17. Folklore of the origin of the constellation Mriga- 
shirsha, 
By B. A. Guprs. 
In the Shiva-ratri-vrat-katha of the Linga-Puran, there is 
a story about apace the 14th or dark night of the month 
of Magh. It ru 
In the ear bel border-land of Pratyanta there lived 
a hunter named Lubdhaka. He earned his livelihood by shikar. 
On the day just named, he was arrested by his creditors and 
confined in a Shiva’s temple. There he saw the emblem of 
Shiva and heard his name repeated by the devotees. «‘Shiva,’’ 
‘* Shiva ,’’ he began repeating out of jest; the result was that 
his sins began disappearing in proportion. In the afternoon 
of the day, some of the worshippers subscribed a sum sufficient 
to meet the demand of the creditor and released him. He 
then went to the south to hunt Night overtook him, he had 
no food ; that worked as a fast. He went to a tank and sat 
on the branch of a tree of Bael (A4igle marmelos) sacred to 
Shiva. In order to clear the vision, he plucked the leaves of 
the tree and threw them down. They fell on Shiva that lay 
hidden below. All.these unconscious acts added to his credit. 
At the end of the first quarter of the night, there came to the 
_ tank a doe big with youngs. He aimed an arrow, she spoke - 
to him in human voice, promised to return after laying down 
her foetus, and went away. Then came another doe in heat. 
t was her breeding season. She ke, she swore, she was 
allowed to go. She was followed ‘es a 5 lak buck in search of 
her. The same thing happened. Lastly came a doe with 
young ones: she also was allowed to go. They all returned to 
the hunter as promised. He was a changed man. He refused 
to kill them. He and the antelope family were all taken to the 
Nakshatra-lok or heaven. 
The story has been published in the Shivalila-mrita, but 
there is no mention of the constellation. The following ex- 
tracts from the text give the origin of five Mriga-nakshatra or 
the fifth mansion of the Moon. (Fig. The meaning is :— 
h Mriga, go to the position os a soma, with your 
cout. that constellation shall be named after you. The way 
the two does went to heaven is still visible. There are two 
bright stars near the constellation. They represent Lubdhak, 
the hunter. Below these, there are three more bright stars. 
They are called Mrig-shirsha, literally the head of an antelope. 
In front of the constellation are two stars representing the 
young ones, and a third one to mark the position of the doe. 
