Author Affiliation: National Museum of Oriental Art "Giuseppe Tucci", Italy.
摘要
A figure showing a fleur de lis design on the top of the head is associated with Indra on two interesting reliefs from Nāgārjunakṇḍa. The flower motif on his head is very similar to the half part of the vajra as it is depicted on some panels from the Buddhists Āndhra sites. There are many clear analogies between this image and the iconography of āyudhapurusa, the personification of divine weapons, and the author suggests to identify this figure with an unusual example of vajrapuruṣa, the anthropomorphic vajra. Generally the earliest images of āyudhapuruṣas are believed to be those found in Udayagiri, cave 6, dating back to the early Gupta period. Nevertheless, if the interpretation of these specimens from Nāgārjunakṇḍa as vajrapuruṣa is correct, it shows that the personification of divine attributes was already known at least one century before. The author traces the textual references to vajrapuruṣa and describes the few examples of this subject found in Indian and Nepalese art, pointing out that this particular iconography, unlike other āyudhapurusas, is represented in Buddhist art.
