Elements of Hindu Iconography v2.c13.18

v2.c13.18

the author ventures to claim to be, an impartial conclusion arrived at. In the body of the book, several matters, which will be seen to be quite new even to the informed Hindu, have been dealt with; to cite an instance, everybody knows that Śiva begged for food with the broken skull of Brahmā as an expiation for the sin of having cut off one of Brahmā’s heads, but it is doubtful if it is known why this curious sort of penance should have been resorted to by Śiva to get rid of His sin. Again, it has been found possible with the help of the knowledge derived from a close study of the bulk of the science of Nāṭya-Śāstra together with commentaries thereon to elaborate and treat fully the manifold dances of Śiva, though only eight or nine modes are described in the āgamic and other works. The reader will, it is hoped, come across many other instances of fresh information being furnished on matters that have remained more or less obscure hitherto.