The Development of Hindu Iconography c7.4

c7.4

The term 'icon' ('image')—its significance, 36-7; secular images, 37-8; terms indicative of symbols ' in early texts, 39; Pāṇini on worship of images; 39-40. Cult-objects found in the early Indus Valley sites, 41-2; the pre-Vedic settlers there probably worshippers of images, 42. Did the Vedic Indians worship images?—the question differently answered by different groups of Vedic scholars, 42 fff.: views of Max Müller, Wilson and Macdonell, 42-3; those of Bollensen and Venkateswara—passages quoted by them from the Ṛgveda in support of their views that the Vedic Indians did not worship images, 43-7. Nature of the religion in vogue among the higher section of the early Indo-Aryans, 47-8; the degree of anthropomorphism assigned to the Vedic deities not conducive to image-worship, 48-50. Description of the Vedic gods helped to formulate the concrete concepts of many of the cult-gods of later times, 51-2; critical study of the Vedic passages quoted by Bollensen and Venkateswara in support of their views, 52-6; views of Bloomfield, R. P. Chanda, Macdonell and others, 57-8; true explanation of the Ṛgveda verse, IV. 24, 10, and VIII. 1, 5 about some sensible representations of Indra, 58-60; the nature of the symbols used in some sacrifices, 60-1; certain Ṛgvedic passages indicative of the existence of image-worship among the earlier settlers of India: Significance of the terms ' Śiśnadeva ' and ' Muradeva ', 62-5; gradual changes introduced in the Vedic religion, 66-8; the latest sections of the Vedic literature, the Khilas (supplements) to the earlier authoritative Brāhmaṇas and Āraṇyakas, and the Gṛhyasūtras, presuppose the partial recognition of the practice of image-worship by the higher section of the Indo-Aryans, 68-70.