Book Description

Excerpt from Some Notes on Indian Artistic Anatomy Art is not for the justification of the Shilpa Shastra, but the Shastra is for the elucidation of Art. It is the concrete form which is evolved first, and then come its analyses and its commentaries, its standards audits proportions - codified in the form of Shastras. The restraints of childhood are to keep us from going astray before we have learnt to walk, to give us the chance of learning to stand upright; and not to keep us cramped and helpless for ever within the narrowness of limitations. He who realizes Dharma (the Law of Righteousness) attains freedom, but the seeker after Dharma has at first to feel the grappling bonds of scriptures and religious, laws. Even so, the novice in Art submits to the restraint of shastric injunctions, while the master finds himself emancipated from the tyranny of standards, proportions and measures, of light, shade, perspective and anatomy. As no amount of familiarity with the laws of religion can make a man religious, so no man can become an artist by mere servile adherence to his codes of art, however glibly he may able to talk about them. What foolishness is it to imagine that a figure modelled after the most approved recommendations oi the Shastras, would gain us a passport, through the portals of art, into the realms beyond where art holds commerce with eternal joy. When the inexperienced pilgrim goes to the temple of Jagannath, he has to submit to be led on step by step by his guide, who directs him at every turn to the right or to the left, up and down, till the path becomes familiar to him, and the guide ceases to be a necessity. And when at last the deity chooses to reveal himself, all else cease to exist for the devotee, - temples and shrines, eastern and western gates and doorways, their symbols and their decorations, up and down, sacerdotal guidance and the mathematical preciseness of all calculating steps. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.