Buddha and the gospel of Buddhism . ery clearly revealed ina passage of the later Visuddhi Magga—for the Hlnayanamaintains the puritanical tradition to the end, with onlyslight concession in admitting the figure of the Buddhahimself—in a passage where painters and musicians areclassed with * perfumers, cooks, elixir-producing physiciansand other like persons who furnish us with objects ofsense. Early Buddhist Art It is only in the third and second centuries that wefind the Buddhists patronizing craftsmen and employingart for edifying ends. From what has already been said,however, it will
Buddha and the gospel of Buddhism . ery clearly revealed ina passage of the later Visuddhi Magga—for the Hlnayanamaintains the puritanical tradition to the end, with onlyslight concession in admitting the figure of the Buddhahimself—in a passage where painters and musicians areclassed with * perfumers, cooks, elixir-producing physiciansand other like persons who furnish us with objects ofsense. Early Buddhist Art It is only in the third and second centuries that wefind the Buddhists patronizing craftsmen and employingart for edifying ends. From what has already been said,however, it will be well understood that there had notyet come into being any truly Buddhist or idealisticBrahmanical religious art, and thus it is that EarlyBuddhist art is really the popular Indian art of the time 1 Infinitely remote from a modern view, which was also current inMediaeval India, that the secret of all art . . lies in the faculty ofSelf-oblivion.—Riciotto Canudo, Music as a Religion of the Future. 2 Dasa Dhammika Sutta. 324. Plate X FIGURE OF YAKKHI, A DRYAD From decorated gateway of the Sanchi Sttipa (2nd century ) Early Buddhist Art adapted to Buddhist ends, while one special phase ofart, represented by the capitals of the Asoka columns(Plate P) and other architectural motifs is actually ofextra-Indian origin. Such non-Buddhist art as we have evidence of in thetime of Asoka is concerned with the cults of the Naturespirits—the Earth Goddess, the Nagas or Serpent Kingsof the Waters, and the Yakkha kings who rule the FourQuarters. The Early Buddhist art of Bharhut andSanchI, which is Asokan or a little later than Asokan,reflects the predominance of these cults in the low-relieffigures of the Yakkha Guardians of the Quarters whichthe entrance gateways (Plate O) of the ambulatory areprotected. The victory of Buddhism over the animisticcults—of course, only a partial victory, for these cultsflourish even to-day—is suggested by the presence ofthese Nature spirits (Pl
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