The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2593 page)

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Authors: John Bowker

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Vacanam
(form of religious verse):
see
BASAVA
.
V
hana
(Skt., ‘vehicle’). The bird or animal on which a Hindu, Jain, or Buddhist deity is conveyed. In post-Vedic Hinduism, the vehicles are associated iconographically with the deities in question and are linked to their attributes, e.g.
Agni
, a ram;
Bhairava
, a dog;
Brahm
, a swan (
ha
sa
);
Durg
, a tiger (or lion);
Ga
e
a
, a rat;
Garu
a
, a bird;
Indra
, an elephant;
K
ma
, a parrot;
iva
, a bull;
Varuna
, a fish;
Yama
, a buffalo.

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