Vessantara Jataka
Topic: Early Indian Art and Architecture: Stupas, Rock-cut Caves, Temples · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings"
Meaning
The Vessantara Jataka is one of the Jatakas, stories about the earlier lives of the Buddha. It tells of a very generous prince who gave away everything he had. He even gave his own children and wife to a Brahmana. Historians found this story carved at Sanchi. It shows how sculptures are understood by matching the image with the text.
Example
On a gateway of the Great Stupa at Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh), there is a panel with huts, animals and people. At first it looks like an ordinary village scene. Art historians matched it with the text and identified it as the Vessantara Jataka.
Don't confuse with
- Aniconic symbols: the Vessantara panel tells a full story with human figures. Aniconic symbols, such as the empty seat or the wheel, stand in for the Buddha without showing him in human form.
Related concepts
- Aniconic representation of the Buddha
- Dharmachakra
- Shalabhanjika
- Gajalakshmi
- Mithuna
- Yaksha and yakshi
- Didarganj Yakshi
- Parkham Yaksha
- Saptamatrikas
- James Fergusson