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From the start of the century before Christ, Indian monuments display a wide range
of sculptured and painted narratives portraying the legend of the Buddha. This
article addresses the technique of presentation of these stories, and analyzes the
structure of visual narratives as opposed to their content. Seven distinct modes of
narration are identified, and it is suggested that the artists might have considered
them to be equally acceptable alternatives since they frequently occur together on
the same monument. In conclusion, the article considers the manner in which the
reunion in the palace. Each episode - and this is fundamental to the meaning of the term - is composed of several
how to shape the time during which the story unfolds. The
artist may also arrange his story in a series of more or less
discrete episodes; if so, he must decide the manner in which
he wishes to compose these episodes within the visual field.
This essay analyzes the distinctive ways in which the Indian artist first presented Buddhist legends to his audience
of monks and lay worshippers. Soon after the death of the
his cane.
end, had a number of options available. He could, for instance, decide in favor of brevity and use the monoscenic
mode of narration to tell the tale, utilizing a space as little
viewer is presented with just three figures, albeit unmistakable ones - the elephant, the brahmin who receives the
gift, and Prince Vessantara pouring water to ratify the gift.
Having given enough information to identify the tale, the
artist leaves the viewer to narrate the story himself, and to
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1 Monoscenic narrative, Vessantara jataka. Bharhut coping, ca. 100-80 B.C. (photo: author)
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of painted or carved narratives in India are invariably studies of stories, identifications of legends, quests for textual
studies are no doubt valuable, they do not aid our appreciation of the structure of narrative by addressing the mode
of presentation of a story.4 It is this aspect of presentation
or procedure that is my concern, and in this paper I propose
the affect, leading to a consideration of reception and response, a field to which I shall turn in conclusion.
astic order, following the Buddha's death ca. 483 B.c., the
Pali Canon was an orally transmitted tradition. The rules
of the Buddhist Order, contained in the Canon, enumerate
the entire acceptable personal property of both the individual monk or nun and that of the monastic community
as a whole. Every moveable item, down to the smallest and
least significant domestic utensil, is part of the listing. In
addition, articles in common use among the laity, but forbidden to the monks, are mentioned, only to be disallowed.
There is total silence regarding books and manuscripts; texts
are referred to frequently, but as existing in the memory
of those who have learned them by rote. It is in this context
The oral tradition was still in use during the days of the
oral Canon was written down in Sri Lanka, during the reign
3See, for instance, chap. 5, "Narrative Structure: A Comparison of Methods," in W. Martin, Recent Theories of Narrative, Ithaca, 1986.
narrative.
4 Equally disappointing from this point of view was the Panel on Buddhist
Narrative at the 1989 Convention of the College Art Association. It lacked
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tinct category from actors, dancers, and ordinary storytellers. The dramatist Bana (seventh century A.D.) speaks
of a category of picture-showmen known as Yama pattakas, who held a painted cloth stretched out on a support
monuments were surrounded with stone railings and decorated with narrative relief sculpture, around the year 100
dition. The source material for artists carving reliefs at the
stupa of Bharhut, for example, which was completed according to inscriptional evidence during the reign of the
Two persons are involved in this narration, which continues to be a living tradition, a male bhopa who tells the tale
start of the first century B.c., the tradition of "pictureshowmen" is of special relevance. As early as 1929, Coomaraswamy pointed out evidence for the existence of story-
tellers who used pictures in the Sanskrit grammar, Mahabhashya, written by the grammarian Patanjali around
140 B.c. In elucidating the use of the "historical present,"
Patanjali gave as one example the display of paintings representing the slaying of the evil king Kamsa, a climactic
event in the story of the Hindu god Krishna. The relevant
portion of the text reads in literal translation: "How in the
respect of the paintings? [Here too the historical present is
pards.
11 Idem.
Oxford, 1977, passim. In addition, Roger Chartier points out that even
after printing was known, reading aloud remained a pastime of both the
elite and of the less privileged classes in early modern France. See his
Cultural Uses of Print in Early Modem France, Princeton, 1987. Reading
aloud must, of course, be distinguished from oral literature because, although heard, the text is written and hence fixed.
