The Origin Of Buddhist Art In India

By T. N. RAMACHANDRAN, M.A.

(Archaeological Assistant, Madras Museum)

The Buddha must have lived about 500 B.C. Some scholars like the well-known French Sanskritist, M. Senart, have denied that the Buddha was a historical person. It is now the decided opinion of everyone that there, need not exist any reasonable doubt on this point. It is true that the history of the Buddha's life is largely legendary. This seems only natural among a people of such imaginative powers as the Indians. But notwithstanding the fact that the Buddha's life, as it is told in early Buddhist writings, contains mythic elements, it must be based on reality. A mighty religious movement like Buddhism could not possibly originate without a great personality at its root.

The legend of the Buddha's life is a tale of singular charm which cannot fail to impress even the non-Buddhist. The success that Sir Edwin Arnold's poem "The Light of Asia" has found in the West bears testimony to this. It has been reedited several times and has been translated into most languages of Europe. Arnold represents us the Buddha story in a very attractive poetic garb, but it cannot be denied that he has modified it in certain respects so as to better suit the taste of Western readers. In Pali literature, we have the Nidana-katha which is really a kind of introduction to the Jataka book. In Sanskrit, we possess the Lalita-vistara of which the author is unknown, and the Buddha-charita of Asvaghosha.

According to the sacred books of the Buddhists, the Great Teacher was born as the son and heir-apparent of a mighty monarch, Suddhodana by name, who held sway over the tribes of the Sakyas. This country was situated at the foot of the Himalayas in what is now known as the Nepalese Terai, and its capital was Kapilavastu. The young prince who was named Siddhartha, spent the first part of his life in the midst of the pleasures of an Oriental court. At the time of his birth, it had been foretoldthat he wouldeither become a Chakravartin (universal monarch), or renounce the world and become a Buddha. His father, who preferred the former alternative, took great pains that his son should not come into touch with the misery of the world. Yet the Woe of human existence was revealed to him by divine agency.

Once, when the prince was taking a drive to a pleasure-garden outside the capital, he met a blind man bent down by old age; on a second occasion he saw a man emaciated by sickness; a third time a corpse and a fourth time a mendicant. His charioteer, Chanda, explained to him the meaning of these alarming sights, and in this manner he realised that in the world of senses everything is transitory and that human existence is bound up with illness, old age and death. After he had become conscious that all mundane life is subject to decay, he could no longer find any joy in sensual pleasures and royal pomp. In the middle of the night he fled from his father's palace, notwithstanding the measures taken by his father to prevent such a flight. Mounted On his faithful steed, Kantaka, he rode far away from Kapilavastu. That same night he divested himself of his kingly dress and ornaments, and donned the rude garment of a hunter whom he happened to meet in the wilderness. He cut off his long locks and adopted the wandering life of an ascetic. This is called in Buddhist writings "Mahabhinishkramana", or the Great Renunciation.

For many years the royal hermit devoted himself to asceticism and meditation in search of the highest Truth. At last, when he was seated under the holy tree of Gaya, the Supreme Truth was revealed to him. He found the doctrine which was to save mankind from the Samsara or transmigration. From this moment he received the titleof "the Buddha," ("the Enlightened One") whereas in the preceding part of his life he is usually called the Bodhisattva.

After some hesitation the royal sage resolved to divulge the great Truth. It was in the Deer-park called "Miga-Dava" (Skt. Mriga-Dava) outside the city of Banares (the locality is now known as Sarnath) that he preached his doctrine for the first time. He, as it is expressed in Buddhist writings, began to "turn the Wheel of the Law", or the "Dharmachakra." A gathering collected round him and thus he became the founder of the order of the mendicants or the "Bhikshu-Sangha" which formed the nucleus of the Buddhist community. The second order is the "Bhikshuni-Sangha" or the order of the female mendicants, which was founded by the Buddha a considerable time later and not without a certain reluctance on his part. It was only at the special request of his aunt, Gautami–who after Queen Maya's death had taken her sister's place–a request, moreover, supported by his favourite disciple, Ananda, that the Buddha consented to admit women to his holy order.

