Understanding

A Newly
Comprehension
S
pectacularly beautifuL the SlOne carving of
north-central India during the Gupta period
(319-('. 500), and especiall y Ihal of the laic 41h ,md
the 5th centuries, has stood for years as the flfCh c -
Iype of all I hal is wonderful about Indic sculpture. It
is therefore both familiar \0 a broad audience and
quite well understood as to it s general iconographic
content. However. III my opinion. there is more to be
learned about and from t hese "documents' of human
activity. Such documents can be read as easily as a
text if the interpreter takes the considerable lime 10
learn the vocabulary of gestures and the symbolic
con1enl of the signs and symbol s of the image under
discuss ion. Admittedly. Ihis is a rigorous exercise -
one that I havc spcnt 45 ycars doing ,md i am still
far from satisfied with my level of compn:hension.
The purpose of this artiele is to share a number
of images and some new obscrvations on the ico-
nography of the great 5th ccntury Buddha images of
Samath (in today's Uttar Pradesh in north-ccntral
India), the s it e o f the historical Buddha
Shakyamuni 's (d. c. 400 BeE) first (earthly) exposi-
ti on of the Buddha Dharma to the five mendicants
who wcre his companions during the timc when he
practised asceticism. Known in the sutras as ci ther
the Mrigadava (' Game Reservc', often translated as
'Deer Park') or the Ri shipatana (, Place of the
Ri shi s' or 'Sages'), it is one of the initial fOllr places
of pilgrimage mentioned in the Malw{mrilllrmlla
SUlra, and has been known as a paribllOgaka (a
'relic of association', referring to a placc of the Bud-
dha's activi ty or an item used by him) site of
Shakyamuni throughout its hi story. It shares that
distinction with the location of Shakyamuni 's birth
at Lumbini garden (in tooay's Nepal), his awaken-
ing or enlightenment at Bodhgaya (in India's Bihar
(Fig. 11 Sookyarnuni
From Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, Indi o
Gupta period, 2nd hall 01 the 5th century
Sandstone
Height including chattfo 2 , 13 m (appro'i mateIYI
Somalh Site Musel>m
l
the 5th Century Buddhas ofSarnath:
Identified Mudra and a New
of the Dharmachakra Mudra
jolm HlfJltill .. fTtoll
(Fig. 10)
Head 01 the
imagllo!
Shokyomuni
in Figure 1
(Fig. 1 b) Right hand
of The ,mage of
Shokyomuni
in Figure 1
Sl:Ile), and his death, or IXll'ill;I'1'(II/(I (' complete ccssulion
[frolll all rebirthsn. al Kushinagam (in Ullar Pradesh) (sec
thi s author's series of articles. 'Sowing the Seeds oflhe Lotus'.
in Oriel/la/ions. November 1985-Scplcmbcr 1986).
In comparison wil h theothcr sitcs. Samath is distinctive. in
Icnns of the number of early images di scovered there. and also
wi th regard to their iconogr'dphy. whi ch is onl y partially sile
specific. Lumbini has yielded vcry few sculptures at ull. and
seems to have been primaril y Ihe location of a temple dedi-
cated to the birth thai dales back to the reign of Emperor
Ashoka (273-232 BCE). Kushinag:lTa :llso seems to have con-
sisted Ill:linly of a temple or the IJlIrinil'l'finfi from at least as
early as the Maul)'a period (322- 185 IKE). and the seulplllr:ll
tinds there ha\e again been minimal. Although there is a great
deill oflate sculpture:l\ Bodhgaya. mostl y proto-Pala (7th-8th
cent ury) and Pala school (8Ih.1 2th century). images dating to
the 61h cent ury and before arc eit her no longer extant. or hn ... c
yelto be excavated. l-Io\\ c\'Cr. since the British archaeologist
Alexander Cunningham (I R 14-93) found Maurya and Shung:l
period ( 185-72 BCE) material in hi s late 19th century e.,<cava-
tion :md restoration ofthc Mahabodhi tcmple thcrc. 1 doubt if
Gupta objects actually cxistcd in lIny quantit y. and suspect that
(Fig. 1 c) Left hond
01 the image 01
Shokyomuni
in Figure 1
(Fig . 2) Shakyamur"li
From Soma!h, Uttar Pradesh, India
Kushan penod. 2nd century
Sandstone
Height 1.82 m (approximately)
Somolh Site Museum
thc temple, as with those at Lurnbini and
Kushinagara, was the major centrc of ul1ention.
