Indian Sculpture c8.156

c8.156

The various kinds of headwear or coiffure are integuments of the degree and quality of absorption of each face of these three figures: the caress and luxuriance of Śrīdevī, surrounded by the broad arch of the folded cloth, which is relieved by variegated devices; the stern vigilance—albeit with eyes closed and mouth relaxed, and at rest at the very bottom of withdrawal from all that is external—of Bhūdevī, tightly encompassed by a higher arch of cloth bound together by simpler devices; and the Nāga, with compassionate and observing devotion, and with a wealth of locks of which the softness is at one with the warmth of his mood. Moods are shown as states of being in which the figures dwell as permanent exponents.