Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v3.c12.s12: Two Scenes from the Life of the Buddha

Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v3.c12.s12

Language: English

Two Scenes from the Life of the Buddha

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*The scenes are painted on the back wall of Cave IX, to the right of the previous subject.² They are reproduced in colour.*

² Between the monastery and these two scenes there is the figure of a Bodhisattva holding a water-bottle in his left hand. As in Buddhist mythology the vase is the special emblem of Maitreya, the figure in the fresco apparently represents him. The hand in which the Bodhisattva holds the vase has been drawn with considerable artistic feeling. There is high light on the nails, showing that they are beautifully clean. The right arm has a firm black outline, and the artist has further given colour-washes to indicate the idea of volume. This figure has not been included in either the monochrome plate representing the monastery (XX *b*) or in the colour-plate XVIII, showing the two scenes from the life of the Buddha.

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THE two subjects represented in the colour-plate (XVIII) evidently refer to some scenes in the life of the Buddha after his enlightenment. On the rock-wall, proceeding from the left side, the scene marked (*b*) occurs first. It shows him in the *dharmachakra mudrā*, or teaching attitude. There are two ascetics, one on each side, listening to his sermon in a devout manner. They may be Sāriputta and Moggallāna, who were his chief disciples. In the foreground, to the right proper of the Buddha, is a *rājā* with his wife and another chief or *yuvarāja* with his consort to his left. The artist’s object in bringing in these figures is apparently to balance the grouping of figures in the foreground. The Buddha himself is seated on a royal chair, and has two attendants wearing crowns and rich jewellery. They hold fly-whisks in their hands. Behind the *sādhu* on the right is a *stūpa*, in front of which a monk is reciting something loudly, for he has placed both his hands on his ears. An inscription is painted on the base of the *stūpa*.

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Notwithstanding the religious nature of the subject, the artist has been able to show his skill in the painting of the various figures. The most notable among them is the *sādhu* with joined hands, whose curved back and inclined head confirm his devoutness and humility. The plaited hair and the beard show fine brush-work. The high lights on the forehead and the nose have given a spiritual effect to the face, while the deepening of the outline of the arm and the back has made the figure stand almost in relief.

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The head of the lady below the *sādhu* has also been painted with considerable grace. The inner effulgence proceeding from the Buddha has brightened her countenance, while her rapt attention has been admirably indicated by the manner in which she is looking up to the Great Being.

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The figure of the chief close to this lady has been much damaged, but he was holding something in his hand, one end of which, in the form of a black streak, projects against the seat of the Buddha.

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The fresco from its style appears to be a fifth-century work,¹ and it is not unlikely that the subject was painted by the artist who delineated the Temptation-scene on the left wall of the antechamber of Cave I, for the head of the lady noticed above, in regard to technique, has great resemblance to the work shown in the latter fresco.

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¹ The characters of the inscription painted on the *stūpa* confirm this surmise; see Appendix, p. 87 f.

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The next subject (XVIII *a*) is separated from the last by the figure of a Buddha, whose torso only is to be seen, the rest being completely destroyed by moisture and other causes. The main scene is, however, well preserved, and it shows the Buddha again in the teaching attitude. He is seated on a throne, and his feet rest on a lotus flower, the stalk of which is held by two *nāga* figures with human bodies and the tails of a serpent. These figures are not clear in the reproduction, but may be made out in the original fresco.²

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² According to Burgess, below the figures of the two *nāgas* there was an inscription of which the words *paramopāsaka* could be read. *Notes*, p. 49.

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In the left corner there is a Samālū (*Vitex trifolia*) or Aśoka tree, the leaves of which against a dark background have a picturesque effect. Lower down is a *kinnara*, with a human body and the wings and feathers of a bird. He is pointing with the finger of his left hand towards the Buddha.³ As *kinnaras*, according to Buddhist mythology, are heavenly musicians, his presence in the scene suggests that the story depicted here refers to the preaching of the Buddha in the Tushita heaven. The guess is supported by the third eye of the prince, who is sitting below the throne of the Buddha towards his right proper. On the basis of this eye he has been identified with Śakra or Indra, who is similarly painted with a third eye⁴ in the birth scene of the Buddha on the left wall of Cave II.⁵ Close to the figure of the rājā (Indra?) is that of his consort, who is also listening to the sermon with rapt attention. In front of the throne of the Buddha is a monk, and there are two more in the foreground towards the right. Above them is a lady and higher up an attendant with a fly-whisk in his right hand and the *vajra* (thunderbolt) in his left.⁶ He is probably the Bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi. There is a corresponding attendant on the other side of the Buddha, who may be Padmapāṇi, but his symbol the lotus flower (*padma*) is not clear in the fresco. Both of them are wearing pearl ornaments and other jewellery of beautiful design.

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³ Foucher has identified the *kinnara* with the *gandharva* Pañchaśikha and has observed as follows: ‘The scene represents the not less famous visit of Indra preceded by that of his messenger, the Gandharva Pañchaśikha, recognizable by his long harp’ (*Journal of Hyd. Arch. Soc.*, 1919–20, p. 86).

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⁴ The third eye being that of wisdom.

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⁵ *Ajanta*, vol. ii, Text, p. 20.

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⁶ For the *vajra* see *Ajanta*, Part I, p. 35, and also *The Gods of Northern Buddhism*, by A. Getty (1st ed.), pp. 48–50, and *Buddhistische Kunst*, by Grünwedel, English translation, p. 90.

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The eyes of the Buddha have a dreamy effect, such as we notice frequently in the figures of Caves I, II, XVI, and XVII, and which is not to be found in the earlier frescoes of this cave or in the contemporary frescoes of Cave X. This fact may indicate that the giving of the dreamy effect to the eyes was adopted some time in the fifth century A.D., when the four caves mentioned above were painted. In spite of the meditative mood of the Buddha, the artist has given a divine radiance to his face by high lights, and in the delineation of his fingers he has shown the sensitive nature of the Buddha on the one hand and his own artistry in their beautiful form on the other.¹ This scene also was probably painted by the artist who delineated the previous subject, and both, on account of their close resemblance to the frescoes on the left wall and in the antechamber of Cave I, may be assigned to the fifth century A.D.²

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¹ The palms of the hands of the Buddha have been painted of a lighter colour, which conventionally indicate either the anaemic condition of his health or the rubbing of some ointment or herb-juice or ashes according to the religious practice of those days.

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² The stories from the life of the Buddha are continued further on the wall towards the right, and although the fresco is considerably damaged, several of the figures can be made out easily. The Buddha is again seated on a throne and has five monks in front of him, who are listening to his sermon with great attention. They are apparently the five monks who attended Gautama during his six years of striving, and to whom he taught the Doctrine after his enlightenment. There were two attendants behind the Buddha; the figure of one of them towards the right is intact, and the black border of his lower garment has a very pleasing effect. The frescoes on the back wall of the right aisle have completely perished.