An Introduction to the Ajanta Caves: With Examples of Six Caves by Singh Rajesh Kumar

Author:Singh, Rajesh Kumar [Singh, Rajesh Kumar]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hari Sena Press Private Limited
Published: 2013-01-29T00:00:00+00:00

127 The wall with the Hamsa narrative (interior, left wall of the front aisle)

Shibi-Kapota. For the story, see p. 79.

128 The wall with the Shibi-Kapota narrative (interior, front aisle, right wall)

129 An episode from Bhagavatprasuti (the Birth of the Enlightened One). Bodhisatva in conversation with the gods of Tusita Heaven is planning his last birth in samsara. (Cave 2, interior left wall)

Bhagavatprasuti

When the time had come for the Bodhisatva to have his last rebirth, celestial hymns were chanted. After that, he went to the assembly of the gods and informed them about when, where, and how he would take his last birth on earth. Then, on a full moon night, he took the form of a young, white, six-tusked elephant. The queen, Maya, wife of King Shuddhodana of Kapilavastu, saw this sequence in her dreams and related it to her husband in the morning. On the king’s request, the brahmins interpreted the queen’s dream, saying she would give birth to a son who would become either a universal monarch or an enlightened Buddha. The king, pleased by this prediction, offered presents to the needy people in his city. A palace was built by the deities so that the queen could stay there during her pregnancy. She neither suffered physical or mental anxieties associated with women in her state, nor did she feel lust for a man. The queen could feel the Bodhisatva in her womb. As the time for delivery neared, Maya requested her husband to send her to Lumbini Park, where she could enjoy nature in full bloom. The king arranged her trip and she left in a chariot with a number of attendants. In the grove, she found a fig tree decorated with cloths and pearls. As soon as she held a branch of that tree with her right arm, the Bodhisatva appeared from the right side of her body. Then, Indra and Brahma appeared, received the infant and covered him with a divine silk cloth. When the Bodhisatva stood on the ground, two Naga kings, Nanda and Upananda, emerged from the earth with a flow of warm and cold water to cleanse the Bodhisatva. Then, the Bodhisatva opened his divine eyes, looked over the world, took seven steps in all directions and announced his mission. Though the queen’s body was clean and intact, ponds of water and fragrant oil materialised before her, with heavenly girls to serve her. One week after the Bodhisatva’s birth, the queen died and the infant was taken to Kapilavastu and handed over to his aunt. The Bodhisatva was to be offered to the gods, according to custom. As soon as Shuddhodana entered the temple with the Bodhisatva, all the gods moved from their respective positions and fell at the Bodhisatva’s feet to worship him.

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