Gada (club)

meditating Vishnu with club and wheel or throwing disc ( chakra )

Arjuna fights against Chitrasena - scene from the Mahabharata

Gada ( Sanskrit : गदा gadā, German: “ club ” or “ mace ”) is one of the four main attributes of the Hindu deity Vishnu , along with the throwing disc or the wheel ( chakra ), the conch shell ( shankha ) and the lotus ( padma ) . Also Bhairava , Chamunda and Kubera can wear primitive-looking legs; some of the heroes of the Mahabharata like Bhima , Duryodhana , Jarasandha or Balarama are called masters of club fighting. In many modern depictions of the monkey general Hanuman , who is revered as god, he is also shown with a club. The guardian figures ( dvarapalas ) at temples of the southern Indian Pallava empire also often wear clubs.

The Sanskrit word gada was adopted in the Malay language , in which it generally means “club” or “stick”.

Origin and development

The club is one of the oldest striking weapons in the world. One can assume that it originally consisted of a femur or a branch with a thickened end (root, etc.). In the Neolithic Age , the thickened end was replaced by a stone fastened with plant fibers or leather straps, which was later also pierced. Club heads with a hole have also been preserved from the Copper and Bronze Ages . Since the connection between a wooden handle and a metal head proved to be inconsistent in the long run, in many places people gradually switched to making the rod from metal. The club head was later given ribs and knobs etc. during forging, which on the one hand reduced the weight of the weapon and at the same time improved its stability, but on the other hand also increased the impact of the blow. The club handle was sometimes cast or forged slightly conically.

Weapons such as the hammer or the morning star , but also sceptres and similar ceremonial objects or regal insignia developed from the clubs in the course of time . An important specimen, which cannot deny its origin as a club, comes from the time of the Mughal Empire .

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  Indo-Persian clubs made of iron

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  Clubs with curved ends

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  Club with a spiked head

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  Club from the Mughal period (around 1600)

Legend

According to a legend, Vishnu received his club with the name barelyodaki ("which boomed like thunder ") from the hands of the Vedic king of heaven Varuna .

Representations

Representations of Vishnu with a club have been known since the 6th century at the latest (cf. Dashavatara Temple ), but even in the early examples the club is no longer used as a weapon, but functions as an object of representation or as an insignia of power. In some cases it is almost as tall as the seated or standing god. In the Indian Middle Ages (9th – 12th centuries) the examples increase; however, few artifacts of the way they appear in the temple sculptures have survived. These usually have a conical stem and a ring-shaped and ribbed head in the manner of an amalaka ring. Sometimes hardlyodaki is also portrayed as a beautiful woman.

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symbolism

"In Hinduism and Buddhism it (the club) divides the clouds of ignorance in the esoteric-philosophical sense and brings the light of knowledge."

Others

Clubs are used as sports equipment or for juggling not only in the western world, but also in India and Southeast Asia .

See also

• Indian mace

Individual evidence

1. ^ Jan Gonda : Aspects of Early Visnuism. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi 1969, p. 99
2. ↑ Anneliese and Peter Keilhauer: The visual language of Hinduism. The Indian world of gods and their symbolism. DuMont, Cologne 1983, p. 67, ISBN 3-7701-1347-0