When, for more than thirty years ago, I began to study the majestic
ruin, I thought (like I afterwards wrote[43] in my first essay about the
Båråbudur) many other imageries, at least those of the undermost series
of the back wall, and those of the uppermost row on the front wall of
this first gallery, to be the representations of Buddha’s former lives,
of the jâtakas of the man honoured by all the Buddhists of the northern
and the southern church as the Redeemer of this world, the Dhyâni-Buddha
of the Mahâyânists, for the last time reincarnated for about 25
centuries ago, and who enjoyed the rest of the nirvâna after having
finished his heavenly task, but in order to reveal himself once more to
a future world, that is, as the Redeemer of not yet existing beings.
When in July 1896 I attended the king of _Siam for three days on his
journey to the ruins_, this royal Buddhist expressed the same
supposition, especially with regard to the lower series on the back wall
of this first gallery.
But I could not possibly study these _jâtakas_ as long as I didn’t know
any translation of the original _sanscrit-_ or _pâli_ text[44] in one of
the languages known to me.
In 1893 professor J. S. Speyer published in the “_Bydragen van ’t
Koninklijk Instituut_” an English translation of 34 of these legends
derived from a sanscrit manuscript, the so-called Jâtakamâla or the
_wreath of birth stories_[45].
And in the same “_Bijdragen_”, but in those of 1897, professor Kern gave
a translation of an essay which had appeared from the hand of the
Russian Orientalist Sergius E. Oldenburg—as far as it concerned the
Båråbudur—who discussed the representations of a few _jâtakas_ on
different monuments whereas Dr. _Kern_ had been so kind as to inform me
of them by letter.
It therefore became possible for me to recognise in the two mentioned
series some of the legends treated in Speyer’s _Jâtakamâlâ_, and
moreover, show some other ones elsewhere.
And five years ago Speyer gave at length a full account of the
_Maitrakanyaka_ legend superficially treated by Oldenburg, and hewn on
six sculptures of the _lower_ series on the back wall. Oldenburg
however, had only mentioned five of them.
In November 1899 I visited the Båråbudur in order to examine all these
sculptures one by one, that is, in as much as they still existed and had
not been lost or damaged, or no more to be recognized since the
engravings studied by Oldenburg had been drawn in Leemans’ work.
It is a pity that these drawings are not exactly true ones, and not to
be relied upon, but we shall afterwards speak about them.
As short as possible I shall successively treat these sculptures,
mentioning again their numbers they refer to when counted from the
preceding staircase, and afterwards from the first till the ninth
reentering or projecting wall angle, and begin again from the _eastern_
staircase, and walk towards the South. Doing this I’ll have to count in
the disappeared and consequently _missing_ sculptures—and many of them
have been lost on the front wall—, because otherwise the numbers after
each new loss would become quite worthless. _Corner_-sculptures are
those which occupy the two sides of a wall angle, in Leemans’ engravings
divided in two by a perpendicular line.
Let us begin with the upper series on the front wall after the _eastern_
staircase.
_Second_ corner, 3, 4 and 5 (W. L., 16, 17, and 18.)[46].
The Lord once lived as a _rich man_ who did much good. One day rising
from table to fill the beggar’s bag of a monk, Mâra, the Evil Spirit,
opened a precipice before his feet wherein he saw hell flaming. But the
Lord steps through this precipice, remains uninjured, and favors the
monk, in reality a _Pratyéka-Buddha_, a heavenly saint, with a gift and
the latter afterwards disappears in a brilliant cloud.
On 3 we see the benefactor with his gifts, on 4 he steps through hell,
and on 5 the monk ascends to heaven.
Hell is represented here by condemned persons in a cauldron with boiling
contents.
_Second_ corner 11 and 12 (W. L. 24 and 25). The _Bodhisattva_ once
lived as a hare in a wilderness frequented by many hermits. Her
authority over all other animals was honoured even in heaven.