The situation at Samath is radicully different. The
site has yielded many - perhaps a hundred or more -
5th and early 6th century imuges of a standing Buddha
making the abl!a.\'a lI1udra with hi s right hand and
holding the hem of his robe wi th his left. Of the sev-
eral examples on display at the Santath Museum, that
in Figure I is one of the most intact. and is accompa-
nied by the umbrella that protects images of the Bud-
dha Shakyamuni. The umbrella accompanying the
image is seen with from the Kushan period
(c. 78-240) on, and seems to have bcen one of the
early sculptural iconographic conventions (at least 1 st
or 2nd century in stone images).
The face and head exhibit the scnsuous modelling.
protuberant thick lips and half-closed eyes character-
istic of the Gupta style. and al though slightly weath-
ered from burial , thc curls are still evidcnt
in the mass of hai r (Fig. I a). Most imponartlto our un-
derstanding of the mcssage of the image are the hands
(Figs 1 band Ie). Theabhaya mudm made by the right
hand, with graecful. webbed fingers (one ofthc 32
major marks of a Buddha) and ulleriy relaxed open-
ness, whi le generally known as the gesture of 'be-
stowing the absence of fcar', is known from very
early (c. 1st or 2nd century CE) Gandharan depictions
of the first teaching (in which Shakyamuni is shown
seated), and is th us the first known version of the
teaching gesture. The left hand of the image holds and
proffer.; to the observer the hCIll of the robc, or
.\"al/ga/i. The meaning of this dual gesture is now lost
in art-historical literature, but it survives in vidhi - rit-
ual manuals that are used by Nepalese and Japanesc
teachers in Buddhist practice to the present day. In
generaL it is known as the Iy akarmw mudra, the
'symbolic gesture of prediction. Interestingly
enough. thi s mlldra expresses the strictly Mahayana
paradigm of having to recei ve a predil:tion of olle's
own future enlightenment from a .\"amyaksall1bO(lhi
Buddha (an 'awakened one', one who has absolutely
complete, highest awakening). This moment in a per-
son's many lives was the point at which allainmcnt
was assured from which one could not fall back into
unfortunate rebirths (dllrgafi). Thc subject of a pre-
diction, an importallt topic in Mahayana sutras, was a
major feature of the Maitrcya cult, and earl y in popu-
lar practice became an important ritual aspect of the
Buddhist iconographic vocabulary. The number of
images, especially of Shakyamulli , depicted making
the gesnlrc dcmonstrates that it was very popular in
the Kushan period. While it canllot be said that in the
Kushan era it is always Shakyamuni who makcs il.
however. by the Gupta era thi s appears 10 be the case.
(F,g . 3) From left Mo,treyo (eos!), Voiroponi (south), Avoloki!eshvaro (west) ond Monl'Jshn (north)
ChollyO 01 N o ~ h o c h u ~ Sohol, Nokhochuk tole, Poton, Nepol
Licchovi period, c. 6th centu"l
Unidentified stone
Overall heIght (nOI shown) 1.5 m (opproxmlQle1y)
The dualllllld,.a is in evidence at Sarnath in images from Ihe
Kushan period 3S well. such 3S the (now incomplete) sculpture
in Fi gure 2.
Kushan era sculptural examples of the Buddha Maitreya
(Ihe future Buddha who descends from Tushita p.'lradise at the
idealized lime of Kelumat i) Imlke the same gesture as
Shakyamuni. However. it appears that by the Gupta era.
