Cūladhammapāla Jātaka

[Full title: Jātakas and Avadānas in the Amarāvatī Art: Cūladhammapāla Jātaka]

Story:-

According to the Jātaka once upon a time when Mahāpratāpa was the king of Banaras, Bodhisattva came to life as the son of his queen Candā. He was named Dhammapāla. Once when the queen was playing with her son the king came into the palace. Filled with mother’s love for the child she forgot to see and rise up on king’s arrival. The king took it in his heart and thought that the queen does not value him. Angry king summoned the executioner to come with the axe. The king ordered him to bring Dhammapāla. The executioner obeyed the orders. The king asked the executioner to cut off Dhammapāla’s hands. The queen tried to convince the king by saying that it is her fault. But the king did not listen to her and ordered the executioner to cut off the boy’s feet. The executioner followed the orders. The queen kept the stained feet of the child in her lap and lamented. Not satisfied with the punishment the king then ordered to cut Dhammapāla’s head. The executioner did accordingly and asked for further instruction. The king finally asked the executioner to cut the boy into pieces. Thus the executioner followed the orders and scattered the body on the dais. The queen placed the flesh in her lap and fell dead at the spot. Then the earth opened and a mighty flame encircled the king. He perished in the Avici hell. The minister performed the funeral rites of the queen and the child^[1].

Depiction:-

A synoptic sequential narrative mode of the Jātaka is reported on the upright of the stūpa at Amarāvatī^[2]. The main scene is on a circular medallion and the other scenes are on three fluted faces of the pillar. The broken circular medallion shows a king seated on the throne and before him are a number of turbaned men. To the left of it is a lady fainting in the arms of another, two women hurrying away with a child in front. It appears that the queen faints at the approach of the terrible executioner. The other three panel shows trees suggesting royal garden. The woman with the child is the queen and the royal person pulling the child appears to be the king. In the next panel is the king wildly flinging up the child and asking the executioner to kill him. There is some deviation from the Jātaka. There is an additional executioner in the scene. In the other scene the king pushes the child towards the additional executioner who stands with an axe to execute the order. This iconoplastic representation is preserved in the Madras Government Museum.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Cowell E.B, Op.cit, Vol-III -IV, No. 358, pp 117-120.

[2]:

Sivaramamurti C, Op.cit, pp 211-212, pl XXXVII, Fig 2.