In order to put her to the test, Indra, the god, descends to her in the
shape of an exhausted traveller. An otter brings him fish, a jackal
presents him with a lizard and a cup of sour milk (left behind by
another traveller), and a monkey favors him with juicy fruit to refresh
the man. But the hare who could give nothing else but bitter grass flung
herself into a fire (burned by Indra’s will) in order to be taken by the
poor man as roasted food. But now Indra shows himself again in his
divine shape, saves the hare out of the flames, and carries her to
heaven in order to adorn his own palace, and that of the _dévas_, and
also the moon, with the hare’s picture[47].
On 11 the animals carry their presents to _Indra_, and on 12 the hare is
going to fling herself into the fire.
_Second_ corner, 18, the corner-sculpture and 1 and 2 after the _third_
corner (W. L., 31, 32, 33 and 34).
The Lord as a _king_ of a happy people. Five _yakshas_ (demons),
expelled from _Kuvera_’s kingdom, the subterranean god of riches, come
to tempt him in order to ruin him. They ask him for a good meal, but
refuse the best things the king offers them, and demand human blood and
human flesh.
The Lord doesn’t wish to let them go unsatisfied, but he is not inclined
to sacrifice one of his subjects, and therefore offers them his own
blood and flesh in spite of his ministers’ and courtiers’ resistance.
The demons reclaim themselves and acknowledge the king’s holiness, he
then admonishes them not to do wrong in future, but only that which is
good (also, among others, to leave off drinking intoxicants).
Indra descends from heaven to praise the Lord and to close his wounds.
On 18 and on the corner-sculpture the _yakshas_ come across a herd who
praises the king’s virtues. On 1 and 2 we see them near the king.
These five _yakshas_ were afterwards reincarnated men, and became the
first disciples who followed and left again the _Shakya-muni_ in order
to join the _Buddha_ once more, and to become his first apostles[48].
_Fourth_ corner, 3, 4 and 5 (W. L. 37, 38 and 39). Now the Buddha of
after life was king _Samjaya_’s son and hereditary prince.
One day, riding his white elephant, he met with some brahmins who asked
him, in the name of their king, for the elephant. He dismounts and gives
them the noble animal.
On account of this foolish deed he saw himself driven away by his father
who acted at the instigation of his (the father’s) courtiers.
He mounts his carriage accompanied by Madrî, his wife, and their two
children, and then sets off. Once more some brahmins come to ask him for
his fine horses. The prince gives his consent, and puts himself before
the carriage. Another brahmin appears now, and demands this carriage;
Madrî and the children get out, and the prince takes his little son on
his, and the mother takes their little daughter on her arm to continue
their journey afoot.
Trees bend their branches in homage, lotus-ponds refresh, and clouds
overshadow them, and so they reach their place of exile where they find
a tabernacle built for them by Indra.
One day, when Madrî found herself in the wood to seek for roots and
fruit for their meal, there came a brahmin demanding from her husband
the two little ones in order to lead them away as bound slaves.
An earth-quake calls Indra’s attention, and when the deity hears the
cause of this he also comes, as a brahmin, to the now childless father,
and claims the latter’s wife, the disconsolate mother.
But as the prince is also inclined to comply with this demand of his,
Indra reveals himself and gives him back all that which he lost. Even
his place at his father’s court.
On 3 we see him cede his elephant, and the children have been hewn on 4.
On 5 the _yakshas_ conduct the princely carriage after having put out
the horses.
_Fifth_ corner, 1, 2, 3 and 4 [W. L., 48, 49, 50 and 51].
Time was when the Lord himself was a _king_ to whom one of his subjects
offered his most beautiful daughter. At the advice of his courtiers sent
to her, fearing that the king would become crazy of love for such an
strikingly beautiful woman, he declines the offer after which she
marries one of his officials. One day taking a drive the king saw her,
and took a passionate love to her. On his being informed that she had
already entered upon marriage he controls his passions, and even refuses
to get her from the hands of her own husband, because he places his
feelings of justice above his personal happiness.
On 1 the offer is being delivered to the king; on 2 his messengers visit
the virgin; on 3 they give the prince a full account of the state of
things, and on 4 the king meets her himself.
