Studies in Indian Art c12.s7.4

c12.s7.4

The decisive symbol however in the iconography of this figure is the dwarfish horn (2¼") projecting against a leafy background above the forehead from under the turban. This feature suggests the identification of the figure with Ṛishya Śṛiṅga. The story of this sage occurs at length in the *Rāmāyaṇa*, Bālakāṇḍa, Sarga 10, and *Mahābhārata*, Vana Parva, Adhyayā 110-113. The legend is also related with a lyrical charm by the poet Kshemendra in the sixty-fifth Pallava of his *Bodhisattvāvadāna-Kalpalatā*.¹ All the versions agree that the Muni-kumāra was born of a hind (*mṛigyāmutpannaḥ*) and won the name of Ṛishya Śṛiṅga. Kshemendra calls him Eka-Śṛiṅga from a single horn growing on his brow.