Saṃkarṣaṇa

Saṃkarṣaṇa symbol at Besnagar

The fan-palm pillar capital, found near the Heliodorus pillar, is associated with Samkarsana.^[22][16][23]

Various sculptures and pillar capitals were found near the

The presence of these pillar capitals, found near the Heliodorus pillar, suggests that the Bhagavata belief, although centered around the figures of Vāsudeva and Samkarsana, may also have involved the worship of other Vrishni deities.[16]

In his

About Dionysos he writes: "Dionysos, however, when he came and had conquered the people, founded cities and gave laws to these cities, and introduced the use of wine among Indians, as he had done among the Greeks, and taught them to sow the land, himself supplying seeds for the purpose (...) It is also said that Dionysos first yoked oxen to the plough, and made many of the Indians husbandmen instead of nomads, and furnished them with the implements of agriculture; and that the Indians worship the other gods, and Dionysos himself in particular, with cymbals and drums, because he so taught them; and he also taught them the satiric dance, or, as the Greeks call it, the Kordax and that he instructed the Indians to let their hair grow long in honor of the god, and to wear the turban"

— Arrian, Indika, Chapter VII.[29]

Early on, the belief of Smarkasana is associated with the abuse of wine, and the

The Naneghat inscription, dated to the 1st century BCE, mentions both Samkarshana and

(This) enclosing wall round the stone (object) of worship, called Narayana-vatika (Compound) for the divinities Samkarshana-Vasudeva who are unconquered and are lords of all (has been caused to be made) by (the king) Sarvatata, a Gajayana and son of (a lady) of the Parasaragotra, who is a devotee of Bhagavat (

Samkarshana/Vāsudeva

) and has performed an Asvamedha sacrifice.

– Ghosundi Hathibada Inscriptions, 1st-century BCE[37]

At Chilas II archeological site dated to the first half of 1st-century CE in northwest Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border, are engraved two males along with many Buddhist images nearby. The larger of the two males holds a plough and club in his two hands. The artwork also has an inscription with it in Kharosthi script, which has been deciphered by scholars as Rama-Krsna, and interpreted as an ancient depiction of the two brothers Saṃkarṣaṇa and Krishna.^[38][39]

Samkarshana, the Vrishni elder and the leading divinity until the rise to precedence of

• 
  Samkarsana-Balarama on a coin of Maues (90-80 BCE)^[41]
• 
  Samkarsana-Balarama on a coin of Maues (90-80 BCE)^[41]
• 
  Samkarsana-Balarama on a coin of Maues (90-80 BCE)^[41]
• 
  Samkarsana-Balarama on a coin of Azes (58-12 BCE)

Saṃkarṣaṇa-Balarama in the Caturvyūha

Vrishni clan.^[10] Vāsudeva (emanation of Narayana) is four-armed and is fittingly in the center with his heavy decorated mace on the side and holding a conch, his elder brother Saṃkarṣaṇa-Balarama to his right under a serpent hood, his son Pradyumna to his left (lost), and his grandson Aniruddha on top.^[10]

2nd century CE, Mathura Museum.

Main article:

Chatur-vyūha

Some sculptures during this period suggest that the concept of the

Kadamba tree, symbolically showing the relationship being the different deities.^[10] The depiction of Vishnu was stylistically derived from the type of the ornate Bodhisattvas, with rich jewelry and ornate headdress.^[42]

Saṃkarṣaṇa in the Kondamotu relief (4th century CE)

Saṃkarṣaṇa appears prominently in a relief from Kondamotu, Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh, dating to the 4th century CE, which shows the Vrishni heroes standing in genealogical order around Narasimha.^[43][44] Saṃkarṣaṇa stands to the left in the place of seniority, holding a mace and a ploughshare topped by the depiction of a lion, followed by Vāsudeva, with a hand in abhaya mudra and the other hand on the hip holding a conch shell.^[43] Vāsudeva also has a crown, which distinguishes him from the others.^[45] Then follow Pradyumna, holding a bow and an arrow, Samba, holding a wine goblet, and Aniruddha, holding a sword and a shield.^[43] The fact that they stand around Narasimha suggests a fusion of the Satvata cult with the Vrishni cult.^[43]

Hyderabad State Museum. Saṃkarṣaṇa is first to the left.^[43][44]

Lion symbol

In

theriomorphic aspect.^[48][46] He can be identified as Narasimha.^[49][50] Saṃkarṣaṇa appears as a lion in some of the Caturvyūha statues (the Bhita statue), where he is an assistant to Vāsudeva, and in the Vaikuntha Chaturmurti when his lion's head protrudes from the side of Vishnu's head.^[46]

