Eastern Indian School of Mediaeval Sculpture c8.s2.99

c8.s2.99

Peculiar forms are noticeable in certain cases, the descriptions of which do not appear to have been found in the Sādhanas discovered up to date; e.g., the male figure tentatively designated as a Bodhisattva in pl. XIII d. This specimen comes from Bihar (I. M. No. 5589) and represents a male seated with one leg partly hanging down. He holds the stalk of a lotus in his left hand and on the top of the lotus is to be found a heart-shaped object which, as other specimens of this period show, represents a jewel.¹ The creed shows the use of that particular type of the palatal sibilant in which the curved proper left limb does not touch the right. The genus of this particular specimen cannot be determined, because, in the first place, its emanation is unknown and in the second place the attributes are uncommon. The second specimen also belongs to the Indian Museum (I. M. No. 5859). It represents a Bodhisattva seated in a rocky cave with a four-handed male on his right and two-handed female on his left. He is an emanation of Akshobhya and in addition to the figure of his parent on his head-dress, the entire group of Dhyānī Buddhas is to be found on the back slab.²