The Beginnings of Buddhist Art and Other Essays in Indian and Central-Asian Archaeology c9.146

c9.146

Henceforward the picture of the *mahā-prātihārya* would not be missing from any school : we await only that of Mathurā. This is just what might be expected from the importance assumed by the episode in the legend, as a compulsory prodigy of every « Blessed One » worthy of his name. It would have been too astonishing, considering the constant parallelism between the two forms, written and figured, of the tradition, if no ancient illustration had corresponded on this point to the texts. Our hypothesis fills a real gap; and it is only just that « the great miracle of Çrāvastī » should advantageously, as far as the number of known replicas is concerned, bear comparison with the three other great scenes from the teaching career of Buddha.