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Doris M. Srinivasan, Listening to Icons: Indian Iconographic and Iconological Studies. New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2016. xvi, 352 pp. ISBN 9788173055515.

This volume is an impressive testament to the author’s life-long interest and scholarship in Indian Art comprising selections from earlier publications. It reflects a high level of scholarship in its investigation into the theological meanings of Hindu images. Taking current research into consideration, certain chapters are updated with footnotes and addenda. Though grouped into sec- tions titled, Śaiva, Vaiṣṇava, Secular-Folk art, and Mathurā, there are alternate overarching themes that connect these papers. The three that the majority of the articles in the volume fall into are those that concern the doctrine of divine emanation in material form, those that concern development of specific ico- nography and those that establish the identity of certain ambiguous images. One of the most important theological concepts that provides a thematic coherence through several chapters is the doctrine of divine emanation. The unfolding of the supreme transcendent is, indeed, an important preoccupa- tion in many early . Srinivasan’s goal is to identify the way in which this theology is given form in early . She identifies various phases of divine manifestation as represented in the iconic and aniconic forms of Śiva as Paraśiva, Sadāśiva, and Maheśa. While the representation of the Para form is the plain liṅga, Sadāśiva is depicted as a mukhaliṅga, with 3, 4, or 5 heads. This is followed by the fully manifest, anthropomorphic form of Maheśa. It is spe- cifically the last two phases of Śiva’s manifestation, that she argues are distinct in Āgamic texts and as represented in art (chapter 5). In fact, the representa- tion of this process of manifestation is abundantly evident on temple walls from across the subcontinent (chapter 6). In her preface, Srinivasan notes that “[e]arly art from South Asia fairly bursts with the urge to communicate. The forms are dictated less by aesthetics and more by an intent to inform” and it is the doctrine of divine manifestation that Śaiva iconography seeks to convey. This theological doctrine also finds voice in the expression of Viṣṇu’s four vyūhas—Vāsudeva, Saṃkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, and , in the catruvyūha form of the divinity. Additionally, Srinivasan persuasively argues that it repre- sents the consolidation of distinct religious traditions of the Vedic Nārāyaṇa, the four deified Vṛṣṇi heroes of the Bhāgavatas, and their identification as Viṣṇu’s four emanations (chapter 8). Her fluency in allows her to inter- pret texts to discern possible connections between word and form. Discussing the identity of a fifth century CE bronze image of Viṣṇu with multiple heads (human, lion, and boar) and arms and in consort with the personified forms of the conch and the discus at his feet, Srinivasan claims that it is plausible to identify this image as Nārāyaṇa, encompassing his four emanations (chapter 9).

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/24685631-12340107 236 Recensioni

Drawing on the Jayākhya Saṃhitā and the Mahābhārata, she claims that the “three-headed image may well represent a four-headed concept”. That is, the main head represents Para Vāsudeva with lion and boar representing Saṃkarṣaṇa and Aniruddha respectively. The third emanation Pradyumna, is missing and/or needs to be assumed. This three-headed representation for the four-fold concept, Srinivasan states may be due to the variability within Pāñcarātra schools on the number of vyūhas which ranged from one to four. However, it seems unlikely that Aniruddha, the fourth emanation, would be depicted but not the third emanation, Pradyumna, being that the latter is se- quentially prior to Aniruddha. A second theme that organizes some of the articles of this volume, is Srinivasan’s use of texts to chart iconographic developments in Hindu art. For instance, Srinivasan asks “How does the imagery such as Pañcamukhaliṅga suddenly appear without evidence of any surviving precursors?” (chapter 3). Her brilliant analysis of the Agnicayana shows that “iconographic tendencies” and “elements suggestive of iconographic properties” within this ritual may have been the impetus for later imagery. She notes that “physical properties in Agnicayana reveal many elements suggestive of iconographic properties of Pañcamukhaliṅga” and “anyone of the ritual elements can function as a pic- torial model, making available an iconographic language upon which an in- cipient art form can draw”. While this is a thought-provoking interpretation of Vedic texts, it does leave one with the question of the lengthy time period between early Vedic poetry and the appearance of these images. In tracing the development of pre-Kuṣāṇa Śaiva iconography, Srinivasan discerns a theological preoccupation that led to representation of the divin- ity itself rather than divine activities (līlā). Iconographic and numismatic evi- dence suggests an “emphasis on knowledge of god’s nature and the translation of this knowledge into form fit for worship” rather than a representation of narrative motifs from mythology (chapter 4). While there is no definite reason given for why this is the case, her analysis of imagery from Mathurā provides some intriguing motives. She finds a unique theological orientation at play in Mathurā that was more concerned with the might and nature of the deity rather than narratives of their actions and other episodic events—something unique to Hindu art as opposed to Buddhist and Jain art of the Gupta peri- od (chapter 11). But, comparatively speaking, even in the case of these latter traditions, art and icons representing narrative motifs in Mathurā were less frequent than for instance in Gāndhāra. One of the main reasons, she posits, could be the development of script and writing far earlier in the Gāndhara region (6th century BCE) than around Mathurā (1st century CE). This delay in writing may be connected to the output of narrative motifs in art and requires

Annali, Sezione orientale 80 (2020) 213–243