Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v3.c12.s38: Scenes from the Early Life of the Buddha : The Visit of the Sage Asita, the Young Prince at School, and the Practice of Archery
Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v3.c12.s38
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Scenes from the Early Life of the Buddha : The Visit of the Sage Asita, the Young Prince at School, and the Practice of Archery
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*The scenes are painted between the first and second cell-doors in the right corridor of Cave XVI. They are reproduced in monochrome.*
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BEGINNING at the left side, the first scene represents the visit of the sage Asita (Kāla-devala) who is shown holding the baby in his lap.¹ Asita's figure is intact, and his long beard and Āryan features can be studied in detail. The sage is looking intently at the baby as if to discern the marks of his future greatness, while several figures surround him, including the king, the queen, and a maid. The latter three figures have more or less perished; the king can be traced by his crown, the queen by her beautiful feet, and the maid by her rich coiffure and ribbons. The maid's head and back may be noticed below the stool or chair on which the sage is sitting.
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¹ The story as given in the Buddhist religious texts is as follows: On the day the Future Buddha was born, a sage, called Asita (Kāla-devala), beheld the gods of the Heaven of Thirty-three rejoicing in an unusual manner, and when Asita inquired of them the cause of their jubilation they told him that a son had been born to Suddhodana who would obtain enlightenment and cause the Wheel of the Doctrine to roll. On hearing this news Asita went to the palace of Suddhodana and requested the king to show him the child. Suddhodana readily agreed and brought the child into the presence of the sage. Asita could look backward into the past for forty world-cycles and similarly forward into the future for forty cycles, and as he noticed on the person of the baby the thirty-two marks of a great man and eighty minor marks, he exclaimed rather involuntarily, 'What a marvellous personage he is!' and smiled. Afterwards he wondered whether he would live to see the young prince attain enlightenment and learn from him the Doctrine, and realizing that he would not have that privilege, he felt grieved and wept. Suddhodana grew anxious at the behaviour of the sage, and, fearing that some misfortune might befall his child, he inquired of Asita the cause of his first smiling and afterwards weeping. The sage explained to the king that he felt happy on noticing the auspicious marks on the body of the child and accordingly smiled, but when he reflected that he would not live to get enlightenment from the Future Buddha he felt disappointed and wept. *Buddhism in Translations*, pp. 56-8, and *The Life of Buddha*, pp. 38-41.
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The next scene, representing the young prince holding a wooden tablet, with a pen and inkstand placed in front of him, and three other boys engaged in similar pursuits, and a teacher with a hairless forehead sitting close to the Future Buddha, may remind one of the story of his going to school and outwitting Viśvāmitra by his knowledge of sixty-four kinds of alphabets.² The young prince is wearing a conical cap of Persian design with a ribbon tied round it in the style of the modern European felt hats. His coat also is of Persian style, having long sleeves with embroidery on the cuffs and round the arms, and a V-shaped collar.
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² Among the very late additions to the story in the *Lalita-vistara* is the visit of the Bodhisattva to the writing-school. He is taken there in great pomp, and the writing-master Viśvāmitra falls on the ground before his glory. The boy takes the writing-tablet, asks which alphabet his master is going to teach him, and gives a list of sixty-four kinds, including those of the Chinese and the Huns. When the boys repeat the alphabet, at each letter a moral truth is uttered, which begins with or contains that letter, and this takes place through the wonderful power of the Bodhisattva. *The Life of Buddha*, pp. 46-7.
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His long hair is scattered on his shoulders. The dangling locks of the boy sitting in front of Prince Siddhārtha are also interesting. Above the figures of the boys two cages may also be noticed, in one of which is a parrot. There is also a stringed musical instrument like a harp hung along the wall.
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The roof of the pavilion in which the prince and other boys are sitting is flat, and its rafters and cross-beams are clear in the fresco. Above the roof a dovecot may be seen, the openings of which have lattice-work of a square pattern. Two birds seem to be cooing, another has fluffed itself as if to roost, and another has bent its neck to pick up grain.
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Below the school scene is an open court indicated by a banana tree. The court is entered by a door. Four boys are seen; one of them has bent one leg and stretched the other; this attitude combined with the position of his arms suggests that he is drawing a bow, but owing to the damaged condition of the fresco the bow cannot be traced (LXIII).¹ Two boys are sitting on low stools, and the third is standing under the banana tree and watching from there the skill of the Future Buddha.
