Pashupati seal

Also called: Proto-Shiva seal · Topic: Harappan (Sindhu-Sarasvati) Civilisation · NCERT: Class 6, Ch 6 "The Beginnings of Indian Civilisation"; Class 12, Ch 1 "Bricks, Beads and Bones"

Meaning

The Pashupati seal (also called the proto-Shiva seal) is a Harappan seal that shows a horned figure sitting cross-legged in a yoga-like pose, with animals around it: an elephant, a tiger, a buffalo, a rhinoceros and deer. Early scholars, starting with John Marshall, read the figure as an early form of Shiva as Pashupati ("lord of animals"). It matters because it is the best-known test case for one question: how far can we read later Hindu ideas back into Harappan religion? The cautious answer is: not very far.

Explanation

Background: how archaeologists read Harappan religion

• The Harappan script has not been deciphered. So religion has to be rebuilt from objects alone.
• Archaeologists work backwards from the present. They:
• pick out unusual or striking finds;

• match them to religious ideas they know from later times.

• This works for everyday objects but not for religious ones.

• Querns (grinding stones) and pots are easy to identify. Their use has hardly changed.

• Religious symbols are a different case. Their meaning may have changed completely over 4,000 years.

• The Pashupati seal is one of several finds read this way:

• jewelled female clay figurines were labelled "mother goddesses";
• seals with plant designs were read as nature worship;
• conical stones were read as lingas (sacred stones linked to Shiva).

Main features of the seal

• Posture: the figure sits cross-legged in a pose that looks like yoga.
• Head: it wears horns, often described as a horned headdress.
• Faces: NCERT Class 6 calls it a "three-faced deity surrounded by animals" [2].
• Animals around it: elephant, tiger, buffalo, rhinoceros and deer.
• Why people call it "Pashupati":
• later Hindu texts call Shiva Pashupati, lord of animals;
• Shiva is also seen as the great yogi;
• so a seated figure ringed by animals looked like an early Shiva.

The debate: does the proto-Shiva label hold?

• The Rig Veda test case (the main argument against it):
• Shiva is usually traced back to Rudra, a god in the Rig Veda, the earliest Vedic text.
• In the Rig Veda, Rudra is neither shown as Pashupati nor as a yogi.

• So the earliest texts do not support linking the seal to Shiva. The label claims more than the evidence shows.

• Other reading: some scholars think the figure is a shaman (a spiritual healer or medium) rather than a particular god.

• Same problem with other labels:
• the "priest-king" statue got its name by comparison with Mesopotamia, not from anything found with it;
• Mackay suggested the conical stones may be gamesmen (game pieces), not lingas.

Result: what the seal can and cannot tell us

• What it can show: Harappans had religious or symbolic images. Animals and seated figures carried meaning for them.
• What it cannot prove:
• that Shiva worship (Shaivism) existed in Harappan times;

• that there was an organised priesthood.

• It is now used as a classic warning: later Hindu images should not be read straight back into Harappan objects.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: Harappan (Sindhu-Sarasvati) Civilisation, c. 3500–1300 BCE. The mature phase was c. 2600–1900 BCE, and the seal belongs to this phase.
• Site: found at Mohenjo-daro (in Sindh, present-day Pakistan), one of the two largest Harappan cities.
• Key person: John Marshall, the archaeologist who first named it a "proto-Shiva" figure.
• How we know about it:
• only from the seal itself, an archaeological find;
• there is no readable inscription, because the Harappan script is undeciphered;

• the main text used for comparison is the Rig Veda, and it does not support the Shiva reading.

• NCERT coverage:

• Class 6, Ch 6 "The Beginnings of Indian Civilisation" describes it as a three-faced deity surrounded by animals [2].
• Class 12, Ch 1 "Bricks, Beads and Bones" covers the doubts about the proto-Shiva reading.

Don't confuse with

• "Priest-king" statue: a stone bust of a bearded man from Mohenjo-daro, not a seal. Its name comes from comparison with Mesopotamia, while the Pashupati name comes from comparison with later Hindu images of Shiva.
• Conical stones (lingas): these are three-dimensional stones. They are read either as lingas or, following Mackay, as gamesmen. The Pashupati seal is a flat carved seal showing a figure.
• Unicorn seals: the most common Harappan seal design. They show a one-horned animal, seen as a mythical composite beast. The Pashupati seal shows a human-like seated figure.
• Rig Vedic Rudra: a god named in a text, not a Harappan object. In the Rig Veda, Rudra is neither lord of animals nor a yogi.

Prelims Hooks

• Pashupati / proto-Shiva seal: the site is Mohenjo-daro, and the scholar who named it proto-Shiva is John Marshall.
• Animals shown: elephant, tiger, buffalo, rhinoceros and deer.
• NCERT Class 6 describes the figure as a "three-faced deity surrounded by animals" [2].
• Trap: "The Rig Veda describes Rudra as Pashupati and a yogi." This is false. Rudra is neither in the Rig Veda.
• Other suggested reading of the figure: a shaman.
• Matching pair: conical stones were read as lingas, or as gamesmen (Mackay).

Mains Points

• A lesson in method: the seal shows how comparing with later traditions can lead to claims the evidence does not support.
• The "proto-Shiva" label rests on later Hindu images of Shiva.
• The earliest text, the Rig Veda, does not support it.

• This point works in any GS-I answer on "sources and interpretation".

• Continuity versus caution: the seal is often quoted as evidence that Hindu religion goes back to Harappan times. A balanced answer should:

• accept that animal symbols and seated figures were important to Harappans;
• warn against firm claims of "Harappan Shaivism" or an organised priesthood;

• mention other readings, such as a shaman.

• Known-to-unknown method: working backwards from the present is reliable for everyday objects like querns and pots. It becomes guesswork for religious and symbolic finds. The Pashupati seal, the mother goddess figurines and the conical stones all show this limit.

Related concepts

• Harappan burials
• Harappan political authority
• Priest-king
• Harappan religion
• Mother goddess figurines
• Fire altars

Read more

• Society, authority and religion: what archaeology can and cannot say