Narrative images of episodes from the life of Gautama Buddha in art have been intermittently an important part of Buddhist art, often grouped into cycles, sometimes rather large ones. However, at many times and places, images of the Buddha in art have been very largely single devotional images without narrative content from his life on Earth.
The literary accounts of the life of Gautama Buddha vary considerably in details but are mostly consistent in describing the main events.Pal, 39 One of the largest surviving bodies of artistic depictions is the rather small stone reliefs of Gandharan art, beginning in the 1st century BC and continuing for several centuries. These reliefs probably reflected subjects in paintings, both murals and illustrating manuscripts, none of which survive.Pal, 51; It has been suggested that the scrolling circles at the ends of the crossbars of the Sanchi gateways imitate illustrated manuscripts of a type which has not survived. Leidy, 16 Their range of about 50 subjects is large,Behrend (2007), 33 and very rarely exceeded in later art, except in the 120 large reliefs at Borobudor in Java, Indonesia, (but 27 of these are of subjects before his birth); in East Asian Buddhism some new biographical subjects appeared much later, but otherwise the Gandharan subjects include the great majority of scenes appearing later.Pal, 51-+52
The 9th-century Borobudor reliefs illustrate the Lalitavistara Sūtra,Krom, 1 a Mahayana text, originally in Sanskrit, probably from the 3rd century. This only covers the life up to the Buddha's first Sermon. There is also a large body of Jataka tales, relating events from the many previous lives of Gautama Buddha, which were often subjects in Gandhara and early Indian art. By contrast, narrative scenes from the history of Buddhism after the Buddha's death are very few.Marshall, 8
In post-Gupta India a number of the most important scenes were grouped together; again stone reliefs on steles have survived, but painted versions only from later periods, and mostly from other countries. The most important grouping was The Eight Great Events in the Life of Buddha.Pal, 47–48 In Tibetan Buddhism ten or twelve scenes were more common in painted thankas, the twelve being the "twelve actions (or deeds) of the Buddha".Skorupski, 162; Mandala There are much larger numbers of painted scenes surviving from more recent centuries, especially from South-East Asia. With the arrival of printing, book illustrations and posters continued the tradition. Some scenes became established subjects in Chinese and Japanese painting, and later prints.
The Historical Buddha
The "Historical Buddha" or Gautama Buddha was born at Lumbini, in modern terms a little way into Nepal from the border with India. According to the traditional Buddhist chronology, he was born around 563 BC, and lived eighty years until his death . Modern scholarship prefers later dates, essentially working backwards from his death and not having an alternative age at death, with estimates of the death date mostly around 411 to 400, giving birth dates around 491 to 480 BC.Brown (2003); see Gautama Buddha for more detail on the various estimated death dates.
According to tradition, which is, as reflected in texts and art, effectively the only source for his biography,Pal, 18 he was born the son of Suddhodhana, who is always treated as a king (raja) in later texts and art, but was probably the elected leader of the Shakya Republic, and grew up at Kapilavastu, a "city" for which two nearby claimant sites exist, in India and (more probably) Nepal. He was known as Siddharta Gautama in his pre-religious life, Siddharta meaning "He who achieves His Goal", with "Gautama" the name of his clan. Later he was called Shakyamuni ("sage of the Shakya clan").Brown (2003) His mother, Maya died within a week of his birth, and he was raised by his aunt Pajapati, who was also a wife of his father. The scale of luxury of this life is no doubt greatly exaggerated in later texts and art, reflecting that of the most important monarchies of the day, but it was presumably a very comfortable life.Brown (2003); Pal, 40–41
He was married at 16, to the daughter of a Shakya noble. It was twelve years before a child was born, by which time Siddharta, then aged 29, had decided to renounce the life his father wanted for him, for that of a Śramaṇa ascetic. The night his son Rahula was born he secretly left the palace for good, and started living as a mendicant ascetic. He studied with two teachers of meditation and yoga, and became drawn to extreme asceticism. Eventually he realized that this was not the correct path, and developed the philosophy of the Middle Way. At the age of 35 he was meditating under a Bodhi Tree at Bodh Gaya when he experienced his enlightenment. From now on, he is typically referred to as "the Buddha", rather than Shakyamuni.Brown (2003); Pal, 41–42
He remained meditating at Bodh Gaya for six or seven weeks before leaving to spread the new teachings he had developed. His first sermon, known as the Sermon in the Deer Park, was given at Sarnath to five companions he had known since his ascetic period. He spent the remaining 45 (or so) years of his life travelling around modern Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh preaching and collecting disciples.Brown (2003); Pal, 43–44
The Buddha died in the company of some of his followers, according to tradition at the age of eighty. He was cremated, and his ashes and some of his possessions distributed to centres of his movement. The veneration of his relics, called cetiya, became important in Buddhism.Brown (2003)
The earliest biographical texts are all preserved only in manuscripts from much later, often with texts that have been translated into a non-Indian language, for example Chinese or Tibetan. Modern scholars believe that they probably contain later additions. They differ considerably in details, but generally are consistent with each other and with the earliest art regarding the main outlines of the life, which generally predates the textual versions that have survived. Even those believed to represent the earliest versions have many miraculous or legendary elements, which only increase in later versions.Pal, 18
