History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c37.13.1

v3.c37.13.1

Phallic emblems have been found in the ancient ruins at Mohenjo-daro (*vide* Sir John Marshall's work, vol. I. pp. 58-63). Except these finds the earliest known *liṅgas* so far discovered do not go beyond the first century B. C. But centuries before Christ the worship of images had become widespread in India. According to Haradatta on Āp. gṛ. 20. 1-3, where the offerings to Īśāna, his consort and his son ‘Jayanta’ (the conqueror Skanda) are described, images of these three are worshipped. The Mānava-gṛhya¹⁶⁹⁴ II. 15. 6 prescribes that if an image (of wood, stone or metal) were to be burnt down or to become reduced to powder (of itself) or falls (from its pedestal) or breaks into pieces, or laughs, or moves to another place, the householder (in whose house it had been established) should offer ten oblations into fire with certain Vedic verses. In the Baud. gṛ. II. 2. 13 when describing the ceremony of Upaniṣkramaṇa (taking the infant child out of the house for the first time) it is said that the father after performing homa goes out of the house, worships the images outside (the house), feeds the brāhmaṇas, makes them pronounce benedictions and then brings back to the house the infant.¹⁶⁹⁵ The Laugākṣi gṛhya (18. 3) speaks of devatāyatana (a temple). Gaut. (IX. 13-14) forbids a man from answering calls of nature in front of images or from stretching one's feet towards them and (IX. 66) requires a man to circumambulate a temple (devatāyatana) that he may meet on his way.