239-282.
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lions depicting those scenes. Other inscriptions, while identifying elements of a narrative, intrude into the visual field.
(Fig. 1), where the artist presents the single scene of the gift
the Buddhist Canon was committed to writing in India during this intervening period, and that with the existence of
sively circled the stupa, he was induced into extended contemplation of Buddhist legend and Buddhist virtues by the
the earlier of the 550 jatakas and concluded with the final
ten, which tell of the human lives of the Buddha. The reason for the absence of such planning may lie partly in the
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uments. The Sanchi stupa contains no less than 631 donative inscriptions,15 and though the number at Bharhut is
nati), identifying each element of the scene. Even the instantly recognizable cock and cat story has an inscribed
label reading "cat jataka, cock jataka" (bidala jataka kukkuta jataka).
The instances of monoscenic narrative thus far consid-
ered were all inserted into the small spaces provided by the
in B.S. Miller, ed., The Powers of Art. Patronage in Indian Culture, Delhi,
forthcoming.
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4 Monoscenic mode, Chaddanta jataka. Top architrave (inner face), north gateway, Sanchi stupa, ca. 50-25 B.C. (photo:
Archaeological Survey of India [ASI])
the miracle, when the mango tree had already sprung up,
and the panel focuses on the figure of the Buddha, represented by the parasol-sheltered throne placed below the
mango tree, surrounded by worshippers offering him homage. It is the divine power of the Buddha that is highlighted
in situations where theological concerns were predominant.16 Clearly, the artist of the Bharhut Sravasti panel was
interested in emphasizing the supremacy and power of the
Action
ens, and must end with the central panel that depicts the
descent from the heavens at Sankissa. The preaching in the
heavens that followed the Sravasti miracle likewise em-
scenes from the life of the Buddha. It seems undeniable that artists of the
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the static category of narration. Its compositional similarity to the Sravasti miracle is striking and, in isolation, would
present problems of identification. Its position in conjunction with the Sravasti and Sankissa miracles enables those
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historical Buddha.
While there appear to be three different episodes presented in the three panels of the Prasenajit pillar, a closer
scrutiny reveals, in fact, that the three are of simultaneous
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occurrence and are not causally connected. The panel immediately below the enlightenment depicts the worship of
the gods at the moment of that great event. The gods are
identified by four separate inscriptions (one damaged), inserted sideways into the bands of railing that enclose the
panel, as four different categories of deities belonging to
the four directions. Connecting the two panels, on a visual
level, is an elephant-topped pillar that has its origin in the
central panel but culminates in the topmost one. Toward
the left of the central panel is the figure of Mara, the evil
one of Buddhism, seated upon the ground, drawing lines
in the mud with a twig. Having failed in his attempt to
prevent the Buddha from attaining enlightenment, Mara
sat on the ground, we are told, and disconsolately drew
sixteen lines in the mud, stating, as he drew each line, "this
I did not achieve; but he did."
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the static mode of narration, focuses on the state of enlightenment of the Buddha and presents us with the aftermath of the great event, portraying episodes that exist in
a synchronic relationship. The Mara episode alone is somewhat anomalous in that it took place after the enlightenment. One can only assume that the artist did not consider
this slight temporal shift to be of significance.
