Ayudhapurusha

Chakra, especially Vishnu's Sudarshana Chakra (discus of Vishnu), Shankha ("conch"), Padma (lotus), Ankusha (elephant goad), Pasha (noose), Trisula (trident), vajra (thunderbolt), Khadga (sword), Danda (a sceptre or club), Bana/Shara ("arrow") and Bhindi (sling) are depicted male.

[2][3][4] While weapons are personified in ancient Hindu epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the ayudhapurushas were depicted in sculpture starting from the Gupta era.

For the destruction of rakshasas, Jaya bore fifty sons - powerful divine weapons who could take any form.

[4][5] The Mahabharata states that at the time of the chakra-mushala conflict, the weapons of Krishna – another avatar of Vishnu, and his brother, Balarama, appear in human form from the heavens to watch the battle.

The ayudhapurushas include the discus Sudarshana Chakra, the bow Sharanga, the mace Kaumodaki, the conch Panchajanya, and the sword Nandaka, elaborate descriptions of whom are found in the text.

The Raghuvamsa of Kalidasa mentions about dwarf-like ayudhapurushas denoting Vishnu's chakra, lotus, sword, bow, and mace.

The Vishnudharmottara Purana describes Chakra as man with a fat belly and round eyes, decorated with various ornaments and holding a chamara (chowry) and with Vishnu's left hand on his head.

The Shilparatna describes that the fierce Chakra-rupi Vishnu should hold in his hands gada, chakra, a snake, a lotus, musala (a pestle), tramsha, pasha and ankusha.

[6] An ayudhapurusha is generally depicted as a two-armed figure, prescribed to shown with a karanda mukuta (conical crown).

They may be depicted as normal humans as in Udayagiri Caves and in the Sheshashayi Vishnu panel of the Gupta era (320–550 CE) Deogarh temple.

Chola and Chalukya sculptors continued the trend, mostly focussing on the Sudarshana Chakra in a fierce multiple-armed human form.

Common examples are the Sudarshana Chakra, the Shankha-purusha and Kaumodaki, mostly found in Uttar Pradesh and Bengal art.