Studies in Indian Art c12.s9.7

c12.s9.7

In this the vine motif is shown mixed up with that of Aśoka. The stalk is shown issuing from the mouth of a seated pot-bellied Yaksha, who holds the other end of the stalk in his right hand. The single compound vine leaf and the bunch of grape fruit are clearly visible on the proper left side of the Yaksha figure under the crest of the scroll. The bowl is inscribed on the upper rim and the decipherable portion reads as 'Samghiyānam parigaha' (Annual Pro. Report, H. and B. Monts, N. C., 1917, p. 8; Coomaraswamy, Yaksas, Pt. II, p. 65). but as some letters are broken away in the beginning it is possible that the name originally read *Mahāsaṃghiyānam*, which would show that the gift was given to the priests of the Mahāsaṃghika sect, which was one of the eighteen schools of Buddhism. That it flourished at Mathura is also proved by another inscription engraved on the pedestal of a Buddha image (No. 1612) reading *Āpanaka-vihāre Mahāsaṃghiyānam parigahe*.