Besides these two orders, the Buddhist community comprised male and female lay–members, Upasakas and Upasikas. While the monks and the nuns adopt the ascetic path and consequently have to live a life of chastity, the lay–members continue their ordinary occupations in human society. They, therefore, although believing in the Buddha's doctrine, do not, realise the Buddhist ideal in its highest sense. Yet, they are useful –we may even say indispensable members of the community, for it is their duty to provide the monks and the nuns with the four requisites.

The rest of his life the Buddha spent in preaching and converting people. When he had reached the advanced age of eighty years, he died in the neighbourhood of the small country-town of Kusinara, as it is called in Pali (Skt. Kusanagara)

We have remarked that, notwithstanding the miraculous which pervades the legend of the Buddba's life, we receive a strong impression that it must be based on historic fact. It is noteworthy that, according to the early accounts of Pali literature, the pastoral activity of the Buddha extended over an area of limited extent corresponding approximately to the tracts of country now known as Bihar and Oudh. It is interesting to note that this territory–the ‘Holy Land’ of Buddhism –is situated outside the boundaries of Madhya-desa as defined in the Manava Dharma Sastra. It is only in writings of much later date –the Ceylonese Chronicles and the itineraries of the Chinese pilgrims –we find strange tales of the Buddha transporting himself through the air to the confines of India, to Kashmir and Ceylon, in order to preach the Good Law to the inhabitants of those countries.

It is specially the account of the Master's last journey which bears to my mind a stamp of historical truth. It is related that, having reached the age of eighty years, he departed from Rajagriha, the ancient capital of Magadha, and crossed the Ganges not far from the fortress which was to become the later capital, Pataliputra, of which, on that occasion, he foretold the future greatness. And continuing his journey, he at last reached Kusinara or the country of the Mallas. Being attacked by a severe illness, and weakened by old age and the long journey, he lay down in a grove of sal trees outside the town of Kusinara. Here he found the Great Peace, the final deliverance, which in Buddhist writings is indicated by "Parinibbana" (Skt. Parinirvana).

Among the sacred books of the Buddhists written in Pali, there is a very remarkable work called Mahaparinibbana-sutta or "The book of the Great Decease."The German Sanskritist, Prof. Oldenberg, believes it to be one of the earliest writings of Pali literature. This work, as the title indicates, contains a full account of the circumstances attending the Mahaparinirvana, that is, the final extinction of the Buddha. It describes the lastjourney of the Master in great detail and quotes the words spoken by him to his disciples shortly before his death.

In that ancient Pali text, we find two sayings attributed to the Buddha which afford a valuable indication regarding the origin of Buddhist Art. The Buddha addresses his favourite disciple Ananda and speaks to him in this wise:- "There are four places, Ananda, which must be visited by the faithful. Which are those four places? It is the place where the Buddha was born, the place where He found the supreme truth, the place where He preached His doctrine for the first time, and the place of His final extinction." In these words it is clearly enjoined upon the faithful to undertake pilgrimages to the four places which were associated with the main events of the Buddha's career. It is impossible to decide whether the words quoted were in reality spoken by the Buddha himself. This much however is certain, that the injunction contained in them is obeyed by his followers up to the present day.

In all probability, the origin of Buddhist Art is to be sought in the practice of visiting the four great places of pilgrimage: the Lumbini garden near Kapilavastu, where the Buddha was born; the holy fig tree of Gaya associated with his Bodhi or Enlightenment; the Deer-park outside Benares, where he began to turn the Wheel of the Law, and the sal grove of Kusinagara which witnessed his Parinirvana. The well-known French Archaeologist, M. Alfred Foucher, assumes that in the time following the Buddha's death, pilgrims were in the habit of carrying home tokens in the shape of clay tablets impressed with symbols. These symbols referred to the great events with which tradition connected these four places. The Buddha's miraculous birth was in all probability symbolised by a lotus-flower; his enlightenment by the Bodhi-tree; his first sermon at Benares by the Dharmachakra; and his final extinction by a stupa.

In the same Pali text, Mahaparinibbana-sutta, there is another saying ascribed to the Buddha himself. There are four kinds of people who are worthy of a stupa, and they are: (1) Buddhas (2) Pratyeka Buddhas (3)Arhats, and (4) Chakravartins.