Saṃkarṣaṇa is also associated with the quality of knowledge.^[50]

See also

• Bhagavad Gita
• Bhagavata Purana

v t e Pāñcarātra system[51][52][53]
	Vyūhas	Image	Attributes	Symbol[54][55]		Direction	Face		Concept
Narayana Vishnu	Vāsudeva		Chakra Wheel Gadā Mace Shankha Conch	Garuda Eagle		East	Saumya (Placid/ benevolent)		Jṅāna Knowledge
	Samkarsana		Lāṅgala Pestle Wine glass	Tala Fan palm		South	Simha Lion		Bala Strength
	Pradyumna		Cāpa Bow Bāṇa Arrow	Makara Crocodile		West	Raudra Kapila		Aiśvaryā Sovereignty
	Aniruddha		Carma Shield Khaḍga Sword	Ṛṣya (ऋष्य) White-footed antelope		North	Varaha Boar		Śakti Power

Footnotes

1. ^
   ISBN 978-81-317-1120-0
   .
2. ^ Osmund Bopearachchi, Emergence of Viṣṇu and Śiva Images in India: Numismatic and Sculptural Evidence, 2016.
3. ^
   ISBN 978-90-04-10758-8
   .
4. ^
   ISBN 978-0-19-005412-0
   .
5. ISBN 978-0-19-514891-6
   .
6. ^ Raychaudhuri, H.C. (1972), Political History of Ancient India, University of Calcutta, p. 124
7. ^ "Sanskritdictionary.com: Definition of saṃkarṣaṇa". www.sanskritdictionary.com.
8. ^ ^{a b} Vāsudeva and Krishna "may well have been kings of this dynasty as well" in Rosenfield, John M. (1967). The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans. University of California Press. pp. 151–152 and Fig.51.
9. ISBN 978-90-04-06498-0
   .
10. ^
    JSTOR 29756891
    .
11. ^ Smagur, Emilia. "Vaishnavite Influences in the Kushan Coinage, Notae Numismaticae- Zapiski Numizmatyczne, X (2015)": 67. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
12. ISBN 90-04-10758-4
    .
13. ISBN 978-0-521-43878-0
    .
14. ISBN 978-1-351-12360-0
    .
15. ^
    ISBN 978-1-61069-566-4
    .
16. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-005412-0
    .
17. ^ Gupta, Vinay K. "Vrishnis in Ancient Literature and Art". Indology's Pulse Arts in Context, Doris Meth Srinivasan Festschrift Volume, Eds. Corinna Wessels Mevissen and Gerd Mevissen with Assistance of Vinay Kumar Gupta: 70–72.
18. JSTOR 20111096
    .
19. ^
    JSTOR 20111096
    .
20. ^
    ISBN 978-81-317-1677-9
    .
21. ^ "Chatur vyuha," Archived 2015-06-10 at the Wayback Machine article at Bhaktipedia (a Hare Krishna's site).
22. ^ ^{a b} Gupta, Vinay K. "Vrishnis in Ancient Literature and Art". Indology's Pulse Arts in Context, Doris Meth Srinivasan Festschrift Volume, Eds. Corinna Wessels Mevissen and Gerd Mevissen with Assistance of Vinay Kumar Gupta: 81.
23. ISBN 978-1-315-43263-2
    .
24. ISBN 978-81-8424-568-4
    .
25. ^
    ISBN 978-81-8424-568-4
    .
26. JSTOR 20111096
    .
27. ^ "We find Dionysos to be the same as Samkarsana because just as in Greece the former is associated with wine and plough so is the latter in India" Bose, Ananta Kumar (1934). Indian Historical Quarterly Vol.10. p. 288.
28. ISBN 978-0-89684-167-3
    .
29. JSTOR 41163978
    .
30. ^ "The belief of Dionysus with its Bacchanalian features reminds us of the belief of Samkarsana." Sastri, K. a Nilakanta (1952). Age Of The Nandas And Mauryas. p. 306.
31. ^ "...the inebriate condition of this Avatara which is fully corroborated by the presence of the wine cup in the hands of some of the extant images of Balarama, as well as the goggle eyes depicted in others. The 'Mahabharata' refers to the bacchanalian orgies of Baladeva" in Journal of the Indian society of oriental art vol.14. 1946. p. 29.
32. ^ ^{a b} Charles Allen 2017, pp. 169–170.
33. ISBN 90-04-06498-2
    .
34. ^ ^{a b} Mirashi 1981, pp. 131–134.
35. ISBN 978-0-19-972431-4
    .
36. ISBN 978-90-04-20735-6
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37. D. R. Bhandarkar, Hathi-bada Brahmi Inscription at Nagari
    , Epigraphia Indica Vol. XXII, Archaeological Survey of India, pages 198-205
38. ISBN 90-04-10758-4
    .
39. ISBN 978-90-04-18159-5
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40. ^
    ISBN 978-90-474-2049-1
    .
41. ^
    ISBN 978-0-9518399-1-1
    .
42. ^ Bautze-Picron, Claudine (2013). "A neglected Aspect of the Iconography of Viṣṇu and other Gods and Goddesses". Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Arts. XXVIII–XXIX: 81–92.
43. ^ ^{a b c d e} Gupta, Vinay K. "Vrishnis in Ancient Literature and Art". Indology's Pulse Arts in Context, Doris Meth Srinivasan Festschrift Volume, Eds. Corinna Wessels Mevissen and Gerd Mevissen with Assistance of Vinay Kumar Gupta: 74–75.
44. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-005411-3
    .
45. ISBN 978-90-04-10758-8
    .
46. ^
    JSTOR 20111096
    .
47. doi:10.3406/arasi.1997.1401
    .
48. ISBN 978-90-04-10758-8
    .
49. ISBN 978-90-04-10758-8
    .
50. ^ ^{a b} "Gentleness and strength are associated with Vasudeva, "knowledge with Samkarsana, (Narasimha) female power with Pradyumna (Varaha) and ferociousness and sovereignty with Aniruddha (Kapila)." Kamalakar, G.; Veerender, M. (1993). Vishnu in Art, Thought & Literature. Birla Archeological & Cultural Research Institute. p. 92.
51. ISBN 978-90-04-10789-2
    .
52. ^ A Comprehensive History of India: pt. 1-2. A.D. 300-985. Orient Longmans. 1982. p. 866.
53. ISBN 978-2-84050-464-1
    .
54. ^ "A shrine of Aniruddha, the fourth of the 'vyuhas', which had within its precincts a 'rsyadhvaja', i. e. a column bearing on its top the figure of a 'rsya' or a white antelope which was his characteristic 'lanchana'." in Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art. Indian Society of Oriental Art. 1937. p. 16.
55. ^ Gupta, Vinay K. "Vrishnis in Ancient Literature and Art". Indology's Pulse Arts in Context, Doris Meth Srinivasan Festschrift Volume, Eds. Corinna Wessels Mevissen and Gerd Mevissen with Assistance of Vinay Kumar Gupta: 80–81.