In the texts the life of the Buddha is followed with enormous interest by large numbers of gods and other figures, who sometimes come to earth to intervene or merely witness, as shown in depictions of the Great Departure.Pons, 31–34, 36–37 The Gandharan reliefs seem to have followed the biographical details in the Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra, a text that now only survives in Chinese translations.Behrend (2007), 32
Events shown in art: early life Return to Earth
In Buddhism, the story of the Buddha's final incarnation begins before his conception or birth.Bautze-Picron, 208–209 After great numbers of previous lives, the future Buddha, usually regarded as already a bodhisattva, was in the Tushita heaven when he decided to live a final life on Earth. After lengthy considerations,Krom, 3–10; Play, Chapter 3 he made his choice of a family to be born into. In some accounts, Maitreya was at this point named by the Buddha as the next buddha.Leidy, 36–37; Krom, 8–9 These scenes are often shown in art; at Borobudor there are 27 panels preceding Buddha's birth.Soekmono, 21; Good photos, with explanations of the scenes
Queen Maya's dream
Queen Maya, mother of the Buddha, dreamed one night that a white elephant holding a white lotus, and with six tusks, entered her womb through her side. In an earlier life, the Buddha had taken this form. The next day she discovered she was pregnant. She told her husband King Suddhodhana, whose astrologers advised that the child would be either a chakravartin or a buddha.Varma, 072, "Maha Maya's Dream"; Pal, 40, 77–78
Queen Maya's dream, which is popular in early periods, always shows Maya lying on a bed, usually with her head on the right, so that her right hand side is uppermost. The elephant, not to scale, hovers above her, in Gandhara usually surrounded by a circular halo. His trunk may reach down to touch her sides. Maids and deities may stand around the bed.Pal, 77–78
Birth of the Buddha
The first of the Four and the Eight Great Events, and one of the most common scenes, although not appearing in the very early Indian stupas.Bautze-Picron, 208 Queen Maya, mother of the Buddha, was returning to her parents' home to give birth. She stopped for a walk in the park or grove at Lumbini, now in Nepal. Reaching up to hold a bough of a sal tree (Shorea robusta),In Indian accounts; elsewhere it may be a Ficus religiosa or bodhi tree. Behrend (2007), 37 labour began. Maya standing with her right hand over her head, holding a curving bough, is the indispensable part of the iconography; this was a pose familiar in Indian art, often adopted by yakshini tree-spirits. Maya's feet are usually crossed, giving a graceful tribhanga pose. The Buddha emerged miraculously from her side, which is usually shown in small depictions with him as though flying. In larger ones two male figures stand to the left, representing the Vedic gods Indra, who reaches out to hold the baby, and Brahma standing behind him. Maya's sister Pajapati may support her to the right, and maids may stand on the right, and apsaras or other spirits hover above.Craven, 88; Nativity Scene: The Birth of the Buddha, Brooklyn Museum; Prematilleke, 164; Pal (1984), 40–41, 53, 55; Behrend (2007), 37–38
The Buddha was able to stand and take seven steps almost immediately,Varma, 072 – Birth Story of Gotama a lotus flower springing up where each step went, and the baby standing on the final lotus may be shown, often in addition to him emerging from his mother's side. He raises his right hand towards heaven and declares "I alone am honoured in heaven and on earth. This triple world is full of sufferings; I will be the saviour from these sufferings".Pal, 83
In East Asia this subject became popular by itself, the most famous and one of the earliest at the Todaiji in Nara, Japan.Shashibala, 54; Pal (1984), 70, 83–86 Buddha's first bath is also sometimes shown in the same scene; two Nagaraja (Nāga kings) perform the bathing, and maids may attend.Sahni, 188; Buddha's first bath, V&A Museum; Karetzky, 140–141; Pal (1984), 82 Symbolic re-enactments of this form part of the rituals celebrating Buddha's Birthday or Vesak in many countries.Pal (1984), 19, 82; Pal (1988), 66–67
Meeting with Asita
Asita was a wise man who had been the king's guru, but had retired to the forest. In some versions he had been the chief interpreter of Queen Maya's dream. Hearing of the birth, he went to the palace, accompanied by his nephew Nalaka (later a follower of the Buddha), and recognised the "Thirty-two Characteristics of a Great Man" (Skt. mahāpuruṣa lakṣaṇa).Pal, 254 He prophesied that the baby would grow up to be a buddha, then began to weep. Asked why by the king, he said he regretted that he would not live long enough to hear Siddharta's teachings.Varma, 074 "Sage Asita's visit; Pal, 41 In Gandharan depictions and at Amaravarti Stupa, the sage may hold the baby on his knees, while at Borobudor he sits in his father's lap.Krom, 36–38 Especially in South East Asia, the baby may place his foot on Asita's head.As described in some texts: "Asita" in www.palikanon.com
Soon after his birth, the king proposed following custom and visiting the city's temple to present the new-born to the gods. Siddharta, already able to speak, objected but in the end went. When the group arrived at the temple, the statues of the gods stepped down and prostrated themselves before Siddharta.The Life of Buddha, by A. Ferdinand Herold, 22–23, tr. by Paul C Blum , at sacred-texts.com This episode is depicted at Borobudor.Krom, 39–41; Borobudur, Lalitavistara reliefs, 035 S, The Statues worship Siddhartha photo
Childhood of Siddharta
Education