_Fifth_ corner. 5 [W. L., 52].
As a retired old _sailor_ the Lord, though almost blind, allowed himself
to be gained into embarking for a commercial journey in order to assure
the ship a safe voyage.
A heavy storm flung the ship far away, and through unknown seas till
near the end of the world. Return again was impossible and their ruin
seemed to be inevitable. One means only could save them, and they prayed
the deities for help for the sake of the Lord’s spotless virtue and love
of truth. And this succeeded.
The storm abated, and they could return to the harbour. On their journey
home through an emerald-green sea, the blind sailor, seeing with the
eyes of other passengers, told them to pull up sand and stones from the
bottom of the sea, and take them on board by way of ballast. On their
arrival into the harbour this appeared to be precious stones and jewels.
The only remained sculpture shows us the merchants with their ship on
the open sea.
_Fifth_ corner, 9 and 10 [W. L., 56 and 57].
We here see the Lord as a _fish_ obeyed by all other fishes of the lake.
Because of want of rain this lake once dried up, and became a little
pool in which the fish didn’t know any means to escape from the birds of
prey. The _Bodhisattva_ prayed Indra for rain as a reward for his true
virtue, and the deity himself came to him, and it rained as fast as it
could pour, and Indra promised that the very same spot would be never
tried again by such a plague.
The first sculpture represents the fishes in the lake before, and the
other one, after the rain.
_Fifth_ corner, 11 [W. L. 58].
A young _sparrow_—it was the _Bodhisattva_—who despised all little worms
and insects—was outdistanced by the other young of the paternal nest.
When on the occasion of a forest-fire all other animals fled away he
only remained behind, because he could not fly. Praying he knew to
persuade the fire-god Agni into going off. Since that day every
forest-fire died out on this spot.
We see the young sparrow on the nest whilst the other birds fly away in
all directions, and while all other animals give way for the fire.
_Fifth_ corner, 12 [W. L. 59].
It once happened that the Lord descended from heaven in the shape of
Indra[49] in order to convert a king, _Sarvamitra_, who daily drank too
much strong liquor with his courtiers. As a _brahmin_ Indra now offers
the king a bottle of _sûra_ praising the pernicious properties of this
drink in so eloquent a manner that the prince renders homage to the
preacher as a _guru_ (teacher), after which the latter admonishes him to
fear drinking that he might afterwards live with him in heaven.
The sculpture needs no further interpretation.
_Seventh_ corner, 3, 4, 5 and 6 (W. L. 65, 66, 67 and 68).
In the primeval forest the Lord once lived, as a _brahmin_, a life of
severe penitence with six brothers and one sister. Only every fifth day
they came together in his hut to hear him proclaim the doctrine. As for
the rest they didn’t see each other. Every day their two servants put
the eight portions of lotus-stems on the leaves of the lotus, and
according to their age they came one by one to fetch their sober meal in
order to take it in their own hut.
Indra, putting the Bodhisattva to the test, took away the first portion
during five following days so that the Lord was obliged to fast. On the
next service the others assembled again, and saw how their brother had
grown thin. Being informed of the cause of it everyone wished the thief
to be punished in a fitting manner, and even three strange auditors, a
_yaksha_, an elephant, and a monkey cursed the thief, every one of them
in his own manner. The Lord, returning good for evil, hopes that this
one and the other that suspected one of them, wrongly perhaps, may live
to see all his wishes fulfilled. But then Indra comes, and accusing
himself he says why he did so—and humbles himself before the Lord whom
he wishes to serve as his superior.
On 3 and 4 we see the hermits in the wood. On 5 is to be seen the
lotus-pond with the servants seeking for leaves and stems, and on 6 we
see Indra humbling himself before the Lord.[50]
_Seventh_ corner, 11, 12 and 13 [W. L. 73, 74 and 75].
Another time the Lord, a rich brahmin, left everything he possessed, and
accompanied by his wife, who didn’t wish to leave him, he went to the
woods to live there a hermit’s life.
