Last Existence: Great Departure, First Sermon

Part of a frieze relief preserving two scenes from the Last Existence of the Buddha. The scenes are separated by a pilaster of the Gandharan-Corinthian type and engaged, with modillion decorated by a projecting fillet above and a row of saw-teeth below; the shaft has a short flute with straight (?) upper and lower bevelled end. An identical pilaster is preserved on the left proper-corner. The base consists of two superimposed plain fillets, the cornice of a projecting plain fillet above and a row of saw-teeth below. The top face preserves a horizontal rectangular section socket and a vertical rectangular section socket with a squared hole. A rectangular section tenon is carved on the bottom face. Drawing lines are visible on the same face. The back face shows horizontal marks of chisel. The scene on the right depicts the Great Departure. Prince Siddhārtha leaves the palace at night mounting his horse Kaṇṭhaka and accompanied by his loyal charioteer Chandaka. According to Buddhist literary accounts, spirits support the hooves of the horse to prevent noise and wake up Siddhārtha’s family. Siddhārtha is riding Kanthaka, his left hand holding the reins, his right hand is in abhayamudrā. He wears a paridhāna, an uttarīya, a skull-cap turban with zones and projecting vertical diadem, and wristlets with raised edge. Kanthaka features a globular plume and a breeching decorated with two frontal metal disks. His hooves are held by two yakṣas. The one on the right is represented in bust and emerging from the ground. His face is human, with short curly hair. The one the left is kneeling, his face appears to be that of an animal. He possibly wears a short dhotī. Behind Kanthaka, Chandaka is standing with the weight of his body placed on the right leg. He is holding in both hand an umbrella (the canopy is not carved) over the head of Siddhārtha. He is dressed in a short tunic, and wears a short flat-band necklace and wristlets with raised edges. His hair is short. On the opposite side, a figure alternatively identified as Māra, Indra, or Vaiśravaṇa-Kubera is standing in a three-quarter view – the legs are frontal. He is bearing a bow in his left hand, and an arrow in the right. He wears a sleeved short tunic with a coat and a turban. The scene on the left depicts the First Sermon. After attaining Enlightenment in Bodh Gayā, the Buddha travels to Sarnath. In the Deer Park, he teaches the dharma to the five ascetics with whom he had shared years of practice. The Buddha is sitting on a throne spread with grass, and under an umbrella-shaped crown of an indistinct tree. His right hand was in abhayamudrā, the left held an edge of the saṃghāti. The front face of the throne bears the outline of a triratna. On both sides of the Buddha, two monks in a three-quarter view are sitting in dhyānamudrā on a throne spread with grass. They are all wrapped in the saṃghāti. The fifth monk is probably to be identified with the figure in the background on the right. On the opposite side, a male figure is throwing an offer with the right hand.