Ajanta Cave 17: Saddanta Jataka

INDIA, Maharashtra, Aurangabad

This mural is found on the left side of the front wall within the main hall. The story tells of the past life of the Buddha as a six-tusked elephant king named Saddanta. In the story, King Saddanta had many elephant wives. One of his wives was afflicted with great jealousy towards her husband and his relationship with his other wives. In her anger, she prayed to be reborn as a human queen to exact revenge upon him. Her wish came true, and one day she sent a hunter to kill Saddanta and to return with his tusks. The hunter tracked and shot the elephant king with a poisoned arrow but was unable to remove his great tusks. The dying Saddanta asked him why he needed the tusks, and when the hunter explained, Saddanta took the saw himself and removed them, giving them to the hunter for the queen. When the hunter returned and the queen saw the tusks, she recalled the kind and gentle nature of her former husband, and, sickened with grief, she died.
The painting illustrates the elephant king injured by the poisoned arrow. The image of the elephant king, on the right, takes half of the entire space of the mural. In the background, a herd of elephants stand among tall trees. The movement of the hunter is shown in three sequential pictures, beginning with the hunter prostrating to the elephant, then collecting his tools, and walking away.