India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c11.s3.41
India as Known to Pāṇini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashṭādhyāyī c11.s3.41
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c11.s3.41
(i) *Indra-liṅgam*; the sense-organs are the outer sign of Indra. According to the *Kāśikā* Indra here is *Ātmā* and this meaning goes back to the *Maitr. Up.*, VI.8. So long as the organs function, Indra resides within the body. Indra is the life-giver of the Indriyas: 'Verily, in the beginning there was the *Asat* named the Ṛishis who were doubtless the Vital Airs, *Prāṇāḥ*. The invisible *Prāṇa* incarnated in the body; he is Indra, propelling by his power the senses which thereby stand as proof of his existence' (*Śatapatha*, VI.¹.1.2). Thus the functioning sense-organs are the visible symbols of life within (*Indra-liṅgam*).