Mogao Cave 285: Jataka of Sacrifice for a Gatha by Jumping off a Cliff

CHINA, Gansu, Dunhuang; Western Wei dynasty

Located at the right end of the south wall, this illustration is painted in accordance with the “Chapter on Noble Practice” in the Mahaparinirvana Sutra. The illustration tells a simple story that progresses from the bottom to the top. The lower part of the illustration depicts a brahmin cultivating in a cottage among the snow-covered Himalayas. He wears a gauze hat and a long stole, and is seated with legs crossed and palms joined. The same brahmin is seen outside the cottage with palms joined as he listens attentively to half of a gatha spoken by a raksasa. In the upper part of the illustration, the brahmin is suspended in midair as he leaps from a high tree, sacrificing himself for the sake of hearing the other half of the gatha. Sakra, portrayed as a scholar of the Cao Wei Kingdom (220–265) or Jin dynasty (265–420), stands below with both hands raised to catch the brahmin as he falls.