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The Development of Hindu Iconography c20: Appendix A

The Development of Hindu Iconography c20

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Appendix A

(a) The Installation of Images

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The images, until they were duly consecrated and ceremonially enshrined, were not regular objects of worship. Elaborate rituals are prescribed in comparatively early and late texts for their due consecration and installation (*mūrtti-pratiṣṭhā*). I give here a free translation of the Chapter on Pratimā-pratiṣṭhāpanam in the Bṛhatsaṃhitā (Ch. 59, Sudhakar Dvivedi's Edition).

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"A wise man should erect a pavilion for the preliminary consecration of an image in the southern quarter or eastern: the pavilion should be furnished with four *toraṇas* (ornamental arches) and (its top) covered with the branches of such trees as *yajña-ḍumbura*, etc. In the different parts of the pavilion,—eastern south-eastern, southern, south-western, western, north-western, northern and north-eastern,—garlands and banners of various colours should be hung. Inside the *maṇḍapa* an earthen altar (*sthaṇḍila*) should be raised, and the latter should be first sprinkled with sand and then covered over with *kuśa* grass; now the image should be placed on it with its head and feet resting on a *bhadrāsana* (a kind of pedestal).¹

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¹ In three verses just before it, the author refers to the different materials out of which the images are made, and the different results to be obtained by making and worshipping them:—

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*Āyuḥśrībalajayadā dārumayī mṛṇmayī tathā pratimā* |
*Lokahitāya maṇimayī sauvarṇī puṣṭidā bhavati* ‖
*Rajatamayī kīrttikarī prajāvṛddhiṃ karoti tāmramayī* |
*Bhūlābham tu mahāntam śailī pratimāthavā liṅgam* ‖
*Śaṅkūpahatā pratimā pradhānapuruṣaṃ kulaṃ ca ghātayati* |
*Svabhropahatā rogānupadravāṃśca kṣayaṃ kurute* ‖

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The verses can be translated thus: 'Images made of wood or clay bring to (their worshippers) long life, fortune, strength and victory; those made of jewels are for the good of the people, and the golden ones bring prosperity. Images made of silver bring fame, while those made of copper cause increase of population. (By worshipping) images or Śivaliṅgas made of stone, (one) obtains extensive plots of land. Those images from which nails come out obliquely (Utpala: *Śaṅkustiryag*- Now, the image should be successively bathed with various kinds of waters; first, a decoction of the (twigs of) plakṣa, aśvattha, udumbara, śirīṣa and vaṭa should be used, then the auspicious sarvauṣadhi water and next the water from sacred places, in which earth raised by elephants and bulls, earth from mountain, anthill, confluences of rivers, lotus ponds, and pañcagavya are mixed, should be poured; when the image is being bathed with the above and with scented water in which gold and precious gems are put in, it should be placed with its head towards the east; during this ceremony, tūrya (a kind of musical instrument—a trumpet) should be sounded, and ‘puṇyāha’ (‘auspicious day’) and Veda mantras should be uttered.¹ The most respected of the Brāhmaṇas should then chant Aindra mantras (mantras associated with the Vedic god Indra) in the eastern and Agnimantras in the south-eastern quarter; these Brāhmaṇas should be honoured with handsome offerings or fees (dakṣiṇā). The Brahman (i.e., the priest) should offer homa to fire with the mantra particular to the deity being enshrined. If during the performance of the homa, the fire becomes full of smoke, or the flames turn from right to left or the burning faggots emit frequent sparks, then it is not auspicious; it is also inauspicious, if the priest forgets his mantras, or, (the flames) rage backwards. After having bathed the image and decked it with new cloth and ornaments and worshipped it with flowers and sandal paste, the priest should lay it down on a well-spread bed. When the image has ‘slept’ its full, it should be roused from

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¹ The following plants constitute sarvauṣadhi according to Utpala: jayā, jayantī, jīvantī, jīvaputrī, punarnavā, viṣṇu-krāntā, abhayā, viśvambharī, mahā-modā, sahadevī, pūrṇakośā, śatāvarī, sahasravīryā, lakṣmaṇā. The pañcagavyas are cow-dung, urine of the cow, milk, curd and clarified butter.

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nirgataḥ kīlakaḥ) destroy the chief (Utpala: pradhāna-puruṣam nāyakam) and (his) line; those which have holes on them cause disease, calamity and decay.

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Utpala quotes a passage from Kāśyapa, which is similar to the last couplet: Yārcā śaṅkuhatā sā tu pradhānakulanāśinī | Chidreṇopahatā yā tu bahudoṣakarī matā ||

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In performing nitya (daily) and naimittika (occasional) pūjās, the Yajamāna, after performing ācamana, will think of Viṣṇu after uttering a particular mantra (Viṣṇu-smaraṇa) and then say: ‘Om karttavye’smin,—karmaṇi puṇyāham bhavanto brubantu (‘In this action that should be done, you kindly say that the day be auspicious’) and the Brahmin priest should say ‘Om puṇyāham’) (‘yes, let it be auspicious’); this is ‘puṇyāhavācana’.

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sleep with songs and dances and should be installed at a time fixed by the astrologers. Then after worshipping the image with flowers, garments, sandal paste, and the sounds of conch-shell and trumpet, it should be carefully taken inside the sanctum from the pavilion, keeping the temple to the right (pradakṣiṇyena). After making profuse offerings (to the deity) and honouring the Brāhmaṇas and persons assembled there, a piece of gold should be put into the mortise-hole of the piṇḍikā (base), and the image should be fixed (in its base). The enshriner of the image, by honouring specially the astrologer, the Brāhmaṇas, the assembled persons and the image-maker or the architect (the word here used is sthapati explained by Utpala as vardhakī), enjoys bliss in this world and in heaven. Images of Viṣṇu, Sūrya, Śiva, Mātṛgaṇas, Brahmā, Buddha and the Jinas should be installed by a Bhāgavata, a Maga, a Pāśupata, one well-versed in the worship (of the Śakti), a Brāhmaṇa knowing the Vedas well, a person of the Śākya race, a Digambara Jaina respectively, according to the different rituals prescribed in the different sectarian systems mentioned above. The installation of a god (i.e., its image) is recommended in the bright fortnight in the period of the summer-solstice and during certain particular positions of the planets and asterisms, and in days other than Tuesday and in a time particularly auspicious to the donor of the image. I have given here in brief the general and easily practicable rules about the preliminary consecration (adhivāsa) and installation (pratiṣṭhā) of images. In the Sāvitra (śāstra), however, preliminary consecration and installation (of individual divinities) have been elaborately treated (Adhivāsana-sanniveśane sāvitre pṛthageva vistarāt).”

