Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c13.s5.41

c13.s5.41

It has been sometimes pointed out that the Buddha figure is represented on the coins of Maues, Azes or Vema Kadphises but none of these is free from doubt. The very poses of their hands indicate that they were hardly intended to represent the figure of the Buddha. For example, on the coins of Azes the figure has its right hand stretched horizontally outwards which is against any possible *mudrā* of the hands of the Buddha image. In the lap of the figure also there is a staff placed parallel to folded legs and projecting outwards which is meaningless in the case of a Buddha figure. In the case of the coins of Maues there is a similar object and the posture of the legs can hardly be said to be a true Padmāsana. The figure on the coins of Kadphises is very distinct and can in no way be said to be that of the Buddha. It holds in the uplifted right hand a full-blown lotus with a long stalk, a feature not found in any of the early Buddha images. Moreover none of these three figures seems to have had a halo round the head which was an invariable feature of all Buddha images as we see on the coins of Kanishka. [Figs. 148-9].