Mathura: Risyasringa Jataka

INDIA, Uttar Pradesh, Mathura

The post was originally part of a railing from a stupa located at Bhuteshwar, Mathura. The stupa often featured Jataka tales. However, not many Mathura reliefs dating from the Kushan period (circa 1st–3rd century) are known to depict such subject matter. The narrative proceeds from the top down in registers, which are divided by architectural details such as domes, balconies, and columns at variance with the outdoor setting of the story.
The Jataka illustrated has different versions, but the one recorded in the Mahaprajnaparamita Sastra relates that in a past life, the Buddha was born as a boy with the horns of a deer who became the sage Risyasringa. Originally possessing great supernatural power, Risyasringa lost it after being seduced by a heavenly being. In the first of the three registers, four females peer from behind a striated cliff. The central register shows Risyasringa practicing meditation with one of the females on a rock, while two deer face each other beneath. The lowest register is so damaged that the detail is hard to recognize but two figures, one of them clearly horned, appear to be facing each other and clasping hands.