Reflections of the Buddha - The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts

tradition that referenced the sacred text (sūtra) known as
the “Discourse on Characteristics,” or the Lakkhana Sutta
in Pāli. This text enumerates the thirty-two characteristics
of great men like the Buddha, including legs like an
antelope’s, a penis that is covered by a sheath, a frame
that is divinely straight, and shoulders with no furrow
between them. The sculptors heightened these
attributes by carving a transparent drapery comprised of
ringed folds in relief that systematically cascade down
and across the body.
Most artists created works anonymously yet
each showed great originality and craftsmanship. They
culled ideas from outsiders — itinerant artists as well as
travelling Buddhist clerics and lay practitioners who
brought their own statues, sūtras, and other religious objects
with them. These items influenced the practices,
iconography, and styles of the local workshop. As depictions
of Buddhas and bodhisattvas moved from Pakistan,
Afghanistan, and India to other parts of Asia, styles were
adapted to suit the tastes of the local cultures. For instance,
the artist of the Chinese Standing Buddha
Śākyamuni (no. 9) did not directly incorporate the Indian
Gupta style sometime around 600, but what is apparent
is his more mediated acceptance of it. This is seen in the
rounded shoulders, the hint of the leg underneath the
robe’s cascading pleats, and the nudity of his chest.
An intermingling of styles may also be seen
between Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara in the Form of Khasarpana
Lokeśvara (no. 17), from either Bihar or Bengal during
the Pāla period (750 – 1150) in India, and Bodhisattva
Avalokiteśvara (no. 14), from Nepal during the Transitional
period (c. 879 – 1200). Both works depict bodhisattvas as
Brahman princes with smooth and rounded bodies,
which are decorated elaborately with necklaces, armbands,
diadems, earrings, and sacred threads that wrap
around the figures’ left shoulders, then down and around
their right thighs. Both have stacked braided hair and
sheer dhotis that cling to their bodies. The thin-waist torsos
have similar belly clefts that protrude just over their
belts, their hips move to one side, and their fleshy palms
and animated fingers hold (or once held, in the case of
the Nepalese work) lotus stems. The resemblances between
the works attest to the flow of artists, mystics,
monks, and lay practitioners who travelled back and
forth between eastern India and the Nepal’s Kathmandu
Valley for centuries. 5
Other instances of cultural exchange in the
exhibition may be seen between the Nepalese Bodhisattva
Avalokiteśvara (no. 14) and the Mongolian Standing
Bodhisattva Maitreya (no. 16). During the seventeenth century,
the renowned Mongolian monk Zanabazar (1635
– 1723), the son of a prominent family of the Khalkha
Mongols, learned to make works of art inspired by
Nepalese sculptures while training to be a Buddhist
monk in Tibet. He returned to Mongolia with a convoy of
clerics and artisans and built monasteries and workshops
where sculptures like Standing Bodhisattva Maitreya were
cast for monastic altars. In this way, early Nepalese
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traditions of making and rendering Buddhist figures
made their way into Mongolia. 6
Incised inscriptions and symbols on Buddhist
sculptures provide hints to understanding why and when
sculptures were made. Yet trying to fully grasp the institutional
and ritual contexts of a Buddhist image that is
now part of a museum collection may be problematic given
the difficulty of determining a function on the basis of
appearance alone, and given the high probability that a
single object had multiple purposes. Indeed, inscriptions
carved on the bases of Buddhist sculptures convey that
patrons sought a wide range of benefits through such
commissions, both worldly and otherworldly. Among
worldly benefits were good health and wealth, success in
a military campaign, longevity, and the happiness and
welfare of all people. Otherworldly benefits included the
acquisition of karmic merit for the donors and their families,
guilds, or other community groups. Karma is the
universal law of cause and effect: Actions in this life will
determine the form in which an individual will be reborn
in the next life. Such commissions thus would advance
patrons on the path toward Nirvāna.
A desire to accrue karmic merit was likely one
of the factors behind the making of Seated Bodhisattva
Tārā in her “Green Manifestation” (no. 15). Tārā, one of the
most beloved deities of Vajrayāna Buddhists, has the ability
to save beings from the eight dangers (pride, delusions,
hatred, envy, fanatical views, avarice, lust, and doubts). 7
Of Tārā’s twenty-one forms, her green manifestation
is considered her most active. Inscribed on the base of
this sculpture, near Tārā’s right foot, is the following inscription:
大明永樂年施 (Da Ming Yonglenian shi), which
may be translated: “Donated [during the] Yongle reign [of
the] Great Ming [dynasty].” 8 This indicates that the sculpture
was likely produced in an imperial workshop of the
Chinese Yongle Emperor, a Vajrayāna practitioner who
reigned from 1402 to 1424. The term shi 施 (“donated”)
suggests that it was produced specifically as a gift, possibly
for a Buddhist temple as far away as Tibet. 9
On the underside of the sculpture Seated
Bodhisattva Tārā is a removable plate incised with an image
of crossed vajras — ritual implements with curved
prongs at each end symbolizing the thunderbolt/diamond
path of Vajrayāna Buddhists (fig. 1, page 10). The vajra denotes
the indestructible, immutable, and brilliant nature
of Buddhist reality. Normally, the crossed-vajra symbol
protects the sacred objects inside. The practice of inserting
objects is often associated with the consecration of a
Buddhist object as an icon: Inserted objects were thought
in some cases to enhance the power of “the unseen
Sacred and to increase its degree of presence in the
image.” 10 Some included objects have also been associated
with talismans, which possess the magic to protect, heal,
and bring good fortune. Since Seated Bodhisattva Tārā is
too small to serve as an icon, today it may be categorized
as a Vajrayāna talismanic sculpture made in China to
be donated for karmic merit sometime between 1402
and 1424.