Buddhism in its connexion with Brahmanism and Hinduism and in its contrast with Christianity . gns and marks of a Buddha wereperfectly drawn. The loving expression of his face was like it happened that a Sramana, who was passing the night in theVihara, had a dream, in which he saw a Brahman who said:— I am Maitreya Bodhi-sattva. Fearing that the mind of no artistcould conceive the beauty of the sacred features, I myself have cometo delineate the figure of Buddha. His right hand hangs down, intoken that when he was about to reach Buddhahood the evil Mfiracame to tempt him, saying, Who
Buddhism in its connexion with Brahmanism and Hinduism and in its contrast with Christianity . gns and marks of a Buddha wereperfectly drawn. The loving expression of his face was like it happened that a Sramana, who was passing the night in theVihara, had a dream, in which he saw a Brahman who said:— I am Maitreya Bodhi-sattva. Fearing that the mind of no artistcould conceive the beauty of the sacred features, I myself have cometo delineate the figure of Buddha. His right hand hangs down, intoken that when he was about to reach Buddhahood the evil Mfiracame to tempt him, saying, Who will bear witness for you 1 ThenTathagata dropped his hand and pointed to the ground, saying, Hereis my witness. On this an earth-spirit leapt forth to bear witness.(Beals Records, ii. 121, abridged.) This Witness-attitude is also shown in the annexed 1 See Lalita-vistara (Calc. ed.), pp. 402, 403, 449,11. 6-14. 48o SERPENT-CANOPIED ATTITUDE. engraving from a photograph of one of the onlystatues that remained in the exterior niches of theancient Buddha-Gaya temple before its The two seal-Hke circles on each side contain the usual*Ye dharma formula (see p. 104 and p. xxx. 18). The third sedent pose or position may be called the Serpent-canopied. This is commemorative of thelegend that Gautama, when seated in meditation afterhis attainment of Buddhahood, was sheltered from aviolent storm by the expanded hood of the Naga, orserpent-demon Mucalinda (see p. 39), while the coils ofthe snake were wound round his body, or gatheredunder him to form a seat. Similarly the ascetic formof Siva is often represented under a serpent-canopy. TEACHING ATTITUDE. 48 I Only one example of tins has been found at Buddha-Gaya. Such images, however, are common in thesouth, and their prevalence there is not difficult toaccount for. Indeed, the connexion of Buddhism withthe serpent-worship of southern countries and with theNagas of Hindu mythology (see p. 220 of these Lec-tures), was one
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