Page:History of India Vol 9.djvu/220

weapon called vajra. It has a handle similar to the sakti, but on each side it has two swords which join at the handle. On his front place a third eye, and make him ride on a white elephant with four tusks. Likewise, make on the front of the idol of Mahadeva a third eye right above, on his head a crescent, in his hand a sword and a weapon called sūla, similar to the club but with three branches; and let his left hand hold his wife Gauri, the daughter of Himavant (the Himalayas), whom he presses to his bosom from the side.

THE GOD SKANDA, ALSO CALLED KARTIKEYA.

"To the idol Jina (Buddha) give a face and limbs as beautiful as possible; make the lines in the palms of his hands and feet like a lotus; represent him seated on a lotus; give him gray hair; and portray him with a placid expression, as if he were the father of creation. If you make Arhant, the figure of another aspect of Buddha, represent him as a naked youth with a fine face and with beautiful hands reaching down to his knees, and with the figure of Sri, his wife: under his left breast. The idol of Revanta, the son of the sun, rides on a horse like a huntsman. The idol of Yama, the angel of death, rides on a buffalo and holds a club in his hand. The idol of Kubera, the treasurer, wears a crown, has a big stomach and wide hips, and rides on a man. The idol of the Sun has a red face like the pith of the red lotus, beams like a diamond, protruding