国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

PLATE XXI
PAINTINGS FROM BEZEKLIK

Bez. v. A–E

From the south wall of the long narrow shrine adjoining the larger shrine
on its north. Although these animated figures are creations inspired by a
degenerate form of Mahāyāna Buddhism, they are highly decorative. Charm-
ing in their supple swaying forms they carry symbols of threatening import sanc-
tioned by the repulsive ritual of Tantric philosophy, which professes to advance
the aspirant towards the ultimate goal of perfect peace, or, more correctly, torpidity.
These female fiends—ḍākinīs—endowed with four arms and four heads, and
equipped with appropriate means, seek to capture the individual and, it is claimed,
to subjugate his natural evil impulses by encouraging and promoting their practice
to the excess that ends in exhaustion. Whence this peculiar and insidious philo-
sophy came, or whether its inspiration may derive from remote forms of belief
in spells and charms and from ungoverned, primitive human lusts, is uncertain.
Whatever its origin, it became a powerful influence on Mahāyāna Buddhism in
about the seventh century A.D.

The implements of their mission, so spiritedly displayed, are the noose (pāśa)
with which to capture their quarry, the sacrificial knife (kadga) for sanguinary cere-
monies, the skull (kapāla) to be used as a cup for blood, and the thunderbolt (vajra)
which has complicated significance. Besides the four arms, the ḍākinīs are endowed
with four heads. At first sight, the expression of the principal face would seem
disarmingly simple, but for the hard, cruel tilt of the eyebrows which prompts
detection of further and less pleasant implications in the features. The subsidiary
faces appear to express either mild surprise or alarm or malevolence. All the faces
have been wantonly damaged.

The costume is an effeminate adaptation of that of the warrior guardians—
dharmapāla. The long, streaming scarves lend animation, accentuating the suggestion
of brisk breezes induced by the forward progress of the plunging fish vāhana, to which
the backward leaning of the shoulders, advanced hips, and swaying skirt add
realism. The peculiar imbricated treatment of the sleeves covering the forearms
has already been noticed in connexion with Bez. iii. W–Y, plate XVI, and also
the scaly character of the foot-covering appearing in Bez. v. I on the present plate.
They may have implications associated with the fish; but of the fish as a vāhana

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