Kaumodaki

Kaumodaki (IAST: Kaumodakī) is the gada (mace) of the Hindu god Vishnu. Vishnu is often depicted holding the Kaumodaki in one of his four hands; the other attributes are the chakra, the conch and the lotus. The gada is also found in iconography of some of Vishnu's avatars.

The name "Kaumodaki" first appears in the Hindu epic Mahabharata , where it is associated with Vishnu's avatar Krishna. The gada is depicted in images of Vishnu since c. 200 BCE. While initially unadorned, the size and shape of Kaumodaki vary in depictions. More elaborate design features like flutes and segments were added in depictions of Vishnu's gada.

Though the weapon may be depicted as an inanimate gada, Kaumodaki sometimes appears personified as a woman known as Gadadevi or Gadanari in sculptures of Vishnu. In depictions that use this version, Vishnu rests one of his hands on her head, while she herself holds the gada, is seen emerging from it or has the gada carved on her head/crown.

The gada, regarded one of the oldest and strongest weapons, is a symbol of Vishnu's powers. Various texts discuss the symbolism of Kaumodaki in Vishnu's iconography.

The etymology of "Kaumodaki" is unclear. According to a popular etymology, Kaumodaki derives its name from the Sanskrit word kumuda, the blue water-lily or the blue lotus (Nymphaea nouchali). Another theory suggests that the mace may derive its name from the epithet of Vishnu, Kumodaka or vice versa. The literal synonym of Kaumodaki, kaumudi is interpreted as "joy on the earth". Based on the Vishnu Purana, Alain Daniélou translates Kaumodaki as "stupefier of the mind".

Vishnu is usually depicted as four-armed with the four attributes in his hands: the shankha (conch), the Sudarshana chakra, the padma (lotus) and the Kaumodaki gada. A popular epithet of Vishnu is Shankha-chakra-gada-pani, "he who holds in his hands shankha, chakra and gada". Generally, the gada is held in the lower (natural) left hand of Vishnu in contemporary images. The gada sometimes also appears in the depictions of Vishnu's avatars Matsya, Kurma, Varaha and Narasimha.

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