These two Bharhut pillars present the viewer with narrative sequences that involve a vertical movement. The
Ajatashatru pillar commences its diachronous narrative at
the bottom, and requires an ascent to the topmost panel
before culminating at the center. The Prasenajit pillar,
which presents scenes of synchronous occurrence, may be
read more easily and directly from top to bottom. The
choice of vertical as opposed to lateral movement would
appear to depend on the particular architectural member
that was being covered with narrative reliefs, and on the
obvious compositional difference imposed by the vertical
format of a pillar as compared to the horizontality of a
gateway architrave. It must be mentioned that the panels
on a pillar are not invariably related; a second face of the
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Synoptic Narratives
In the synoptic mode of narration, multiple episodes from
a story are depicted within a single frame, but their temporal sequence is not communicated, and there is no consistent or formal order of representation with regard to
either causality or temporality. The multiple episodes of a
story generally contain the repeated figure of the protagonist, and I thus use the word synoptic in a wider sense
than A.M. Snodgrass, who would exclude from the syn-
protagonist.18
Five episodes from the monkey jataka are depicted within
a rectangular panel from the Sanchi stupa (Fig. 7), with no
indication whatsoever as to temporal succession or causality. The viewer's attention is likely to be caught by the
river that curves across the panel, the six prominent foreground figures, and perhaps by the monkey straddling the
the far side of the river is marginal to the tale. To the lower
of the panel are the seated figures of the monkey and the
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inal medallion and the complex nature of the visual treatment, I have superimposed my numbering scheme upon the
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center of the medallion is "dead" space, and the artist commences at the right end of the central zone where he depicts
Chaddanta in the forest, with the identifying regal parasol
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causality.
the area where all the activity takes place and a distant safe
derstand the reason for the stretcher, and view the last ep-
of the viewer.
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8 Synoptic narrative, Chaddanta jataka. Amaravati, 2nd century A.D. (photo: ASI)
Synoptic visual narrative, by its choice of episodes depicted, often gives priority to events that a literary narrative, whether verbal or written, does not, and it can ac-
around the third century A.D. (Fig. 9). The tale is of the
young brahmin Sumedha, who worships Dipankara Buddha and is blessed by him to be reborn as the historical
Gautama Buddha. The right half of the panel is occupied
by the enlarged figure of Dipankara Buddha, followed by
a monk. At the extreme left, Sumedha buys lotuses from
a young woman. He then throws the lotuses at Dipankara
(they remain suspended around the Buddha's head), prostrates himself at his feet, and rises up into the air upon
hearing Dipankara's pronouncement. The single image of
Dipankara is to be read as receiving the lotuses, blessing
Sumedha, as well as making the prediction, and thus as
participating in three scenes in which Sumedha is portrayed
three times.
hunter pointing out the deer to the king's archers, who stand
Conflated Narrative
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iti
movement and temporal development are clearly presented, is the great departure of the Buddha, portrayed on
the outer face of the central architrave of the east gateway
at Sanchi (Fig. 11). The narrative moves from left to right
along the eight-foot span of the architrave, where the Buddha-to-be emerges on horseback from the gates of his pal-
ace with the groom leading the horse. (Since the Buddha
is not represented in anthropomorphic form during this
phase, his presence on horseback is indicated by the regal
parasol that hovers above the horse). To depict the progressive ride away from the palace, the artist has repeated
the figure of the protagonist horse-and-rider another three
times across the span of the architrave. The completion of
this episode at the far end of the architrave, when the rider
dismounts from the horse, is represented by a parasol poised
rite of circumambulation rules out any categorical statement on the matter. A stupa is circumambulated in clock-
wise manner, both from the exterior of the sacred area, and
area, the pilgrim will view the reliefs on the railing (its outer
face) from right to left, and its narratives generally follow
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Scenes 1 to 8 on the outer face of the gateway are relatively easy to read and move from right to left using the
background, with movement from left to right, to depict
. . . . . . . .......:
the completion of episodes that commenced in the foreground. Prince Vessantara gives away the state elephant,
is banished together with his wife and children, gives away
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tensively for the completion of the various episodes. Vessantara, seen in a forest hermitage, now gives away his
children, and then his wife. Toward the end of the narrative, however, the artist introduces an unexpected movement from left to right, with the king riding into the forest
to find his banished son, so that even the viewer quite familiar with the story of Prince Vessantara finds himself momentarily challenged with the decipherment of this visual
narrative toward its completion. There are no internal scene
dividers, and the viewer unravels the story merely by moving from one depiction of the Vessantara family to the next.