This passage is in close agreement with what in the same text is related regarding the events immediately following the Buddha's death. We read that after his demise his bodily remains were cremated at a locality called Makuta-Chandha(na), outside the town of Kusinagara. Then there appeared envoys from the neighbouring countries who claimed a share in the bones of the Buddha. At first the Mallas, in whose country the Buddha had died, were unwilling to grant their request. They wished to keep the relics all to themselves. As the other parties were ready to uphold their claim by resort to arms, a fight seemed to be inevitable. This however, was prevented by a Brahmin of the name of Drona, who pointed out how unseemly it would be to begin a contest over the corporeal remains of a Master who had preached forbearance. Then it was agreed upon to divide the relics among the contending parties. Each of them took his share in the relics and erected a stupa over them. Thus there were eight Sarira stupas in the beginning. (There is a very fine representation of the division of the relics among the Amaravati sculptures in the Madras Museum).

From the passage which we have summarised here, it is evident that the stupa is a sepulchral monument destined to contain the bones of the Buddha. We have seen that Arhats and Chakravartins too, were considered to be worthy of such a monument. One of the minor stupas of Sanchi (Stupa No. 3) appears indeed to have been raised over the relics of the two chief disciples of the Buddha, Sariputra and Mahamaudgalyayana. Their names were found inscribed on the lids of two stone-boxes. In each box there was a stealite relic-casket containing a small fragment of bone.¹ No stupa has yet been discovered which can be proved to have been built in honour of a Chakravartin.

Let us revert to the eight Sarira-Stupas in which the bones of the Buddha were originally enshrined. In all probability these early monuments had the character of a tumulus or sepulchral mound built of brick or stone. This, however, is nothing more than a surmise, as none of those eight stupas has come to light. According to a later tradition, seven of them were opened by order of the Emperor Asoka, who took out the relics, divided them into 84,000 portions, and built as many stupas over them. It is difficult to decide what historical facts lie at the root of this tradition. In the form in which it has come down to us, it is somewhat difficult to give it credence.

Asoka was a great patron of Buddhism and became famous by his edicts engraved on rocks and pillars. Some of these pillars, like the one at Sarnath, are monuments of great artistic merit. The Chinese pilgrims in their itineraries often speak of stupas which in those days were ascribed to Asoka, and although it is a late tradition, there is no reason to doubt that in a good many instances it was correct. Remains of stupas have come to light which, on accouut of the size of their bricks, may be attributed to the period ot the Maurya dynasty, to which, as we know, Asoka belonged. The stupa in general is, as we have seen, primarily a relic- shrine built over a relic either of the Bnddha himself or of a Buddhist saint. It appears, however, from the accounts of the Chinese pilgrims, that it was also customary to build stupas on the spots where events in the Buddha's life were believed to have happened. Also in localities associated with his previous births, called the Jatakas, such monuments were constructed. And finally, on account of its sacred character, Buddhists were in the habit of building stupas merely as works of religious merit. Thus the stupa (also called chaitya or dhatugarbha in Sanskrit) has become the most typical edifice of the Buddhist religion. Hence it is found in practically every country where Buddhism flourishes or had flourished in days gone by.

In the time of the Chinese pilgrim, Hiuen Tsiang, North India was still covered with stupas, although even then many were ruined owing to the decline of Buddhism and the havoc wrought by the Huns. Yet the number of stupas known to exist in India proper, which excavations are revealing–indeed in a bewildering manner–is very considerable. In Ceylon and Further India, the stupa survives as the most conspicuous monument of the living religion. In Ceylon, dagabas of huge size are still found at the ancient Singhalese capitals, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. The best known stupa of Burma is the Shwedagon at Rangoon with its immensely picturesque surroundings. In the mysterious land of the Lamas too, every town, village and monastery has its stupas, called chod-rten in the Tibetan language. Outside the city of Leh, the capital of Ladak, a row of 108 such monuments can be seen today, In Afghanistan and Turkestan, the land of Muslims today, ruined stupas still bear testimony to Buddhism once having flourished there. The same is the case with Java, It may be said that in the Barabudur, the great monument of the island, "the stupa attains its final development and greatest perfection".

1 Marshall, Guide to Sanchi. pp. 81. f .