________________
ICONOGRAPHY OF THE HINDUS, BUDDHISTS AND JAINS
Indra of the Vedas is the son of Father Heaven (Dyaus Pitao) and Mother Earth (Prithvi) and the twin-brother of Agni.
In the post-Vedic period, Indra lost his importance and was reduced to the inferior position of a mere guardian of the Eastern Quarter.
faces. He has three legs and seven arms. He rides a ram. From his mouth flames issue, by means of which he licks up the butter used in sacrifices. Agni's two faces represent the two fires-solar and terrestrial. His three legs represent the three sacred fires—the nuptial, the ceremonial, and the sacrificial. His seven arms may denote the universal power of the all-pervading fire.
Iconographic Representations
Indra is represented as a fair man riding a white elephant, Airāvata. He is four-armed. In one hand he carries the vajra, the terrible thunderbolt, and in the others are seen a conch-shell, bow and arrows, a hook and a net.
3. YAMA-JUDGE AND REGENT OF THE DEAD
2. AGNI, THE FIRE-GOD (Pl. 94)
Yama is the first of the mortals. He is the Hindu Pluto. As he was the first born, he was the first to depart this life. He is the son of the Sun-Vivasvat. According to Max Muller, the Sun, conceived as setting or dying every day, was the first who had trodden the path of life from east to west-the first mortal—the first to show us the way when our course is run and our sun sets in the far west. He presides over the dead. As a Judge, he presides over his Court. His record-keeper is Chitragupta who reads out his register, the Agra-Sandhani, the tale of a man's life. After the record is read, Yama balances good and evil, and the soul of the dead man either ascends to Heaven (Swarga) or descends to the twenty-one hells (Naraka) of Hinduism.
After death all souls go directly to Yama. This journey takes four hours and forty minutes. The dead body must not be cremated till this journey is accomplished.
Agni's popularity in the Vedic period is attested to by the large number of hymns addressed to him in the Vedas. The discovery of fire revolutionized human life. It made cooking possible and also provided heat and light to the people. It leapt forth out of hard rock or by friction of two pieces of wood. Its origin seemed so mysterious. The Vedic poets identified Agni with the warmth of the fire on the hearth and altar. They identified it with light and heat, and so with the Dawn and the Sun. So the Fire-god appeared in its many phases: in heaven as the Sun, in midair as lightning, and on earth as ordinary fire.
Out of human imagination arose a magnificent Godhead. Agni came to be regarded as an im- mortal who lived with mortal men. He was the domestic priest who rose before dawn. He radiated warmth when kindled, in the domestic hearth. He was a visible god, who lived in the dwellings of men, was witness to their actions, their counsellor and director.' He it was who kindled the sacrificial fire and conveyed the oblation and sacrifices of the mortals to the gods above. Agni thus became the mediator between god and man. He dispelled the darkness and terror of the night and gave courage to men.
Agni lost the pre-eminence he enjoyed in the Vedic period. The Epics say that he had exhausted himself by devouring too many oblations. Though the Fire-god has lost his early importance, he is invoked even today on all important occasions.
4. VARUNA (Pl. 95)
Varuņa enjoyed great prestige in the Vedic period. He is the chief of the Adityas, 'inviolable, imperishable, eternal beings, sons of Aditi (representing Infinity). In the Vedic period, Varuna was the supreme deity. 'He it is who makes the sun to shine in the heavens; the winds that blow are but his breath; he has hollowed out the channels of the rivers which flow at his command, and he has made the depths of the sea. His ordinances are fixed and unassailable; through their operation the moon walks in brightness, and the stars which appear in the nightly sky vanish in daylight. ... He knows the flights of the birds in the sky, the course of the far travelling wind, the path of ships on the ocean, and beholds all the socret things that have buen, or shall be, done. He witnesses men's truth and falsehood'.
Iconographic Representations
In sculpture and paintings, Agni is represented as pot-bellied, red in colour, with one or two
