Last Existence: Princely Life

Part of a relief depicting scenes from the Last Existence. The projecting base is a plain fillet, while the finish of the cornice is not preserved. There are parallele vertical chisel marks on the back. The scenes are separated by a framed semi-column of the Gandharan-Corinthian type. The first scene depicts Siddhārtha in school. Prince Siddhārtha is taken to school to be educated as befits his rank. He proves to be well-learned in all the sciences, including writing. The scene is damaged and incomplete, from the left there are two male figures sitting on a low stool holding an oblong writing table and both wearing paridhāna and uttarīya and a long necklace. The first one is the teacher, while the second one is the Bodhisattva, engaged in writing. To his left there is a standing figure, possibly naked, turned to his left while holding a bowl in his hands, he is turned toward another badly damaged figure. The next scene only preserves a standing figure in left profile and and a male figure depicted from behind. The scene depicts the Archery Competition. Siddhārtha engages in an archery competition in which he is asked to use a bow nobody could bend to shoot an arrow at a distant target, succeeding in front of the audience. The figure in profile is the Bodhisattva’s attendant, he wears a turban and a long garment. The Bodhisattva only wears a short dhotī, revealing a muscular body. He is showing his back with the right arm raised to bend the bow; to his right are visible remnants of the lower end of the bow.