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One or two points in the above rendering of the chapter on Pratimā-pratiṣṭhāpanam require notice. In the installation ceremony of the sectarian gods and goddesses, some importance is undoubtedly given to Vedic ritualism; in the preliminary consecration, the Indra and Agni mantras are to be uttered and the Vedic homa is to be performed. But during the performance of the homa, the mantra particular to the deity whose image is being installed is to be recited. The principal installation is to be done by a sectarian initiate according to the rites prescribed in the individual sectarian system. The mixed ritualism, partly Vedic and mostly sectarian, has been curiously enough described by Utpala as *vaidik vidhāna*, while explaining the word *sāmānyam* in the last verse (*Sāmānyaviśeṣam vaidikena vidhānena*). Then reference is made in the last verse to the elaborate treatment of the same topic in *Saura śāstra* in which detailed descriptions of rituals followed in the installation of different divinities are incorporated.¹

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¹ Utpala gives two explanations of the last line of the last verse. The first is given above by me; the other is:—*Athavā sāvitre saviturādityasya ye adhivā-sana-sanniveśane pṛthageva vistarāt tacchāstre saure bhavata iti.*

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The whole of the 19th Vilāsa (named *Prātiṣṭhiko*) of the *Haribhaktivilāsa* supplies us with an extremely full account of *Śrīmūrtti-pratiṣṭhā* (the installation of the auspicious image of the Lord Vāsudeva) based on the *Hayaśīrṣa Pañcarātra* and several *Purāṇas*. The *Saṃkarṣaṇa-kāṇḍa* of the *Hayaśīrṣa Pañcarātra* itself is principally devoted to this topic, but it is still in manuscript form (note that the *Saura-kāṇḍa* in this Pāñcarātra text also contains something on *pratiṣṭhā* and compare this with the last line of the chapter just quoted). Lastly, notice should be taken of the honours to be done to the architect or the sculptor, the artist or artists responsible for the construction of the image and the building of the temple. *Haribhaktivilāsa* quotes from various texts like the *Bhaviṣyapurāṇa*, *Matsyapurāṇa* and the *Hayaśīrṣa Pañcarātra* about the full satisfaction and honour to be given to the artists by the person who is enshrining an image (*cf.* the section on *Śilpiparitoṣaṇam* in the 19th Vilāsa).²

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² *Tato Viṣṇum samānīya sudhautam suparīkṣitam |* *Śilpinam pūjayet paścād vastrālaṅkaraṇādibhiḥ ||* (Bhaviṣyapurāṇa) *Anīya liṅgamarccām vā śilpinaḥ pūjayedbudhaḥ |* *Vastrābharaṇaratnaiśca ye ca tatparicārakāḥ |* *Kṣamadhvamiti tān brūyāt yajamāno hyataḥ param ||* (Matsyapurāṇa) *Pūjayitvā tu pratimām śilpinam toṣayet tataḥ |* *Gandhapuṣpādibhirvipram toṣayed kaṭakādibhiḥ ||* *Sarvve' tha karmmiṇastasyāstasmin kāle pṛthak pṛthak |* *Kṣamāpayita tān sarvvān priyapraśnena sarvvathā ||* (Hayaśīrṣa Pañcarātra)

(b) Jīrṇoddhāra

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Restoration of old and dilapidated shrines and replacement of broken, decaying and sometimes defiled images or other cult objects by new ones have been regarded from a long time as great acts of religious merit in India. In some texts, these are even described as more meritorious than the establishment of new shrines and construction of new images. One of the earliest instances of *jīrṇoddhāra*, though associated with Buddhism, has been recorded in the steatite casket discovered at Shinkot in Bajaur territory, 20 miles to the north-west of the confluence of the Panjkora and Swat rivers, beyond the borders of the old North-West Frontier Province. Two sets of inscriptions are engraved on it, the earlier one referring to the establishment or consecration of (the corporeal relic) of the Buddha in the reign of Mahārāja Minadra (Menander), the donor being a person named Viyakamitra, the *apraca-raja* (‘one who has no king as his adversary’). The later portion of the record also refers to the establishment of the corporeal relic of the Buddha, and of the bowl, but by a person named Vijayamitra, also an *apraca-raja* and evidently a descendant of Viyakamitra, on the 25th day of Vaiśākha of the 5th regnal year. This subsequent epigraph records—“This corporeal relic having been broken is not held in worship with zeal. It is decaying in course of time, (and) is not honoured; (and here) by the offering of alms and water, ancestors are no longer propitiated;

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(and) the receptacle of that (relic) has been cast aside. (Now) in the fifth year and on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Vaiśākha, this has been established by Vijayamitra, who has no king as his adversary.”¹ Thus, there is no doubt about its being a clear case of *jīrṇoddhāra*. H. Thsang says that “in recent times Śaśāṅka, the enemy and oppressor of Buddhism, cut down the Bodhi-tree, destroyed its roots down to the water, and burned what remained. A few months afterwards Pūrṇavarmā, the last descendant of Aśoka on the throne of Magadha, by pious efforts brought the tree back to life and in one night it became above ten feet high. This king then built round it a stone wall 24 feet high" (Watters, On Yuan Chwang, Vol. II, p. 115). Here also is a clear case of restoration after the original shrine was defiled by a non-believer, for the stone wall which was set up by Pūrṇavarmā was nothing but a re-erection. The śilā-prākāra was originally erected in the first century B.C., through the pious zeal and munificence of a lady, Āryā Kuraṅgī by name, the wife of Indrāgnimitra, perhaps a local chieftain. What Pūrṇavarmā did was to use the old materials—the thabhas (pillars), sūcīs (joining pieces) and uṣṇīṣas (coping stones), all made of greyish sandstone—in rebuilding the wall, using new material (granite) when the old fell short of his requirements; there are clear structural indications which fully prove this point (Barua, Gayā and Buddha Gayā, Vol. II, pp. 12 ff.).

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I have referred in the last page of my first chapter to the rebuilding of the Chauṅṣaṭ Yoginī temple at Bheraghat by Alhaṇādevī, the queen of the Haihaya King Gayakarṇadeva, during the reign of her son Narasiṃhadeva, in the Kalacurī-Cedi year 907 (1155 A.D.). Cunningham noticed that the style of architecture of this temple was plain and simple and might belong to any period between 900 and 1200 A.D. But the characters of the inscriptions on the pedestals of the images point to the earlier date and thus it is clear that they were restored and re-enshrined at a later date.¹ R. D. Banerjee proved with the help of the images divisible into two broad groups, one standing, made of brittle reddish sandstone, with no inscription, and the other seated, mostly carved out of a dull greenish yellow sandstone, inscribed with letters datable in the 10th century A.D. inside the circular temple, that ‘before the building of the circular temple in the 10th century A.D., another structure existed on this spot.’ Banerjee thinks it extremely probable that the most ancient shrine on the top of the hill, on which the circular temple stands, was erected in the Kushan period, and it enshrined the standing uninscribed images of brittle reddish sandstone.²

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¹ *Ime śarira paluga-bhud(r)ao na sakare atrita | sa śariat(r)ikalad(r)ena śadhro na pimḍoyakeyi pitrin griṇayat(r)i | tasa ye patre apomua | Vaṣaye pāmcamaye 41 Veś(r)akh(r)asa masasa divase-pāmcaviś(r)aye iyo prat(r)ithavit(r)e Vijayamitrena apracarajena Bhag(r)avatu Sakimuṇisa samasa(m)budhasa śarira* —*Epigraphia Indica*, Vol. XXIV, p. 7. The Kharoṣṭhi record was edited by N. G. Majumdar (ibid., pp. 1-8), who, however, did not notice this aspect of the epigraph.

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¹ Cunningham, A.S.R., Vol. IX, pp. 11, 73. Cunningham says, "the old circular wall, with its inscribed statues, belonged to the 10th century and the cloister with its roof was the work of Queen Alhaṇādevī in the 12th century."

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² R. D. Banerjee, The Haihayas of Tripuri and their Monuments (M.A.S.I., No. 23), pp. 69-70.

