The Development of Hindu Iconography c8.36

c8.36

Of the many and various omnibus works, generally belonging to the category of Smṛtis compiled at a much later date, mention may be made of the Caturvarga-cintāmaṇi from the pen of the great compiler Hemādri. The Vratakhaṇḍa of this monumental work contains numerous extracts dealing with the iconographic features of a really formidable host of gods and goddesses belonging to the pantheon of different Brahmanical cults. Hemādri's compilation is extremely interesting and helpful not only from the point of view of its supplying us with such details about less known members of the Hindu pantheon, but also on account of his mentioning almost invariably the sources from which he has quoted. This last fact enables us to compare the extracts with the passage in their original setting, wherever the original source is extant. Gopāla Bhaṭṭa, in his Haribhaktivilāsa, followed in the lines of Hemādri; but as he was preeminently a Vaiṣṇava, the divinities whose iconographic details he incorporated in his work were chiefly connected with Vaiṣṇavism. The last three vilāsas (18-20) of his book deal with the construction of images, their installation, various rituals connected with them, the building of temples, etc. Like Hemādri he not only quotes from such previous works as the Matsya, Agni, Viṣṇudharmottara and other Purāṇas, but also very frequently utilises the Pāñcarātra text Hayaśīrṣa Pañcarātra. As the last has not yet been critically edited, extensive quotations from this unpublished work furnish us with materials of an authoritative character, and we can check the readings of the manuscripts of this Pāñcarātra text with the help of these extracts. Another work of such a character is Tantrasāra of Kṛṣṇānanda Āgamavāgīśa, which contains extensive quotations from various Tantras like Rudrayāmala, Brahmayāmala, Kubjikāmata, Śāradātilaka and others; many of these contain the dhyānas of Tāntric gods and goddesses, which help to explain their iconographic features.