The Beginnings of Buddhist Art and Other Essays in Indian and Central-Asian Archaeology c11.s1.62

c11.s1.62

III. NORTH-WESTERN CORNER. — The bas-reliefs of the third portion of the first gallery (on the right-hand wall) are known to represent in the upper row the departure of Buddha from his home, that is to say, his entry into the religious life, and all the trials which preceded the attainment of perfect illumination. Out of the 30 in the lower row at least 22, and perhaps 25, are, as we shall show step by step, consecrated to the celebrated historical legend of king Rudrâyaṇa. Again it is in the *Divyâvadâna* that we may read it (¹). In the *B. É. F. E.-O.* of 1906, M. Ed. Huber gave, in accordance with the Chinese translation and the Sanskrit text, an analysis of it, from which it clearly appears that this *avadâna*, like the preceding ones, is only an extract from the *Vinaya* of the Mûla-Sarvâstivâdins. In this connection M. Huber had seemed to discern through the drawings of Wilsen that one of the episodes of the story, viz. that of the two cats (cf. below, no. 17), was represented at Boro-Budur; but, justly discouraged by the inexactitudes of the only accessible reproductions, he was obliged to abandon this clue. Direct comparison of the text with the monument has permitted us to follow it up from one end to the other.