Airavata

Indra on Airavata. Sandstone relief on the brick temple of the capital Sambor Prei Kuk of the Chenla Empire in the Cambodian province of Kampong Thom . Südgruppe, p. 7, early 7th century. Today in the Musée Guimet, Paris.

Airavata ( Sanskrit ऐरावत airāvata m.), Also Airavana ( ऐरावण IAST airāvaṇa ) is a white, holy elephant in Hindu mythology , the first created of all elephants and the mount ( Vahana ) of the creator god Indra . He is also one of the eight dikpalas , elephants that carry the world in the cardinal points. In the Indian culture, Airavata and his descendants are considered a symbol of luck and rainbow. He is mostly depicted with three heads and four tusks.

Of central importance for Indian mythology is the creation myth of the whirling of the milk ocean , from which Airavata arose; told in different versions in the epics Mahabharata , Ramayana and some Puranas . Ancient Indian elephant customers , Matangalila , Hastyayurveda and relevant chapters of Manasollasa from the 12th century are dedicated to the mythical Airavata and the earthly elephants .

Airavata's creation story

The basic cosmic principle is unity. Whether described as glowing or golden, the bowls of the ancient Indian rice come from the body of the sun god, the sun eagle Garuda , who had already flown away when first Airavata and then other elephants emerged.

Milky Ocean

This myth of origin is in Matangalila, as is the following story, which preceded the whirling of the ocean of milk: Saint Durvasas , full of reverence, gave Indra a wreath of heavenly flowers. When he saw Airavata step on the wreath, disgusted by the smell, the ascetic cursed the elephant. Even gods can struggle against curses from saints. The elephant perished in order to get it back and regain control of the world, the gods stirred the sea of ​​milk until Airavata, "the one born of the sea of ​​milk", came out.

Depending on the Hindu tradition, certain sacred texts and their gods myths become contents of faith, new myth variants arise from religious practice through combination. It is more of a historical scientific concept to precisely locate details from the myth of the milk ocean in the several thousand year history of Indian poetry. Elephants are already in the 3rd millennium BC. Depicted on seals from Mohenjo-Daro . A structural look brings more.

The same Durvasas, in another version, cursed Indra and all the gods to be robbed of their power and strength. This explains the gods' struggle for the invigorating immortality potion Amrita .

The whirlpool of the milk ocean in Angkor Wat , east gallery, south wing: central part of the 50 meter long scene. Vishnu is sitting on Mount Mandara and holding the serpent Vasuki with two hands. Among them the turtle Kurma. In the sky Apsaras in knee flight. Classic style from Angkor Wat under King Suryavarman II. 1113–1150.

It is a second creation myth. Its function is to restore the world that has gotten into disarray and to introduce the later characteristics of all protagonists in an explanatory manner. First of all, the lost strength should be restored. The story is called Amritamanthana ( manthana means "whirl"), in the Vedas or the later Brahmanas of the 7th century BC. It is not mentioned yet. The first variant of the theme is found in the Mahabharata, in which Airavata appears as the first elephant; The story is then expanded in the Puranas. The Puranas ("old stories") from the 2nd to 10th centuries are the most important source of Indian myths. In the Vishnu-Purana, instead of Indra's Vishnu in the position of the father of the gods, the devas are advised to join forces with their opponents, the asuras (demons), in order to whisk the ocean of milk.

The chaos snake Vasuki is placed around the mountain Mandara as a whisk. Lord Krishna gathers his people at the tail end of the serpent, the demons line up at the head end and pulling alternately they set the mountain in rotation. When this threatens to sink into the primordial ocean , Vishnu himself, in the form of the turtle Kurma , ensures a firm hold on the sea floor while whisking.

As a symbol of the universe, the back of another turtle with the name Akupara was already the carrier for the world mountain Meru in the earlier myth of world creation , and the carrier function for the heavenly vault was later assumed by caryatids in the eight cardinal points similar to caryatids . In the Mahabharata, instead of Kurma and at the request of the gods and demons, the turtle king Akupara takes on the role of a fixed point in the milk ocean.