Maitn.:ya images displayed a variant of the gesture. This is
known as the l"ishwlI,)"alw"wl(l IIIlu/m (,universal symbolic
gesture of pre diet ion'). with thc right hand usually in ram or
mrada /III/dm (the 'gin-bestowi ng gesture') mther than
abhaya mudra. Regrettubly, there are no positively identified
5th ee11lury Indian images. Yet, a mid- Licchavi period (c.
400- 750) imnge on the circll 6th century chailya (shri ne) at
Nakhachuk nahal in Pat:!n. Nepal. is positively ident ified by
the fact it is pan ofa standard iconographic set of the Buddha
Ma it Te ya (cas t) ac companied by Vajrapani (south).
Avalokitcshvara (west) :lIld Manjushri (nonh) (Fig. 3). Be-
cause thi s is the st;tndard iconography for Maitrcya in 5th and
6th century Nepal. it suggests that such Buddha images in [n-
dia are probabl y Maitreya as well (Fig. 4). This idenlification
would place a cult of Maitrcya's descelll at Ihe time of
Ketumati all across India in the 5th and 6th centuries, sclling
so-called -Paradise Cull Iluddhi:. m' broadly in India ~ a major
revision of our understanding of Buddhism. This concl usion is
also SUppoTI(,'(] by the fltct that in early 4th to 6th century Chi-
nese popular Buddhism, meditating to see the Buddha was a
common pr actice for temporary bencfit as well as
sotcriologicalj)urposes, ri nd Ihatlhc same iconographies with
the two lIIud/"ll variations lLppear in Chinese images of the 4th
and 51h cenluries. It is generally accepted Ihat, during the
Kush:1Il era. l3uddhi sm WliS being imponed into Chi na from
IFig. 4) Moitreyo Buddho
From Sarnoth, UHor Pradesh, India
Gupto period, 2nd hall 01 the 5th century
Sa ndstone
Height 1.5 m (a pproximately)
Ind,on Museum, Kolkata
87
(Fog 5) Shokyomuni
From Somalh, Uttor Prodesh, Indio
Gupro period, 2nd hall 01 the 5th century
Sondstone
Helghr 1.37 m (opp.roxlmorely)
Sornorh Site Museum
(Fig. 50) Detoil ollhe imoge 01 in F,gure 5 showing h,s audIence ond the 'edge.on' wheel
the image
SO"k,"."".,,' in Figure 5
showing Ike 'edge-on' wkeel
and Mount Meru platform
the West. especially from Parthian Iran. and Kushan Gandhara
and Kashmir, while in the 5th and 6th centuries it was more
likely to have been brought into China from northern and cen-
tral India. Thus. I think it is appropriate to expect to find that
the soteriologieal practice of 'receiving a prediction of en-
ligillenrnenf \vas grounded in Indic images as well.
The ubiquity of such images of both Shakyamuni and
Maitreya Buddhas at Sarnath suggests that the prediction of
enlightenment was ,Ill extremely important practice for visi-
tors to the site. at least from the 2nd to the 6th17th
century. In view of the costly nature of stone sculp-
tures, presumably offered by pilgrims. and thei r
relatively large number, I would like 10 suggest
that Sarnath was an - or literally Ihe - important
place to receive such a prediction in north-central
India.
I
n spite of being the commemoration site for the
'first tcaching' . images depicting that event
from the Gupta period (by which time the seated
Shakyamuni usually displayed a form of the
dharmaclwkra mudm rather than the ablwya
mrujra in such representations), although gener-
ally not rare. arc not at all common at Sarnath or at
surrounding sites. However. one pre-eminent im-
age docs survive. apparelltly from the late Gupta
era (c. 450-75) temple of the fi rst teachmg (Fig. 5).
By any measure. the image is magnilicent in many
ways. First and foremost, while the product of a
long stylistic development. its original eoncept -
that of the historical Buddha teaching his former
ascetic eolkagucs at the Mrigadava - is most elo-
quently stated. Nowhere in the whole of Buddhist
art is there a more clearly and specifically articu-
lated vision of the event than this image.
