Studies in Indian Art c12.s7.2

c12.s7.2

The figure cannot be that of Harpokrates. The difference in the attitudes of the right hand of the Mathura figure and of the Taxila statuette is striking. In the Harpokrates' figure the index-figure of the right hand touches the lower lip which is indicative of silence. If we were to trace a parallel to this pose of Harpokrates' figure in Sanskrit literature it could be found in the figure of Nandī, who in Kālidāsa's *Kumārasambhava* (III, 41) guards the entrance of Śiva's place of meditation. "Nandi posted at the entrance of the bower, having a golden staff resting against his forearm, bade the Gaṇas to observe stillness with a gesture in which a finger of his right hand touched his mouth". Only one finger was needed to indicate the gesture of 'silence'.