The Birth of Buddha

[Full title: Depiction of scenes from the life of Buddha: The Birth of Buddha]

Stories associated with the life of Buddha found representations in several centres of the Buddhist art. Amarāvatī art also display such a tendency. Several events of Buddha’s life was chiseled in the Amarāvatī repertoire. In this regard mention may be made of the narratives associated with Buddha’s life story.

Story:-

The incident of garbha avakrānti, that is, the birth of Buddha is described in the Avidurenidāna^[1]. It states that once the people of Kapilāvastu were celebrating the āṣādḥa-utsava. Queen Mahāmāya with her attendants indulged in celebrations. On the seventh day of the festival she bathed in the incense water, donated four lakhs and then entered her bedroom. While sleeping she dreamt that four dikpālas carried her to the Himavanta region. Afterwards the wives of the dikpālas took her to the Anotapta-daha lake. She slept on a suvarṇa-vimāna at Rajata parvata. A Bodhisattva entered the parvata from the north in the form of a white elephant carrying a garland and a white lotus in his trunk. He circled Mahāmāya thrice and entered her womb from the right. The next day she narrated her dream to the king. The king consulted sixty four Brāhmiṇs who interpreted that the queen conceived a male foetus who would be a Chakravartī king if he remained within the household or become a sanyāsi if he denounced the household.

After ten months the queen desired to visit her native home at Deva-daha. On the way to the Lumbini forest she gave birth to a child under the śāla tree. The child was carried by four mahābrahmās in a golden net and later by four dikpālas on mriga-carma. Bodhisattva immediately alighted to the ground and looked in all directions. Finding none like him he took steps in the northern direction^[2]. This incident is mentioned in the Lalitavistara.

All the incidents from the descent of Bodhisattva from heaven, Queen Māyā’s dream and the seven steps taken by Buddha are depicted in the various sculptural panels of the lower Kṛṣṇā valley. Some of the illustrations associated with the birth of the Master is cited below.

Depiction:-

A drum slab from Amarāvatī contains four moments associated with the birth story of Buddha. The first section illustrates the reclining female figure identified as Queen Māyā. She is observed by the dikpālas. The next compartment illustrates the king’s court where the priests are called to interpret the dream. The third section shows the birth. Here Māyādevī is represented as a Śālabhañjikā. It is interesting to note that at Amarāvatī the sculptor thought of using Śālabhañjikā motif for the birth of Buddha. Śālabhañjikā motif is a feminine vegetative motive creative of generative energy. In addition to it Mahavastu states that queen Māyā playfully stretched herself to hold the branch of the tree while giving birth to the Bodhisattva. This probably served as an inspiration to carve Māyādevi like a Śālabhañjikā. The last scene shows the presentation of the newly born child to the yakṣa^[3]. This masterpiece is preserved in the British Museum.

A coping stone from Amarāvatī preserved in the Indian Museum also shows the episode of the birth of Buddha. This relief is divided into three sections. Here the first section shows the reclining female figure, that is, queen Māyā surrounded by attendants. The relief next to it shows an elephant in a palanquin being carried in a procession. This possibly represents the descent of Buddha from the Tuṣita heaven, a stage before he reveals himself to Māyādevī in the dream. The last scene shows the court scene^[4] (Pl 20a).

Buddha’s birth and nativity is also illustrated on several dome slabs from Nāgārjunakoṇḍa (Pl 20b). A panel from Ghaṇṭaśālā also exhibit the birth story of Buddha.

The occasion of the ritual bath of Māyādevī is also sculpted by the Amarāvatī artists. In a small slab from Amarāvatī the scene of Queen Maya’s bath in the Anotatta lake is skillfully carved^[5]. The panel shows five women with water jars attending a lady in the centre. The lake is suggested by the presence of water and lilies. The child is not present in the scene. This specimen is preserved in the Madras Government Museum.

Similar composition is also seen at Nāgārjunakoṇḍa. But at Nāgārjunakoṇḍa Māyādevī stands in the left side in tribhaṅga posture where as at Amarāvatī Māyādevī stands on the right hand side. The baby is received by four devas of four quarters on a piece of cloth on which are seven tiny foot marks indicating the seven steps of the Bodhisattva^[6].

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Rao Vinay Kumar, 2010, Buddhist Sculptural Art of lower Krishna Valley, Delhi, p 39.

[2]:

Ibid, p 40.

[3]:

Knox Robert, Op.cit, 119, pl 61

[4]:

Indian Museum, Limestone, Acc No, A 1/A 25070, Measurement 90 cm x 33 cm x 3.2 cm.

[5]:

Sivaramamurti C, Op.cit, Pl XIV, fig 3.

[6]:

Parimoo Ratan, 2010, Life of Buddha in Indian Sculpture, New Delhi, p 45, fig 24-25