After a long time, in this case after a thousand years, the whisking revealed 14 treasures, attributes and companions of the gods for later use. Among them was the white elephant Airavata, which Indra received as a mount. Vishnu as the heavenly doctor Dhanavantari brings the immortality drink Amrita in a jug, which is immediately snatched from him by the demons. Vishnu, transformed into the beautiful woman Mohini, succeeds in distracting the Asuras so that the Amrita can only be distributed among the gods. Order will be established by the next world period.

Creation story of the Matangalila

When Airavata was born from the Urei, Brahma held the two glowing bowls in his hands and sang seven sacred songs over them ( Saman , magic songs ), whereupon seven more male elephants appeared from the right bowl and then from the left bowl the already mentioned eight elephant cows, which became diggajas , pillars of the eight directions of space. There they are associated with the guardians of the cardinal points ( dikpalas ). The elephants gave birth to many children who roamed the country freely. In cosmogonic stories the gods have to create an order from the initial formlessness as a yardstick for human beings, whereby through special events the initial indeterminacy gradually settles into a past.

It is literal settling, as in the First Age the elephants and even the mountains had wings. In the same way, the horses with wings wandered aimlessly back and forth until they lost them through no fault of their own. At Indra's behest, their wings were shot off with an arrow, otherwise they would never have been suitable for pulling chariots. This was one of Indra's world-regulating deeds, as well as the separation of heaven and earth. The sun also had to be brought into its orbit first.

The elephants lost their wings through exuberance and their ability, like all gods, to take on different shapes. A flock of flying elephants once perched on a branch of a huge banyan tree . The branch, which is around 1,000 kilometers long, broke and tore up the land when it fell to the ground. Under the tree sat an ascetic named Durgha Tapas ("Long Asceticism" or "Persevering Strictness") who was teaching his students. Some of them were fatally wounded, the elephants flew unconcerned to the nearest branch, whereupon the saint cursed them in his anger to henceforth serve people without wings as mounts. Even gods do not make the words of a saint unsaid. Since then, the elephants have been helping with their weight, just as the mountains do, to consolidate the unsafe earth.

Airavata's meaning

Rainbringer

When the elephants still had wings, they were equated with the clouds ( megha ) that rise from the southern seas during the rainy season ( monsoon ) and settle down to rest on mountain tops. This connects elephants with rain, water and again with the mountains. White elephants are considered the most perfect replica of the Kailash snow mountain . For the cloud elephants enchanted on earth after the first age of the world, the Matangalila demands to organize festivals, rain magic in anticipation of the monsoon. The Vedic Indra is also god of rain and fertility and guards Amrita.

Airavata's wife is Abhramu (the "cloud binder "), primeval mother of the cloud elephants. Airavata's nicknames are Ardh Matanga ("cloud elephant"), Arka Sodara ("brother of the sun") and Naga-Malla (the "fighting elephant"). According to the Ramayana, his mother is Iravati , "ira" means water, generally liquid or milk, so "she who has liquid". Iravati is the namesake for the Irrawaddy , the main river of Burma . Rivers are always female. The name Airavata is also derived from Iravat.

Snake creatures

Iravati is in turn the daughter of Kadru (Kadri) , the primal mother of the snakes ( Nagas ). The snake king Vasuki was already involved in the whisking of the milk ocean. His sister Manasa is another daughter of Kadru. The connection between the elephants and the snakes is important in everything. Both belong to the water element. Just as elephants carry the vault of heaven, the earth rests on the world serpent Ananta ("infinite") -Shesha . Snakes are also worshiped in anticipation of the rain.

Airavata, Erapatha in Buddhist tales , is also the name of a serpent king . The same word can mean different things. Naga means snake and also elephant, Nagaraja snake and elephant king, which indicates the similarity of their beings. Snakes come out of water, prefer moisture and they bring water in the form of rain. This should not hide the danger of snakes for elephants. The fight between the two animals, which is reported in Indian elephant stories, ends with the downfall of both. In the Matangalila the snake-like nature of the elephant is reported: The trunk is thick and long, so snake-like. He smells of aquatic plants, he drinks rain, wind and moonlight, among other things, similar to snakes, one of which is nicknamed "wind-eating". Presumably the snakes lick the wind when they lick.

