Editing Kubera (section)

==Iconography==
Kubera is often depicted as a dwarf, with complexion of lotus leaves and a big belly. He is described as having three legs, only eight teeth, one eye, and being adorned with jewels. He is sometimes described riding a man.<ref name="knapp" /><ref name="Britannica" /> The description of deformities like the broken teeth, three legs, three heads and [[Chaturbhuja|four arms]] appear only in the later ''Puranic'' texts.<ref name="H147">{{harvnb|Hopkins|1915|p=147}}</ref> Kubera holds a mace, a pomegranate, or a money bag in his hand.<ref name="knapp" /> He may also carry a sheaf of jewels or a [[mongoose]] with him. In Tibet, the mongoose is considered a symbol of Kubera's victory over [[nāga]]s—the guardians of treasures.<ref name="Thomas" /> Kubera is usually depicted with a mongoose in Buddhist iconography.<ref name="Britannica" />

[[File:British Museum Ganesha Matrikas Kubera.jpg|thumb|A bronze [[Matrika]] goddess group along with [[Ganesha]] (left) and Kubera (right) currently at the [[British Museum]]. Originally from Eastern India, it was dedicated in 43rd year of reign of [[Mahipala]] I ({{circa|1043 AD}}).|280x280px]]
In the ''[[Vishnudharmottara Purana]]'', Kubera is described as the embodiment of both ''[[Artha]]'' ("wealth, prosperity, glory") and ''[[Arthashastra]]''s, the treatises related to it—and his iconography mirrors it. Kubera's complexion is described as that of lotus leaves. He rides a man—the [[State (polity)|state]] personified, adorned in golden clothes and ornaments, symbolizing his wealth. His left eye is yellow. He wears an armour and a necklace down to his large belly. The ''Vishnudharmottara Purana'' further describes his face to be inclined to the left, sporting a beard and mustache, and with two small tusks protruding from the ends of his mouth, representing his powers to punish and to bestow favours. His wife Riddhi, representing the journey of life, is seated on his left lap, with her left hand on the back of Kubera and the right holding a ''ratna-patra'' (jewel-pot). Kubera should be four-armed, holding a ''gada'' (mace: symbol of  ''dandaniti''—administration of justice) and a ''[[shakti]]'' (power) in his left pair, and standards bearing a lion—representing ''Artha'' and a ''shibika'' (a club, the weapon of Kubera). The ''[[nidhi]]'' treasures Padma and Shankha stand beside him in human form, with their heads emerging from a lotus and a conch respectively.<ref name="prakash">{{cite book|last=Prakash|first=Om|editor=Nagendra Kumar Singh|title=Encyclopaedia of Hinduism|year=2000|publisher=Anmol Publications PVT. LTD|isbn=81-7488-168-9|pages=41–4|chapter=Artha and Arthasastra in the Puranic Iconography and their symbolic implications|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UG9-HZ5icQ4C&q=kubera&pg=PA43|volume=31–45}}{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

The ''[[Agni Purana]]'' states that Kubera should be installed in temples as seated on a goat, and with a club in his hand.<ref name = "Mani"/> Kubera's image is prescribed to be that of gold, with multi-coloured attributes.<ref name="Alain"/> In some sources, especially in [[Jain]] depictions, Kubera is depicted as a drunkard, signified by the "nectar vessel" in his hand.<ref>{{Harvnb|Sutherland|1991|p=65}}</ref>