Art. XVI.—Early Buddhist Symbolism

In his “Tree and Serpent Worship,” our late honoured Vice-President, James Fergusson, called attention to the similarity observable between certain symbols found on the Buddhist Topes of Sāñchi and Amarāvati, and others found on sculptured buildings and coins of Western Asia and Eastern Europe; and in doing so he expressed a hope that this subject would be taken up and developed by other writers. Discussing the origin of the object known as the triśula he said, “It is curiously like the sign of the planet Mercury, or the caduceus of the god of that name; and, if it were not rank heresy even to hint at such a thing, I would venture to suggest that, after all, there may be some connexion between at least the symbolism of the East and West.”

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