Nonetheless. true to many 5th century Bud-
dhi st images. it conveys far more than the simple
idea of the first teaching' . The image is al so highly
nuanced, and to the aware observer has a vastly more
complex Buddhological message. to be read on sev-
cmllevc!s. The Buddha is seated with crossed legs in
the I'Gjral'myallka a.wllla (adamantine sitting pos-
ture), wearing a clinging robe that is thin to almost
non-existent and di splaying a vers ion of the
dlwrmachakra paril"{l/"lww IIII/dm ( ' the symbolic
gesture of completely turning the wheel of Dharma')
with his hands. He sits on an elaborate throne. beneath
which are seve n figures an d a wheel. or
dlw/"mac/wkra. seen edge-on. with two antelopes in
altendance (Fig. Sa). Five of these figures (t he third to
the seventh from the left) are the fi ve ascetics to whom
the first earthly teaching was given. thereby specifI-
cally identifying the image as representing the teach-
ing at the Mrigadava. it is usually said that the pres-
enee of the antelopes and the wheel (whether edge-on or flatly
depicted) arc also symbolic of the first teaching: however. by
the 5th century in Indic Asia and beyond. the ante-
lope-dlwrmadwkra symbol also refers to the gcncric teaching
of the Buddha in all eontex!s. and must therefore be under-
stood as both a specific and a generic reference to the teach-
ings. Yct. because other clements indicate that this image is at
the Mrigadava. the point of it s generic nature is moot: obvi-
ously it is the tcaching at Sarnath.
{Fi g. 6) Shokyomuni as Vairocha na, flanked by Avolokiteshvara a nd Vajroponi
Cove 4, Ajanta , Mahoroshr ra, tndia
Gupta period, late 5th century
Volcanic 'trap rock'
Height 4.27 m {opproximarely)
I and a ntelopes
i period, c. 450550
Schisr
Height 0.3 m, length 1.5 rn (approximately)
Nahonal Museum of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepot

(Fig. B) Wheel
From the lion capitol 01 Emperor Ashoko
(r. 273-232 BCE) ot Somoth, Ultor Pradesh, Indio
Mouryo period, c. 250 240 BCE
Sandstone
Oiomeler 1.07 m
Somoth Si te Museum
On the viewer's left arc a kneeling female
and a standing child. or possibly a dwarf 'lIIen-
dant (who arc common in thi s period), blll be-
cause of the dam.1ge to the figure it is impossi-
ble to be cenain. These are undoubtedl y addcd
to the group as patroness-devotee and child or
attendant, a common practi ce throughout the
hi story of Buddhi st an.
Three components of the sculpture are
deeply rooted in the anistic conception of In-
dia. and of the Buddhi sts in panicular. These
are the dltarmac!wkra, the Mount Meru plat-
form on which the dlwrmac!wkra sit s (Fig.
5b). and the Buddha's throne itself. In addi -
tion, the Buddha image al so exhibi ts one of
the more innovati ve featurt'S of the time in the
IIIlIdra version displayed by the two hands in
from of the chest (see Fig. 12, B and B I).
The edge-on view of the (J/wnllachakra has been noted by
an hi stori.ms as a Gupta period stylistic convention found geo-
graphicall y from the Aj:tnta eaves in Maharashtra stat e to the
Kathmandu valley in Nepal (Figs 6 and 7). I am afraid I must
disagree with the consensus on the symbol as a stylisti c fea-
ture. R.llher. I am convinced that it is gmphic recogni tion of the
fact that the Dharma is to be set in motion (paril'llrla/w, Ii I.
'completely turni ng'). A f1:lI or side view ofa wheel as essen-
tial ly a di sc has no inherent idea of motion and could simplybe
a display of the wheel affixed to a wall as a symbol. I lowever.
an edge-on wheel would have to be in Illotion in order 10 bal-
ance in an upri ght positi on. Funher. such a view also indicutes
thai the wheel is rotuting forward. oul towards the viewer. and
therefore that the Dharnlll will be among those who sec it.