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The last few verses of the *Pratimāmānalakṣaṇam*, being edited by me with translation and notes in Appendix B, Part II, contain some interesting details about the replacement of old images by new ones, similar to those incorporated in Ch. 67 of the *Agnipurāṇa*. The details, however, contain more about the manner in which the decaying images are to be destroyed than about their restoration. My study of some ancient Brahmanical and Buddhist images in the Sarnath and Rajshahi Museums has convinced me that attempts were sometimes made to restore them when they were partially damaged. The *Śilparatna* tells us that " when an image is slightly damaged, it should never be discarded; but when its arms, hands, feet and legs are severed, when it is broken, split up or nine *yava* portion of it is gone or when it gets disfigured, it is usually to be discarded. If its fingers, etc., are cut up (or broken) the sages recommend binding (repairing) them." ¹

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¹ *Śilparatna*, Part II, p. 206 :— Doṣe laghutare bimbam naiva tyājyam kadācana | Bāhucchede karacchede pādacchede tathaiva ca || Tathaiva sphuṭite bhinne yasmin navayave gate | Vairūpyam jāyate yasya tat tyajyam prāyaśo bhavet || Aṅgulyādi paricchede bandhanam sas'yate budhaiḥ |

(c) The Ideology Behind the Hindu Images

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It has been shown in Chapter III (p. 81) of this book that the images used by the Hindu worshippers in their religious rites symbolised in a way their concept about a god or his various aspects, and these cult objects were primarily nothing but the consecrated symbols of the divinities. The Pāñcarātrins, it is true, conceived them as the very auspicious bodies (*Śrī-vigrahas*) of their god and his numerous manifestations, but even they also were fully aware of this character of the icons. The Arcā (divine image for worship) was to them one such manifestation, and the devout Bhāgavatas considered the duly consecrated images of their god as so many of his Avatāras (incarnatory forms). There are many texts where a great deal of emphasis is laid on the ideology behind the individual icons, and the *Viṣṇudharmottara* can be regarded as one such representative text. The observations often made by the Purāṇakāra after describing the images of various divinities deal with their real character, and are associated with different ideologies underlying them. Numerous extracts may be quoted from this text by way of illustrating this point, but a few alone connected with the icons of the Brahmanical triad may serve our purpose here. The real nature of Brahmā's image is delineated in Book III, Chapter 46 of this Purāṇa.

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The four faces of the god are explained as representing the four Vedas, the eastern, southern, western and northern characterising respectively the Ṛgveda, the Yajurveda, the Sāmaveda and the Atharvaveda; his arms are taken to symbolise the four major quarters. The water-vessel in one of his hands stands for the primeval waters from which spring all the movable and immovable beings, and the rosary in another hand of the god indicates eternal Time (Kāla); his skin garment (he wears the hide of a black antelope) symbolises sacrifice. The seven swans drawing his chariot (Brahmā is described in this text as riding on a chariot drawn by seven swans, saptahaṃse rathe sthitaḥ) stand for the seven worlds,— bhuḥ, bhuvaḥ, svar, mahaḥ, jana, tapas, and satya (Bk. III, Ch. 46, vv. 8-13). The transformation (vikṛti) of the whole universe is idealised by the concrete form of lord Viṣṇu, the Kaustubha jewel on whose breast is nothing but knowledge (jñāna), the vanamālā (the long garland hanging down from his neck) is the principle which binds the whole universe; his garment stands for avidyā (ignorance, illusion encompassing the world), and his mount Garuḍa of quick and powerful motion is to be known as mind present in all rational beings (Manastu Garuḍa jñeyaḥ sarvabhūtaśarīragam).

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His eight arms stand for four major and four minor quarters, and his four faces (this is an evident allusion to the four-faced Caturmūrti of the god, which illustrates the concept of the unified primary Vyūhas) typify knowledge (jñāna), strength (bala), sovereignty (aiśvarya) and power (śakti). The discus and the mace in the two hands assignable to Vāsudeva symbolise Puruṣa and Prakṛti, the ploughshare and pestle in the Saṃkarṣaṇa hands indicate Time and Death, the bow and arrow in the Pradyumna hands symbolise Yogic fire with which the Yogins hit their supreme target, and of the sword (Nandaka) and shield in the Aniruddha hands the latter represents the cover of *ajñāna* (lack of true knowledge) necessary for the creation of the world, while the former stands for renunciation (*vairāgya*) which severs all ties. The sage Mārkaṇḍeya narrates to his interlocutor Vajra in this manner " the form of that formless (Being) with which the highest and the most pre-eminent of the universe covers the whole of it and also supports it " ( . . . . . *rūpaṃ sarvajaganmayasya Evaṃ śarīreṇa jagatsamagraṃ bibhartti devaḥ sa jagatpradhānaḥ*; Bk. III, Ch. 47, vv. 1-18). The five faces of Śiva,—Sadyojāta, Vāmadeva, Aghora, Tatpuruṣa and Īśāna represent the five gross elements—earth, water, heat, wind and the sky respectively.

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They are also known individually as Mahādeva (eastern), Bhairava (southern), Nandivaktra (western), Umāvaktra (northern) and Sadāśiva (the fifth face on the top known also as Īśāna). The three eyes of the eastern face known as Mahādeva are the sun, the moon and the fire . . . . . His ten arms, two being allotted to each face, stand for the ten quarters, and the various attributes assigned to the hands also esoterically represent other entities; thus the club and the citrus (*mātuluṅga*) in the hands allotted to Bhairava, symbolise death and the numerous atoms (*paramāṇavaḥ*) which are the ‘ seed ’ of the whole world. The shield and trident in the hands allotted to Nandivaktra face (that behind the Mahādeva, the eastern or the central face) symbolise the unmanifest and manifest (matter—here the text is corrupt); the mirror and the lotus assigned to the Umāvaktra (the northern, i.e., the face on the left of the central Mahādeva face) symbolise pure knowledge and renunciation (*Ādarśaṃ nirmalaṃ jñānaṃ vairāgyaṃ ca tathotpalam*). The matted locks on the head of Mahādeva represent the Brahmans, the crescent on the forehead of the god is known as *aiśvarya* (divine essence); Vāsuki (the snake) indicates divine anger which destroys the three worlds. The large and spotted tiger-skin (which is worn by Śiva) is Desire (which is also extensive and variegated), and the bull (Śiva's mount) is the Divine Dharma having four feet (*Vṛṣo'hi bhagavān Dharmaścatuṣpādaḥ prakīrttitaḥ*).

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Prakṛti which brings forth the universe is all white and Maheśvara's colour is likewise all white (Bk. III, Ch. 48, vv. 1-19). In most of the subsequent chapters of this section of the Viṣṇudharmottara, the descriptions of the concrete forms of the various deities are almost invariably accompanied by references to such esoteric symbolism underlying them, and the Purāṇakāra thus lays emphasis on the fact that what is being worshipped is not what it appears to be, but is something beyond it.

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It may be mentioned here incidentally that verses 4-8 of Chapter 48, which have just been briefly noticed in connection with Śiva image and its ideology, supply us interesting and authoritative data in support of the true interpretation of the so-called Trimūrti of Elephanta suggested in Chapter XI (pp. 476-77) of this book. The east-facing Mahādeva-face is the placid central face of the Elephanta sculpture, for the temple faces east and the south-facing Bhairava-face is the terrific face to the right of this central face; the west-facing Bull-face (Nandivaktra, and Nandi is bull) should have been on the back of Mahādeva-face, but as it is a relievo-sculpture it is invisible. But the northern face, *i.e.*, the one to the left of the central Mahādeva-face is described in the text as Umāvaktra and thus its real character is definitely settled. The fifth face (*i.e.*, the Īśāna- or Sadāśiva-face) which symbolises *vyoma* or *ākāśa*, was to have been placed on the top, but as the *Rūpamaṇḍana* informs us that it cannot be seen even by the *yogīs* (*Pañcamam ca tatheśānaṃ yogināmapyagocaram*).

