Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v1.c5.s3.4

v1.c5.s3.4

³ If the latter identification is correct, then the scene delineated on the rock wall refers to this episode of the *Jātaka*: ‘When Prince Mahājanaka was wishing to make the queen (Sivalī) turn back, he saw some *munja* grass near the road, so he cut a stalk of it and said to her, “See, Sivalī, this stalk cannot be joined again”, and he repeated this half-stanza, “Like to a *munja* reed full-grown, live on, O Sivalī, alone”. When she heard him, she said, “I am henceforth to have no intercourse with King Mahājanaka”, and being unable to control her grief, she beat her breast with both hands and fell senseless. Her ministers came and sprinkled her body with water and rubbed her hands and feet, and at last she recovered consciousness.’ Cowell, *Jātaka*, vi. 37.