“Nobody is more deserving of your love than you are”
- Lord Gautam Buddha
This is one of many lessons Lord Buddha has taught humanity on love. This is a lesson on love for people who struggle with love, relationships, and themselves. Not just on love, Lord Buddha has bestowed a lot of other teachings for humanity and their welfare.
Besides the verbal teaching of Lord Buddha who is known for his wisdom, knowledge, and compassion for other beings. His gestures alone are known to be filled with wise teaching and love for everyone.
Significance of different poses in Brass Buddha Statue
The different poses of the Brass Buddha statue are made from his hand gestures. In Sanskrit, there is a word specifically for the posture of hands that represents a certain meaning. The word is Mudra. This word is used with all of the hand gestures made by Lord Buddha.
We have listed some of them here:
- Dhyana mudra – This hand pose or gesture can be seen on various different types of Brass Buddha Statue. The word Dhyan is a Sanskrit word which means to concentrate or focus.
This Dhyan mudra is extracted from the time when Lord Buddha was meditating under a pipal tree in order to attain enlightenment. This pose is also seen on a Tibetan Buddha named Amitabha or Amitayus who is known as the Buddha of Infinite Light
In the Dhyan mudra or hand gestures, one or sometimes both hands are involved. If only one hand is involved then it becomes a symbol of the female left-hand principal of wisdom. Sometimes a bowl is seen on the gesture’s hand to show the mudra of concentration.
When this mudra is performed by both hands it makes a triangle that rests on the thigh or is at the level of the stomach. The formed triangle is interpreted as a lot of things, we will talk about two important ones, the first one being – the triangle symbolised holy fire that burns all the impurities, and the second and more prominent meaning the triangle is the representation of three jewels of Buddhism which are: Lord Buddha, Good Law, and the Sangha.
- Dharmachakra mudra – This is one of the most famous and widely seen gestures of Lord Buddha. The Dharma chankra signifies the movement of the wheel of Dharma. This gesture was made by Lord Buddha when he gave his first lesson or teaching to four of his disciples.
In metaphysical terminology, we can interpret the wheel of Dharma as the Union of wisdom and methodology.
In this mudra, the three fingers which are extended are symbols of firstly the disciplines that listen to his teachings, second one shows the ones who realised and understand what he is saying and third last but not least shows the Mahayana which means the Great vehicle of Buddhism.
- Bhumisparsha Mudra – This is another powerful Mudra that signifies the exact moment when Lord Buddha got enlightenment and called Mother Earth to witness it. The word Bhumisparsha is a Sanskrit word which is made of two words. First word – Bhumi means Earth or here Mother Earth which is being called to see his moment of enlightenment and the second word is Sparsha which means to touch. The gesture of touching the Ground to call Mother Earth to Witness his enlightenment is called Bhumi sparsha Mudra.
- Varada Mudra- Varada Mudra is the most compassionate, kind and merciful gesture of Lord Buddha. This mudra is the indication that Lord Buddha will grant a boon on his devotees.
This mudra is most of the time made with the left hand by extending all his fingers in a straight line. As the symbol consists of 5 fingers, each of them is symbolic representation of 5 things which are generosity, patience, Effort, Morality, and meditative concentration.
It is rarely used on its own but it is seen to be paired with the Abaya gesture.
- Abhaya Mudra – The word Abhaya is a Hindi word that means Fearless. So Abhaya Mudra literally translates as the Fearless hand gesture. The meaning of this mudra is Protection, peace, and dissipation of fear. It is made when the right hand is raised to shoulder length with all the fingers stretched out and joined. While the left hand rest on the other side without any gesture.
In many places, this gesture is seen on standing or walking Buddha. By walking we mean that he is leaving good fortune and blessings for everyone.
In the end
Till now we have read a lot of things about different types of poses seen in Buddha statues. We got to know about the word Mudra and the different types of it performed by Lord Gautam Buddha and other Bodhisattvas.
The mudras have always been the symbol of energy pattern which provides numerous benefits.
Not just Gautam Buddha but also other Indian saints, monks, and priests have been performing since ancient times even before the birth of Lord Gautam Buddha. This explains the importance of poses and mudra in the daily life of normal people.
We hope that you got the information that you needed.
Thank you so much for reading.
