Ushnisha

Head of the Buddha, crowned by the ushnisha, 3rd century, Hadda, Afghanistan.

The ushnisha (Sanskrit, n., उष्णीष, IAST: uṣṇīṣa) is a three-dimensional oval at the top of the head of the Buddha.

Symbolism

It symbolizes his attainment of reliance in the spiritual guide.^{[1] [2]}

Description

The ushnisha was not described initially in the Physical characteristics of the Buddha spelled out by the Buddhist canon. Rather, there are several mentions about a topknot:

"His topknot is like a crown." (Secondary characteristics, No 53)

"He has a topknot as if crowned with a flower garland." (Secondary characteristics, No 80)

Representation

The first representations of the Buddha in the 1st century CE in the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara also represent him with a topknot, rather than just a cranial knob. It is thought that the interpretation of the ushnisha as a supernatural cranial protuberance happened at a later date, as the representation of the topknot became more symbolic and its original meaning was lost.^[3]

The Boddhisattva-Cakravartin in Early Buddhism

In Early Buddhism, the uṣṇīṣa was represented differently. The Mahāvastu (1.259f) and the Divyāvadāna, as well as the Theravadin Milindapañha, describe the marks of the cakravartin or "idealised world-ruler": uṣṇīṣa or patka turban, chhatra "parasol", "horn jewel" or vajra, whisk and sandals. These were the marks of the kshatriya.^[4]

The plastic art of early Mahayana Buddhism in Mathura presents bodhisattvas in a form called uṣṇīṣin "wearing a turban/hair binding", wielding the mudras for "nonviolent cakravartin rule".^[4]

See also

• Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra :  ऊष्णीष विजय ढारणी. Wikisource. 

References

1. "The true Buddha head is bare, covered only with ringlets of hair (plate 560) and surmounted by a peculiar swelling, the "usnisa", which is one of the thirty two traditional "great marks" (Maha-Laksana) of the Buddhist superman-savior. Sometimes on the Usnia there is represented a small image of the transcendent Spiritual Buddha from whom the historical savior is an emanation: the supramundane source whence his phenomenal appearance proceeds. But never does the Buddha wear a kingly crown" The Art of Indian Asia Vol 1. Zimmerman. page 67
2. "The Bodhisattva, it will be remembered, departed from his palace, cross the border-river of his father's Kingdom, and on its bank severed, with a single stroke of his sword, the tuft of his hair, saying, 'If it is destined to me to become a Buddha, may my hair and head-cloth remain hanging in the air; if not, let them fall to the ground'. A God caught both, transported them to the heaven of the Trayastrimsat Gods, and there a Chaitya-Cudamani was constructed", The Art of Indian Asia Vol 1. Zimmerman. page 233.
3. Mario Bussagli, L'art du Gandhara
4. Falk, Harry, "Small-Scale Buddhism" in Voegeli, François; Eltschinger, Vincent; Candotti, Maria Piera; Diaconescu, Bogdan; Kulkarni, Malhar, eds. (2012). Devadattīyam : Johannes Bronkhorst felicitation volume. Bern: Peter Lang. ISBN 9783034306829., p. 495