modak; Indonesian: Kue modak; Burmese: မုန့်လုံးရေပေါ်), also referred to as Koḻukattai (கொ ...
, and his other hand portrays the abhaya mudra.
Indra is portrayed with a spear, a goad, the
Vajra
The Vajra () is a legendary and ritual weapon, symbolising the properties of a diamond (indestructibility) and a thunderbolt (irresistible force).
The vajra is a type of club with a ribbed spherical head. The ribs may meet in a ball-shap ...
, and a blue lotus.
Agni
Agni (English: , sa, अग्नि, translit=Agni) is a Sanskrit word meaning fire and connotes the Vedic fire deity of Hinduism. He is also the guardian deity of the southeast direction and is typically found in southeast corners of Hindu ...
is featured with four hands in the
Harivamsha
The ''Harivamsa'' ( , literally "the genealogy of Hari") is an important work of Sanskrit literature, containing 16,374 shlokas, mostly in the '' anustubh'' metre. The text is also known as the ''Harivamsa Purana.'' This text is believed to ...
.
Tripura Sundari
Tripura Sundari (Sanskrit: त्रिपुरा सुन्दरी, IAST: Tripura Sundarī), also known as Rajarajeshwari, Shodashi, Kamakshi, and Lalita is a Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of supreme goddess Mahadevi ...
is described with four hands in the
Kalika Purana
The Kalika Purana ( sa, Kālikā Purāṇa), also called the Kali Purana, Sati Purana or Kalika Tantra, is one of the eighteen minor Puranas ('' Upapurana'') in the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism. The text was likely composed in Assam or Cooch B ...
.
Gallery
References
{{Hindu inscriptions and arts
Hindu iconography
Hindu mythology