National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

On the left bank, beside the stream, sits a figure dressed as a monk, waving aloft,

in his left hand, a pankhá, and holding in his right a long-necked flask or guláb-

pásh.' Facing him, across the stream, is a Vajrapáni with fly-whisk and vajra. The

other six figures are Bodhisattvas.

The figure of the monk wears the dress of a mendicant. This stylish garment,

pink with bands of yellow trimming, conforms to the accepted interpretation for

artistic rendering of the patched rags prescribed for his followers by the Buddha.

The vertical and horizontal bands, not always correctly drawn, and their generally

uncreased condition, give a rather rigid appearance to the figure. The left side of the

body is visible as though seen through a transparent material. Stole and lining of

the robe are yellow, and in the confused drawing an under-garment of brick-red

seems to be intended. The black hair, dressed in a top-knot suggestive of the usnisa,

and trimmed in sharp angles over the forehead, is relieved against a green nimbus.

On the opposite bank of the stream, the Vajrapáni, seated with one knee raised,

is a fine, decorative figure, in the full panoply of a warrior. His face is that of a

demon, with wolf's ears; and his streaming hair, bushy and black, is massed behind

the shoulders against a yellow nimbus. The colouring of his dress conforms, in

general, to descriptions already given. The jewellery is all yellow (gold), the

gorget is green with gold, scrolled border, the tunic grey; skirt or kilt, yellow and

dull red, and the cape, dull pink. It may be noted that the forearms are treated

differently from those of the similar figure on plate xxvi. The short vajra resting

against his left knee has trisúla limbs. Both he and the Bodhisattva opposite have

the much-admired leonine torso.

The remaining six figures are Bodhisattvas, elegantly dressed in flowing gar-

ments and the usual jewellery. The colours used in the costumes are red, brick-

red, yellow, green, and white. Slightly varied in their application to individual

figures, a detailed description of the third from the left will serve as an example of

the treatment. This is the least defaced of the devatás, and exhibits both the con-

siderable executive skill of the artist and his poor understanding of the `structure'

of draperies. The loin-cloth is dull pink, bordered with yellow and grey; the skirt,

red with yellow border and red lining. Round the hips is a yellow sash. The stole

is dull pink lined with grey or green. Armlets and bangles are golden and the

latter have pink and green flower-shape jewels attached to their upper edge.

The two first Bodhisattvas or devatás turn their heads towards each other as

I Cf. the figure with similar attributes in Bez. xii. J-L, plate xxviii.

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