The Beginnings of Buddhist Art and Other Essays in Indian and Central-Asian Archaeology c7.s1.t2.41

c7.s1.t2.41

a) Front face. — In the centre stands the tree now so well known to us as that of his Illumination (cf. § 9 c) : but here this tree receives a royal visit. It is quite certain that the Blessed One was not visited by any king at Bodh-Gayâ : for the texts give us a detailed account of the manner in which he employed the days, and even weeks, which preceded and followed his attainment of omniscience. It remains, therefore, that it can only have been in commemoration of Buddha that the ceremony here represented took place. Let us remind ourselves, however, of what is told us of Açoka, how the great emperor evinced a special devotion to the tree of the Bodhi, and continually showered presents upon it, so many and so often that his favorite queen, Tishyarakshitâ, looking upon it as a rival, became jealous and caused a pariah sorceress to cast a spell upon it. The tree began to wither, and Açoka declared that he would not survive it; fortunately the queen, being undeceived, was able in time to arrest the effect of the witchcraft; whereupon the emperor decided to do « what none of the sovereigns of the past, neither Bimbisâra nor the others, had done », that is, to come in procession and, with a view to giving back to the tree all its first splendour, « to water it with pitchers of scented water » (*Divyâvadâna*, p. 397-398). Now what is it exactly that we see here (pl. X, 2)? On the right a king, accompanied, as usual, by his wives, his orchestra, and his guards, dismounts languishingly from his elephant, encouraged, it seems, by his queen and helped by a young dwarf. The latter is probably a *Yaksha*, exactly like those who frequent the interior of the sanctuary; for we are told that, like Solomon, Açoka commanded the genii. Immediately on the right of the sacred tree we see again the same king, preceded by his queen, and both with their hands devoutly clasped render homage to it. On the other side there advances likewise, to the sound of another orchestra, a solemn procession of faithful laymen, bearing banners, flowers, and further (in their midst and in the front rank) pitchers, evidently intended for the watering of the tree. This last detail has won our conviction (cf. above, p. 79). Finally, from this identification it would result that this time the indication of the temple round the tree open to the sky would not be an anachronism (cf. p. 102).