Although related, everything snake-like is dangerous for elephants, besides the cobra (naga) also the nematode (tantuka), which arose when a few drops of liquid from Airavata fell to the ground from the temples mixed with tears. The treatment methods for nematodes lead into the field of elephant medicine.

king

Indra and his wife Indrani (Sachi) on Airavata. Indian miniature based on a story from the Jain Panchakalyanaka collection, which tells of the life of Jina Adinatha (Rishabhanatha), the first Tirthankara . Amber, Rajasthan around 1670–1680. The procession moves to the house of the newborn Rishabhanatha, who is to be secretly taken from his mother Marudevi to worship him on Mount Meru. Fly wagons pay homage in the sky, adorants with flags on the left. - Indra was inducted into the Jain gods early and is widely used under the name Saudharmendra.

Elephants serve as a sign of royal dignity. They are related to the king as the divine mount is related to Indra. The white elephants kept in royal gardens are the pride of the ruler and his people and have the special task of summoning the clouds at the right time. In a Jataka (story from the Buddha's earlier life ), Buddha practices the virtues of self-denial and compassion in the form of a prince. One day when he gave the royal white elephant to a drought-stricken neighbor country, he was driven away by his angry people.

The elephant gives the king miraculous power. The annual ceremonies, in which the richly decorated white elephants are processioned, bring rain, fertility and power to the kingdom.

The magical power of snakes is based on a story reported by a Chinese envoy in Angkor in the 13th century : At the top of the temple mount Phimeanakas in a golden chamber, a nine-headed snake lived as the secret ruler of the empire. At night the king had to go up to her, she appeared to people in the form of a woman.

Lakshmi

Indra is shown on the east side of the north Indian temple mostly riding on Airavata and with his attributes thunderbolt ( vajra ) for dividing the storm clouds and the elephant spike Ankusha as a symbol of the royal dignity. If Indra is shown standing, Airavata is mostly small on his right foot.

In South India, elephants are more often depicted along with the goddess Lakshmi . It is one of the 14 treasures that were born from the milk ocean. As “born lotus”, Lakshmi is shown in almost all images with the water element lotus . Originally it was associated with earth and moisture; From an early earth mother and goddess of fertility, she has today become a goddess of happiness and wealth. Lakshmi is Vishnu's wife and is venerated in the Divali Festival of Lights .

Already on Frisians from the 2nd century BC. Chr. The stupas in Bharhut and Sanchi , Lakshmi is shown flanked by two elephants who pour water from jugs from jugs ( kalashas ) in their trunks. This Gajalakshmi good luck symbol replaces the elephant god Ganesh, who is responsible for northern India, in southern India via entrances . The water buckets represent abundance and wealth.

Ganesh and Makara

The stories about Vishnu and Lakshmi include one that is mentioned in the Brahma Vaivarta Purana (Ganapati Kahand): Airavata had left Indra and was wandering in the forest with other elephants. Elsewhere, the young Ganesh lost his head in a prehistory to do with a curse. When Vishnu noticed the headless one, he traveled on his mount Garuda into the forest, saw the sleeping Airavata and separated his head with his chakra. The story is told from the perspective of Ganesh, Airavata as a marginal figure is simply given a new head. Airavata's head is brought to the holy mountain Kailasa and, mounted on Ganesh's body, helps it to regain life. Since then “the elephant head” has been his nickname. Countless variations exist for this story. In others, Shiva is the focus.

The head of the sea monster Makara also has something elephant-like about it . Another connection between the elephant and the water element in the form of the mount of the river goddess Ganga is described in the Bhagavata Purana: Once the elephant king, this time called Gajendera, was bathing at the river with his herd. Usually he kept watch while his followers bathed. This time a Makara felt disturbed, was able to grab Gajendera by the legs and pull it under the water. Despite loud shouts and the help of all the elephants, it was not possible to free Gajendera. He was only saved when Vishnu became attentive, rushed up on Garuda and beheaded the monster.

Makaras are mixed crocodile creatures with a proboscis, from whose open mouth the rainwater runs off at temples or flower garlands flow out of reliefs over temple entrances ( Makara- Torana ). In this story ( Gajendra-Moksha ) the elephant embodies the human soul, which is dutifully redeemed by Vishnu. A Makara, which completely embraces the elephant in the illustrations, corresponds to the attachments in the material, and flow everywhere stands for life.

