Amaravati Art in the Context of Andhra Archaeology
by Sreyashi Ray chowdhuri | 2018 | 90,477 words
This page relates ‘Ajatasatru visits Buddha’ 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.
Ajatasatru visits Buddha
[Full title: Depiction of scenes from the life of Buddha: Subduing of Nālāgiri]
Story:-
The incident is described in the Dīgha Nikāya. When Buddha was staying in Rājagriha in the grove of Jivaka, the king decided to visit the grove. But as he approached the grove there was no sound. He descended from the elephant and went to the pavilion where the Master sat among the monks. He bowed before the Master and confessed his sin of killing his father. Buddha absolved him of the sin and Ajātsatru left the grove in a lighter heart[1].
Depiction:-
A mutilated coping fragment preserved in the Madras Government Museum shows a number of women on elephants and horses entering a gateway to see Buddha. The next scene shows a princely turbaned man seated to the right of Buddha with hands in adoration. The turbaned man to the right may be identified as Ajātasatru and mutilated figure to the left may be Jivaka[2].
An illustration of this episode is also visible on a part of a dome frieze from Amarāvatī preserved in the British Museum. Here a standing male, that is Ajātsatru enters a toraṇa to an empty throne surrounded by devotees[3].
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Sivaramamurti C, Op.cit, pp 189-190.
[2]:
Ibid, pp 189-190, pl XXXV, fig 2.
[3]:
Knox Robert, Op.cit, pp 132-136, fig 70.