While sculptures depicting the first leaching from the 5th and
6th centuries arc significantl y less common than from later pc-
riods and we have far fewer ex. amples of the edge-on clwkl'(I, it
appears to IllC that the edge-on wheel is still the usual conven-
tion during that period rather than the flat type, and therefore
that its depi cti on is moti vated by something more lorceful. in
olherwords iconographic correctness. nuher than si mple 'sty-
listic ' consi derations.
As can be easily seen, the wheel ilself is of Ihe multi-
spoked variety, wit h an estimated 32 spokes (sec Fig. 5b). Thi s
seems quite il3tuml, as the wher:l that once topped the great
Ashokan pillar aI Samath also had 32 spokes (Fig. 8). as did
many early dlwrll/(lc/wkra. and variants wilh eight, as well as
sixteen and 24 spokes. which are both multiples of eight. are
also known. (There are occasi onal odd-numbered e.\amples.)
9{J
The present underst:mding of the (J/wrlll(lchakrll as signifying
the teaching of the Ei ghtfold Path according to the Duddha' s
methodology was probably currem Ihroughout the hi story of
the symbol. Indeed. the earliest known representation of an
eight-spoked dlwmwcllakrll is on 11 coin of the Indo-Greek
king. Menander(r. c. 165 or ISS-c. 130 BeE). now in the Brit-
ish Museum.
Ilowever, it strikes me that in earl y Buddhism. there was
once much more to thc symbol of the chakra in the sense of
power and aut hority (the 'universal monarch', called a
chukr(Jl'(lrtill. or 'wheel turner', is ultimatel y the most power-
ful and authoritari:m of all kings). perhaps specifically engen-
dered by the Mauryan usage al Sarnmh and its spread Ihrough
much of the lndie world in subsequent copies as commonly
found in early monumenl s. One of the most elaborme pres-
entl y known is the great 2nd century clwkra from Amaravat i,
the site of an Ashokan Buddhist stupa in today's Andhm
Pradesh. which is best understood frOIll a reconstruction draw-
ing ( Figs 9a and 9b). I think it is based on a description of
Indm's mjra weapon or 'bolt ' in the Rig Veda. in which it is
said: '[the god] Tvastar tumed for thee [ll1(fm], the Mighty, the
boll [I"(lj m] with thousand spikes and hundred edges' (Rig
Veda VI: 17.10; www.hinduwebsi te.com/ saercdscripts/
rigintro.asp). Such a symbol would have been instantly recog-
ni7..able to any educated member of the Brahmin caste who had
memori zed the Rig fhla as a child. Usurping IndrJ's ult imate
weapon along with well-known representat ions of Indra and
Brahm<l offering homage to the meditating Buddha. in the cul-
tural eOnle"t oflhe time. would have been powerful statcments
(Fig 90) 'lv'hee l
From AmorovclII, Ar.dhrc Prodesh, 100'0
Mouryo/Shur>go perooo, C 200100 BCE
Morble
He'ghT opproximolely 1.37 m
Amorovoti Site Museum
of the primacy of Buddhism over I3rahmanis!1l. By the time of
this 5th century sculpture. such propagandistic devices were
probably more a mailer of traditional convention than mean-
ingful communication. Yet their root s nm deep, and the great
Dhannachakra Ouddha of Sa mat h is an inheritor of such once
hidden messages.
