BUDDHIST ANTIQUITIES OF NAGARJUNAKONDA
worlds, In the fourth week he took a short walk which, however, has to be understood in a relative sense for it is said to have covered the whole distance between the East and the West sea. In the sculpture at Barabadur depicting this event, the Buddha is shown at the moment when he was returning, from his walk, to the throne at the Bodhimanda The scene we are discussing can therefore be identified as the third week after the Enlightenment according to the Pali narrative or the second or the fourth week according to the Sanskrit text.
The sixth week, according. to the Pali texts, or the fifth, according to to the Lalita-vistara, was spent by the Buddha at a tree named Muhcalinda of the Naga king of the same name. There arose a great storm and the Naga king sheltered the Buddha in the seven folds of his body. The scene depicted on the right of the lowest panel is undoubtedly this episode. Slightly differing from the texts which state that the Naga king wound round the body of the Tathagata seven coils to shelter him from the storm, the Buddha is depicted seated on the coils of the serpent, the seven hoods protecting him from the weather in the manner of an umbrella. Five of the Naga’s wives are shown in anthropomorphic form to the left of the Buddha, adoring him.
The middle panel depicts two scenes of the episode in which two merchants gave to the Bodtha his first meal after the fast of seven weeks subsequent to the Enlightenment. On the left hand side of the panel the Buddha is seated on a simhasana under a tree which is obviously meant for the rajayatana or the tarayana of the texts. Four personages are standing before him, in a respectful attitude, each bearing, in his hands, a bowl. There is no doubt that this, scene represents the gift of the bowls by the Four Great Kings, the rulers of the lowest heaven. On the right hand side, the Buddha is seated on the same throne and holds, in one of his hands, a bowl which is no doubt the four given by the Four Great Kings ‘miraculously made into one. The bowl is filled with food; and a personage, presumably one of the two leading merchants figuring in the story, is pouring water, from a vase, into the hand of the Buddha—an act symbolic of making a gift. The other merchant is standing behind him with clasped hands, and two other personages, probably representing the followérs of the two merchants, are shown in the background, in the same attitude.
The scene illustrated in the topmost panel can easily be recognised as the delivery of the First Sermon by the Buddha in the Deer Park—one of the four most important events in the life of the Teacher and a favourite theme with Buddhist artists of all countries. The Buddha is shewn in the centre of the composition, seated on a lion throne under a tree. In front of the throne are two deer—a detail which is found in almost all sculptures depicting this event and meant to symbolise the Deer Park. Two personages, probably devas, are standing behind the throne on either side, bearing chauris in their’ hands. ‘To the right of the Buddha are seated, with their hands clasped and listening with profound respect to the preaching, the five monks to whom the First Sermon. was delivered. On the left are a number of devas, also in the same attitude.