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¹ There are stories in Buddhist scriptures of the Future Buddha’s demonstrating his skill in archery, because the Sākyas doubted what a prince who had spent his life in ease and pleasure would be able to do if a war broke out. *The Life of Buddha*, p. 48; *Buddhism in Translations*, 55-6.
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There was another scene to the left of the above subject, and the dim outline of two or three figures may be traced, but the colours have completely faded and a large portion of the fresco has peeled off, thus making identification an impossible task. The design of the lotus-creeper on the right side of the plate shows the artist’s delight in demonstrating his skill in the various kinds of decorative work, the elaborate diadems of the princes, the rich coiffure and jewellery of women, the frills of their *sārīs*, and the delicate stalks and petals of flowers. This design is to be noticed in Cave I also, and it appears to be a favourite theme for border decoration.
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To the right of the first cell-door, around which the lotus-creeper design is painted, there is a subject in which four horses are seen. One of them is startled, and has raised his head high in the air; another is kneeling down. There are four grooms also whose gestures show that they are trying to calm the horses. Lower down in the fresco the figures of two elephants may also be seen. A man of short stature is watching the elephants. As the drawing of this subject is very dim, it has not been reproduced in the plates.
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The walls of the right wing of the front corridor have suffered greater damage than any other part of this cave by the evil doings of its denizens, whether bats, or insects, or hermits who kindled fires for various purposes and have tarnished or burnt the colours. Until quite recently the surface of the few fragments which were sticking to the rock-wall looked jet black. These fragments have now been fixed firmly to the rock-wall by casein and other adhesives and their surface cleaned by ammonia. By this treatment the outline of the drawing in certain cases has become visible. For instance, in the fragment sticking to the right wall, left of the cell-door, the fat figure of Pañchika can be made out with certainty. He holds a pomegranate(?) in his right hand, the fruit being the symbol of fecundity. In the left hand he holds a purse from which coins are issuing forth. Notwithstanding the stout limbs of this *yaksha*, his hands are drawn with great skill, and the love of the artist for pretty detail may also be observed from the pearl-jewellery on the body of the *yaksha*. In front of Pañchika is a figure with a greenish complexion whose hand has been drawn with care. This figure is wearing a coat the material of which has a check-pattern. The waistband of Pañchika also has a check-pattern, the small, dark squares being prominent. Lower down in the fresco is a third figure with a fair complexion; he holds a tray of lotus flowers, that being apparently an offering to Pañchika.
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The fragment near the small door on the right side has also been cleaned, and now the drawing of several figures can be made out. Beginning at the left, the lower part of a pinkish figure is noticed first. Near by is the figure of a *bhikshu*, in a comparatively better state of preservation. The *bhikshu* has long hair which is hanging dishevelled on his shoulders. To the right of the latter there was another figure, on the torso of which an inscription may be noticed.¹ Close by is the figure of a second *bhikshu* who is squatting on the ground, and has placed his left hand on the earth for support. Farther on the right is the representation of a Brahman closely resembling in appearance his prototype in the *Viśvantara Jātaka* painted on the left wall of Cave XVII.² There is also a banana tree in the scene.
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¹ See Appendix, p. 95 f.
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² Herringham, Pl. XXIII. The subject painted here also represents the same *Jātaka*. The fresco is much damaged, but the inscriptions painted on three figures support the identification. Appendix, p. 96.
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Lower down in the fresco, again commencing from the left, the heads of four figures are seen, and on a higher level than the latter another bearing a crown with a square front. A crown of this design has been shown on the head of Indra in several other caves at Ajanta. The story is continued on the wall, and there is another episode represented between two doors, one at each end of the scene. There are towards the left two rājās, or gods, wearing crowns, and towards the right another prince wearing a crown and accompanied by an attendant. In the middle five more figures can be made out. In the doorway towards the right there is a bare-headed figure facing a pavilion in which two ladies and two male figures are seen. Above the pavilion is the figure of a chief or a *yaksha* riding on a bay horse.
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In this fragment on a higher level two banana trees may also be noticed, and between them two male figures, one of whom is dressed in a robe.³
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³ The ceiling of Cave XVI is painted like those of Caves I, II, and XVII. The ceiling of the hall has been divided into a large number of panels with circular designs. The frescoes of the ceiling of the right corridor are comparatively better preserved, the patterns comprising geometric figures, floral motifs, and jewellery designs. A special feature of the technique is that the painter has given a white or black outline in order to show the colour patterns in relief.