Elements of Hindu Iconography v2.c16.s2.t2.3

v2.c16.s2.t2.3

blue throat, handsome countenance, and wearing kuṇḍalas in the ears; the neck should be somewhat stout. The figure may have four, eight, ten, sixteen or eighteen arms. The image is said to be a śāntamūrti or pacific in nature, when it has four arms:—in this case, of the four arms two should carry the triśūla, and the ḍamaru, while the remaining two should be kept in the varada and the abhaya poses. If the image has eight arms—(it is not mentioned in the text in what aspect Śiva should have eight arms)—it should carry all the objects which are in the hands of the image of Śiva with ten arms, except the khaḍga and the kheṭaka. The image of Śiva, when he is in the act of killing the Gajāsura, should have ten arms; when it has ten arms, the right hands should carry an akṣamālā, a sword, the śaktyāyudha, the daṇḍa and the śūla; whereas the left hands should carry the khaṭvāṅga, a snake, a skull, the kheṭaka and the deer. Śiva in the act of destroying the three-castle (Tripura-dahana) should possess sixteen arms. In this instance, the following six objects should be carried in addition to those mentioned in connection with the image of Śiva with ten arms; namely, the bāṇa, the chakra and the gadā in the right hands and the bow, a bell and the śaṅkha in the left hands. In the aspect of Bhairava, Śiva has eighteen arms; the additional hands hold the *ḍamaru* and the *śaṅkha* (?)*