By Priyanka Dalal
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Recently I came across an ancient Indian figure. I am usually curious about Indian legends and stories, so was quite fascinated by this creature. It is apparently better known in Oriya-land. It is called a Navagunjara,Interesting isn’t it!
How many different animals and birds can you count?
Head – Cock – I thought it was a parrot earlier but it is a cock
Neck – Peacock
Hump – Bull
Body – Lion
Legs – Elephant, Tiger, Human Hand and Deer
Tail – Snake
Really fascinated I started digging up more information about this creature.
Surprisingly not much is available online about it. I guess this is one more obscure aspect of Indian lore almost lost in the fast-technifying world.
The little I found online talks about a Mahabharata incident where Arjuna while riding his horse, all of a sudden comes across this Navagunjara. His first instinct is to draw his bow and shoot the bird. But he spotted that in its human hand the creature carried a lotus flower. He remembered that Krishna had told him, the human mind is finite while the universe is much vaster and infinite. He realizes that the Navagunjara is just another unique creature in the infinite universe and then bows down to it.
There are also other references which suggest this creature is Vishnu’s form, but I haven’t found any story about it. I overall find this interpretation incomplete. Usually when such creatures have been depicted in India culture there are very specific reasons for it. The idea that ‘Universe is infinite’ could be depicted in many other ways, so this unusual creature should have some more story to it.
I value understanding the etymology of words because often that gives us a lot of insight into the words meaning.
Navagunjara:
Nava = 9 , Gun = Quality , Jara = Old / Praise
So probably the creature depicts 9 qualities – and it could be used as a praise, you are awesome as the Navagunjara 🙂
I saw two such hybrid animal/bird creatures in the Channakesava temple in Belur, Karnataka. This Channakesava temple is popularly known for its exquisite & intricate sculptures. There is a woman dancer’s sculpture in the main sanctum and she has a bird on her hand. This bird is a hybrid of a parrot and peacock. The face part is parrot while the latter part is peacock. It depicts that women should have the Pride of a peacock but with the sweet speech of the Parrot. A very symbolic way of expression.
Again outside this temple, we come across another unusual creature.
Body a boar (strong, resilient), feet of a lion (formidable claws), eyes of a monkey (see afar) and some other features as well. A whole mix of these animals to depict perfect war qualities. I believe the guide told us it is the most fierce animal in war. I don’t remember exactly the details of this creature, but it is cultural to depict hybrid animals in order to show what qualities someone should have, in war one must be really formidable while a dancer should speak sweetly and carry herself with pride.
Similarly, Navagunjara should depicts certain 9 qualities, if we understand the context of it then these qualities may apply to a divine person? Since the Navagunjara is often considered to be a form of Vishnu.
Cock – awaken others around? Could mean leadership quality too
Peacock – pride/beauty
Hump of a Bull – purity/devotion
Body of a Lion-majesty?
Legs: elephant-stable, tiger-speed, deer-gentle/grace
Human hand with lotus – spiritual quest
Snake as tail. Tail shows balance and snake is also a symbol for the kundalini/energies. Could mean balanced energies
Since the Navagunjara is a tale common in Orissa, it is possible that some of the meanings of the symbols may differ. But I feel that each of the animals/birds signify certain qualities. There should be a few more tales about this creature in Indian lore.
The reason I take much interest in the ancient Indian lore and cultural is because a lot of the ancient wisdom are embedded into our culture and stories. That is why I find that despite the urban folks rejecting religion, they still have some very Indian roots because of the sheer cultural depth. It would be really sad if we didn’t grasp that depth despite the culture being all around us. Hence, I always look deeper into Indian lore… what all insights it may reveal.
