Page:History of India Vol 9.djvu/221

 THE FORMS OF VAKIOUS IDOLS 181 limbs, rings in the ears, the neck adorned with pearls which hang down over the breast, a crown of sev- eral compartments, two lotuses in the hands, and the dress of the Northerners which reaches down to the ankle. " If you represent the Seven Mothers, group several of them together in one figure, Brahmani with four faces toward the four directions, Kaumari with six faces, Vaishnavi with four hands, Varahi with a hog's head on a human body, Indrani with many eyes and a club in her hand, Bhagavati sitting as people generally sit, and Camunda ugly, with protruding teeth and a slim waist. Furthermore, join with them the sons of Maha- deva, Kshetrapala with bristling hair, a sour face, and an ugly figure, and Vinayaka with an elephant's head on a human body with four hands." The worshippers of these idols kill sheep and buf- faloes with axes, that they may nourish themselves with their blood. All idols are constructed according to certain measures determined by " idol-digits " for every single limb, but sometimes they differ regarding the measure of a limb. If the artist keeps the right measure and does not make anything too large nor too small, he is free from sin, and is sure that the being which he represents will not visit him with any mis- hap. " If," Varahamihira continues, however, " he makes the idol one cubit high, or two cubits together with the throne, he will obtain health and wealth. If he makes it higher still, he will be praised. But he must know that making the idol too large, especially that of