The Beginnings of Buddhist Art and Other Essays in Indian and Central-Asian Archaeology c6.s1.15

c6.s1.15

XXIV. Another time he does not wait so long to abandon his throne, and he is still in full youth when he yields place to his youngest brother (*Jât.* 181; *Mahâvastu*, II, 73). The jealousy and suspicions of the latter soon force him to go into exile, and, thanks to his talent as an archer, he earns his living in the service of a neighbouring king. The bas-relief represents this Asadisa at the moment when, by means of an arrow skilfully shot, he gathers for his master a mango from the very top of a high tree (CUNNINGHAM, XXVII, 13). The continuation of the story makes him again protect his ungrateful brother against the seven hostile princes who were besieging him, and finally he enters — or rather, according to the Indian expression, he « departs » — into religion.