Sanchi Stupa 1: Mahakapi Jataka

INDIA, Madhya Pradesh, Sanchi

The relief is found on the front of the south column of the western gateway at Sanchi Stupa 1.
The monkey king, who was the Buddha in a former life, led five hundred of his troop across a river into the royal gardens to pick fruit during a drought. When the human king learned of this, he ordered his army to hunt the monkeys. In order to save his own kind, the monkey king made a bridge from himself between trees so that the other monkeys could cross to safety. The monkey king’s arms were broken by the end from strain of bearing their weight. The monkey king taught his pursuer the righteous way of ruling a country and begged him to spare the rest of the monkeys before dying.
The composite panel is divided by a serpentine fish-filled river. The monarch is leading his men on the left shore at the bottom. The monkey king is located at the very top, depicted with is body stretched across the river. Two monkeys within the tree are about to cross while two others gaze back toward their king. Two soldiers are beneath the monkey king preparing to capture him. The monkey king converses with the monarch on the right beneath the tree.