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SOUTH ASIAN OBJECTS FROM THE COLLECTION
INDIA
Sculpture from the Kushan Period
Sculpture from North India, 5th-7th Centuries
Jain sculpture
Sculpture of the Pala Period
Stone Sculpture from Hindu Temples
Sculptures from South India, 8th-9th Centuries
Bronze Sculpture of the Chola Period
Art for the Mughal and Rajput Courts
Hindu Temple Hangings
Buddhist Painting from India, Nepal, and Tibet
NEPAL
Buddhist Painting from India, Nepal, and Tibet
Sculpture from Nepal
PAKISTAN
Sculpture from the Kushan Period
SRI LANKA
Two Bodhisattvas from Sri Lanka
Crowned Buddha Shakyamuni
India, Bihar; Pala period (c.8th - 12th century), 11th century
Schist
H. 27 3/4 in. (70.5 cm)
Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection of Asian Art
1979.036
When Siddhartha, the Buddha Shakyamuni-to-be, left his father's palace, he gave up all worldly goods and cut off his long hair. As a result, Buddhas are usually shown clothed in the garments of a monk and without jewelry. However, Buddha images created in the service of Esoteric or Vajrayana Buddhism, a later branch of the religion, are sometimes shown crowned and jeweled. Among other things, these adornments emphasize the Buddha's role as a universal sovereign. In this depiction, an ornamented Buddha is surrounded by four smaller images of himself, each of which represents an important scene from his life. The placement of the inscription (the Buddhist consecratory formula) on the pedestal of the image rather than near the figure's head and its paleography suggests that it may be later in date than the image itself. The inscription's unusual placement below the image might have been necessary because it was not part of the original design and had to be added wherever there was space for it.

Inscription:

Ye dhamma hetuprabhava hetthamdesham thagattahyavadentesham Yonirodha evam vadi hyavamte Moha Sramanah.

"The dharma which is produced by the cause and the reason of all the causes and their cessation are said by Tathagata [the Buddha], the great sramana [monk]."

Inscription read and translated by Dr. B.N. Mukerjee.

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