abhayamudra
{{Short description|Hand gesture in Indian religions}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
File:Dewi Sri Abhaya Mudra.jpg) with her right hand in the abhayamudra, Bali Indonesia.{{cite book|author=Yves Bonnefoy|title=Asian Mythologies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r4I-FsZCzJEC&pg=PA178 |year=1993 |publisher =University of Chicago Press|isbn= 978-0-226-06456-7|pages=178–179}}]]
The abhayamudra ({{Langx|sa|अभयमुद्रा|lit=gesture of fearlessness|translit=abhayamudrā}}){{cite book|editor1-last=Buswell|editor1-first=Robert Jr.|editor1-link=Robert Buswell Jr.|title=Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism.|date=2013|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, NJ|isbn=9780691157863|page=2}} is a mudra (gesture) that is the gesture of reassurance and safety, which dispels fear and accords divine protection and bliss in Hinduism, Buddhism, and other Indian religions. The right hand is raised to shoulder height, with the palm is facing outward and the fingers pointing upwards {{cite web|title=Abhaya Mudra|url=http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/symbols/mudras/abhaya|date=2015-03-17|access-date=2015-02-10|archive-date=18 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150718014007/http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/symbols/mudras/abhaya|url-status=dead}} This is one of the earliest mudras found depicted on a number of Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh images.
Description
The abhayamudra represents protection, peace, benevolence and the dispelling of fear. A form of the Hindu god Shiva, Nataraja, is depicted with the second right hand making the abhayamudra, bestowing protection from both evil and ignorance to those who follow the righteousness of dharma. In Theravada Buddhism, it is usually made with the right hand raised to shoulder height, the arm bent and the palm facing outward with the fingers upright and joined and the left hand hanging down while standing. In Thailand and Laos, this mudra is associated with the Walking Buddha, often shown having both hands making a double abhayamudra that is uniform.
File:Vishnu Museums für Asiatische Kunst (Berlin).jpg
The abhayamudra was probably used before the onset of Buddhism as a symbol of good intentions proposing friendship when approaching strangers. In the art of Gandhara, it is present when showing the action of preaching. It was also used in China during the Northern Wei and Sui eras of the 4th and 7th centuries.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}
The gesture was used by Gautama Buddha to subdue the elephant when attacked by a drunk elephant set off by Devadatta (some says by Ajātasattu),From Dhammapada, Buddhacharita, and Arśapraśamanasūtra as shown in several frescos and scripts.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} In Mahayana Buddhism, deities often paired it with another mudra using the other hand.File:Lord Buddha in Abhaya Mudra - Circa 3rd-4th Century CE - Govind Nagar - ACCN 76-17 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5558.JPG with his right hand in abhayamudra.]]
References
{{reflist}}
=Bibliography=
- {{cite book|last=Dallapiccola|first=Anna L.|title=Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XYhtQgAACAAJ|year=2002|publisher=Thames & Hudson|isbn=978-0-500-28402-5}}
External links
- {{Commonscatinline}}
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