This sculpture is in the San Diego Museum of Art.
This high relief fragmented sculpture depicts Shiva holding a "vina" with his lower two hands. The Museum placard indicates that a "vina" is a "traditional Indian stringed instrument".
The Museum's website (
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"Artist Unknown
6th century
Size: 16 3/4 in. x 13 3/4 in. x 4 13/16 in. (42.55 cm x 34.93 cm x 12.22 cm)
Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, 1990.144
Sandstone
This important stone sculpture is the earliest known representation of Shiva as Lord of Music. It once formed part of a sculptural group on the south exterior wall of a Hindu temple and was probably associated with a group of mother goddesses.
Shiva's four arms indicate his superhuman power, and the plain halo encircling his head underscores his divinity. With his lower two arms he plays a vina, a traditional Indian stringed instrument, the lower section of which has broken away. This aspect of Shiva is benevolent; he is bejeweled and smiles gently as he plays his divine music. Nevertheless, he still holds his trident, grasps a cobra in his upper left hand, and his hair is in arranged in matted dreadlocks. Thus, Shiva embodies the contradictory personalities of peaceful musician, fearsome warrior, and ascetic (yogi) who transcends the bounds of societal norms."
and Wikipedia (
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"Shiva ... is a popular Hindu deity. Shiva is regarded as one of the primary forms of God. He is the Supreme God within Shaivism, one of the three most influential denominations in contemporary Hinduism. He is one of the five primary forms of God in the Smarta tradition, and "the Destroyer" or "the Transformer" among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine.
At the highest level, Shiva is regarded limitless, transcendent, unchanging and formless. Shiva also has many benevolent and fearsome forms. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient Yogi who lives an ascetic life on Mount Kailash, as well as a householder with wife Parvati and his two children, Ganesha and Kartikeya and in fierce aspects, he is often depicted slaying demons. Shiva is also regarded as the patron god of yoga and arts.
The main iconographical attributes of Shiva are the third eye on his forehead, the snake Vasuki around his neck, the crescent moon adorning, the holy river Ganga flowing from his matted hair, the trishula as his weapon and the damaru as his instrument. Shiva is usually worshiped in the aniconic form of Lingam."