There they were found by the king who came in this region to chase, and
touched as he was by the woman’s beauty he ordered her to be kidnapped
and carried away to his _zenana_.
In spite of her cry for help her husband doesn’t oppose himself against
this robbery, and when the king asks him why he does not the brahmin
answers with an oration about the virtue of self-command, and he
therefore compels the king to honour him as an ascetic and to ask his
pardon.
On 11 we see the brahmin and his wife on their way to the wood; on 12
the hunting king, and on 13 the woman’s abduction.
_Seventh_ corner, 15, 16, and 17 and the _eighth_ corner, 1 (W. L., 77,
78, 79 and 81).
In the lake of Mânasa the Bodhisattva once ruled as a king over many
hundreds of thousands of swans, and was assisted by his viceroy Sumukha.
Their praise sounded till the court of the king of _Bénarès_ who desired
to meet the two swans. He therefore ordered another lake to be made in
the neighbourhood of his court-capital which was much more beautiful
than the first mentioned, and promulgated everywhere that he should
guarantee the safety of all birds who came to visit the new lake.
The swans of _Mânasa_ went there in spite of their ruler’s objections,
and so the Lord himself was obliged to follow them.
Shortly after he saw himself caught by the king’s hunter, and all other
swans flew away with the exception of Sumukha however, who would not
leave the Lord. The bonds which tied him to his king were stronger than
those which kept the king in his trap, he said, and he demanded the
hunter to bind him first, and afterwards release his master.
This touched the hunter and releasing both of them the Lord now requests
him to speak with the king to persuade the latter not to punish, but to
reward his hunter. This happens, and the king offers rich presents to
the two swans they decline, and now all the swans return to their lake.
This lake with the swans has been hewn on 15. On 16 the king is informed
of these birds. On 17 we see how the Lord is caught whilst all the other
swans fly away with the exception of one of them.
The following sculpture after the eighth corner, which represents the
meeting with the king, is almost wholly lost, the other one is lost at
all.
_Ninth_ corner, 5, 6, 7 and 8 [W. L., 90, 91, 92 and 93].
Another king once pursued a _sharabha_ [a strong kind of stag], and fell
from his horse into a cleft over which the wild beast had easily jumped,
but before which the horse started back in full run. The _sharabha_
descends into the cleft in order to rescue the fallen man, and help him
on his way home after having admonished him to persevere in all princely
virtues.
The chasing king we see on 5; on 6 the hunter stands on the brink of the
cleft, on 7 we see the stag [the Lord] run to assist the fallen man, and
on 8 the latter bids his rescuer farewell.
_Southern_ staircase, 2, 3, 4 and 5 [W. L. 95, 96, 97 and 98].
In another life the Master ruled as a _ruru_ [another kind of stag] over
all other wild animals. One day he rescued a traveller out of a swollen
mountain-stream, and for his only reward he wished the saved man to be
silent about the event.
Now the queen, whose dreams had never turned out to be false ones, had
dreamed of a stag who preached the doctrine sitting on a throne. The
king therefore offered a rich reward to him who could show him this
miracle of an animal.
The drowned person was a poor fellow, and breaking his promise, he led
the king into the wood and showed him the _ruru_, but doing this the
hand which had served him to indicate the animal, fell from his arm as
if it had been cut by a sword.
The stag now asked the king who had conducted him there, the prince
mentions his guide’s name, and when the _ruru_ recognises and reproaches
him his breach of faith, and whilst the king has the intention to shoot
at the man, the noble animal sues the weak man’s mercy who had by his
own fault recklessly lost his welfare in this, and in a future world.
The king pardons the guilty one and conducts the stag to his palace, and
throning there the _ruru_ preaches the law of love before the whole
court.
The animals in the wood have been hewn on 2; on 3 the drowned person is
rescued; the king meets the stag on 4, and the preaching stag has been
hewn on the 5th sculpture.
_Southern staircase_, 6, 7, 8 and 9 [W. L. 99, 101, 102 and 103].
