The Beginnings of Buddhist Art and Other Essays in Indian and Central-Asian Archaeology c7.s1.t2.12

c7.s1.t2.12

But what now is the point of the motif of the « Conception », thus intercalated between two episodes which took place more than forty years after? The answer is simple; it is there solely to say : « the action takes place at Kapilavastu »; and it is just this which explains why, in spite of its traditional importance, it is treated in so secondary a manner. What else could our sculptor do, unless he attached a label, as at Barhut? He has taken care to supplement by the addition of the *nyagrodha* the somewhat summary indication of the *ratna-caṅkrama*. For the rest, that is for the royal procession, he has given free play to his spirit of observation and his taste for the picturesque, trusting in the means which otherwise he has put at our disposal for localizing the event and identifying the protagonists : and, if on this point we have, as we believe, arrived at a definite interpretation, it is solely owing to the docility with which we have followed his indications.