The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c9.136

v1.c9.136

The limits of the different members noticed not being given, the definitions of some of these measurements are not clear, but as far as they are intelligible and definable, they show that the measures given are fair averages of the human body, except in the length of the arm which appears to be excessive, and this, I strongly suspect, is due to an error in the MS. of the *Mānasāra*,—a very corrupt one,—I have at hand to consult; as it does not correspond with the total length of the upper extremity subsequently given. It might, however, be the measure of the perfect upper extremity reaching as low as the knee, which according to one of the occult sciences ensures to its possessor universal sovereignty; the subsequent measure being ordinary. The palm of the hand, the thumb, and the index and the little fingers are also made a little shorter than they should be. These rules regarding the arm and the finger are, however, except in the case of a few Buddhist statues, never strictly followed; and even as regards them, the adherence to the rules is far from being universal. A large copper statue found at Sultanganj and now deposited in the Manchester Museum, is the most longimanous of its kind, but it has not its arms quite so long as described in the *Śilpa Śāstra*.