A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism Klaus K Klostermaie

I
icchä
(‘desire’, ‘wish’)
This usually has a negative connotation
as longing for some finite object and
therefore a hindrance to the ultimate
end, which requires desirelessness.
Ïõä, also Ïlä
Subject of a number of different stories
concerning sex-change either from male
to female, or female to male.
ignorance
See AVIDYÄ.
Ïk•väku (1)
Son of MANU (2) Vaivasvata, descended
from the sun, founder of the solar race,
who reigned in Ayodhyä in the TRETA
YUGA. He had a hundred sons.
Ïk•väku (2)
Founder of the dynasty of the Purus.
Ïk•väku (3)
Dynasty that ruled in both North India
(Koÿala), and South India (Madupüra)
as well as in Ÿrï Laöka.
Illakumi
Tamil name of goddess LAKÆMÏ, also
known as Tiru (ŸRÏ).
image
(mürti, lit. ‘embodiment [of God]’)
Usually a three-dimensional representation
of a specific deity according to an
established canon. Worship requires an
image of some kind, conceived as the
presence of the deity. Image making is
governed by a set of rules that determines
the material, the way the deity is
to be represented, the paraphernalia
given to it. A human-made image
becomes a vessel for the presence of
God through the act of consecration
(prati•flhäpana, abhi•eka); either permanently
or for the duration of the time of
worship. Non-human-made images are
those that have been found, usually
revealed in a dream which do not need
a special act of consecration. If an image
suffers major damage, it can no longer
serve as an object of worship. Hindu
temples are primarily homes for the
images of gods, whose worship consists
in caring for the needs of the deity by
bathing, feeding, clothing and fanning
it. Most Hindu homes keep images of
gods and regular worship is performed
before them.
immortality
The search for immortality is a major
theme in Hindu mythology. When the
gods and the demons churned the ocean
at the beginning of time, one of the most
prized items that emerged was a pot