upon the stalk in a form closely resembling the so-called bell of the Asokan capitals. At Bharhut and at Sānchī the petals and stamens of the flower are often carefully carved upon the so-called "bell-capital," and the shaft of the pillar is fixed in a water vase which forms its base, as is the case at Kārlē (Pl. IX, a). The representation of the complete Asokan standard, carved in relief on one of the Sānchī railings, shows two lotus buds springing from under the abacus of the capital, a decisive proof that the "bell" represented the turned-down petals of the flower (see Pl. VI, b). The ovolo moulding above the "bell" evidently represents the melon-shaped fruit of the blue lotus (Nymphæa cœrulea).
It was natural that the lotus, the especial flower of the gods and the favourite of Indian poets, should have been adapted by Indian craftsmen as a motif for the decoration of pillars, as it was in Egypt. The Egyptians, however, used the bud or half-opened flower to form the capital of a pillar; the Indian craftsmen preferred the open flower with turned-down petals because it suggested to them the heavenly vault supported by the holy mountain, the pivot of the universe.
This "bell-shaped" capital, as Asoka's imperial ensign, was the symbol of universal sovereignty. Probably it was meant to apply to the Law of the Blessed One rather than to Asoka himself, for a section of the seed-vessel of Nymphæa cœrulea is the Wheel of the Law which is here supported by four lions. The fact that a similar design was used for the standard of Vishnu, the Upholder of the Universe, shows that the idea was an old Indo-Aryan one, and not a newfangled notion imported by Persian sculptors of the period. Moreover, it is evident that, while the symbolism was perfectly understood by the royal craftsmen of India,
