Padma (attribute)

Padma ("nelumblum speciosum"), the sacred lotus, is an aquatic plant that plays a central role in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.

The lotus and lotus flower is an ancient polyvalent symbol. The lotus flower is one of the Vajrayana Ashtamangala. It is representative of creation and cosmic renewal and shares in the chakra and mandala symbolism of the Dharmachakra. It also represents purity as its flowers grow on long stalks, which are rooted in the mud. It is also symbolic of detachment as drops of water easily slide off its petals.

According to Sanatana Dharma, Padma (the deity and lotus), springs from the navel of Vishnu whilst he is in Yoga Nidra upon Ananta Shesha. The lotus blooms uncovering Brahma in padmasana. [Refer Brahma Samhita.] The Padma is held to be a flower with a thousand petals and is therefore associated with the Sahasrara and indeed all the chakra. The padma appears as an endemic dais upon which deities rest and indeed upon which Indian iconography is founded. A number of divine figures are associated with the Padma, including Kubera and Lakshmi.

Robert Lawlor (1991: p.388) states:

The lotus in both Egypt and India symbolizes the union of the four elements; earth, air, fire, and water. The roots are in the earth, it grows in and by means of water, its leaves are nourished by air, and it blooms through the power of the sun's fire. The lotus is therefore the perfection of the fourfold order of the natural world. The growth of a new flower directly from the earth-bound original (inflorescent proliferation) may be interpreted as a symbol of transcendence as found in Indian philoshophy: a spiritual emergence of a higher world directly from our physical manifestation. It may also be interpreted, as in Egypt, as the exaltation of the essence quality of the lotus.

Notes

ee also

*Nelumbo nucifera
*Pentacle
*Evocation
*Lotus Sutra
*Nymphaea caerulea

References

*cite book|last=Dallapiccola|first=Anna L.|title=Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend|year=2002|publisher=Thames & Hudson|location=New York|id=ISBN 0-500-51088-1
*Lawlor, Robert (1991). "Voices Of The First Day: Awakening in the Aboriginal Dreamtime". Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions International, Ltd. ISBN 0-89281-355-5