Indian Sculpture and Painting, Illustrated by Typical Masterpieces, with an Explanation of their Motives and Ideals c7.168

c7.168

But whenever and wherever this idea of a purified transcendental body formed by the practice of Dhyâna or Yoga originated, it remained a canon of Buddhist art in India until Buddhism itself merged into later Hinduism. It has been adopted, almost invariably, by Indian sculptors of all sects from that time until now as a type of divinity, and from this starting-point of a divine type it gradually established itself as an academic type of beauty for the human figure also.