The Beginnings of Buddhist Art and Other Essays in Indian and Central-Asian Archaeology c11.s1.116

c11.s1.116

he is gathering information from the terrible guardian of the place, whilst in the background we perceive, with a burning wheel upon its head, the condemned soul whose place, unwittingly, he has come to take. For the rest both wear the same costume, with the exception of a few details in the form of their jewels. But these differences, slight though they be, exclude, it appears, the possibility of recognizing Maitrakanyaka a second time in the sufferer. There is every reason for believing, on the contrary, that, owing to a scruple of the artist, just as we did not see him strike his mother, so also we are not witnesses of his punishment : like his crime, his chastizement is only suggested. We must not forget, in fact, that he is the Bodhisattva in person. According to the texts, the wheel of fire has scarcely mounted upon his head, than he forms a vow to endure this terrible suffering for ever with a view to the salvation of humanity : whereupon he is immediately freed from all suffering. Does the left part of the panel forthwith represent this apotheosis? Or does the palisading which intersects the building, while at the same time determining the boundaries of the interior of the infernal town, serve as a framework for a new action? This it is almost impossible for us to decide, so long as we have not identified in their turn the eight panels of the following and final story.