(d) Purāṇic Deities in Vedic Texts

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In connection with the descriptions of the cult-icons in the last four chapters of this book, reference has often been made to the problem of the first appearance of the individual cult-deities in Vedic or Brahmanical literature. The gods and goddesses whose images were made and worshipped by different sectarian groups of people were mostly epic and Purāṇic in character, though in the growth and development of the concepts of some of them, Vedic-Brāhmaṇic elements had played an important part. But it will be futile to seek for any and every one of these developed god-concepts in the early Vedic or for the matter of that even in late Vedic literature. Sometimes the name of a Purāṇic deity may be identical with that of a Vedic one, but this similarity in name will not mean that they were originally identical in character. This can be demonstrated with the help of the names or epithets of two Purāṇic deities, Gaṇapati and Nidhipati, the former denoting the elephant-headed deity Gaṇeśa and the latter, Kubera, the lord of the Yakṣas and treasures. The name Gaṇapati occurs in the Ṛgveda (II. 2, 23), but it does not certainly mean in this context the Purāṇic god Gaṇeśa. It has been briefly mentioned earlier (p. 356) that Vedic Gaṇapati denoted Brahmaṇaspati; in this context he was the leader of the groups of the Devas and similar other beings belonging to his own order (Gaṇānāṃ devā-digaṇānāṃ sambandhinaṃ Gaṇapatiṃ svīyānāṃ patiṃ; Sāyaṇa). Brahmaṇaspati was being invoked by the seer in that hymn as ‘Gaṇapati of the Gaṇas and the most omniscient among the omniscients’ (Gaṇānāṃ Gaṇapatiṃ Kaviṃ Kavīnām; Sāyaṇa explains Kavīnām as krānta-darśinām). Nidhipati does not occur in this early Vedic passage, but it occurs probably for the first time in the Vājasaneyī Saṃhitā of the Śukla Yajurveda school, along with the Gaṇapati of the Ṛgvedic passage. The whole extract (V.S. 23, 19) reads: Gaṇānāṃ tvā Gaṇapatiṃ havāmahe priyāṇāṃ tvā priyapatiṃ havāmahe nidhināṃ tvā nidhipatiṃ havāmahe vaso mama | Ahamajāni garbhadamā tvamajāsi garbhadham. But the context in which this invocation occurs shows that all these three epithets gaṇapati, priyapati and nidhipati are addressed to the horse killed in the Aśvamedha sacrifice by the chief queen when she lies down with the dead horse under cover. The Maitrayanīya Saṃhitā of the Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda school not only quotes the identical passage, but also adds a few words which show that the chief queen of the sovereign performing the Aśvamedha sacrifice was desirous of progeny, virile and powerful, and this part of the sacrifice where the mantra is uttered was thought necessary for the fulfilment of her desire. Thus, there can be no question of finding in Gaṇapati and Nidhipati of the Vedic texts even the slightest reference to the Purāṇic gods Gaṇeśa and Kubera.

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In at least one late Saṃhitā text, however, mention is made of some of Purāṇic deities and their gāyatrī-mantras. The Maitrāyanīya Saṃhitā introduces the Śatarudriya text with an invocation of Śarva (‘arrow-wielder’, one of the names of Rudra)

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and addresses him as Śiva. Then begin the gāyatrī-mantras of Puruṣa-Mahādeva (Rudra), Girisutā (‘the daughter of the mountain’—Gaurī), Kumāra-Kārttikeya (Skanda), Karāṭa(?)-Hastimukha (Dantī, i.e., Gaṇeśa with the head of a tusker), Caturmukha-Padmāsana (Brahmā), Keśava-Nārāyaṇa (Viṣṇu), Bhāskara-Prabhākara (Bhānu—Sun god), Somarāja-Mahārāja (Candra—Moon god), Jvalana—Vaiśvānara (Vahni—Fire god), Tyajapa (? Japa)—Mahājapa (Dhyāna), Paramātmā-Vainateya (Sṛṣṭi). In this curious assortment of deities, we not only find the names of the Brahmanical triad of the Purāṇic times and those of Śiva's consort and their two sons Kārttikeya and Gaṇeśa, but also the names of Sūrya, Candra and even of Meditation or concentration (personified), and the Paramātman, the Supreme Soul.¹ We do not fail to find even some iconographic traits of two at least of these concrete divinities, *viz.*, Gaṇapati (described here as *karāṭa*, i.e., ‘one with the cheek of an elephant,’ *hastimukha*, ‘one having the face of an elephant’), and *dantī*, ‘one with tusks’, and Brahmā (described here as Caturmukha) four-faced, and Padmāsana, seated on a lotus. But there can be no doubt that this section at least of the *Saṃhitā* is very late on account of its containing these gāyatrī-mantras which bring it in line with the tenth Prapāṭhaka of the *Taittirīya Āraṇyaka*. It should also be noted in this connection that the *Taittirīya Saṃhitā* and the *Vājasaneyī Saṃhitā* which also contain the *Śatarudrīya* passage do not contain this introductory portion. The first Anuvāka of the Tenth Prapāṭhaka of the *Taittirīya Āraṇyaka* after quoting some extracts from Vedic and Upaniṣadic texts gives us the gāyatrī-mantras of Puruṣa-Sahasrākṣa-Mahādeva-Rudra, Puruṣa-Mahādeva-Rudra, Puruṣa- Vakratuṇḍa-Dantī (Gaṇeśa with his sinuous elephant-trunk), Puruṣa-Cakratuṇḍa--Nandī (perhaps the bull-form of Śiva), Puruṣa-Mahāsena-Ṣaṇmukha (Kumāra-Kārttikeya), Puruṣa-Suvarṇapakṣa-Garuḍa, Vedātmana-Hiraṇyagarbha-Brahma, Nārāyaṇa-Vāsudeva-Viṣṇu, Vajranakha-Tikṣṇadaṃṣṭra-Nārasimha, Bhāskara-Mahādyutikara-Āditya, Vaiśvānara-Lālola-Agni, and Kātyāyana (ī)—Kanyākumārī-Durgī (X. 1, 5-7). In the 16th section of the same Anuvāka occurs this three-line verse which contains the names of all these 12 deities whose gāyatris have been recited :—

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¹ My attention was drawn to this passage by Gaurinath Sastri of the Sanskrit College, Calcutta. A few extracts may be quoted from this introductory passage: *Devānāṃ ca ṛṣīṇāṃ cāsurāṇāṃ ca pūrvājam | Mahādevam sahasrākṣam Śivamāvāhayāmyaham || Tat-Puruṣāya vidmahe Mahādevāya dhīmahi | Tan-no Rudraḥ pracodayāt || Tad-Gāṅgaucyāya vidmahe Girisutāya dhīmahi | Tan-no Gaurī pracodayāt || Tat-Kumārāya vidmahe Kārttikeyāya dhīmahi | Tan-naḥ Skandaḥ pracodayāt || Tat-karāṭāya (This should be karāṭāya meaning ‘one having the cheek of an elephant’) vidmahe hastimukhāya dhīmahi | Tan-no Dantī pracodayāt || Tat-Caturmukhāya vidmahe Padmāsanāya dhīmahi | Tan-no Brahmā pracodayāt || Tat-Keśavāya vidmahe Nārāyaṇāya dhīmahi | Tan-no Viṣṇuḥ pracodayāt ||*

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Rudro Rudraśca Dantiśca Nandiḥ Ṣaṇmukha eva ca|
Garuḍo Brahma-Viṣṇuśca Nārasimhasthaiva ca|
Ādityo'gniśca Durgiśca krameṇa dvādaśāmbhasi||