Another tradi tion-steeped clement 1l13y be seen in the very
specific type of platfonn on which the dharmachakra rests,
which is still in common usc in the presenl day. It is a simpl i-
fi ed convention for Mount MeTU, the meditational cosmologi-
cal mountain, found ubiqui tously throughout the Buddhi st
world (Fig. 10). While to the casual observer this might secm
like over-reading. it is nol. Indeed the designation 'Sumcru
(anothcrname for [Mount] Meru) with reference to this typcof
platfonn has survived simply transli tcrutcd into East Asian
languages, where in Japanese, for example, we find
'Sumedan', with the combined mCll ning 'Platfoml of the Ex-
cell ent Mountain'. By the placement of the wheel on the

(F'g. 10) Drow,n9 of the Mount Meru
plolform under the wheel in Figvre 5b
(By Ihe oUlhor)
,
,

.
... k .... r .. odi",
...
MOun' .........
,--lerril< ...
of (.i"ence
(F'g. 9b) RecOnSII'1JO'on 01 the wheel in Fig ur"
(By the outhor)
Mount M('ru platform, the statement is made that the Dh:lrm:l
abidcs fcternallyJ in the heavens above Mount Mem. and the
symbol sel"\'es as a spcci fie reminder of the fi ve ecrt:linties of
thc leaching of the Dhanna 10 monks. Theyarc: 1) the place is
always Akanishta paradisc; 2) the te:lcher is always the Bud-
dIm Va irochana: 3) the peers arc always bodhisaU-
vas: 4) the teachings arc always the Great Vchicle: and 5) the
time is always thc cternal continuum of past, prcscm and future.
F
inally, we must consider the messages of the Buddha's
th rone (as(lIw) and its aecoutrcmenls (Fig. 11). By the late
5th century. there were four different types of seats/supports
for a Ouddha. These arc:
I) The I"Ojrasu/lll, the Buddha's se:l\ of awakening: both a
statcment of his awakening and inherent in all the following
types.
2) The simlws(lll(l or 'lion throne', which is identic31to the
raja.mlla. the 'scat ofa king '; the l3uddha is usually considered
a c/l(lkra\"{/rfin king, thus maki ng a positive identity orthe twO
th rones, which are not physic.L1ly different from each ot her .
3) Thc [Mount] Men! as(/I/(/: the scat at the highest heaven of
Mount Mem (i. e. Akanishlll paradise), indicating the univer-
s:tl ity and eterni ty of thc Dharma and the Buddha
Shakyamuni's identit y with Vairochana.
4) The padmasano, or 'lotus throne'; esscntially a reaffirma-
tion of the Mount Meru OSflIlll because it is specifically the
'I,OOO-petal1cd lotus throne of Vai roeh:lna in Akani shta '.
These can be combined in any number of ways or used si ngly,
as in the case orthe Sarrmth Dhurmnchakra Uuddha. Hcre the
throne is the simplest fornl of raja.wllla, with only mythi cal
91
creatures such as makam (3 quasi-elephantine water
creature) reclining on the cross-har at the top of the
throne back. and the l'Jafaka or ..,/J(ln/ufa (originally a
winged lion that has many forms in SOUlh Asia)
addorscd against the uprights on the sides of the throne
back. As mentioned in 2) above, this then represents the
Buddha as the ruler of mundane space. in other words.
the mortal teacher of humans known as a lIirll1anaka),a.
or transfonnation Buddha. whieh is entirely in keep-
ing with the nature of the seui ng as the place of the first
leaching.
On the other hand. the hulo (pmhlwlI1(/l/dala) or
circle of radiance. flyi ng attendants ('hal/ridhara)
and the particular version of the dll(lrll1ac/wkm fill/elm
add details ofinfoml<ltion that :lid the comprehension of
the knowledgeable viewer. The prabllOlI1andala indi-
cates the Buddhas transcendence and illuminating at-
tainment. This isan Indieoutgrowth of the Persian royal
symbol of khmmah. signifying being chosen to lead'
in Sasano-lr:mian iconography. and in Buddhism repre-
sents the ullimate authority oflhe teacher. The flvin\! at-
tendant s circle the te:lcher ' s head and symbolize-the
gods (icm) of the various heavens honouring the Bud-
dha. his wisdom and his te:lching. They si mpl y add to
hi s khmmah symboli sm and reit erate hi s attainment
(sec sidebur).
