The Development of Hindu Iconography c9.26

Language: English

c9.26.1

Scholars like Bollensen and Venkateswara mainly utilise the anthropomorphic descriptions of many of the Vedic divinities as contained in the hymns of the *Ṛgveda* in support of their theory. But what is the extent of this anthropomorphism? Keith correctly remarks, "Though it would be wrong to ignore the anthropomorphic character of the gods, the Vedic pantheon has none of the clearcut figures of the Greek, and unlike the Greek deities it is seldom difficult to doubt that the anthropomorphic forms but faintly veil phenomena of nature."¹ The degree of this anthropomorphism, again, was extremely variable. Such deities like Sūrya, Uṣas, Agni, etc., for example, were intimately connected with their natural bases, and thus they could have very little of this element in their character; whereas Indra, Varuṇa and some other Vedic gods, who were considerably freed from their connection with the phenomena which produced their conception, could possess it to a very great extent. The endowment of the Vedic gods with particular forms in the imagination of the seers has been discussed at length by Yāska in his Nirukta, a work to be dated as early as 500 B.C. This interesting discussion requires to be fully quoted here, as it throws a flood of light on the problem at issue. Yāska writes, "Now follows discussion of the form of the gods (*ākāra-cintanaṃ devatānām*).

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Some say, they resemble human beings in form (*puruṣavidhāḥ*), for their panegyrics and their appellations are like those of sentient beings; and their human limbs are referred to in the hymns. . . . They are also (associated in their hymns of praise) with objects with which men are usually associated. . . . Moreover, they are associated with the sort of actions with which men are usually associated. Others say, the gods do not resemble human beings in form (*apuruṣavidhāḥ*), because those gods that are (actually) seen do not resemble human beings in form; as, for instance, Agni (fire-god), Vāyu (wind-god), Āditya (sun-god), Pṛthivī (earth-goddess), Candramas (moon-god), etc. As to the view that panegyrics of the gods are like those of sentient beings, (they reply) that inanimate objects, beginning from dice and ending with herbs, are likewise praised. As to the view that the human limbs of the gods are referred to in the hymns, (they reply) that this (treatment) is accorded to inanimate objects. . . . As to the view (that in their hymns of praise the gods are associated) with objects with which men are associated, (they reply) that it is just the same (in the case of inanimate objects). . . . . Or the gods may both resemble human beings in form as well as may not resemble human beings in form. Or the gods who do not resemble human beings in form exist in the form of Karman (sacrifice); as for instance, the sacrifice performed by the Yajamāna (sacrificer).

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This is the opinion of those who know the legends."' This long quotation fully illustrates the attitude of a person of the 6th century B.C., well-versed in the Vedic lore, to the whole question of anthropomorphism of the Vedic divinities. To this anthropomorphisation will have to be added the characteristic manner of presenting many of the gods in theriomorphic forms, the latter again in some instances being ideologically connected with the different deities. Thus, the sun traversing through the wide firmament of the sky could be easily conceived as a mythical bird having beautiful wings (*suparṇo garutmān*); the fleet-footed horse might also symbolise the sun as a Ṛgvedic verse indicates (VII. 77, 3; here the goddess Dawn is said to lead a white steed). Sometimes, this connection cannot be easily established. Thus, Agni is very often likened to various animals, " in most cases doubtless with a view to indicating his functions rather than representing his personal form." He is endowed with various animal and other forms such as those of a bull, a calf, a steed, an eagle, a swan and many other things. Two deities who are conceived invariably in animal form are the one-footed goat (Aja Ekapād) and the serpent of the deep (Ahi budhnya). The former may be the lightning flash coming down to earth in a single streak while the latter would seem to be an atmospheric deity dwelling in the atmospheric ocean.

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But these and many other similar concepts are pure and simple imageries without actual concrete bases. These theriomorphic and anthropomorphic descriptions, however, played an important part in the evolution of some of the cult gods in the subsequent religious history of India. Thus, it will be interesting to refer to two typical cases. Rudra, the Vedic base of the cult god Śiva, is very often mythologically connected with Agni in the Epic and Purāṇic literature. Agni has been likened frequently with a bull in the Vedic texts, and Rudra himself is called a bull in some Vedic verses (cf. R.V. II. 33, 8: *Pra babhrave vṛṣabhāya śvitice* etc., or II. 33, 6: *Unmā mamanda vṛṣabho marutvān*, etc.). Now, on the basis of this very fact, Rudra-Śiva is sometimes primarily conceived in the form of a bull, and there are definite numismatic data in support of the representation of Śiva as a bull. But, by a converted mental process of thinking on the part of his worshipper, the theriomorphic form of the deity is assigned the position of a mount of the same god conceived anthropomorphically. Again, in some much later representations, this so-called animal mount of Rudra-Śiva is made to assume the pure human form of the deity himself, with this difference only that its front hands are shown in the *añjali* pose.

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Similarly, the Vedic Viṣṇu, one of the constituent elements of the composite cult god Vāsudeva-Nārāyaṇa-Viṣṇu of the Epic and Purāṇic age, is undoubtedly one of the aspects of the sun-god in the Vedic period. The sun-bird, Garutmān referred to above, is invariably assigned the position of the mount or vehicle to the above-named cult deity and is represented in the later art as a hybrid creature, part man and part bird (though in the early Buddhist monument of Sanchi, Garuḍa is represented as a mythical bird with *kuṇḍalas* in its ear). But the concrete representations of these anthropomorphic, theriomorphic and hybrid forms make their appearance in the sectarian art of much later date, and we do not find any reference whatsoever to such figures in the multifarious descriptions of the early Vedic divinities.