The Buddha of after life once ruled as king over a troop of _monkeys_ in
the _Himâlaya_. They lived in a fig-tree, abundant with fruit, situated
on the bank of a brook. In order not to make the tree known by its
delicious fruit the king ordered his people not to have a single fruit
ripened on the branches which hung over the water.
Once upon a day such a fruit unperceivedly ripened fell into the stream,
and drove away to an open spot in the wood, where the king and his wives
were fishing.
Never before had the prince seen or tasted such a fine and nice fruit,
and so he went up-stream to look for the tree.
Seeing the many monkeys he told his hunters to drive them away. But in
order to take to flight the animals had to risk a leap no one but their
ruler only ventured to undertake. He jumps, reaches the mountain-slope
situated on the other side, and seeks there for a long _bambu_ which
enables him to return to the tree. Armed with this he forms with his own
body a bridge over which all the monkeys know to escape at the cost of
the Lord who sees his skin torn to bloody pieces by the monkeys’ toes.
This happens to the astonishment of the hunters who now catch up the
swooning king of monkeys, and lay him upon a bed of leaves. He soon came
to, and when the king interrogates him the Lord answers that he did his
_duty_, because a prince should _serve_ his subjects, and not let
himself served by them.
On the 6th and 7th sculpture the king accepts the fig, on 8 he and his
hunters go in search of the tree, and on 9 has been hewn the wonderful
escape of the monkeys.
_Southern staircase_, 10 and the corner-sculpture [of the _first_ angle]
[W. L. 103 and 104].
The Lord once lived in a wood as an _ascetic_ and taught patience to all
who visited him.
It then came to pass that the king and his wives came into this wood to
amuse themselves, and while the latter took a bath in a brook, which ran
there, the former fell asleep.
Awaking he didn’t see them any more. They had strayed to the hermit and
listened to his preaching. The king found them there, and angrily called
the preacher a liar, and menaced him with his sword. The wise man
however, remained calm, and the king, embittered as he was by his wives’
supplications, came up to the pious teacher, and cut his hands, ears,
nose and feet.
The martyr, who only feared that the king could be said to have killed
an innocent person, suffered much more from his sorrow for the king’s
fall than from his own wounds, but when the evildoer left the dying man
he saw the ground opening itself before him, and fell into the flaming
depth.
The frightened courtiers thought that the preacher himself had punished
their master, and they asked for mercy, and dying the poor man blessed
them, and also the murderer whose ruin had remained unknown to him.
On 10 we see the king asleep, on the corner-sculpture we see him go off
to seek for his wives. I suppose the first and 2^nd sculpture behind the
corner [W. L. 105 and 106] refers to the widows on their way home.
_Second_ corner, 5 [W. L., 111].
This sculpture brings us again in the presence of a king, the
unbelieving prince of _Videha_, who lived a life of unjustice renouncing
all virtues. There was a time when the Lord lived as a _devarshi_ [a
wise one among the celestials] in the _Brahmâloka_, and descended to
earth to convert the unbelieving ruler.
As sure—he says—as this life has been preceded by other lives there will
once come other future lives. He then speaks about the tortures of hell
which fall to the evil-doer and unbeliever when he doesn’t mend his
life, and ... the king acknowledges that he is in the right, and bids
the Lord to lead him henceforth on the right path[51].
The sculpture need no further explication.
_Second_ corner, 6, 7, 8 and 9 [W. L., 112, 113, 114 and 115].
Seven hundred astrayed and exhausted travellers meet on their way an
elephant, the _Bodhisattva_. They had been expelled from their country
with 300 others who had died on the way.
By means of his trunk the elephant shows them the way to a stream where
to quench their thirst and near which they will find a dead elephant
whose meat will feed them. Along a shorter cut he speeds to the
indicated spot, runs headlong into the bottom of a ravine and was
smashed.
It is on this spot that the hungry wanderers find his dead body, and
angels descend from heaven to sing his praise.
On 6 the exiles come across the elephant; on 7 we see them on their way
to the place pointed out to them; on 8 the elephant is ready to fall
into the precipice, and on 9 the saved ones worship the ashes of their
rescuer.