The II1l/dm, examined carefully. is quite different
from \vhat one might expect from a depiction of the first
teachi ng. We can sec clearly that the left middle finger is
the one pointing to the circle funned by the right hand
(Fig. 12, B lind Il l ). As Chaya Chandrasekhar and [
have shown elsewhere. thcre is a hierarchy of teachings
Q'
IFig. 11) Oiogfom 01 the
throne components in Figure
5 ond the .. iconography
The divine Glory or/an-I! ;:culi (old Persian: klnamah) in an ever-
last ing principle of Irani an political ideology .... Yetlittlc attention
has bcen devoted to the visual symbolism ofjilrr and its potcntial of
more light on our percept ion of ancient Iranian history:
\Vnh tIllS introduction in his Preface (p. xi). Abolala Soudavar be-
gins his study ofT/Ie Allra a/King.): Legitimacy alld Divine Salle/ioll
illlmllia" King!>""I' (Costa Mesa. Cal ifornia, 2003). This small vol-
ume is one of those semi nal studies that instantly change ones per-
spcctive on a topic. I n it Soudavar traces. li nguistically and visu:llly.
the auras and other clements of royal regltiia from recenl Mughal us-
age to thc Achaemenid dynasty (550-330 BeE). [n doing so. he ex-
plains how thc hllio. ribbons lind other paraphernalia arc not sym-
bols of direct indivi dual divinity but of in vesti lure by the god(s) of
authority and power. This is illustruted by the gods olTering ofa bc-
(narrah) to the king. This is most commonly
known III Indle art on the coi ns of the Grellt Kushans. Beribboned,
haloed and variously crowned monarchs have existed since
Achaemenid times. and flourished in Ihe Parthian (247 BCE-CE
228) and Sasanian (226-651) dynasties of ancient Persia. In the
northern Indi e regions of Gandhara (no\\' in Pakistan) and Bactria
(in modem northern Afghanistan and sout hern Tajikistan). there
was an ongoing cultural interface between Persian regions and the
Indic subcont inent. and it is clear from surviving sculpture that cer-
l:1in elemenlsoflrlUlian royal symboli sm were adopted by the north-
wcstern Buddhists at a \"eryearJy date. including all ofthekhwmwh
or authority' symboli sm. Since Buddhi sm was demonstrably in the
region by the lime of the Indo-Greek king Menander (he is the

ofth.e Milillda pmllra,. a Buddhist text dating to around 100

BeE). and wt despread by the time of the Indo- Parthian Maues (c. 90
or 85-60 BCE). the assimilation must have taken place in the vcry
beginning of the formative period of Buddhist art.
(Fig. 12) A ond AI: Shokyomuni leaching
Ihe ' Iirsl ' turning ollhe Dhormo wheel while
d,sployong me dhormochokro porworlOnO
w"h the lelllorelinge' poinling to the wheel
From Samolh. Uttor Prodesh, Indio
GuplO penod, mod_5th cenlury
5ondslone
He,ght 1.2 m (opprollmO'ely)
Somalh Sile Museum
Bond B 1 lmoge 01 Sholcyomuni in
Figure 5 leoching the 'f, rst' lumlng 01
Ihe Dharma wheel wroile displaying II.e
dhormochoho porivorrono mudro wl lh
Ihe left middle f,nger poinMg 10 troe wheel
From Sornolh. Uttar Prodesh, Indio
Gupl0 period, 2nd half of the 51h cenlury
Sandslone
Height 1. 37 m (opproximOlely)
Sornolh Slle Museum
(ond ( 1: Shokyomuni leoch,ng Ihe ' first'
hJrning ollhe Dhormo wheel whi le disploying
Ihe dhormochokro porivorrono mOOro with
Ihe let! middle linger poinl;ng to Ihe wheel
From Sarnolh, Uttor Prodesh, IndiO
PoSIGuplo (3 19-e:. 5(0) or Vordhono per,od
(e:. 500-6-4 7), 101e 6th/eorly 71n cenlufY
Sandstone
He'ghl 25cm (oppro.imotely)
Indion Museum, Kolkolo
based on the statement in the AIatamsaka SlIlra Ihat
Shakyamuni. at the very moment or his enlightenment, as-
ccnded to Akanishta paradi se and, donning his Vairochana
robes, gave the firstlcaching 10 the bodhisarn'as in f/..'"Sidcnce
thcre, thc subject of which was the Al'afllmsaka SlIIra itselr
(Huntington und Ch:mdrasckhar. 2000). This sutra. describing
the trUll sccndcnt glory of thc Dharma and or the abode or
Vairochanu. hud guincd wide popularity by the 5th century,
and cui minuting in the cult or Drihad (or colossal) Buddhas.
