BUDDHA VISITING BRAHMIN KASHYAPA
Description
This is an excellent execution of one of the most important episodes in the life of the Buddha. Soon after his first sermon in the Deer Park at Sarnath, the Buddha decided to visit the brahmin ascetics at the Urubilva village. He went to the hermitage of the oldest brahmin of the Kashyapa clan where he had to take recourse to miracles to make him see the light of the Dharma.
The artist has vividly captured this moment when the old Brahmin, amazed to see the Buddha at his door, tried to quickly get up from his seat of a rolled mat, with the support of his right hand. His hut made of bamboo and straw and the sacrificial fire in front, create the atmosphere of a hermitage. Typical of the brahmin ascetics, Kashyapa wears a short dhoti, a beard and a heavy jata tied in a knot on his head and he has a long stick in his left hand for support. The haloed Buddha is arriving at the door of the hermitage with a benign gesture of the abhay mudra, followed by Vajrapani, his constant companion in the Gandhara art. A curious disciple of Kashyapa peeps from behind the hut.
Collection
Buddhist Art
Object Type
Architectural fragment Figurine
Material
Grey Schist
Schools/Culture/Period
Gandharan
Technique
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Date
3rd century CE
Location
Gandhara, Pakistan
Dimension
19 x 32 x 8.5 cms.