dha, once he had passed info transcendence, wifh the transcen-
dence ifself and thus turning him into a god, producing from fhe
original Buddha (Adibuddhar VajrasaHva) fhe great mystic Bud
dhas (Dhyani Buddhas) and from fhem in turn the human Buddhas
beionging to various periods and to various worlds. Thus occurred
goddesses as well (Prajna instead of Saldi), of whom Tara be-
came the Buddhist Madonna. Finally, there existed at the begin-
ning ot all things a mysferious syllable (bija), from which deve-
loped first a godhead, and from the godhead a pari of the world.
The Hindus, however, never came to an agreement among them-
selves. Sivaism raised the ancient fertility-god Siva and his Sakti
to the Position of highest godhead. Vishnuism did the same with
Vishnu, the Aryan heavenly king, particularly as incarnate in the
heroes Krishna and Rama; the Sauras elevated the sun-god
Surya, the Saktas the greaf mother-goddess. Every persuasion rec-
ognised the other's godheads, even if only in a subordinafe Posi
tion. Brahma and Surya, however, still powerfui in the eighth
Century, were soon wholly deprived of their rank. The Jainas and
Buddhisfs also allowed recognition of the Hindu gods, although
only as morfal regents of fhe universe.
The docfrine of salvation fluctuated to the same degree. The
Jainas, who recognised the exisfence of an immortal soul, seek
its liberation through asceticism. The Buddhisfs, who regard the
soul only as a bündle of memory impressions and Impulses, seek
ifs obliteration and thus its return to transcendence. The Saivas,
who Interpret the world as a God-created Illusion, look for
salvation from the realisation of the Identity of the soul with
God. The Vaishnavas, who Interpret the world as a creation
different from God but resting in him, seek salvation in love for
the mercifui, loving godhead. Hence, God does not punish; it is
the sinner himself who transgresses by his ideological egocentricity
against world Order and thus brings torture and suffering upon
himself, finally, broken, to recognise the glory of God and to
find salvation. The love of God is one of the leading themes of
Indian religlous fervour; if is a preliminary for the Saivas, a final
state of salvation for the Vaishnavas. Nevertheless, every per
suasion recognises Yoga as a necessary or desirable spiritual
discipline; the Saivas most, the later, Vaishnavas, the least.
Art
As everywhere in the world, Indian art has had to perform every
imaginable function, from buildings and everyday Utensils to the
pomp of princes and noblemen and the symbolism of religious
ritual. Thus, the functional shape is the basic for ritualist buildings
or objects, and religious symbolism, offen weakened and secu-
larised, penetrates the art of daily life. Town planning, fhe tech-
nique of building forfifications, house and palace building, water-
channels and mines of every kind were highly developed, but
are only well preserved from the last five hundred to a thousand
years. Even the palaces which still remain are to-day offen sombre
grey masses of rough stone where their contemporaries admired
their rieh coloured stucco, their gilded ceilings and roofs, their
v^all paintings, and the lakes and gardens which lay round fhem.
Again, the fortresses were so offen razed to the ground and
rebuilt thaf it is usually difficult to form a picture of their original
character. Innumerable temples and monasferies have vanished,
but certain of fhem, profected by their Situation or particularly
massive conslruction, or by their holiness or, later, by the super-
stifious fear of devils feit by strangers to their religion, fared
beiter. Nevertheless, even when their sculptured decoration is fully
preserved, they are only a shadow of what they once were, for
the many-coloured painting has vanished from the motifs and
wifh it the additional frescoes on the flat wall-surfaces, and the
wood and mefal work (especially gilded roofs and spires). Small-
scale art, with the exception of poisherds, has seldom resisied
the Indian climate for more fhan a few hundred years. What we
still have is at most a few hundred years old; the small quanfity
which is preserved from more ancient times has been found in
dry countries such as Afghanistan, eastern Turkistan or Egypf, or
has accidentally come io light in the course of investigations. We
have had to reconstruct much of it from indirect sources, ilems
on reliets, liferary reports, and so on.
Architeefure
Secular and religious architecture go wide apart, but use sub-
stantially the same architectural elements and the same decora
tion. Dwelling-houses were eifher built high and airy with stepped,
rising roof-terraces, set round Courts or surrounded by gardens
and lakes for the hot damp months, or Underground, built in
caves or around sunken wells or cisterns, as a refuge during the
dry heaf.
The religious buildings, were, however, first and foremost sym-
bolical in character, the Buddhist reliquary shrine (caitya, stupa,
dagoba), a cairn reconstrucied as a model ol the world, the
Hindu temple (mandir, koil, gudi), a shrine ol imoges also con-
