Hey Druid, no body need be right or have the last word here. Agree with you. We are all learning, every day on this journey.
The conch is in his left hand. Look carefully. Some pertinent points about Vishnu in Indian mythology.
Sudarshan Chakra is weilded by none other than Vishnu or his avataars across Hindu Mythology.
Depiction in numerous ways across India, the constants are the conch (Panchajanya), discus(Sudarshan chakra), club (Kaumodaki), and lotus.
Not consistent, however, is the departure from tradition in this statue, if we consider, that this originated in India or was done by a scultor from India (very doubtful). To elaborate, about the four arms of Vishnu, Gopal-Uttartapani - Upanishad says:
"In my lower right hand, which represents the revolving or creative tendency, I hold the conch, symbol of the five elements.
In the upper right hand, which represents the cohesive tendency I hold the discus, shining like an infant sun, symbol of the mind.
In the upper left hand, which represents the tendency towards dispersion and liberation, I hold the lotus, symbol of the causal power of illusion, from which the universe rises.
In my lower left hand, which represents the notion of individual existence, is the mace, symbol of primeval knowledge."
Here the symbols are not placed correctly. Its almost as if someone was given an image to work on and replicated a mirror image of the original....thus mixing up the placement of the symbols.
This would be a big blooper /sacrilege/no-no for a traditional Indian sculptor commissioned to work on a religious form....so, someone who was shown an image to work with....
To the OP - From whatever I can make out, script is a curious mix. . the first letter is Yu and the last one Sha...some letters are not sanskrit, have a faint resemblance to the indus vally script. (Druid - The brahmi came much later - around 3rd century BC used by Ashoka in his edicts. Indus Vally script - 1500 BC).
Could you possible try to copy the script by hand, scan and then upload the image? Will be a big help.
And oh, thanks again for sharing this in the first place!