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If we compare these two lists, one from the Maitrāyaṇīya Saṃhitā and the other from the Taittirīya Āraṇyaka, we find much that is common to both. But the Āraṇyaka text leaves out more abstract entities like Dhyāna and Paramātmā, and even a concrete one like Candra, and brings in new concrete ones like Nandī, Garuḍa and Nārasimha, changes some epithets and counts Mahādeva-Rudra twice; thus, Hastimukha is replaced by Vakratuṇḍa, Kumāra-Kārttikeya-Skanda by Puruṣa-Mahāsena-Ṣaṇmukha, Caturmukha-Padmāsana-Brahmā by Vedātmana (should it be Vedānana?)—Hiraṇyagarbha-Brahmā (ā?), Keśava-(Nārāyaṇa-Viṣṇu) by Nārāyaṇa-Vāsudeva-Viṣṇu, Bhāskara-Prabhākāra-Bhānu by Bhāskara-Mahādyutikara-Āditya, etc. Another feature of the Āraṇyaka text is that more iconographic traits are incorporated here in the descriptive epithets of these deities. The Mahānārāyaṇa Upaniṣad, much later in point of date than the two texts mentioned above, not only contains almost everything of this nature found in the Taittirīya Āraṇyaka, but has also some additional mantras like those of Mahādurgā, Bhagavatī, Gaurī, Sūrya, Bhānu, etc., which are nothing but different aspects of the same deity (Mahādurgā, Bhagavatī and Gaurī are epithets of Durgī, and Sūrya, Bhānu, etc., of Āditya, etc.). The iconography of many of these concrete god-concepts is also much developed in this late text (Mahānārāyaṇa Upaniṣad, IV. 1-18). The picture that is presented in these late Vedic texts, however, leaves little doubt that the religious outlook of the Hindus of this period had undergone a great deal of transformation, and the Laukika Devatās (cf. Patañjali's statement about the two types of deities quoted in Chapter IX of this book) had taken predominance over the Vaidika ones.

Part I

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बृहत्संहिता

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(अः ५७)

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जालान्तर्गते भानौ यदणुतरं दर्शनं रजो याति । तद्विन्द्यात् परमाणुं प्रथमं तद्धि प्रमाणानाम् ॥१॥ परमाणुरजो वालाग्रलिक्षयूकं यवोऽङ्गुलं चेति । अष्ट गुणानि यथोत्तरमङ्गुलमेकं भवति सङ्ग्रा ॥२॥ देवागारद्वारस्याष्टांशोनस्य यस्तृतीयोऽंशः । तत्पिण्डिकाप्रमाणं प्रतिमा तद्विगुणपरिमाणा ॥३॥ स्वैरङ्गुलप्रमाणैर्द्वाविस्तीर्णमायतं च मुखम् । नग्नजिता तु चतुर्दश दैध्यण द्राविडं कथितम् ॥४॥ नासाललाटचिबुकग्रीवाश्चतुरङ्गुलस्तथा कर्णौ । द्वे अङ्गूले च हनुनी चिबुकं च द्व्यङ्गुलं विततम् ॥५॥ अष्टाङ्गुलं ललाटं विस्ताराद् द्व्यङ्गूलात् परे शङ्खौ । चतुरङ्गुलौ तु शङ्खौ कर्णौ तु द्व्यङ्गुलौ पृथुलौ ॥६॥ कर्णोपान्तः कार्योऽर्धपञ्चमे भ्रूसमेन सूत्रेण । कर्णस्रोतः सुकुमारकं च नत्रप्रबन्धसमम् ॥७॥ चतुरङ्गुलं वसिष्ठः कथयति नेत्रान्तकर्णयोर्विवरम् । अधरोऽङ्गुलप्रमाणस्तस्यार्धेनोत्तरोष्ठश्च ॥८॥ अर्धाङ्गला तु गोच्छा वक्त्रं चतुरङ्गलायतं कार्यम् । विपुलं तु सार्धमङ्गुलमव्यात्तं त्र्यङ्गुलं व्यात्तम् ॥९॥ द्व्यङ्गुलतुल्यौ नासापुटौ च नासापुटाग्रतो ज्ञेया । स्याद् द्व्यङ्गुलमुच्छ्रायश्चतुरङ्गुल मन्तरं चाक्ष्णोः ॥१०॥ द्व्यङ्गुलमितोऽक्षिकोषो द्वे नेत्रे तन्त्रिभागिका तारा । दृक्तारा पञ्चांशो नेत्रविकाशोऽङ्गुलं भवति ॥११॥ पर्यन्तात् पर्यन्तं दश भ्रुवोऽर्धाङ्गुलं भ्रुवो लेखा । भ्रुमध्यं द्व्यङ्गुलकं भ्रूर्धेन्यणलचतुष्कम् ॥१२॥

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कार्या तु केशरखा भ्रूबन्धसमाङ्गलार्धविस्तीर्णा । नेत्रान्ते करवीरकमुपन्यसेदङ्गलप्रमितम् ॥१३॥ द्वात्रिंशत् परिणाहाच्चतुर्दशायामतोऽङ्गलानि शिरः । द्वादश तु चित्रकर्मणि दृश्यन्तु विशतिर्दृश्याः ॥१४॥ आस्यं सकेशनिचयं षोडश दैर्घ्येन नग्नजित्प्रोक्तम् । ग्रीवा दशविस्तीर्णा परिणाहाद्विंशतिः सैका ॥१५॥ कण्ठाद् द्वादश हृदयं हृदयान्नाभी च तत्प्रमाणेन । नाभीमध्यान्मेढ्रान्तरं च तत्तुत्यमेवोक्तम् ॥१६॥ उरू चाङ्गलमानैश्चतुर्युता विशतिस्तथा जङ्घे । जानुकपिच्छे चतुरङ्गुले च पादौ च तत्तुत्यौ ॥१७॥ द्वादश दीर्घा षट् पृथुतया च पादौ त्रिकायताङ्गुष्ठौ । पञ्चाङ्गुलपरिणाहौ प्रदेशिनी त्र्यङ्गुलं दीर्घा ॥१८॥ अष्टाष्टांशोनाः शेषाङ्गुत्यः क्रमेण कर्तव्याः । स चतुर्भागमङ्गलमुत्सेधोऽङ्गुष्ठकस्योवतः ॥१९॥ अङ्गुष्ठनखः कथितचतुर्भागोमङ्गलंत तज्ञैः । शेषनखानांर्धाङ्गुलं क्रमात् किञ्चिदूनां वा ॥२०॥ जङ्घाग्रे परिणाहश्चतुर्दशोकस्तस्तु विस्तरात् पञ्च । मध्ये तु सप्त विपुला परिणाहात् त्रिगुणिताः सप्त ॥२१॥ अष्टौ तु जानुमध्ये वैपुल्यं व्यष्टकं तु परिणाहः । विपुलौ चतुर्दशोरू मध्ये द्विगुणश्च तत्परिधिः ॥२२॥ कटिरष्टादश विपुला चत्वारिंशच्चतुर्युता परिधौ । अङ्गलमेकं नाभी वेधेन तथा प्रमाणेन ॥२३॥ चत्वारिंशद् द्वियुता नाभीमध्येन मध्यपरिणाहः । स्तनयोः षोडश चान्तरमूर्ध्वं कक्ष्ये षडङ्गुलिके ॥२४॥ अष्टावंसौ द्वादश बाहूकार्यौ तथा प्रबाहू च । बाहू षड्विस्तीर्णौ प्रतिबाहू त्वङ्गलचतुष्कम् ॥२५॥ षोडश बाहुमूले परिणाहाद् द्वादशाग्रहस्ते च । विस्तारेण करतलं षडङ्गुलं सप्त दैर्घ्येन ॥२६॥ पञ्चाङ्गुलानि मध्या प्रदेशिनी मध्यपर्वदलहीना । अनया तुल्या चानमिका कनिष्ठा तु पर्वोना ॥२७॥ पर्वद्वयमङ्गुष्ठः शेषाङ्गुत्यस्त्रिभिस्त्रिभिः कार्याः । नखपरिमाणं कार्यं सर्वासi पर्वोऽर्धेन ॥२८॥ देशानुरूपभूषणवेषालङ्कारमूर्त्तिभिः कार्या । प्रतिमा लक्षणयुक्ता सन्निहिता वृद्धिदा भवति ॥२९॥