whic h in the 7th and 8th centuries included many images or
Vairochana aTllong others (ror example. ut the Longmen caves
in Henan province. China: at Todaiji in NUnl. Japan; at
Bami yan in Arghanistan: and at Purihaspur in Kashmir).
Given the assumed primacy of the teaching orthe Amlamsaka.
the teaching at the Mrigadava became the second leaching.
which is thus indicated by thc left middle (second) finger
pointing to the circle made by the right hand. This symbolism
is carried through to a third teaching or general Mahayana. us-
ing the ring finger. and Ihe very widely known fourth teaching
or thc Vairochlll1a-based tanlras (Mahavairochalla
Abhisamhodhi. San'alathagato Tattl'osamgraha and
San'mJlIrgali Plirisho</alla). in which the left little finger
points to thc circle made by the right hand (sec Fig. 6).
What is especiully intcresting at Sumath is thut a transition
takes place in the lIlid- 5th ccntury rrom Ihe left rorefinger be-
ing used ror the first earthly teachi ng to tne left middle finger,
indicuting that it was the second teaching (sec Fig. 12, A and
A I. and Band B 1, respectively). The mi ddle finger eOl1ven-
tion seems to continue in most. ir not all. later images at
Samath displaying the dlwrmac!wka 1II11dra (sec Fig. 12, C
and Cl ), providing u clear point (c. 460-70)oftransition in be-
li ef and teachings at a major Buddhist site.
I II closing. I will point out that these arc but a few of the
morc subtlc nuanecs of Buddhi st art. The rcason ror them is
simple: much of Buddhist pmetice wus secret. or at least re-
served ror the initiated. My col1eltgue. Dinu Bungdel and I
learned this in great detail when we were working on Nepalese
(Newar) Buddhism in prepamtion ror the exhibi tion 'Circle of
Bliss: Buddhi st Meditational Art' (2003-04), which we
cumtcd. As Buddhi sm moves to the West. the openness and
sharing will bccomc vastly greater as there is little reason to
protect the secrctl1lethodologics in a plumlistic society.
John I lunlln1!lon IS or ,\" IIISIOry. specializing in Buddhi sl an.
al The OhiO Slale Columbus. Ohio.
Ali Images are by John C. I hmtmgton and Eric R. Huntington. oouncsyof
the I luntmgton Archi ve. Depanment of An History. College of the Ans
and Ilumanitieo. The Ohio 5131e Unher:sity. For more- information. plea!;C
see hnp:flhumingtonarchi\e.osu.edu:dambase.htm. (Some of the more-
recent eolour may not yet be posted.)
John C. HUlillngwn and Chaya Ch3ndrase khar. T he
Dhannachnkrallludra V(lriam at i\jama: An Iconological Study'. in
Stephe!! Markel. <:d .. Ars Or/ellll/lis SU1'1'I<'II/<'1II I (F<'Il.l"chrifi
IWI!()r;,rg IIi/iiI'/" At. Spink). 2000. pp. 34-39.
John C. lIunlinlllon and Dina Bnngdcl. The Cin-!I' of BIiH. Buddhist
/lfc(liratiolw/ Art, Chicngo. 2003.
I)J