style="font-size:15px;"> In addition to his desire to tell edifying stories in a manner readily intelligible to the eyes of the faithful, the old artist clearly was dominated by the feeling that he was bound to impress on all beholders the lesson that the dead Teacher, the last and greatest of the long line of Buddhas, had won and continually received the willing homage of the whole creation – of men, women, and children, of the host of heaven, the water-sprites, and the demons – nay, even of the monsters of romance and the dumb animals. And so, in all the ancient Buddhist art, whether at Sanchi or elsewhere, weird winged figures hovering in the air, snake-headed or fish-tailed monsters emerging from their caverns or haunting the deep, offer their silent homage to the Lord of all, and the monkeys bow down in adoration before the Master who had turned the wheel of the Law and set it rolling through the world. The early artists did not dare to portray his bodily form, which had forever vanished, being content to attest his spiritual presence by silent symbols the footprints, the empty chair, and so forth. But, whether the Master was imaged or symbolized, the notion of his adoration by all creation was continually present in the minds of the artists and influenced their selection of decorative motives. Although concerned in the main with thoughts of religion and worship they were not unmindful of beauty, which they often succeeded in attaining in no small degree.
In the early works, like those of Sanchi and Bharhut, the absence of images of Buddha has the advantage of saving the stone pictures from the formal symmetrical arrangements grouped round the central figure which often weary by their monotonous iteration in Gandhara and at Amaravati.
Chanda Yakshi wearing several ornaments such as a flat necklace and a Stanahara – a stringed necklace. The arm is raised up bending the branch of a blossomed tree the stem of which is held in the grip of the left leg, early 2nd century B. C. E., Sunga dynasty, Bharhut, Madhya Pradesh. Carved corner pillar, red sandstone. Indian Museum, Calcutta, West Bengal.
Rider carrying a royal standard with Garuda, figure of man and bird, on top (Garudadhvaja), early 2nd century B. C. E., Sunga dynasty, Bharhut, Madhya Pradesh. Relief of a railing pillar, red sandstone. Indian Museum, Calcutta, West Bengal.
In general way, the style of the Sanchi reliefs resembles that of those at Bharhut, compensation may be found in the elegant bracket figures, practically statues in the round, which are a specially pleasing feature of Sanchi art. A good example is a form of the woman-and-tree motif. The beautiful decorative details of the pillar are worthy of careful study. No nation has surpassed the Indians in the variety and delicacy of the floral designs enriching their sculptures and pictures.
The reliefs of the West and East gates may be taken as being typical of the Sanchi reliefs. At the bottom of the inside of the left pillar of the East Gate stands the Yaksha guardian of the door in princely dress. His fellow stands opposite gateway – him on the other pillar. They are comparable with the Bharhut Yakshas, but the treatment of figure and ornament is considerably more rhythmic. The tree in the background is a Bignonia and the devata holds one of its blossoms in his right hand. The upper panel of the relief represents the Buddha’s victory over the black snake and the conversion of Kasyapa at Uruvilva. The snake and the flames of the conflict and the astonished Brahmans, some of whom are attempting to fetch water, are all shown, but the figure of the triumphant Buddha is left to the imagination. Below this scene the story of the conversion of Kasyapa is continued and the incident of Buddha and the Brahman sacrifice is shown. Wood is being split and the preparations made, but the fire springs up and dies at the Buddha’s command. On the front of the same pillar the final incident of the Buddha walking on the waters is told and the sequent visit to Rajagriha, King Bimbisara being depicted as arriving at the gate of the city in his two-horsed chariot. In the top panels of the pillars is the bodhi tree Shrine already discussed.
Surveying the work of the Early Period (second century B. C. E.-early first century C. E.) one recognizes certain distinctive common elements: the absence of the Buddha figure; its replacement by certain simple symbols; and the popular quality of the work, the living oral tradition of which is indicated by the predominance of Jataka scenes even over the scriptural; the naive technique which treats each story as a pictorial entity contained in a single panel or medallion, the figures of the protagonist being repeated twice and three times according to the demand of the drama to be unfolded. At Sanchi, while the method of exposition and the bulk of the decorative motives are the same as at Bharhut, the canonical is very definitely to the fore, and the technique has advanced considerably. At Mathura and many other sites in India sculptures have been found which belong to the Early Period. With regard to these it is advisable to take Bharhut and Sanchi as types of sub-periods and so arrive at the classification Early Period I and Early Period II.
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