Brahmanic Durga :

Chandraketugarh terracotta plaques – Shunga period 2nd/1st c. bc - Private collection.

The extension of the empire of Chandragupta Maurya (322-300 bc) to the

whole Indian subcontinent has been possible thanks to the alliance with the Seleucid
empire consolidated by marital treaty.
At the death of his grandson Asoka (232 bc), the potential rising of three main powers
in northern India break up the unity of the Mauryan empire :
- The Satavahanas/Andhras, feudatories of Asoka, intalled in the Deccan declare
independence (230 bc). Simuka (230-207 bc), the founder of the dynasty,
extends his empire to the north.
- The last Mauryan king Brihadratha is assassinated (185 bc) by the general in
chief of his armies, Pushyamitra Shunga, who retakes the heart of the Mauryan
empire : the Magadha with Paliputra for capital.
- The satrap of Sogdiana, Euthydemus I, kills Diodotus (230 bc) the ruler of the
young Greco Bactrian kingdom, just come to independence from the Seleucid
empire, and founds his own dynasty. His son, Demetrius I (200-180) extends
the kingdom to an Indo-Greek empire.

The breakdown of the Asokan empire allows the migration of Central Asia
tribes through the Hindu-Kush.
During the 1st century bc, a Saka (Indo-scythian) kingdom, the Sakastan, is
attested in the northern west of Arachosia (Baluchistan).
Pushed by the migration of the Yueshis, who will found the Kushan empire, the
Sakas migrate to the Indus valley and settle in Gujarat and Mathura - Maues
kingdom in Taxila (85-60 bc) – Azes kingdom in Mathura (57-35 bc).

The Shunga empire is founded in a context of wars along its borders getting
worse with the religious motivation of its invaders : Buddhism against
Brahmanism.
 The Mauryan empire was Buddhist and Jainist. During his long reign , Asoka
(273-232 bc) is famous to have built 84.000 stupas.
The Greco-Bactrian kings are the protectors of Buddhism.The invasion of the
Shunga empire by Demetrius I, in 180 bc, is intented on protecting the Buddhist
monks from the religious persecutions of Pushyamitra Shunga.
His successor, Menander I (160-135 bc) becomes the champion of the Buddhist faith
after Asoka.

Pushyamitra Shunga is a brahmin well-known for his opposition to Buddhism.

He destroys the stupas of Asoka and prices the head of the Buddhist monks.
He breaks with the Mauryan tradition and culture to favor the spreading of
Brahmanism.
.
Brahmanism : Primitive expression of Hinduism inherited of the Vedic traditions..
The reference is the Manu Smriti (Laws of Manu) of the legendary Ayodhya kingdom
which has developed the “Hindu rules of living” which two associated main features
are:
- Dharma : The life of the people is determined by their Dharma, divine law
that guides the being discipline of one’s life. This concept is connected with
those of the reincarnation. People can improve their Dharma for their future
lifes by their good deeds in the present life but cannot change their Dharma in
their current life.
- Caste (Varna): In superiority order : Brahmin (the priest caste- law makers,
preachers and religious practisings) ,Kshatriya (warriors and rulers), Vaisya (
traders and breeders) and Sudra ( servants and slaves).
The Brahmins, superior caste, are often in conflict with the rulers for the management
of peoples. Spiritual and material powers are dominating depending on the powerful
personality of the rulers.
People are issued from a caste, inherited from their birth but their dharma allows
them to be a general and ruler as Pushyamitra (brahmin caste) as well as Sakyamuni,
Buddha, was issued of the Kshatriya caste.

The brahmins organize the worship of the brahmanical deities mostly issued from the
Vedic pantheon at the Mauryan period : Indra (vedas chief), Agni (god of the fire),
Surya (Sun god), Vishnu and his pareder Lakshmi (wealth goddess),Balarama avatar
of Vishnu, Rudra who evolves to Shiva (god of destruction), Brahma (world creator)
associated with Saraswati ( water goddess),…
Shaktism is an important expression of Brahmanism. The Mother Goddess of fertility
is associated with her consort Shiva. The union of the feminine principle with the
male principle is the source of every life : Lingam and Yoni.