I suppose this homage to the ashes closed in a _tyaitya_, as if it were
to indicate a preceding cremation, should be taken in a symbolical sense
only.
_Second_ corner, 10, 11, 12 and 13 [W. L., 116, 117, 118 and 119].
This is one of the most important _jâtakas_.
As Sutasoma, a _king’s son_, the Bodhisattva was once walking with his
wives in the garden of his palace when there entered a brahmin whom they
invited to deliver a harangue about virtue. This harangue was
unexpectedly interrupted by the arrival of a monster who put all of them
to flight, that is, with the exception of the prince himself. Another
king had formerly procreated this monster by a lioness; most times he
lived of human flesh only. Persecuted as he was by his own subjects
after his father’s death he called in the aid of the demons and promised
them a sacrifice of one hundred king’s sons. He now came to carry off
Sutasoma to add him to the princes he already apprehended.
Sutasoma resolves to follow the lion’s son in order to convert him and
to rescue the imprisoned princes. But on his arriving at the den of the
violent monster he remembers that he left the brahmin unrewarded, and
that he hasn’t wholly heard the latter’s preaching, and so he asks for
permission to do that which he neglected; afterwards the man-eater could
dispose of him.
The latter who has already gathered his 100 princes after all, releases
his prisoner hoping to rejoice afterwards at the man’s fall as a person
false to his word.
But after having heard and presented the brahmin with gifts Sutasoma
returns to the lion’s son in spite of his parents’ and wives’
supplications. Has not the lion’s son become his benefactor by allowing
him to do his duty? On this ground he has a right to his commiseration
and to be released from the curse resting on him by birth.
And when the astonished robber asks him what this brahmin did say the
prince delivers so eloquent a harangue about law that the lion-man
converts himself and puts all his prisoners at liberty to follow them to
Sutasoma’s residence.
On 10 we see the prince with the brahmin; on 11 the former is carried
away by the robber; 12 refers to the continuation of the preaching, and
on 13 has been hewn the reclaiming of the lion-man.
_Second_ corner, 14, 16 and 17 _third_ corner, 2 (W. L. 120, 122, 123
and 127).
Once upon a day the Lord was born as the _son of a king_ whose elder
sons had died young. In order to withdraw him from the influence of the
demons the newborn son was educated in an iron house (_ayogriha_).
Once driving through the residence the young man saw much that set him
thinking; he saw how old age, sickness and death threatened everyone
while storms, inundations and fire destructed their properties. Returned
at home he resolves to part from the world and to live in the wilderness
as a hermit and penitent, and to ask his father’s consent. All that
lives, is from the moment of being in mother’s womb, doomed to death, is
not it? And all that lives kills to save life, but nobody can kill
death. Even the angels and _devas_ can’t.
His father asks him whether this death will not catch him in the
wilderness as sure as anywhere, but agreeing he says that death can’t
find him unfit to the preparation for the transition in a future life.
The father agrees at last, and the prince devotes his further life to
the dhyâna, the holy meditation which will lead him to the _brahmâloka_.
The prince’s birth has been hewn on 14; 16 shows us the brahmin’s homage
to the new-born; 17 represents the drive outside the palace, and 2 after
the following corner describes the prince’s life in the wilderness.
Besides, I suppose the corner-sculpture and the first behind the corner
(W. L., 124 and 126) to refer to the prince’s leave-taking from his
father and wives, just as it afterwards happens with Siddhârta.[52].
Striking is the conformity of this life with that of the king’s son of
_Kapilasvastu_.
_Fourth_ corner, 2, 3 and 5 (W. L., 129, 130 and 132).
Living in the primeval forest as a strong _buffalo_ the Buddha of after
life was continually teased by a monkey who, taunting the wild animal’s
inexhaustible kindness, perpetually came in his way.
