Studies in Indian Art c7.s2.14

c7.s2.14

There is an immense richness of Vedic motifs; a full study of them with subsequent history would be regarded as a capital contribution to the exposition of Indian literature and art. Actual art remains of the Vedic period are still unknown. It seems unlikely that they would ever be forthcoming for the Vedic thought revelled in Deva-śilpa, the divine or cosmic forms. Like the life of a child waiting to manifest itself in specialized formal elements, the whole cosmic life is beautiful to the Vedic seer. He finds beauty in the golden goddess of dawn with a golden mien, moving in her golden chariot across the sky and sprinkling immortality with her golden fingered hands. The aesthetic reaction of the Vedic poet is available to us in a number of beauty denoting words, as if appearing just fresh from the mould. They are reminiscent of the Vedic aesthetics, and we are indebted to Dr. Oldenberg for a very illuminating study of those expressions. However, the thesis could be much further extended and each word or motif could be studied with respect to its evolution in classical Sanskrit literature up to the time of Kālidāsa and Bāṇabhaṭṭa.