Elephant goad: Difference between revisions

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The elephant goad is a polysemic [[iconographic]] ritual tool in [[Hinduism]], [[Jainism]] and [[Buddhism]], in the inclusive [[rubric]] of [[Dharmic Traditions]].{{citation needed|date=February 2011}}

The elephant has appeared in cultures across the world. They are a symbol of wisdom in Asian cultures and are famed for their memory and intelligence, where they are thought to be on par with [[cetaceans]]<ref name="fusukt">{{cite web|url=http://tursiops.org/dolfin/guide/smart.html |title=What Makes Dolphins So Smart? |publisher=Discovery Communications |access-date=2007-07-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/68odq4rDt?url=web/20120215000000/http://tursiops.org/dolfin/guide/smart.html |archive-date=2012-0602-3015 }}</ref> and [[hominids]].<ref name = "hfezyk">{{cite web|url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ap/ar/2001/00000062/00000005/art01815|title=Cognitive behaviour in Asian elephants: use and modification of branches for fly switching |publisher=BBC|access-date = 2007-07-31}}</ref> [[Aristotle]] once said the elephant was "the beast which passeth all others in wit and mind".<ref name=O>{{cite book | last = O'Connell | first = Caitlin | title = The Elephant's Secret Sense: The Hidden Lives of the Wild Herds of Africa | publisher = Simon & Schuster | year = 2007 | ___location = [[New York City]] | pages = [https://archive.org/details/elephantssecrets0000ocon/page/174 174, 184] | isbn = 978-0-7432-8441-7 | url = https://archive.org/details/elephantssecrets0000ocon/page/174 }}</ref> The word "elephant" has its origins in the Greek {{lang|grc|[[wikt:ἐλέφας|ἐλέφας]]}}, meaning "ivory" or "elephant".<ref name="COED">{{cite book |last=Soanes |first=Catherine |author2=Angus Stevenson |title=Concise Oxford English Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-929634-0 |year=2006}}</ref>

In iconography and ceremonial ritual tools, the elephant goad is often included in a hybridized tool, for example one that includes elements of [[Vajrakila]], 'hooked knife' or 'skin flail' (Tibetan: gri-gug, Sanskrit: kartika), [[Vajra]] and Axe, as well as the goad functionality for example. Ritual Ankusha were often finely wrought of precious metals and even fabricated from [[ivory]], often encrusted with jewels. In Dharmic Traditions the goad/ankusha and rope 'noose/snare/lasso' (Sanskrit: Pāśa) are traditionally paired as tools of subjugation.<ref name="Beer, Robert 2003 p.146">Beer, Robert (2003). ''The handbook of Tibetan Buddhist symbols.'' Serindia Publications, Inc. Source: [https://books.google.com/books?id=-3804Ud9-4IC&pg=PA146&lpg=PA146&dq=ankusha+goad+symbol+metaphor&source=bl&ots=FPDIVUMfIv&sig=DecqW0LrsohyflckAlc2fDNajQ0&hl=en&ei=wYThSfPdKMuGkQWDuNXVCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1] (accessed: Sunday April 12, 2009), p.146</ref>