Hinduism and Buddhism, Volume 2 | Page 7

and all
violence and distress. He saves too from moral evils, such as passion, hatred and folly.
He grants children to women who worship him. This power, which is commonly
exercised by female deities, is worth remarking as a hint of his subsequent transformation
into a goddess. For the better achievement of his merciful deeds, he assumes all manner
of forms, and appears in the guise of a Buddha, a Bodhisattva, a Hindu deity, a goblin, or
a Brahman and in fact in any shape. This chapter was translated into Chinese before 417
A.D. and therefore can hardly be later than 350. He is also mentioned in the
Sukhâvatî-vyûha. The records of the Chinese pilgrims Fa-Hsien and Hsüan Chuang[23]
indicate that his worship prevailed in India from the fourth till the seventh century and we
are perhaps justified in dating its beginnings at least two centuries earlier. But the
absence of any mention of it in the writings of Asvaghosha is remarkable.[24]
Avalokita is connected with a mountain called Potala or Potalaka. The name is borne by
the palace of the Grand Lama at Lhassa and by another Lamaistic establishment at Jehol
in north China. It reappears in the sacred island of P´u-t´o near Ningpo. In all these cases
the name of Avalokita's Indian residence has been transferred to foreign shrines. In India
there were at least two places called Potala or Potalaka--one at the mouth of the Indus and
one in the south. No certain connection has been traced between the former and the
Bodhisattva but in the seventh century the latter was regarded as his abode. Our

information about it comes mainly from Hsüan Chuang[25] who describes it when
speaking of the Malakuta country and as near the Mo-lo-ya (Malaya) mountain. But
apparently he did not visit it and this makes it probable that it was not a religious centre
but a mountain in the south of which Buddhists in the north wrote with little precision.[26]
There is no evidence that Avalokita was first worshipped on this Potalaka, though he is
often associated with mountains such as Kapota in Magadha and Valavatî in Katâha.[27]
In fact the connection of Potala with Avalokita remains a mystery.
Avalokita has, like most Bodhisattvas, many names. Among the principal are
Mahâkaruna, the Great Compassionate one, Lokanâtha or Lokesvara, the Lord of the
world, and Padmapâni, or lotus-handed. This last refers to his appearance as portrayed in
statues and miniatures. In the older works of art his figure is human, without redundant
limbs, and represents a youth in the costume of an Indian prince with a high jewelled
chignon, or sometimes a crown. The head-dress is usually surmounted by a small figure
of Amitâbha. His right hand is extended in the position known as the gesture of
charity.[28] In his left he carries a red lotus and he often stands on a larger blossom. His
complexion is white or red. Sometimes he has four arms and in later images a great
number. He then carries besides the lotus such objects as a book, a rosary and a jug of
nectar.[29]
The images with many eyes and arms seem an attempt to represent him as looking after
the unhappy in all quarters and stretching out his hands in help.[30] It is doubtful if the
Bodhisattvas of the Gandhara sculptures, though approaching the type of Avalokita,
represent him rather than any other, but nearly all the Buddhist sites of India contain
representations of him which date from the early centuries of our era[31] and others are
preserved in the miniatures of manuscripts.[32]
He is not a mere adaptation of any one Hindu god. Some of his attributes are also those of
Brahmâ. Though in some late texts he is said to have evolved the world from himself, his
characteristic function is not to create but, like Vishnu, to save and like Vishnu he holds a
lotus. But also he has the title of Îsvara, which is specially applied to Siva. Thus he does
not issue from any local cult and has no single mythological pedigree but is the idea of
divine compassion represented with such materials as the art and mythology of the day
offered.
He is often accompanied by a female figure Târâ.[33] In the tantric period she is
recognized as his spouse and her images, common in northern India from the seventh
century onwards, show that she was adored as a female Bodhisattva. In Tibet Târâ is an
important deity who assumes many forms and even before the tantric influence had
become prominent she seems to have been associated with Avalokita. In the
Dharmasangraha she is named as one of the four Devîs, and she is mentioned twice under
the name of To-lo Pu-sa by Hsüan Chuang, who saw a statue of her in