Good and evil

Demons ( A-suras ) stand against gods ( Suras ), whereby the enemies of the gods are only the downside in the struggle of the good. The battle of the gods can be understood as an image of the endeavor on a social level to introduce the supremacy of the Brahmin caste in Vedic times , and religiously as a necessary passage on the way to salvation.

The most powerful of the demons in the Rig Veda was the Vritra , serpent or dragon, who caused drought by confining the waters of the world; a demon of dryness who opposes Indra. Indra is shown riding on Airavata, how he finally defeated Vritra with his thunderbolt and the help of other gods. The effort was considerable, without the intoxicating soma he could not have done it. A later version in the Puranas describes Vritra as a brahmin who has become too powerful, this time Indra needs the help of Shiva and Vishnu to win.

Airavatesvara Temple, Darasuram. Under King Rajaraja, 1146–1173. Elongated main hall ( Maha-Mandapa ) on a high plinth. At the side a small open hall ( muha mandapa ) like a temple car ( ratha ) is built on stone wheels, the stairs of which are guarded by elephants.

Established order

The eight male elephants from the Urei initially roamed freely until they were harnessed by the gods to fight the demons. At first they fled frightened to Brahma, who provided them with an intoxicating potion, after which they could subdue the demons. After the fight, they split up to support the guardian gods of the universe at the eight compass points. As the chief of these gods, Indra guards the east with Airavata.

Temples for the gods were built as images of the cosmic order, the construction process symbolized the creation of the world. When the temple not only receives its holy power from the God it has been appropriated, but can even give it back in another form, its importance grows. The white elephant is venerated in the Airavatesvara temple near Darasuram, five kilometers south of Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu , from the late Chola dynasty (12th century). The lingam in the main shrine of the temple is named after the "Lord ( Ishvara ) of Airavata", ie Shiva. Here Saint Durvasa appears in the founding myth by, again as an opponent, cursing Airavata and making his skin dark. Only a bath in the holy water could lighten Airavata's skin again. A bath in the temple pond provides cleansing. Water basins are part of the standard plan of a south Indian temple and are called Tirtha , which means a holy place by the water. The theme includes mentioning a large nagaraja on the outer wall of a vestibule, with a snake hood over his head and his hands in a gesture of worship. Airavatesvara temples were extremely rare. Another small temple associated with the elephant dates from the 8th century and is preserved further north in the old Pallava capital Kanchipuram .

Airavata's earthly descendants

Tales of gods flowed together with psychological observations of elephants and horses, the most important ancient fighting bulls in the ancient Indian animal dentistry , as its (mythical) founder Shalihotra, the son of a wise Brahmin applies. He lived in the 3rd millennium BC. BC or around 600 BC Chr. In differently indicated places, his most famous work is the Haya Ayurveda or Shalihotra Samhita , which is dedicated to the treatment of horses. It was considered a standard work and was adopted in some Puranas.

The elephant teachings

Hastyayurveda

The Hasty-Ayurveda (Hastyāyurveda), also Pālakāpya-Samhita or Gaja-Ayurveda , which is used exclusively description and treatment of elephants. The author is Palakapya, who lived in the 6th century BC. BC (or 1000 BC?) Is said to have lived in Bengal. In over 10,000 two-line stanzas, elephants are described in individual stages of life from birth and in their special qualities. In 152 chapters typical illnesses, minor illnesses, surgery on elephants, nutrition, also rearing and training are dealt with. The volume is around 700 printed pages.

Matangalila

Matangalila (Mātaṅgalīlā) or "Game about the elephants" is a comparatively short and very succinct treatise of 263 stanzas and is considered the best work of the "science of the elephants" ( gajaśāstra ). A chronological classification of the author Nilakantha would be speculative. The oldest manuscripts survived, especially in southern India, are around 300 years old today, but the text itself is much older, perhaps 1000 years or more. The text is divided into twelve chapters of very different lengths. In addition to a humoral pathology, there are myths and ritual sayings handed down from the Vedas. The story of the creation of the elephants from the eggshell halves is also cited.

