The “Webbed Fingers” of Buddha

Jitendra Nath Banerjee

The “Webbed Fingers” of Buddha

Vol. 7 · No. 3September - 1931pp. 654–656English

Summary

This brief note examines a curious iconographic feature attributed to the Buddha: the webbing between his fingers described in certain textual sources. Drawing on passages from the Lalitavistara and the Mahāvastu, the author explains that the Buddha’s fingers are said to be joined by a fine membrane (jala), symbolising unity and completeness. The note reviews earlier scholarship on the motif and argues that sculptors rarely represented webbed fingers literally in early art because the symbolism was metaphorical rather than anatomical. The author suggests that later misunderstandings led to literal depictions and clarifies that the webbing should be understood as a poetic device emphasising the Buddha’s superhuman perfection.

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Conclusion

The note sheds light on an obscure aspect of Buddhist iconography. By contextualising textual descriptions, it resolves confusion over whether the Buddha’s fingers were physically webbed and reinforces the importance of interpreting artistic motifs through doctrinal symbolism.

Key passages

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“In explaining the word Jilagrathitiniguli, the force of the word grathita should not be overlooked and the whole expression should be interpreted in relation to the poetical comparison of the boy's fingers with the petals of a parsially opened lotus-flower 10 the early dawn.”
“The Jilalakgana of the toes can certainly not he explained था a manner in which Stutterheim interprets the same in the case of the fingers,”

Works cited in this article

Acta Orientalia (૪૦. VII, 2321.)
Makipadina
Lakkhamasuliantas
Lalita vistara
Makivastu

Discussed in this article

People

Buddhaghosa 48
Dr. Coomaraswamy 7
Kailidasa 7
Gautama Sanghadeva
Jitendra Nath Banerjea 5
Righavabhatta
Dr. Stutterheim
Mons. Foucher
Drs. Béhtlink
Roth 8
Dharmapila 13

Places

Indian Museum 4

Texts & works

Adkimiina-éakuntala
Pwrusalakyana in the Sdmudra
Kilidisa

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In this issue

Vol. 7 · No. 3

435–457Finger-posts of Bengal HistoryBijoy Nath Sarkar 458–463The Queen’s Donation EdictSailendra Nath Mitra 464–474Studies in the KautiliyaNarendra Nath Law 475–480The Economic Conditions of Bengal during the Years 1793 - 1858Gottlieb L. Schanzlin 481–498The Frontier Problem of the MughalsH. N. Sinha 499–514Usnisa-siraskata in early Buddha images of IndiaJitendra Nath Banerjee 515–522Two Tantri StoriesA. Venkatasubbiah 523–530The Samrajya of YudhisthiraChamupati 530–536Gopala Deva I of BengalMuhammad Shahidullah 537–627The Problem of the MahanatakaSushil Kumar De 628–628VyosaKshitish Chandra Chatterjee 629–629Date of the MudraraksasaJarl Charpentier 629–632Surastra under the MauryasBankim Ch. Ray Chaudhuri 632–632A Note on Surcsvaracarya and Mandana MisraAmar Nath Roy 633–634Notes on the Nagarjunikonda Inscriptions 635–643MADHUSHEDANA�S TEXT (Jivinanda's Ed,)Sushil Kumar De 644–650Kulasekhara Alvar and his date 651–653Notes On The Nagarjunikosda Inscriptions - IV - PasidakinamNalinaksha Dutt 654–656The “Webbed Fingers” of BuddhaJitendra Nath BanerjeeCurrent article 657Notes on Asoka RescriptsSailendra Nath Mitra 658–663Some Notes on Ownership of the Soil in Ancient IndiaU. N. Ghoshal 664Nalanda Stone Inscription of YasovarmadevaRamesh Chandra Majumdar 665–668Sailodbhava Rulers of KongadaVinayak Misra 669–673The hair and the usnisa on the head of the Buddhas and the JinasRamaprasad Chanda 674–681Select Contents of Orlental Journals

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