Q1.
Discuss the way the Buddha is depicted in the above panel.
Answer
Look at the panel on page 114 carefully before answering — the sculptor used a whole set of visual signals, and every one of them is saying something.
| What you can see | What it is telling you |
|---|---|
| He stands at the centre and is the tallest figure | In ancient art, size means importance. The eye is pulled to him before you notice anybody else |
| A plain circular halo behind his head | A nimbus — the standard sign of a radiant, enlightened being. Nobody else in the panel has one |
| His right hand is raised, palm turned out, fingers together | A gesture of teaching and of reassurance. He is not blessing, commanding or fighting — he is explaining |
| A long monastic robe covering both shoulders, falling in deep folds | A monk's robe, not royal dress. Although he was born a prince, he is shown as one who gave that up |
| No crown, no ornaments, no weapon | Compare the listeners, several of whom wear elaborate headdresses and jewellery. His authority comes from what he knows, not from what he owns |
| Hair gathered into a topknot above the head | The uṣhṇīṣha, a conventional mark of a great being in Indian sculpture |
| A calm face, eyes lowered, no expression of anger or excitement | The look of one who is “at peace” — the very quality that made the young Siddhārtha notice the ascetic from his chariot |
| Listeners crowd around him on both sides, hands raised or folded | They are turned towards him and towards each other; several appear to be princes or gods. He is not alone on a throne — he is in the middle of a group |
| A tree above, a railing and a pillar behind | The setting of a garden or a monastery enclosure — the ordinary places where the Buddha actually taught |
What the panel is, physically. It is a stone relief, some 1,800 years old, that is, from roughly the 2nd–3rd century CE — six or seven centuries after the Buddha lived. The greenish schist and the very realistic, deeply carved drapery are features art historians associate with the Gandhāra school of sculpture of the northwest.
The most interesting thing about it is what is missing. The Buddha taught that ignorance and attachment cause suffering, and that “conquering oneself is greater than conquering a thousand men on the battlefield”. The sculptor has made exactly that visible: the central figure is the one with no crown, no jewels and no weapon, and the crowned figures are the ones listening. The composition itself is an argument.
How to discuss this in class: ask three questions in order. (1) Who is most important, and how did you know without being told? (2) What is he doing with his hands? (3) What is he not wearing that a prince would wear? Reading an image by asking what is present and what is deliberately absent is a skill you will use again in every chapter that shows art.