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दशरथतनयो रामो बलिश्च वैरोचनः शतं विंशम्। द्वादशाहन्याशेषाः प्रवरसमन्यूनपरिमाणाः॥३०॥ कार्य्योऽष्टभुजो भगवांश्चतुर्भुजो द्विभुज एव वा विष्णुः। श्रीवत्साङ्कितवक्षाः कौस्तुभमणिभूषितोरस्कः॥३१॥ अतसीकुसुमश्यामः पीताम्बरनिबसनः प्रसन्नमुखः। कुण्डलकिरीटधारी पीनगलोरःस्थलांसभुजः॥३२॥ खड्गदाधरपाणिर्दक्षिणतः शान्तिदश्चतुर्थकरः। वामकरेषु च कार्मुकखेटकचक्राणि शङ्खश्च॥३३॥ अथ च चतुर्भुजमिच्छति शान्तद एको गदाधरश्चान्यः। दक्षिणपार्श्वे त्वेवं वामे शङ्खश्च चक्रं च॥३४॥ द्विभुजस्य तु शान्तिकरो दक्षिणहस्तोऽपरश्च शङ्खधरः। एवं विष्णोः प्रतिमा कर्त्तव्याः भुतिमिच्छद्भिः॥३५॥ बलदेवो हलपाणिर्दविभ्रमलोचनश्च कर्त्तव्यः। विभ्रत् कुण्डलमेकं शङ्खेन्दुमृणालगौरतनुः॥३६॥ एकांशा कार्या देवी बलदेवकृष्णयोर्मध्ये। कटिसंस्थितवामकरा सरोजमितरेण चोद्वहती॥३७॥ कार्या चतुर्भुजा या वामकराभ्यां सपुस्तकं कमलम्। द्वाभ्यां दक्षिणपार्श्वे वरमथिवक्षसूत्रं च॥३८॥ वामेऽथाष्टभुजायाः कमण्डलुश्चापमम्बुजं शास्त्रम्। वरशरदर्पणयुक्ताः सव्यभुजाः साक्षसूत्राश्च॥३९॥ शाम्बश्च गदाहस्तः प्रद्युम्नश्चापभृत् सुरूपश्च। अनयोः स्त्रियौ च कार्य्ये खेटकनिस्त्रिंशधारिण्यौ॥४०॥ ब्रह्मा कमण्डलुकरश्चतुर्मुखः पङ्कजासनस्थश्च। स्कन्दः कुमाररूपः शक्तिधरो वह्निकेतुश्च॥४१॥ शुक्लचतुर्विषाणो द्विपो महेन्द्रस्य वज्रपाणित्वम्। तिर्य्यग्ललाटसंस्थं तृतीयमपि लोचनं चिह्नम्॥४२॥ शम्भोः शिरसीन्दुकला वृषध्वजोऽक्षि च तृतीयमपि चोर्ध्वम्। शूलं धनुः पिनाकं वामाधर्वे वा गिरिसुताधर्म्म॥४३॥ पद्माङ्कितकरचरणः प्रसन्नमूर्तिः सुनीच केशश्च। पद्मासनोपविष्टः पितेव जगतो भवति बुद्धः॥४४॥ आजानुलम्बबाहुः श्रीवत्साङ्कः प्रशान्तमूर्तिश्च। दिग्वासास्तरुणो रूपवांश्च कार्योर्हतां देवः॥४५॥ नासालाटजङ्घोरुगण्डवक्षांसि चोन्नतानि रवेः। कुर्य्यादुदीच्यवेषं गूढं पादादुरो यावत्॥४६॥

c20.s5.6

विभ्राणः स्वकररुहे बाहुभ्यां पङ्कजे मुकुटधारी । कुण्डलभूषितवदनः प्रलम्बहारी वियद्गवत् ॥४७॥ कमलोदरद्युतिमुखः कञ्चुकगुप्तः स्मितप्रसन्नमुखः । रत्नोज्ज्वलप्रभामण्डलश्च कर्त्तुः शुभकरोऽर्कः ॥४८॥ सौम्या तु हस्तमात्रा वसुदा हस्तद्वयोच्छ्रिता प्रतिमा । क्षेमसुभिक्षाय भवेत् त्रिचतुर्हस्तप्रमाणा या ॥४९॥ नृपभयमल्पङ्गायां हीनाङ्गायामल्पता कर्त्तुः । शातोदयी क्षुद्भयमर्थविनाशः कृशाङ्गायाम् ॥५०॥ मरणं तु सक्षतायां शस्त्रनिपातेन निर्दिशेत् कर्त्तुः । वामावनता पत्नी दक्षिणविनता हिनस्त्यायुः ॥५१॥ अन्धत्वमूर्ध्वदष्ट्रा करोति चिन्तामधोमुखी दृष्टिः । सर्वप्रतिमास्वेवं शुभाशुभं भास्करोक्तसमम् ॥५२॥ लिङ्गस्य वृत्तपरिधि दैर्घ्येणासूय तत् त्रिधा विभजेत् । मूले तच्चतुरस्रं मध्ये त्वष्टाश्रि वृत्तमतः ॥५३॥ चतुरस्रमवनिखाते कार्य्यं तु पिण्डिकाश्वभ्रे । दृश्योच्छ्रायेण समा समन्ततः पिण्डिकाश्वभ्रात् ॥५४॥ कृशदीर्घं देशघ्नं पार्श्वविहीनं पुरस्य नाशाय । यस्य क्षतं भवेन्मस्तके विनाशाय तल्लिङ्गम् ॥५५॥ मातृगणः कर्त्तव्यः स्वनामदेवानुरूपकृतचिह्नः । रेवन्तोऽश्वारूढो मृगयाक्रीडादिपरिवारः ॥५६॥ दण्डी यमो महिषगो हंसारूढश्च पाशभृदरुणः । नरवाहनः कुवेरो वामकिरीटी वृहत् कुक्षिः ॥५७॥ (प्रमथाधिप ऽजमुखः प्रलम्बजठरः कुठारधारी स्यात् । एकविषाणो विभ्रन्मूलकन्दं सुनीलदलकन्दम् ॥५८॥)

Translation with Notes

c20.s5.t1.1

1-4: A very fine mote visible in the sunbeam filtering through a lattice is known as *paramāṇu*, and it is the first (the lowest unit) in all measurements. A *rajas* (a speck of dust) is made up of eight such *paramāṇus*; a *bālāgra* (the tip of one single hair), a *likṣā* (the egg of a louse), a *yuka* (a louse), a *yava* (barley-corn), and an *aṅgula* are each made up of eight units of its preceding object, a *bālāgra* measuring the same as eight particles of dust. The height of the pedestal of the image should be three parts of the height of the shrine-door less the eighth part; when the latter is divided into eight parts, and the height of the image should be twice that of the pedestal. The face (of an image) should be twelve *aṅgulas* wide and long according to its own *aṅgula*; but Nagnajit says that the (face) length is fourteen *aṅgulas*, and it is the Drāviḍa (type of measurement).