In this context of religious wars, the Brahmanism of the Shunga rulers

favors the development of the Hindu icons facing to the Greek and Buddhist ones.
In accordance with the same opposition, the Shunga school of art develops a sensual
model of woman representation and society (Mithuna), of Hindu being, which
contrast with the ascetic model of Buddhism and Jainism and the long dressed woman
representations of the Greek art.
With the flowering of new goddesses in the Shunga/Satavahana
period , Hinduism sets up beside Buddhism.

The goddess of Fertility in the Mauryan empire :

The symbolic of the Great Mother is feeding, fertility and

procreation/perpetuation of the species. The Mauryan empire keeps the original model
of the predecessors, whose representation is common in the earlier civilizations which
gives importance to the female sex or the breasts giving the maternal milk.

V&A museum : Pakistan.2es.bc. Charsadda-Gandhara.3/1er s.bc.

The model of the Mauryan goddess of procreation is however clearly

asserted by the fertility ringstones, typical of the sculpture of this period.

Maurya.Northern west Pakistan.3rd c.bc. British museum.

 The central hole symbolizes the creation, the passage from one world to
another one, the birth through the maternal vulva. The gate is decorated by a frieze of
naked goddesses decorated with jewels in childbirth position alternating with fertility
symbols as plants or trees.

Metmuseum : Maurya – 3rd/2nd c.bc..Gift of Samuel Eilenberg. 5,9 cm.

These precious ringstones, finely carved in little size hardstone with the same
design were found in various regions of the Mauryan empire.

Maurya-3rd c.bc.Mathura.Nat. mus.New Delhi. Maurya- 3rd/2nd c.bc.Taxila.8 cm. V&A Museum.

This nude goddess with round jewels on the headdress engraved too on a steatite
plaque from Rajgir ( A.Ghosh – Encyclopedia of Indian Archaeology – p.268, fig.2)
seems to be the direct forerunner of the goddess Durga’s design.
 Durga, the armed goddess of the Shungas :

The representations of the goddesses, in human appearance, flourish in the

school of art of the Shunga empire.

The sculpture consecrates the beauty and the sensuality of the woman body and
devotes to showing the nudity only decorated by jewels consecrating the Shakti cult
and its fertility practices.

Shalabhanjika. Sanchi stupa.2nd c.ac Yakshi.Railing of Bharhut stupa.

The Buddhists, facing the popular infatuation, allow the representation of

their goddesses in the same sensual design.

Gajalaksmi.Sanchi stupa.2nd c. bc. Queen Maya's dream (Buddha’s mother).Sanchi stupa.

 Even the scenes of the Buddha’s life, still represented by aniconic tokens at the
Shunga period, have integrated mithuna scenes, demonstrating the deep change of
civilization brought by the Shungas.

During the Shunga period, the concept of Matrikas, whose

representations vary with the function expressed by the image, is spreading.
These developments should mark the beginning of Hinduism from Brahmanism.

Lakshmi, goddess of wealth and prosperity, pareder of Vishnu, identified with Maya
by the Buddhists, evolves to Sita, wife of Rama, with the Brahmins.
The Mother Goddess, initially fertility goddess, becomes the Shiva’s consort and
bears his attributes. The third eye of Shiva appears on the deity who holds too a spear,
the new armed goddess of the Shungas.

Bharhut stupa roundel.2nd c.bc.Shunga. IGNCA Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Ref : Encyclopedia
Britannica – Burstein collection/Corbis.

Yakshi with Panchachuda (five weapons).Kolkata university museum.200 bc-50 ac. IGNCA.
 Her function, armed of numerous weapons, decorated with numerous solar
symbols, wife of Shiva god of destruction, is to protect the brahmanic empire of the
Shungas against the Buddhist Greek kingdom invaders.
In another representation, Parvati, Durga’s matrika , symbolizes another function : the
good mother feeding the children and the faithful Shiva’s wife.

Parvati and child.2/1st c.Guimet museum.

The hymns addressed to Durga in the chapter 23 of the Mahabharata,

which founds Hinduism with the Ramayana, should be composed in the Shunga
period as plead the sculptures bearing witness of this period.

The Shakti cult, Shiva and Durga, Lingam and Yoni :

The Mithuna scenes are popular and show a new Hindu living and its
expressions in art that make a large place to the sexuality.

Chandraketugarh. Dilip Kumar Maite coll. Chandraketugarh.Behala State archeo.museum.

