Maurya and Shunga Art c14.3

c14.3

The general tone of the Śuṅga art of Barhut is very modest, sober, very much restrained ; they seem to be untouched by any dramatic moment or by any high tide even when such occasions present themselves. They speak briefly and almost in an embarrassed manner. There is an unmistakable solemnity in their appearance ; they are earnest, dignified and detached. A cross-section of the entire corpus of Jātaka stories would also reveal the same solemn repose and detachment of the characters, the same simple but dignified earnestness. This does not bespeak an ever serious and solemn attitude towards life, but is rather expressive of a simple and unsophisticated diction, a primitive means wherewith to express the multi-coloured views of the visible world. It is the unitone of the primitive single-string instrument. In Bodhgaya the manner and method of narration are the same, but the diction is more easy and elegant, a bit more facile, but at the same time little thinner and more superficial.