Gesturing gesture to witness the earth
bhumisparsa-mudrā
The right hand is pendulous, the palm turned towards the Buddha, the elongated fingers touch the ground.
Just before his awakening, Śākyamuni, seated under the bodhi tree, suffers the assaults of the "regent" of the saṃsāra, Māra (also called Pāpīyān, the "bad"). Fearing to lose his ascendancy over the beings dominated by the passions, he sends his armies first, whose arrows turn into flowers as soon as the future Buddha looks at them! Disgraceful, Māra then declares with pride that he owes his position insignificant to the many merits that he accumulated during his previous lives and denies the future Buddha to have as much as him ...
The master then touches the earth to prove his unwavering determination to remain on the scene and to witness the goddess-earth Sthāvarā (or Prithvī). It appears, pays tribute to it and, twisting its hair, extracts all the water accumulated over the cosmic eras, each time a libation was performed at a gift of the bodhisattva. This water is so abundant that it carries the armies of Māra!
Very beautiful unique piece, made in India.
|