182 THE ARAB AL-BIRUNI ON HINDU RELIGION the Sun, will hurt the ruler, and making it too small will hurt the artist. If he gives it a thin belly, this helps and furthers famine in the country; if he gives it a lean belly, this ruins property. If the hand of the artist slips so as to produce something like a wound, he will have a wound in his own body which will kill him. If the idol is not completely even ^ on both sides, so that one shoulder is higher than the other, his wife will perish. If the artist turns the eye upward, he will be blind for life; if he turns it downward, he will have many troubles and sorrows." If the statue is made of some precious stone, it is better than if it is made of wood, and wood is better than clay. The Brihat-Samhita accordingly says: " The benefits of a statue of precious stone will be common to all the men and women of the empire. A golden statue will bring power to him who erects it, a statue of silver will bring him renown, one of bronze will bring him an increase of his rule, and one of stone the acqui- sition of landed property." The Hindus honour their idols on account of those who erect them, not on account of the material of which they are made. We have already mentioned that the idol of Multan was of wood. In like manner, the idol which Rama erected when he had finished the war with the demons was of sand, which he had heaped up with his own hand. But since the astrologically correct moment for the erecting of the monument fell before the moment when the workmen had finished the cut- ting of the stone monument which Rama had originally