A _yaksha_ admonishes the bull to be less patient and to crush or thrust
down the snarer, but the strong one answers that the monkey can’t be
otherwise than he now is, and that they should bear him as he is. There
is no better exercise in meekness than suffer a bad treatment patiently,
and by which one may hope to set the snarer thinking, and make him turn
from sin.
On 2 we see the bull and the monkey, on 3 we also perceive the _yaksha_,
and on 5 the bull delivers his harangue to the demon, and know to
persuade him into acknowledging and praising virtue[53].
_Fourth_ corner, 6, 7, 8 and 9 (W. L., 133, 134, 135 and 136).
The Lord once living in the wilderness as a _wood-pecker_ came across a
lion who suffered unbearable pains because of a piece of bone which had
remained in his throat. The wood-pecker relieved his pains by putting a
piece of wood into the opened mule, and by getting the bone out of the
throat.
A long time afterwards flying round and almost starving from hunger the
wood-pecker met the lion again who was regaling himself on an antelope,
he had just killed.
After a moment’s hesitation his former rescuer begs him for a little bit
of the antelope’s meat, but the lion asks the beggar whether he is tired
of life, and whether he ought not to be thankful that his life was
spared when he formerly ventured himself into the inquirer’s mule. A
lion doesn’t know any commiseration.
Ashamed the wood-pecker flies away. A sylvan deity follows him, and asks
why he doesn’t pick the lion’s eyes, and takes as much of the prey as he
likes. And the bird answers with a glorification of virtue; he who does
good will find his reward in a future life, but he who returns evil for
evil will lose the merit of all his good deeds.
The deity praises the wood-pecker as a wise one, a saint, and
disappears.
On 5 has been hewn the lion in the wood where the wood-pecker comes-to
him; on 7 the lion writhes with pain, and on 8 he is helped by the
wood-pecker.
On 9 we see the hungry bird near the lion with his prey.
Major Van Erp supposes that this last sculpture should refer to another
jâtaka. See at the bottom.
Many pieces formerly placed among the mentioned sculptures, have been
lost whereas other ones have not yet been explained. But when we
remember how those described here follow each other in the same range of
succession like the _jâtakas_ in the _Mâla_ translated by Speyer, we
then may believe that the not expounded and missing sculptures have had
some connection with other _former lives_, and that even _this_ gallery
may have been a continuous series.
Oldenburg indicated indeed, still other jâtakas in this series which had
not been translated by Speyer, that is, after the _western_ staircase,
6, 7, 8 and 9 (W. L., 192, 193, 194 and 195).
The Lord hewn as a _tortoise_ at sea takes the endangered crew of a
sinking ship on his back, and carrying them ashore he offers his own
body to the starving ones.
On 6 has been hewn the tortoise, on 7 the sinking ship surrounded by
sharks and other fish, on 8 we see the tortoise with the shipwrecked men
on his back, and 9 describes the rescued ones with their rescuer who is
inclined to sacrifice himself.
On the front-wall of the fifth and highest gallery Oldenburg meant the
_second_ sculpture behind the _southern_ staircase (W. L. CCCLXXXIX) to
be the Lord as the _horse_ Balâha, which, once carried travellers across
the sea.
But as for the _lower_ series of the back-wall of the first gallery he
shows to:
3 after the _eastern_ staircase and 1 after the _next_ corner which
should refer to king Dakshina Pantyala’s conversation with the bewitched
_nâga_ Janmatyitra; the latter’s exorcism and redemption by _hunter_
Halaka (the Lord), and the hunter’s admission into the residence of the
grateful nâga.
This nâga is to be recognised at the serpents in his hair[54].
Mr. _Foucher_ fortunately gives us an account of this story (according
to the text of the _Divyâvadana_) far more detailed than I could have
possibly taken from other sources.
It refers to the _Sudhana Kumârâ Vadâna_: the 1th after the _second_
corner, and following relievoes: 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26,
28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38 and 40 W. L. It begins with the first panel south
of the eastern staircase.
1. In the empire of _Pantyâla_ there once lived 2 kings, one in the
north, and the other in the south. The first was a good prince,
and his empire prospered. The latter was bad, and his empire had
fallen into decay. Probably, the first prince may have been hewn
here.
