Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v2.c74.s2.63
Vāstu-śāstra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v2.c74.s2.63
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v2.c74.s2.63
The iconographer must be adept in the śastras and endowed with insight and lead a life of perfect Brahmacarya and the Saṁyama (control over his senses). Before taking up this sacred task of giving a mūrta, the manifest form to the amūrta, the non-manifest one, of the gods—the presiding deities of the destiny of mankind, he should perform the sacrifice and then start japa in order to purify himself of all the secular impurities, so that his hands may be in complete union with the spirit and the mind. A code, indeed of rigorous discipline, is prescribed. He cannot even sleep on a cot, must sleep on the ground specially spread over with the Kuśa grass.