中文翻译：
最近，我遇到了一个古老的印度人物。我通常对印度的传说和故事感到好奇，所以对这种生物非常着迷。它显然在奥里亚地区更为人所知。它被称为那瓦衮加热，有趣的事，不是吗！
你能数多少种不同的动物和鸟类？
头 – 公鸡 – 我之前以为它是一只鹦鹉，但它是一只公鸡
脖子 – 孔雀
驼峰 – 公牛
身体 – 狮子
腿 – 大象、老虎、人手和鹿
尾巴 – 蛇
我真的很着迷，开始挖掘更多关于这个生物的信息。
令人惊讶的是，网上关于它的信息并不多。我想这是印度传说中另一个模糊的方面，几乎在快速技术化世界中消失了。
我在网上找到的一点是关于摩诃婆罗多事件的，阿朱那在骑马时突然遇到了那瓦衮加热。他的第一本能反应是拉弓射杀鸟。但他发现，在人类手中，这个生物带着一朵莲花。他记得克里希纳曾告诉他，人类的思想是有限的，而宇宙是更广阔和无限的。他意识到那瓦衮加热只是无限宇宙中另一个独特的生物，然后向它鞠躬。
还有其他参考资料表明这种生物是毗湿奴的形态，但我没有找到任何关于它的故事。总的来说，我发现这种解释是不完整的。通常，当这些生物在印度文化中被描绘出来时，有非常具体的原因。"宇宙是无限的"这个想法可以用许多其他方式来描绘，所以这个不寻常的生物应该有更多的故事。
我重视理解单词的词源，因为这通常可以让我们对单词的含义有很多了解。
Navagunjara：
Nava = 9 ， gun = 品质、优点、才能、能力 ， jara = 古老 / 赞美
因此，可能这个生物描绘了9种品质 - 它可以用作赞美，你作为那瓦衮加热真棒🙂
我在卡纳塔克邦贝鲁尔的Channakesava寺庙里看到了两种这样的混合动物/鸟类生物。这座Channakesava寺庙以其精致而复杂的雕塑而闻名。在主圣所里有一个女舞者的雕塑，她的手上有一只鸟。这种鸟是鹦鹉和孔雀的杂交种。面部部分是鹦鹉，而后半部分是孔雀。它描绘了女性应该拥有孔雀的骄傲，但要有鹦鹉的甜美言语。一种非常具有象征意义的表达方式。
在这座寺庙外面，我们遇到了另一个不寻常的生物。
身体是野猪（强壮，有弹性），狮子的脚（可怕的爪子），猴子的眼睛（见远处）和其他一些特征。这些动物的整个混合体描绘了完美的战争品质。我相信导游告诉我们，它是战争中最凶猛的动物。我不记得这个生物的确切细节，但描绘杂交动物以展示一个人应该具备的品质是文化上的，在战争中，一个人必须非常强大，而舞者应该甜美地说话并自豪地携带自己。
同样，那瓦衮加热应该描绘成某些9种品质，如果我们理解它的背景，那么这些品质可能适用于一个神圣的人？由于那瓦衮加热通常被认为是毗湿奴的一种形式。
公鸡 - 唤醒周围的其他人？也可能意味着领导素质
孔雀 – 骄傲/美丽
公牛驼峰 – 纯洁/虔诚
狮子 – 陛下的身体？
腿 – 大象腿象征稳定持久马厩，老虎腿象征速度，鹿腿象征温柔/优雅
人手与莲花 – 精神探索
蛇作为尾巴。尾巴显示平衡，蛇也是昆达里尼/能量的象征。可能意味着平衡的能量。
由于那瓦衮加热是奥里萨邦常见的故事，因此符号的某些含义可能会有所不同。但我觉得每一种动物/鸟类都象征着某些品质。在印度传说中，应该还有一些关于这种生物的故事。
我之所以对古印度的传说和文化产生浓厚的兴趣，是因为很多古老的智慧都嵌入到我们的文化和故事中。這就是為什麼我發現，儘管城市人拒絕宗教，但由於文化的深度，他們仍然有一些非常印度的根源。如果我们没有抓住这个深度，尽管我们周围到处都是文化，那将是非常可悲的。因此，我总是更深入地研究印度的传说......它可能揭示的所有见解。 |
发表于 2021-12-28 02:16
