The Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India: A Study of Indo-Aryan Civilisation c10.37

c10.37

The Brahman philosopher taught his disciples as they went the daily round of the village to think of the four gates as the four Vedas.¹ The Buddhist teacher struck a more human note when he substituted the Four Events in the life of the Aryan hero, the Enlightened One; and at the same time he respected the esoteric teaching of Vedic philosophy by inventing a form of aniconic symbolism which met the natural desire of the artist to visualise his spiritual thoughts. When this symbolism is rightly understood, it is easy to read the sculptures of Bharhut and Sânchî as a narrative of the life of Sâkiya Muni and his previous existences on earth, and also as an exposition of the teaching of the Hînayâna school of Buddhism. The sculptures of Amarâvatî represent a later development of Buddhist philosophy when the prohibition of anthropomorphic symbolism was removed from Indo-Aryan religious ritual by the propagation of the tenets of the Mahâyâna school.