Shrivatsa

"Shreevatsa" redirects here. For the child care centre, see Shreevatsa (Pune).

The Shrivatsa (Sanskrit śrīvatsa) is an ancient symbol, considered auspicious in India.[1]

Srivatsa means "beloved of Sri", the goddess Lakshmi.[2] It is a mark on the chest of Vishnu where his consort Sri Lakshmi resides. It is said that the tenth avatar of Vishnu, Kalki, will bear the Shrivatsa mark on his chest.It is one of the names of Vishnu in the Vishnu Sahasranamam. Srivatsa is a popular name in Andhra Pradesh,Telangana and Tamil Nadu.

The compound Buddhist symbols: shrivatsa within the Three Jewels over a chakra on the Tonana gate at Sanchi. 1st century BCE.

In Buddhism, the Srivatsa is said to be a feature of the tutelary deity (Tibetan: yidam) Manjusri the Youth (Skt: Manjusrikumarabhuta).[3] Tibetan Buddhists depict the shrivatsa as a triangular swirl or an endless knot.[2]

In Jain iconography

Tirthankara statue with flower shaped srivatsa on the chest

In Jainism, it often marks the chest of the Tirthankara image.[4] It is one of the ashtamangala (auspicious symbol). It can look somewhat like a fleur-de-lis, an endless knot, a flower or diamond-shaped symbol.[5]

One common form of the Endless Knot
More decorative

Other uses

Flag of Rakhine State, showing the shrivatsa

The shrivatsa is the symbol of Rakhine State and the Rakhine people of Burma.

Notes

  1. ↑ Sarat Chandra Das (1902). Tibetan-English Dictionary with Sanskrit Synonyms. Calcutta, India: Bengal Secretariat Book Depot, p. 69
  2. 1 2 The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols, p. PA11, at Google Books
  3. ↑ Alex Wayman, "Chanting the Names of Manjusri" 1985, p. 94
  4. ↑ Red sandstone figure of a tirthankara
  5. ↑ Jain & Fischer 1978, p. 15, 31.

References

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 09, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.