Manasollasa

The Hasti- Shastras also include the Manasollasa of the 12th century, a general dictionary in 10,000 verses of the late Chalukya dynasty. The authorship of King Someshvardana is considered certain.

Megha - cloud

In the Matangalila, elephants with three or four tusks are reported. One day the guardian elephants of the eight regions of the world came down to earth at night and begat them with earthly elephant cows. Elephants have magical powers even if they are not abnormal. The high esteem as war elephants is an expression of the earthly utility value of a divine descent.

See also

• Erawan , the Thai Airavata

literature

• Heinrich Zimmer : Game about the elephant. A book of Indian nature. Diederichs, Cologne 1965, ISBN 3-424-00581-9 . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1979, ISBN 3-518-37019-7 .
• Heinrich Zimmer: Indian Myths and Symbols. Diederichs, Cologne 1981, ISBN 3-424-00693-9 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ airāvata . In: Monier Monier-Williams : Sanskrit-English Dictionary . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1899, p. 234, col. 2 .
2. ^ Franklin Edgerton (transl.): The Elephant lore of the Hindus. The Elephant-sport (matangalila) of Nilakantha. 1931. Reprint: Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House, New Delhi 1985, ISBN 81-208-0005-2 . German transmission in excerpts contained in: Heinrich Zimmer: Spiel um den Elefanten. A book of Indian nature. 1929. New editions Düsseldorf 1965 and Frankfurt 1979. Sanskrit text of Matangalila by T. Ganapati Shastri (ed.): Trivandrum 1910. Blurb and table of contents.
3. ↑ Sanskrit text of Hastyayurveda: Anandashrama Sanskrit Series, Pune 1894. English Translations: Subrahmanya Sastri, S. Gopalan (ed and trans..): Gaja Sastram of Palakapya Muni with extracts from other works and colored illustrations. TMSSM Library, Tanjore 1958. - Jayantee Bhattacharya: Hastyayurveda of Palakapya. Indian National Science Academy (INSA), 1995.
4. ↑ Natalia R. Lidova: Amrtamanthana. The Vedic Sources of the Hindu Creation Myth. In: Baidyanath Saraswati: Man in Nature. New Delhi 1995. Online ( Memento from June 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
5. ↑ Horace Hayman Wilson (transl.): The Vishnu Purana. 1840. Book 1, chap. 9
6. ↑ David Kinsley: Indian Goddesses. Female deities in Hinduism. Insel, Frankfurt 1990, ISBN 3-458-16118-X , p. 39
7. ^ Zhou Daguan : A Record of Cambodia. The Land and its People. Written between 1297 and 1312. French edition 1902. New English translation: Peter Harris. Chiang Mai 2007. ISBN 978-974-9511-24-4
8. ^ WJ Wilkins: Hindu Mythology, Vedic and Puranic. 1882. Reprinted in Calcutta 1975, pp. 127-133. Describes another origin in the Vishnu Purana.
9. ↑ Lokapalas . In: John Dowson : A classical dictionary of Hindu mythology and religion, geography, history, and literature. Trübner & co., London 1879, p. 180 ( Text Archive - Internet Archive ). The other seven elephants are assigned by name.
10. ↑ R. Somvanshi: Veterinary Medicine and Animal Keeping in Ancient India. In: Asian Agri-History , Vol. 10, No. 2, 2006, pp. 133-146: "1000 BC", a little later: "2000-4000 BC".
11. ↑ after T. Ganapati Sastris edition, Trivandrum 1910.
12. ^ F. Edgerton: The Elephant-Lore of the Hindus. New Haven 1931, reprint: Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi 1985, p. Vii, Google books
13. ↑ Nalini Sadhale, YL Nene: On Elephants in Manasollasa - 1. Characteristics, Habitat, Methods of capturing and training. In: Asian Agri-History , Vol. 8, No. 1, 2004, pp. 5–25 (introduction and individual verses); Chapter 2: On Elephants in Manasollasa - 2. Diseases and Treatment. In: Asian Agri-History , Vol. 8, No. 2, 2004, pp. 115-124; Chapter 3: On Elephants in Manasollasa - 3. Gajavahyali: Sports with Elephants in the Arena. In: Asian Agri-History , Vol. 8, No. 3, 2004, pp. 189-213