The Development of Hindu Iconography c7.39

c7.39

Three principal attitudes in which Viṣṇu images are shown: sthānaka, āsana and śayana, the first two being common in the images of other gods, 264; four varieties of the sthānaka (standing) attitude, 264-66; ālīḍha and pratyālīḍha poses, 266-67; the Viṣṇudharmottara characterisation of the sthānas, 267-69. Āsanas (sitting postures), varieties mentioned in texts, representations in art, 269-73; asana in the sense of a pedestal: pīṭha, varieties of it, 273-74. Śayanamūrtis, ideology behind the Anantaśayanamūrti of Viṣṇu, 274-77.