The Beginnings of Buddhist Art and Other Essays in Indian and Central-Asian Archaeology c7.s1.t2.38

c7.s1.t2.38

b) *Rear face.* — In case the good sculptor had still further intentions, may we be pardoned by his ashes, if we cannot perceive them! May he pardon us above all, if we cannot grasp exactly with what episode of the legend we must connect the scene that covers the whole reverse side of the middle lintel. It is, no doubt, the Buddha Câkyamuni who is supposed to be seated on this empty throne, since the tree which shelters it is a Holy Fig-tree, exactly similar to the one which decorates the left projection of the upper lintel. On the other hand, the Blessed One is evidently far in the jungle, in the sole companionship of the beasts assembled to do him homage and belonging as much to the kingdom of phantasy as to the kingdom of nature. First of all, there are four lions guarding his throne, two seen in full face and two in profile; then buffalos and antelopes, observed and rendered in a marvellous manner; and furthermore birds, some with, and some without crests, bearing flowers and fruits in their beaks. Side by side with these real animals we see dream-monsters : on the right, bulls with human faces and — forgetting their natural enmity in the contemplation of the Blessed One — a great polycephalous serpent by the side of an enormous vulture Garuḍa, whose ears are adorned with earrings; on the left Tibetan dogs, with manes and claws. To sum up, nearly the whole of the sculptor’s decorative menagerie was mobilized in this scene.