North Indian Inscriptions

PART B

of the gardener Gaṇḍaka and the totally unmotivated planting of the Karṇikāra and of the Aśoka tree by the two gardeners in the Divy. are only understandable as reminiscences of the original miracle of the mango tree. On the contrary the erection of the pavilion for the Buddha by Prasenajit as described in the Divy., is apparently older than the building of the pavilion of jewels by Viśvakarman, which latter is not even rightly narrated in the DhA. In the original version nothing could have been said of a pavilion. The miracle of the mango tree, which has the only purpose to create the tree under which the Buddha intends to perform the yamakaprātihārya, becomes indeed quite superfluous by the erection of the pavilion. Consequently the mango tree does not play any role in the Pāli tales of the performance of the miracle.

   The original legend therefore runs as follows. The Buddha announces that he would perform a miracle under the Gaṇḍamba tree in Śrāvastī in order to triumph over the Tīrthikas. The Tīrthikas therefore cause all the mango trees in the vicinity of Śrāvastī to be cut down. The Buddha, however, orders the kernel of a mango to be planted in the earth, out of which a big mango tree immediately grows up. He takes his seat under this mango tree and from there he raises himself up in the air to perform the yamakaprātihārya. It seems, the yamakaprātihārya, “the double miracle” was originally understood only as the sending forth of fire and water. This wonder stands at the top of all the wonders in all the sources with the exception of the Buddhach. The multiplication of the appearance seems to be a later addition. The collections of Foucher (p. 155 f.) show that the miracle of the fire and water was gradually also added to other legends and even transferred to persons other than the Buddha^[1]. On account of that it was bound to lose its reputation, and

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so it is understandable that one felt the need to intensify the wonder of Śrāvastī to make it a really “great” prātihārya. Apparently the doubling of the appearance was first added as it is told in the Paṭisambhidāmagga and in the DhA. The designation yamakaprātihārya also suited this doubling, even if understood in a somewhat different sense than what the expression originally conveyed. Gradually one went still further: out of the doubling of the figure, its multiplication up to a Buddhapiṇḍī developed, of which the Divy. tells. In this text a trace of the older doubling also has retained when at the end we suddenly hear of the creation of the double with whom the Buddha converses. Lastly, as Foucher (p. 158) remarks, the wonder of fire and water has been completely displaced by the wonder of duplicating. According to the description in the Aśokāvadāna^[2] the miracle of Śrāvastī consists only of the creation of the row Buddhas, reaching up to the heaven of the Akanishṭha gods.

   This reconstruction of the original legend, gained purely from literary sources, is also in conformity with the sculptures in Bhārhut and Sāñchī. On the front side of the left pillar of the northern gate in Sāñchī a relief is found which is described by Sir John Marshall^[3] as follows: “In centre, a mango tree with the throne of the Buddha in front. Round the Buddha is a circle of his followers bringing garlands to the tree or in attitudes of adoration”. Sir John Marshall then hints at the great miracle of Śrāvastī as the probable subject of the relief. He remarks, however, that it contains no definite indication of the miracle. I do not believe that this circumstance goes against the explanation of the relief. As the Buddha is not being represented, the doubling or the multiplication of his person, even though the legend should have contained it, could not have been represented in the picture. But the depicting of the miracle of fire and water
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^[1]Cf. E. Waldschmidt. Wundertätige Mänche in der astturkistanischen Hinayāna-Kunst, Ostasiatische Zeitschrift, Neue Folge VI, pp. 3-9.
^[2]Divy. 401; Przyluski, Lègende d’ Aśoka, p. 265.
^[3]Guide to Sānchi, p. 58.