References

• Charles Allen (2017), "6", Coromandel: A Personal History of South India, Little Brown,
  ISBN 978-1-4087-0539-1
• Mirashi, Vasudev Vishnu (1981), History and Inscriptions of the Satavahanas: The Western Kshatrapas, Maharashtra State Board for Literature and Culture
• Fortson, Benjamin W. IV (2004). Indo-European Language and Culture. Blackwell Publishing.
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• ISBN 0-7661-3673-6
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• Hein, Norvin (1986). "A Revolution in Kṛṣṇaism: The Cult of Gopāla: History of Religions, Vol. 25, No. 4 (May, 1986), pp. 296-317". History of Religions. 25 (4): 296–317.
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• SINGER, Milton (1900). Krishna Myths Rites & Attitudes. UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO.
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• Delmonico, N. (2004). "The History Of Indic Monotheism And Modern Chaitanya Vaishnavism". The Hare Krishna Movement: The Postcharismatic Fate of a Religious Transplant. Columbia University Press.
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• Mahony, W.K. (1987). "Perspectives on Krsna's Various Personalities". History of Religions. 26 (3): 333–335.
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• BHATTACHARYA, Gouriswar: Vanamala of Vasudeva-Krsna-Visnu and Sankarsana-Balarama. In: Vanamala. Festschrift A.J. Gail. Serta Adalberto Joanni Gail LXV. diem natalem celebranti ab amicis collegis discipulis dedicata. Gerd J.R. Mevissen et Klaus Bruhn redigerunt. Berlin 2006; pp. 9–20.
• COUTURE, André: The emergence of a group of four characters (Vasudeva, Samkarsana, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha) in the Harivamsa: points for consideration. Journal of Indian Philosophy 34,6 (2006) 571–585.