c20.s5.t1.2

5: The nose, forehead, chin, neck, ears are all 4 *aṅgulas* (in length); the jaws are 2 *aṅgulas* each (in width) and the chin is 2 *aṅgulas* wide.¹

c20.s5.t1.3

¹ In the *Taittirīya Upaniṣad* (1. 3), the words *uttarāhanu* and *adharāhanu* occur in the sense of upper and lower jaws respectively. Utpala comments on the *Bṛhatsaṃhitā* passage as *hanunī dve dve aṅgule vistṛte | Mukhagalasandhī hanunī*. So, according to him, 'the place where the face and the neck join is the *hanu*'; Rao translates the word as chin in his *Tālamāna*, p. 77.

c20.s5.t1.4

6: The forehead is 8 *aṅgulas* in its width; the temples on each side are 2 *aṅgulas* further off from it, their (downward, *i.e.*, lengthwise) measurement being 4 *aṅgulas*.² The ears are each 2 *aṅgulas* in width.

c20.s5.t1.5

² The *śaṅkhas*, *i.e.*, the temples are 4 *aṅgulas* when taken downwards. Utpala comments on the passage thus: *Śaṅkhau caturaṅgulāvadhobhāgau dīrghau kāryau yataḥ śaṅkhādho gaṇḍabhāga ucyate*.

c20.s5.t1.6

7: The upper margin of the ear should be made in the same line with the eye-brow and should be 4½ *aṅgulas* distant (from the latter); the ear-hole and the raised part near it are in the same line with the extreme corner of the eye.³

c20.s5.t1.7

³ Utpala says that the raised tip of flesh near the ear-hole is in the same line with the rheum of the eye; his words are: *Sukumārakam ca karṇaśrotaḥ-samīpe unnato mārgastannetraprabandhasamam |...Netraprabandhaśabdena pradūṣiṣocyate*. Kern wrongly quotes the last part of this commentary as *pramūṣikocyate* (*J.R.A.S.*, 1873, p. 324 and n. 1).

c20.s5.t1.8

8: Vasiṣṭha says that (the space) between the extreme corner of the eye and ear-hole (near it) is 4 *aṅgulas*.⁴ The lower lip is 1 *aṅgula* wide, the upper being its half.

c20.s5.t1.9

⁴ Vasiṣṭha as quoted by Utpala: *Karṇanetrāntaram yacca tadvindyāccatur-aṅgulam*. There is a slip in Kern's translation of the line in the *Bṛhatsaṃhitā*; he puts 'the space between the extreme eye-corners and eyes, at 4 digits' (*J.R.A.S.*, 1873, p. 324).

c20.s5.t1.10

9: The *gocchā* (*goj*, *i.e.*, the short dimple between the centre of the upper lip and the nasal septum) is ½ *aṅgula* (in width), the mouth being 4 *aṅgulas* in length. When the latter is closed, it is 1½ *aṅgulas* in width, it being 3 *aṅgulas* wide (in the middle), when open.

c20.s5.t1.11

10: The nostrils are 2 *aṅgulas* in extent; at their end rises the nose 2 *aṅgulas* in height. The intervening space between the two eyes is 4 *aṅgulas*.¹

c20.s5.t1.12

¹ This evidently refers to the space between the two pupils, not the inside corners of the eyes; the distance between the latter is 1 *aṅgula* (*netrāntare ’ṅgule jñeyo, Pratimālakṣaṇam*, v. 10).

c20.s5.t1.13

11: The sockets of the eyes and the eyes measure 2 *aṅgulas*, the ball of the eyes being ⅓ of the same. The vision of the pupil is ⅓ (of the ball) and the aperture of the eye is 1 *aṅgula*.²

c20.s5.t1.14

² Utpala explains *dṛktārā* as *madhyavarttinī kumārī*. Kern remarks that this is right if we take *kumārī* or *kanīnikā* in the sense of the pupil's innermost part, *cf.* Suśruta, ii, p.

c20.s5.t1.15

12: The line of the eye-brows (extending from one extremity to the other) measures 10 *aṅgulas*, its width being only ½ an *aṅgula*. (The interstice) between the two eye-brows (not their line) is 2 *aṅgulas*, (each) brow being 4 *aṅgulas* in length.

c20.s5.t1.16

13: The hair-line (*i.e.*, the line on the forehead from which the hair begins to sprout upward) should be made equal in extent to (the length of) the joint eye-brows (*i.e.*, 10 *aṅgulas*), its thickness being ½ an *aṅgula*. At the end of the eyes must be delineated *karavīraka* (*i.e.*, the inner corner) 1 *aṅgula* in measurement.³

c20.s5.t1.17

³ Utpala says *karavīrakam dūṣiketi prasiddham*. But Kern remarks that the inner corner, *karavīraka* is also called *mūṣika* in a quotation from Kāśyapa' (J.R.A.S., 1873, p. 325, f. n. 1); but evidently *dūṣika* is the correct form.

c20.s5.t1.18

14: The head is 32 *aṅgulas* in circumference and 14 in its extent (apparent width). In pictorial representations, 12 *aṅgulas* (only of the 32) are shown, 20 *aṅgulas* invisible.⁴

c20.s5.t1.19

⁴ This is interesting. In pictures only the front of the head is shown, the deity being represented frontally. But in relievo representations, greater or lesser section of the girth of the head is to be shown, according to the nature of the relief. In sculptures fully in the round, however, the whole of the periphery is to be shown.

c20.s5.t1.20

15: The face along with the full complement of the hair make up 16 *aṅgulas* in length, as it is said by Nagnajit.⁵ The neck is 10 *aṅgulas* wide, and 21 *aṅgulas* in circumference.

c20.s5.t1.21

³⁰³ He further says that 'it must be taken into account that the vision in the pupil requires a larger measure in sculpture than in nature', J.R.A.S., 1873, p. 324, f. n. 2.

c20.s5.t1.22

⁵ Utpala comments: *Mukham dīrgham caturdaśāṅgulāni keśarekhā dve aṅgule evaṃ ṣoḍaśa | Tathā ca Nagnajit | Dvyaṅgulā keśarekhaivaṃ mukham ṣyat ṣoḍaśāṅgulam ||*.

c20.s5.t1.23

16: From the throat (the lower-most part of it) down to the heart, it is 12 *aṅgulas*; from the heart to the navel, it is the same; equal in length is the space between the centre of the navel and the penis (*viz.*, the root of the penis).

c20.s5.t1.24

17: The thighs measure 24 according to the *aṅgula* measurement; the shanks measure also the same. The knee-caps are 4 *aṅgulas* and the feet are the same (in height);¹ the great toes are 3 *aṅgulas* long, and 5 *aṅgulas* in circumference.

c20.s5.t1.25

¹ *Jānukapiccha* is explained by Utpala as the same as *ekkalake* (?) as is well known to the people (*jānukapicche...ye ca loke ekkalake iti prasiddhe*). Kern's quotation from the commentator is faulty; he writes, '*jānukapitthe* (sic.) *ye loke cakkalike iti prasiddhe*. This *cakkalikam* or *cakkalikā* looks like a Prākṛt form of the diminutive of *cakra*, 'disc'. He translates the word as 'insteps'; but evidently the author refers to the measurement of the knee-cap or the patella.

c20.s5.t1.26

18: The feet are 12 *aṅgulas* in length and 6 in breadth: The second toe is (also) 3 *aṅgulas* long.

c20.s5.t1.27

19: The rest of the toes should be made less by one-eighth, in succession. It is said that the height (elevation) of the great toe is 1¼ *aṅgula*.