A second and more extensive example of continuous narrative is the portrayal of the Vessantara jataka, in a series
of twenty-one scenes, on the north gateway at Sanchi (Fig.
12). Both sides of the lowest architrave and its extensions
his wife Madri, and their two children, are repeated no less
sculptor carved one face of the architrave, and then commenced the inner face at the end he had just completed,
apparently disregarding the manner in which the circumambulating viewer would experience the story. In any
are used to demarcate temporal divisions. Scenes are separated from one another by a variety of compositional
means, and generally each episode is contained within a
separate frame. The viewer does not find the reappearance
of the protagonist in each unified setting illogical or inconsistent, as he may do in continuous narrative. In linear
narrative, each scene is a unit in itself; each event occurs
at one particular moment, in one particular space.
The Vessantara jataka at Goli makes effective use of this
method (Fig. 13), and in a panel over ten feet long, the
tara and his family into banishment, he must stop and enter
through the gateway in order to follow the denouement of
to be read from left to right, are neatly demarcated by columns, trees, and other vertical devices, so that the viewer
the jataka tale along the inner face of the same architrave.
The stop, an important element in narrative construction,
is led from one scene to the next in a clear sequential manner. Commencing with column dividers, we see Prince Ves-
his wife and two children in an ox cart, followed by Ves22 Sometimes referred to as cyclical narrative.
santara giving away first the oxen, then the cart, and finally
the two children. This central section of narrative uses a
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11 Continuous narrative, Great departure of the Buddha. Central architrave (outer face), East gateway, Sanchi stupa (photo:
Wendy Holden)
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12 Continuous narrative, Vessantara jataka, both faces of lowest architrave, east gateway, Sanchi stupa (after Schlingloff)
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sents his viewer with a sequence of 120 coherent, independent episodes, each contained within the boundaries of
a panel, ten and a half feet long and three feet high. The
circumambulating pilgrim is presented with a unique opportunity to contemplate the life cycle of the Buddha.
Narrative Networks
A complex variety of story-telling, which may be described as a system of networks, is seen in the murals at
the monastic site of Ajanta, executed toward the end of the
fifth century A.D. Though all the caves at Ajanta, including
the chapels, are covered with painted scenes, the most am-
bitious narrative sequences are found in the residential viharas at the site. The entire side walls of such caves, interrupted by the doorways that lead into cells for individual
monks, are given over to the depiction of a single narrative,
and the result is frequently one of labyrinthine complexity.
each of these three segments - right, left, and center tern emerges from a close study of the painted wall. In fact,
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jataka
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Simhala story
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15 Plan of cave 17 at Ajanta, showing location of narrative
sequences discussed (after Schlingloff)
the often achronological and apparently random arrangeby Schlingloff,2 accompanied by an abbreviated summary
of the story, makes it possible to follow the action. Schlingloff's drawing of the architectural motifs (minus the human
figures) used by the artist in this complex narration to de-
marcate and set off certain segments and scenes (Fig. 17),
about the witches. Only the magic horse Balhala can save them.
locations.
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(amusing), karuna (pathetic), raudra (furious), vira (heroic), bhayanaka (fearsome), bibhatsa (odious), adbhuta
(wondering), and shanta (quiescent). The theory of rasa
the experience of the viewer at Ajanta lies in our uncertainty regarding the audience for whom the paintings were
produced, and the precise manner in which such an audience was exposed to the murals. In the case of a stupa,
the entire viewing process is much clearer since we may
assume an audience composed largely of laity who came
to worship the relics of the Buddha. Such devotees would
have followed the prescribed rite of circumambulation,
viewing the narrative reliefs slowly and at leisure as they
made their repeated rounds of a monument that was located in the open air. At the monastic caves at Ajanta, the
murals are located in viharas, which were primarily residential caves, even though each contained, in its back wall,
a shrine with a Buddha image. While the rite of circumam-
response to art.
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