Amaravati Art in the Context of Andhra Archaeology
by Sreyashi Ray chowdhuri | 2018 | 90,477 words
This page relates ‘Sasa Jataka’ of the study on Amaravati Art in the Context of Andhra Archaeology, including museum exhibitions of the major archeological antiquities. These pages show how the Buddhist establishment of Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) survived from 4th century BCE to 14th century CE. It includes references and translations of episodes of Buddha’s life drawn from the Avadanas and Jatakas which are illustrated in Amaravati art.
Sasa Jātaka
[Full title: Jātakas and Avadānas in the Amarāvatī Art: Sasa Jātaka]
Story:-
According to the Jātaka when Brahmadatta was reigning in Banaras, Bodhisattva was born as a young hare and lived in a wood frequented by ascetics. He had three friends—-a monkey, a jackal and an otter. They learnt the lesson of virtue from the hare. One day the Bodhisattva declared that the next day would be the fast day. He added that one who stands for fast, moral practice and alms giving would bring great reward. He also advised his friends to feed the beggars. Next day each animal brought some food to offer to their guests. The otter got seven red fish, the jackal a lizard and a pot of sour milk and the monkey brought mangoes. But the hare thinking that it is impossible to give kusa grass, the usual food of the hare to the beggar as eatable he decided to give his own flesh to eat.
Śakra, the king of Gods decided to test the hare. Śakra in the form of a Brāhmiṇ approached the otter, jackal and monkey and asked for food. They offered food which the Brāhmiṇ promised to take them the next day.
Then he approached the hare with the same request. The hare asked him to pile together logs of wood, kindle a fire after which he will sacrifice himself by falling into the midst of flames. Then the roasted body can be consumed by the Brāhmiṇ. Śakra on hearing this caused a heap of burning coals by his miraculous power. The hare plunged into the fire. But the fire failed to burn him. Lastly the Brāhmiṇ assumed his real form and explained how he had come to put the hare’s virtue to test. Śakra said that the hare’s virtue should be known throughout the universe and squeezing the mountain with the essence thus extracted he daubed the sign of a hare on the orb of the moon. Śakra then returned to his own place and the four animals lived happily observing the moral law and holy days[1].
Depiction:-
On one of the narrative panels from Amarāvatī the depiction of Sasa Jātaka is visible along the Nālāgirimadana and Sibi Jātaka. Here on the extreme right side, the panel shows a rustic hut with conical roof in a forest area. One male sitting near the hut is the sage and the man standing with raised hands is Śakra revealing his true form. In the foreground animals are shown carrying foodstuffs in their mouths as if they are serving food to the sage. Here the hare is shown leaping into fire[2].This specimens is preserved in the British Museum (Pl 16b). This Jataka representation is found on a limestone panel from Goli[3] and Nāgārjunakoṇḍa[4] (Pl 16c).
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Cowell E.B, Op.cit, vol III -IV No. 316, pp 34-37.
[2]:
Knox Robert, Op.cit, pp 115-16, pl 56.
[3]: