The artistic works of India reflect this feature of the Indian religion.

Indian structures and sculptures

originated from the decorative works around the Stupas *. A Stupa* is a hemispherical grave-mound
built on the ashes or the remains of a sage. The Stupas of the early periods were rather small in scale but
after the Mauryas they began to build larger ones. The ancient Greeks called the Stupas "Pyramids."33
Gorgeous artistic works of ancient India were all carved on the gates, pillars, and railings of the Stupas,
and temples were first built around the Stupas. The fine art of the temple architecture grew as one part
of the decorative works of the Stupas. It may be said that grave-worship is the origin of Indian art. But
their artistic expressions, developed thus as the ornaments of the grave, bear no gloomy shade of death.
On the contrary, they are bright, lively, and beautiful. This bright feature of Indian artistic works is
different from the expressions of the sunny and innocent disposition of primitive or uncivilized tribes;
rather, it reflects the peaceful state of mind of the religious people who challenged and conquered the
fear of death. Indians seek eternity through their inner medium of meditation on death. The Tendency
of Thought to Transcend the Gods As we have seen above, every expression of Indian thought is strongly
tinged with religious coloring. It should be noted, however, that their atti- Previous Released By -TSJ5J-
Next Previous Released By -TSJ5J- Next Page 166 tude toward religion is far different from that of the
Westerners. In the West, God is the center of the whole religious system. In the Indian religions, on the
other hand, God does not hold such a prominent position as in the West. Indians have their own very
richly and elaborately developed idea of God, but they never consider God as the Absolute Being. In the
Indian concept, the gods are beings lower than the Absolute and the Absolute stands high above the
gods. According to the Brahmanistic point of view, the grace of the gods is the reward given in return for
offerings. There is a fixed relation of cause and effect between the ritualistic service to the gods and the
grace given back to man. And no free-will on the part of the gods is acknowledged to intervene in this
relation. It is natural, therefore, that the idea of a personal god or of the grace given by him has been
scarcely conceived among the Brahmanists. In the course of time, their attention has been focused more
exclusively on the permanent law that regulates all beings including even the gods. Except for some
theological assertions of Hinduism of the later periods, almost all the ancient philosophical schools of
India regarded the gods as being of no great significance. Buddhists and Jains, for instance, considered
the gods to be no more than beings enjoying super-human powers. And the scholars of the Vedanta *
school attached little importance to the God presiding over the universe; they considered him merely an
incidental superior cause. In short, Indians have a higher regard for the authority of law (dharma) than
for the gods. The gods, in their concept, are beings who follow what the law decrees. They are not the
founders of the law. But, on the contrary, it is the universal and unalterable law that makes the gods
what they are.