c20.s5.t1.28

20: Those well-versed in the knowledge (of *pratimā-lakṣaṇa*) say that the nail of the great toe is ¾ *aṅgula*; the nails of the other toes are less by ½ *aṅgula* in succession, or a little less.

c20.s5.t1.29

21: The circumference of the extreme top of the shanks is said to be 14 *aṅgulas* long and 5 broad; in its middle, it is 7 *aṅgulas* wide and 3 times 7 (*i.e.*, 21) in circuit.

c20.s5.t1.30

22: The knees in their middle are 8 *aṅgulas* in thickness (width), 3 times 8 (24) being the girth. The thighs in their middle part are 14 *aṅgulas* in width, their circumference being just the double (*i.e.*, 28 *aṅgulas*).

c20.s5.t1.31

23: The hip is 18 *aṅgulas* wide and 44 in circumference. The navel is 1 *aṅgula* in depth as well as in extent.

c20.s5.t1.32

24: The circumference of the middle (part of the body) at the centre of the navel is 42 *aṅgulas*. The intervening space between the paps is 16 *aṅgulas*; 6 such higher up (in an oblique direction) are the arm-pits.² 25 : The shoulders should be made 8 *aṅgulas*, the upper arms as well as the forearms 12 (in length); the upper arm is 6 *aṅgulas* in width and the lower arm 4.

c20.s5.t1.33

² Utpala expressly tells us '*Stanayorūrdhvam tiryak kṛtvā ṣaḍaṅgulike kakṣye kāryo*'.

c20.s5.t1.34

26 : The circumference of the arms at their upper end is 16 *aṅgulas*, the same at the wrist (*agrahasta* explained by Utpala as *prakoṣṭhapradeśa*) being 12. The palm is 6 *aṅgulas* broad and 7 long.

c20.s5.t1.35

27 : The middle finger is 5 *aṅgulas* (long), the forefinger is half a joint (or digit) smaller; the ring-finger is like the latter, and the little finger is less than the ring-finger by a whole digit.

c20.s5.t1.36

28 : The thumb has 2 digits, the remaining fingers should be made with 3 each. The measure of a nail is the same as one-half the joints of each finger.

c20.s5.t1.37

29 : ‘An image should be represented in such a way that its equipment, dress, ornaments and outward form be in agreement with the country. By possessing the required characteristics an idol, by its very presence, bestows prosperity (Kern).

c20.s5.t1.38

30 : (The images of) Rāma, the son of Daśaratha, and Bali, the son of Virocana, (should measure) 120 (*aṅgulas*); (the rest, the three other groups of images), each measuring 12 (*aṅgulas*) less than its preceding one, should constitute respectively the chief, the middling and the lowest (variety;—*pravara*, *sama* and *nyūna* being 108, 96 and 84 *aṅgulas* in their respective measurements of height).

c20.s5.t1.39

31-5 : The worshipful god Viṣṇu may be represented either as eight-armed, four-armed and two-armed; his breast should be marked with (the auspicious sign) *Śrīvatsa*, and be adorned with *Kaustubha* gem. He should be yellowish green in colour like the lin blossom, be clad in a yellow garment, and should have a serene expression; he should wear ear-rings and a topped crown (*kirīṭa*), and his neck, chest, shoulders and arms should be thick (*i.e.*, full and fleshy). (The eight-armed god) should show in his right hands a sword, a mace, an arrow and *abhayamudrā*, while his left hands should hold a bow, a shield, a discus and a conch-shell. If one wishes (to make him) four-armed, his right hands should show an *abhayamudrā* and a mace, while his left hands should hold a conch-shell and a discus. The right hand of the two-armed god is in the *abhaya* pose, the left one holding a conch-shell; in this manner the image of Viṣṇu should be made by those who desire prosperity.

c20.s5.t1.40

36 : Baladeva should hold a ploughshare in his hand, and his eyes should be made rolling (unsteady, through excessive) drink; he should wear a single ear-ring, and his complexion should be fair like a conch-shell, the moon or a lotus stalk.

c20.s5.t1.41

37-9 : The goddess Ekānaṃśā should be made between Baladeva and Kṛṣṇa; her left hand should rest on her hip, while the other (*i.e.*, the right hand) should hold a lotus. If she is to be made four-armed, then a book and a lotus are to be placed in her left hands, while on the right she is to confer a boon on the supplicants with one hand, her other hand holding a rosary. An eight-armed Ekānaṃśā should hold in her left hands a water-vessel, a bow, a lotus and a book, her right hands showing a *varadamudrā*, an arrow, a mirror and a rosary.

c20.s5.t1.42

40 : Sāmba is shown with a mace in his hand, and handsome Pradyumna holds a bow; their wives should be made (placed by their side) holding a shield and a sword.

c20.s5.t1.43

41 : Brahmā is four-faced, seated on a lotus-seat holding a water-vessel in (one of his) hands. Skanda looks boy-like, holds a spear and has a peacock for his ensign.

c20.s5.t1.44

42 : Indra has a white four-tusked elephant (for his mount) and a thunderbolt in his hand; another cognisance is his third eye placed horizontally on his forehead.

c20.s5.t1.45

43 : Śiva has a crescent on his head, a bull for ensign, and a third eye shown vertically (on his forehead); his two hands (should hold) a trident and a bow named *pināka*, or his left side may consist of the half-part of the daughter of the mountain (Pārvatī; Utpala describes this type of Śiva image as Ardha-gaurīśvara which is the same as Ardhanārīśvara).

c20.s5.t1.46

44 : Buddha, as if he were the father of mankind, should be represented with a placid countenance, seated on a lotus seat, with the palms and soles bearing lotus marks and very short hair (*sunīca-keśaḥ*; a variant reading is *sunītakeśaḥ* which would mean ‘well-arranged,’—perhaps referring to the ‘short curls on the Buddha-head turning from left to right, *dakṣiṇāvartamūrdhaja*, a characteristic sign of Buddha).

c20.s5.t1.47

45 : The god of the Arhats (the Jainas; *i.e.*, any of the 24 Tīrthamkaras) should be shown nude young and beautiful in appearance, with a tranquil expression and arms reaching down to the knees; his breast should have the (auspicious) *Śrīvatsa* mark.

c20.s5.t1.48

46-8 : The nose, forehead, lower leg, thigh, cheek and breast of the Sun god should be raised (tall, full and fleshy); the god should be clad in the dress of the Northerners, (his body in this way) being covered from the feet up to the breast. Wearing a crown he should hold two lotus flowers by their stalks; his face should be adorned with ear-rings, he should have a long necklace and a girdle (*viyanga*, the Sanskritised form of the Iranian *aiwiyaonghen*) round his waist. Sun god when made with a body covered by a corslet, a complexion fair like the inside of the white water-lily, a smiling and placid face, and a halo brilliant on account of the gems, bestows good to his maker.

c20.s5.t1.49

49-52 : An image (of Sūrya which is one cubit high is beneficial; one measuring two cubits in height brings wealth, and images of three and four cubits promote peace and abundance respectively. Such a Sūrya image, if endowed with excessive limbs bodes peril from the monarch for its maker, as one with undersized limbs causes infirmity to him; one with a thin belly or another that is lean brings danger from famine or loss of wealth. One having abrasion on its body indicates the maker's death by the sword; a Sun image leaning to the left destroys the maker's wife, as one bending to the right, his life. Such an image if its eyes are turned upwards causes blindness, and if its eyes are downcast brings anxiety; these good and evil tokens, as told in respect to the Sun god's image, are applicable to the images (of other deities).

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