The Beginnings of Buddhist Art and Other Essays in Indian and Central-Asian Archaeology c9.136

c9.136

Evidently it was not a question of an ordinary visit, but of a meeting having a solemn character. We know from a sure source, namely the inscriptions, the exact locality of the scene, that is Çrâvastî, the capital of Koçala, and the names of the two principal actors, Prasenajit and the Blessed One ; the bas-relief shows us the devout ardour of the one, and suggests the converting gesture of the other ; finally, the accessory details of the two attendants standing beside the invisible Buddha and the great hall which shelters him harmonize equally well with the traditions relative to the « great miracle ». We shall not escape the conclusion that such indeed was the subject which the sculptor had proposed to himself. The counter-proof is easy : let us imagine that precisely this task had been set him; granted the customary procedure of the old school, we do not see how he could have accomplished it otherwise (¹).