Art, the creator of art, the final product of this creative process, and the relationship among the three has fascinated and has been explored by artists and aestheticians since ancient times.
The myth-legend of Pygmalion in Ovid’s Metamorphoses where a brilliant sculptor falls in love with his own creation and ends up marrying her has passed through countless interpretations. It continues to appeal to artists even today and will do so even in future.
A plain language summary of the paper is provided at the end for the benefit of the lay reader. -- Editors
ಇಂದು ನಾವರಿತಂತೆ ಭಾರತೀಯಮೂರ್ತಿಶಿಲ್ಪದ ಇತಿಹಾಸವು ಸುಮಾರು ಐದು ಸಹಸ್ರಮಾನಗಳಷ್ಟು ಪರಂಪರೆಯನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿದೆ. ಸಿಂಧು-ಸರಸ್ವತೀಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಯಿಂದ ಮೊದಲ್ಗೊಂಡು ಮೌರ್ಯ, ಕುಷಾಣ, ಸಾತವಾಹನ, ಗುಪ್ತ, ವಾಕಾಟಕ, ಮೌಖರಿ, ಚಾಲುಕ್ಯ, ಹೊಯ್ಸಳ, ಪಲ್ಲವ, ಚೋಳ, ಪಾಲ, ಸೇನ, ಪರಮಾರ, ಚಂದೇಲ, ಕಳಿಂಗ ಮುಂತಾದ ಅನೇಕಶಾಖೆಗಳನ್ನು ವಿಭಿನ್ನಕಾಲಘಟ್ಟಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಣಬಹುದು. ಇದಾದರೂ ಒಂದು ಸ್ಥೂಲವಿಭಾಗ ಮಾತ್ರ. ಇವುಗಳೊಳಗೆ ಮತ್ತೆಷ್ಟೋ ಅವಾಂತರಶಾಖೆಗಳೂ ಶೈಲಿಗಳೂ ಇರುವುದು ತಜ್ಞವೇದ್ಯ.
We have seen earlier that prakṛti undergoes metamorphosis due to the loss of equilibrium of the three guṇas (sattva, rajas, and tamas) and this instability is instigated by the puruṣa – this cause sentient creation. Prakṛti can only be under the influence of either the puruṣa or īśvara. This īśvara-saṅkalpa (the ordinance of the Supreme Being) is destiny.
Another legend in Sl Bhyrappa's ‘Daatu’ relates to the belief that is prevalent among persons of 'lower castes' that if a Brahmin enters their slums, the deity of wealth, Lakshmi would go away from their houses. It is not known why and how this belief came into existence. When Venkataramanayya entered the ‘Harijana keri’, i.e., the area where Harijans (people belonging to 'lower castes') in his insane state of mind, he is pelleted with dung and shooed away like a mad dog, in keeping with the prevalent beliefs. The folk legend runs as follows:
‘Gruhabhanga’ is one of Bhyrappa’s profound yet simple and sad stories, set in the background of rural Karnataka. The novel presents the rites, rituals, witchcraft, village deities, and the beliefs of the villagers. Usually, the deity of the village is called ‘Ooramma’, or the mother of the village, and it is believed that she protects the village from epidemics like the plague, cholera and small pox. People belonging to all strata of society worship this deity, both individually and collectively.
In the Ayodhyakāṇḍa, we see that Rama knew his subjects well and cared about them. He would often meet them and learn of their joys and sorrows. If they were happy, he laughed with them and if they were sad, he wept with them. If Rama didn’t see someone on a given day, he would feel that he missed seeing such-and-such a person and the one who didn’t see Rama would feel that he missed the sight of Rama! Such was the mutual affection between Rama and his subjects. In sum, it was rare that Rama didn’t meet his subjects; if he failed to do so, it was only accidental!
The word ‘yoga’ has several meanings. In the Bhagavad-Gītā (2.48,50; 5.1,5,7), yoga is used in the sense of karma (activity) or karma-yoga (activity without selfish motives, work without expectations).
