Sheath Symbols

Walosi

Walosi

Joined
Jan 10, 2001
Messages
2,618
When my fingers were about to go dead from picking compacted rouge from the fine crevices in the carvings on my new sheath, I went back to various search engines to find the symbols. The Kirtimukha is popular in Hindu mythology. and, as John Powell said, a protective demon. In the creation of the world, he was greedy and ate everything in sight. Vishnu allowed him to continue, until he had eaten everything around him except his own head and arms. When he realzed the folly of his greed, and repented, he was allowed a place at Vishnu's door, as a guardian, and none who wished to enter could do so unless they first passed muster by Kirtimukha. He appears in the bottom panel on both sides of the sheath, so I am well protected.

The mystery symbol in Bill's pics is a conch shell (John Powell was correct again - big surprise). It does, indeed represent blessedness or a blessing, and is one of the "Eight Auspicious Symbols" of Buddhism. The upper panel on the other side is the "Unending Knot", another of the Eight Symbols, signifying longevity. The chape is engraved on one side with the Lotus, another of the Eight, and the Double Dorje on the other, the lightning bolts which destroy ignorance, and when crossed, created the world. So, Sanu and Bhimsen have made a beautiful Hindu-Buddhist effort, which sends honors I surely can't earn (unless I don't walk west for a long, long time - maybe they knew I would need the knot). I've learned much more than I sought while searching for the above info. Sure would be nice if Baptists and Presbyterians (or any others you would like to substitute) could get along like that :)
 
Berkley,
when I clicked on that link I thought it would be another link on Jim and Blues.
Maybe a list and pictures like:

1. Jim and Blues are conspiring together to take more Durbas from us folks who are durbaless.

(insert picture of hoards of unhappy people)

2. Jim and Blues are really brothers...call it sibling rivaling if you will.

(insert picture of 2 of the 3 stooges) etc.


No.... Seriously, I thought that when I clicked on it. :)
 
Berk:

I found several sites with the Eight Symbols (mostly commercial ones) and the explanations varied, from what the seller thought the (probably) American buyer would react to most favorably, to a very thinned-down version of their real meanings, simplfied for (probably) American buyers. Thanks for this one. It sounds much closer to the mark.

Dave:

You're O.K. - Just stay in the shade :D
 
Walosi,
Here's a nice drawing of our friend Kirtimutha, or in Nepali, Chhepu.

Two other versions of his story:
he is one of three brothers (Garuda and Hitimanga) and his mother was anxious to give him birth, but her husband told her to wait for a certain length of time. She was an impatient woman and looked into the nest to see if he was born and found him in this premature condition and so he stays. And...that he was requested to appear by another god, but was wary and only showed himself thru a cloud. The artist who drew him for posterity could only finish his head and arms for that's all he could see.

My sources for these are a little handbook last published in 1998 by the Handicraft Association of Nepal and a large format book on the Jewelry of Nepal published in 1999.
<img src=http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1282361&a=10467689&p=52104766>
 
View

John, I know my email didn't make any sense, but it seems to work;)
 
John:

Thank you. As much as the web fascinates me, and with the millions of information sites available, when I start searching for something that is of particular interest I find I need an old fashioned book.:) Several of the search hits had been closed ("access refused" pop-ups) and appeared to be the ones with the best information. I got the one I posted from a search on "Hindu Mythology", giving Chepu's original name as Rahu, before he got his "day job". With several thousand years of history, 800 million people and numerous sects, there are probably endless variations of every figure.

There were some interesting sites using "Newari Art" on the few Nepal search engines, but no one had zeroed in on the carvers - surprising since their work appears in every trekking inn and guesthouse, according to some of the travelers' sites.

And, Photopoint still doesn't like you:(
 
With several thousand years of history, 800 million people and numerous sects, there are probably endless variations of every figure.
Click to expand...
Truer words were never spoken. Here's a perfect example from a kothimora, depicting a female figure astride a lion. John Powell suggested it represented Durga, a more common figure in Nepali Hindu iconography; I think it is Kali, more common in India. The maker is not available for clarification.
View
 
If this takes, it will bring up the version John posted about Chhepu's origins, and another rendition of him - It is strange that this one is a variation, when most of those I found were very close to your drawing, and the figures on the sheath. I will never pretend to be a scholar or serious student of this lore, but it yanks me back to the time I first learned to read, and really makes me remember the kid I was.

http://www.twotone.net/tibet/j001b.html
 
Maybe I am not talking to the proper deities when I post with PhotoPoint. One minute the image is there, the next it's gonzo.
Berk, maybe you'd better send me those instructions again...
 
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