The Beginnings of Buddhist Art and Other Essays in Indian and Central-Asian Archaeology c7.27

c7.27

You perceive already, and we may resume in a single sentence, the immediate consequences of this important observation. Following always the same trail, we shall learn to recognize after the symbolism of the tree, which betokens Buddha's attainment of *Sambodhi*, that of the wheel, which signifies his preaching, and finally that of the *stûpa* or tumulus, which is the emblem of his *Parinirvâna*. A comparison with the stelæ on which the old school of Amarâvatî in Southern India was pleased to group the representations of the « four great miracles » will finally settle our ideas on all these points (¹). At the same time we shall not only have identified roughly a good half of the Sânchî bas-reliefs ; we shall moreover be sufficiently familiarized with the secrets of the studio to be able to approach with some chance of success the interpretation of the remainder of the works.