Last Existence: Visit of the Ascetics

Part of a relief probably depicting the Visit of the Ascetics. The Brahman teacher Bāvari sends his sixteen brahmin students to the Buddha to answer questions about the goal of his teachings and how to attain the same. Each of the sixteen ascetics pays the Buddha a visit in Śrāvastī and astounded by his teachings, they eventually convert to Buddhism. The scene is carved between two encased semi-columns of Gandharan-Corinthian type. The base is plain, the cornice has a row of bead-and-reel between two plain fillets. On the back there are large vertical marks of a flat chisel. On the top of the relief on the right there is an X-shaped mason mark. The Buddha is sitting in padmāsana on a seat, his left hand was most probably holding an edge of the saṃghāti. He is wrapped in an overrobe with a V-shaped neckline. On both sides there are three ascetics: one is kneeling, one standing, and, in between them, one is in the background. A four petaled rosette is between the left shoulder of the Buddha and the kneeling ascetic. On the other side in the same position there is another unidentifiable element, probably a closed lotus. On the right of the Buddha, the kneeling elder ascetic in profile seems to only wear a dhotī. He has hair with stacked coil and he is bearded. His hands are joined in a gesture of veneration toward the Buddha. The standing young ascetic is frontal, with his hand turned to his proper left away from the Buddha. His right hand is raised, while in the left holds a kamaṇḍalu. He wears a loincloth, a bracelet on the right wrist and, probably, long straight hair and vertical knot held by small coil. On the left of the Buddha, another bearded elder ascetic is kneeling and displaying features similar to his counterpart on the right. The young ascetic standing frontal resembles his counterpart on the right but his right hand is raised to the chest and wears an uttarīya in addition to the short dhotī.