These popular artistic expressions attest the importance of Shaktism in the

earlier hinduist civilization of the Shungas and the main place reserved to Durga and
her cult in the society of this period .
 The armed goddess, bearing her weapons in the hairdress, is too a model of
sensuality to glorify procreation and fertility. The devotees proceed to the orgiastic
cult, under the direction of the brahmins, with alcoholic drinks and animal sacrifices.
The Durga Puja, main feast of Hinduism is still celebrated now in India.

Plaque with the goddess Durga and

attendants. Shunga period (2/1c.bc)Chandraketugarh. Metmuseum

This concept of sensuality which is a characteristic of the first Hindu

civilization of the Shunga empire will be developed, in particular, as a society model,
by the rulers of the Gupta empire in art and litterature (Kamasutra) and further by the
school of art of the Chandellas in Khajuraho.
 Shaktism will have a large influence on the Himalayan civilizations
and their currents of thought expressed by their tantric schools of art.

The Tantric Buddhism, the Vajrayana, grows in northern India : Kashmir,

Bihar, Bengal, Orissa, under the teaching of Padmasambhava, Buddhist master
originated from Gandhara, frequenting the university of Nandala (Bihar) at the Pala
empire period.
In the middle of the 8th century, the king of Tibet, Trisong Detsen, invites
Padmasambhava in his court, builds the first Vajrayana monastery and takes the
Tantric Buddhism for the official religion of the kingdom.

The doctrine of the Vajrayana constitutes a third way of Buddhism beside the
Mahayana and the Hinayana. It makes a main place to the brahmanic rituals of Tantra
and Mantra which have been rejected by the two other currents of though, carrying
out a syncretism between Buddhism and Hinduism.

The union of the male and the female principles indispensable to reach the
enlightenment is symbolized by the Yab Yum or the hands holding a vajra and a bell
with the wrists crossed on the chest.

Guhyasamaja in Yab Yum. Vajradhara. Tibet.15th c.

This fundamental union of compassion and wisdom is expressed through

the Yantra of Durga : The union of the male symbol , triangle with the base on the
bottom, with the female symbol , triangle with the base on the top, repeated by
stacking, represents the divine energy of the Maha Devi Durga, creator of all things.
 Durga’s yantra. 17th c.

The transaction of the sexual fluids, in tantric traditions, constitutes the height
of offering to the deities. The union of Shiva and Shakti, male and female principles,
are the means to perpetuate the life, and creation is the ultimate destiny of sex.
In the Vajrayana, it represents the perfect level of the enlightenment.

The Yab-Yum gives an anthropomorphic representation to the association of

the triangles of the Shaktism whose influence is clearly dominant in the tantric
practices.

Hevajra.Tibet.16th c. Guimet museum

 Hinduism and Buddhism benefit from the syncretism of
the symbols.
The passage from Buddhism to the beginning of Hinduism at the blunt
reaction of Pushyamitra against the state religion of the Mauryan empire is performed
with softness by the syncretism of the religious symbols.
At Bharhut and Sanchi are carried out the mixture of the tokens helped by the
aniconic representations of Buddhist art.
The Bharhut stupa as well as the great stupa (Sanchi 1) was commissioned by the
emperor Asoka in the 3rd c.bc.
Additions and renovations by the Shungas, then after 70 bc by the Satavahanas
(Sanchi gateway and balustrade), after by the Guptas.

The Bodhi tree :

Sanchi Bracket figure.Sanchi. British museum.

Aniconic Buddha or brahmanical symbol of fertility.

The Wheel :

Sanchi
Dharma Chakra, Buddha’s teachings or brahmanical sun symbol.
The Triratna :

Sanchi
The Triratna, three jewels of Buddhism : Buddha, Dharma, Sangha or the Trisula,
Shiva’s trident, symbolizing the three powers : creation, preservation and destruction.

The lotus in full bloom :

Bharhut
Buddhist symbol of purity and spiritual perfection or brahmanical solar symbol
circling the armed goddess with the third eye of Shiva.

In this way, the confusion is skillfully kept alive with the Buddha’s urna
and the third eye of Shiva, the Shesha of Vishnu and the Mucalinda of Buddha, …
The same royal symbols are used by both Hinduism and Buddhism: lion, umbrella, …
as well as the mythological creatures : makara, nagas, winged deities, …

However, two symbols are not mixed up : the Footprint of Buddha and
the Hindu armed goddess.