five Leaves from an Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Manuscript
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| Title | Five Leaves from an Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Manuscript. Leaf A: Prajnaparamita and Scenes of the Buddha's Life, c. 1073. Leaf B: Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī and Scenes of the Buddha's Life, c. 1073. Leaf C: Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara and Scenes of the Buddha's Life, c. 1151. Leaf D: Tara and Scenes of the Buddha's Life, c. 1151. Leaf E: Leaf with colophon |
| Description | Buddhist paintings are found in cave temples, halls of worship and meditation, and scriptural texts. The production of Buddhist manuscripts--which are made of talipot palm leaves strung together with cord--illustrated with images of various Buddhist deities, scenes from the life of Śākyamuni, or both of these motifs flourished in Bihar and Bengal under the rule of the Pala kings during the 11th and 12th centuries.Four leaves of a manuscript from eastern India of the Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra (Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines), dated to c. 1073, are illustrated with scenes from the life of the Buddha interspersed with images of deities. The Perfection of Wisdom Sutra is one of the earliest known texts of Mahayana Buddhism; sections of it may have been formulated as early as the 2nd century BCE and it is believed to have been completed by the 2nd century CE.Several inscriptions in Sanskrit and Tibetan (written on leaf E) provide a rare history of the origin of this book. The Sanskrit colophon records the donation of the manuscript by a devotee named Nae Suta Shoha Sitna and lists the name of the scribe as Ananda, of the famous Nalanda monastery in Bihar. The offering was made in the fifteenth year of the rule of King Vigrahapala, son of Nayapala. Nayapala ruled from about 1042 to 1058; the fifteenth year of King Vigrahapala's rule would be around 1073, thereby giving a date for the production of this manuscript. A second Sanskrit inscription records a rededication of the manuscript in 1151. Manuscripts such as this were considered sacred objects and used for teaching and possibly as the focus of meditation. As a result, rededications and repairs were common.The first of the three Tibetan inscriptions translates the Sanskrit, while the second and third trace the history of this Indian book in Tibet. Once owned by the Kashmiri monk Mahapandita Shakya Shri, who was active in Tibet from 1204 to 1213, the manuscript was then used by the famous Butön (1290-1364), the compiler of the first Tibetan canon of Buddhism. The last inscription documents the use of this book and its dedication for the benefit of an otherwise unknown nobleman as part of his funeral rites. The provenance recorded in these inscriptions illustrates how Buddhist manuscripts may have functioned in the spread of Buddhist thought and imagery from India to other parts of Asia.As is generally true in manuscripts of this type, the illustrations do not relate directly to the text, which is primarily a philosophical treatise on the nature of wisdom and compassion. An important Buddhist deity is depicted in the center of each leaf, while a scene from the life of the Buddha is placed to each side. Reading leaves A to D, the central images represent the Buddhist goddess Prajnaparamita, the Bodhisattva Manjushri, the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, and the Buddhist goddess Tara. The illustrations of scenes from the life of the Buddha depict the birth of Śākyamuni, the temptation of Mara, the first sermon, the miracle at Shravasti, the descent from the Heaven of Thirty-three Gods, the taming of the elephant Nalagiri, the offering of honey by a monkey, and the parinirvana (death) of Śākyamuni. Known as the Eight Great Events, these standard scenes are often used in Buddhist sculpture of the Pala period both to encapsulate the Buddha's biography and to provide a spiritual life path for the devotee. In addition, the Eight Great Events are often found in Prajnaparamita manuscripts. However, the insertion of the images of different Buddhist deities such as Prajnaparamita and Manjushri between the scenes from the Buddha's life interrupts the relationship between these scenes, suggesting that the role of these images is more iconic thannarrative.The differences in style found between the paintings on the first two leaves and the second two leaves indicate that the second group was most likely added to the book when it was rededicated in the 12th century. A comparison between theimage of Manjushri on leaf B and that of Avalokiteśvara on C illustrates this difference: Manjushri is painted with a greater sense of depth and movement than is Avalokiteśvara; this same comparison can be made for the attendant figures and additional details in each of these scenes. Manjushri and the other figures on leaves A and B are painted with more delicacy and precision and with a broader range of colors than the figures on C and D. In addition, the white background used in the second group gives an unfinished appearance to these illustrations that is not present in the first two leaves. |
| Creator | Eastern Indian, Asian, Indian Sub-Continent, Indian, Eastern Indian |
| Museum | Asia Society Museum, New York, New York, USA. 1987.001 Asia Society: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Acquisitions Fund |
| Beginning Date | 1073 |
| Ending Date | 1151 |
| Date | Pala period, c. 1073-1151 (circa) |
| Type | Drawings and Watercolors |
| Format (Medium) | Ink and opaque watercolor on palm leaf |
| Format (Extent) | Each approx. 2 7/8 x 22 3/8 in. (7.3 x 56.8 cm) |
| Identifier | CAMIO: ASIA.1987.001 |
| Coverage | India, Bihar, Nalanda monastery |
| Rights | Licensed for non-commercial, educational use. http://www.asiasociety.org/ |
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