2. The other bad king discusses with his ministers what to do to raise
his empire from decay. Under the pretext of a hunting-party he
inspects his neglected country, and then forms a plan to kidnap
the young _nâga_ Jammatyitraka from the hands of his thriving
neighbour. Now it should be understood that this _nâga_ lives in a
pond situated outside the capital of north-_Pantyâla_, and as he
knows to dispose of rain the country abounds with excellent
produce even during the dry monsoon. Perhaps the brahmin we see
before the king, will be the snake-charmer whose crimes we are
going to know.
3. This relievo shows us a succession of three events. First of all (to
the right) the young _nâga_ kneeled down calls in hunter Halaka’s
assistance. In the midst we see the same _nâga_, angrily and most
unwillingly rising from his lotus-pond under the brahmin’s formula
of exorcism, and in front of the latter’s sacrificial fire; but
hunter Halaka kills the conjurer after having compelled him to
give up his wicked plan.
And to the left may have been hewn the very same brahmin when he
shortly before got the king’s secret command to commit this evil. In
this case this episode should be exceptionally thought as a preceding
one to both the middle-most and first sculpture.
4. The young _nâga’s_ parents make their son’s rescuer splendidly
welcome. On this occasion the hunter wears a princely costume
which is above his rank (caste), but he appears without his host’s
present, the never failing knot.
5. In the Himâlaya. The hunter squats down near the _kinnarî Manoharâ_
he caught with his knot. To the left other _kinnarîs_ are flying
over a lotus-pond. To the right we see the ascetic whose words
directed the hunter’s arm on his catching the fairy.
6. The hunting Sudhana, crown prince of the northern empire, is just
coming on, and the hunter presents him with the kinnarî he caught.
Fairy and prince fall in love with one another.
7. The king of the northern empire, Sudhana’s father, discusses with his
_purohita_ or private prelate, the traitor in this drama, who
tries to persuade the king into charging the prince with the heavy
burden to overpower a rebellious vassal against whom no less than
7 expeditions had already failed.
8. The prince bids his mother fare-well, and charges her with the care
of his young wife.
9. Sudhana under a tree outside the rebellious town. Vaisyravana, one of
the four great deities of this country, sends his general Pântyika
with a troop of _yakshas_ to assist him.
10. Once more in _Hâstinapura_, the royal residence of the northern
empire. The king asks his _purohita_ to interpret a bad dream upon
which the priest demands to sacrifice a _kinnarî_ in order to
avert an immanent danger. The king hesitates, and the queen gives
proof of her dislike.
11. The good heart of both triumphs, and Manoharâ escapes through the
air.
12. With the assistance of the _yakshas_ Sudhana performed the task he
took upon his shoulders and offers his father the taxes and fines
of the rebels submitted.
13. After having learned the reason of Manoharâ’s absence he applies to
his mother again for help.
14. Druma, king of the region of the _kinnaras_, surrounded by his
court. Manoharâ, seated on his left hand, relates her experience
among mankind. So we find ourselves in the Himâlaya again, in this
region of fairies and spirits hardly to be penetrated.
15. Sudhana consults the _risyi_ who once helped the hunter on his
catch, and who now hands him a ring and a travelling-plan Manohara
had given him to this purpose.
16. Sudhana outside the capital of king Druma, where he comes across
some _kinnarîs_ who are drawing some water out of a well to
cleanse Manoharâ’s body from all human-smell. Sudhana flings the
ring into a vase of one of the fairies, and requests her to be the
first to empty this vase on her mistress’s head. According to the
text Foucher consulted, the fairy should have remained quite
ignorant of all this, consequently the sculptor must have swerved
from this text, or, perhaps, meant another one.
17. Manoharâ found the ring, and tells her father about Sudhana’s
coming. The king agrees to put him to the test; to the left of
this relievo we see him bend his bow to drive an arrow through 7
cocoa-trees. Druma himself is watching this, and to be recognised
by his _prabha_.