Bharhut: Saddanta Jataka

INDIA, Madhya Pradesh, Bharhut

The Buddha lived as a six-tusked elephant king with two wives in one of his past lives. One day he picked a lotus flower and gave it to a consort, who is shown wearing it on the right of the medallion. This roused the jealousy of his other wife, pictured beyond. She faces the viewer, while the other two are in profile.
There is a puzzling interruption in the telling here that assumes prior knowledge of a well-known story. The second elephant consumed with hatred, kills herself and is reborn as a human. She eventually marries the king of the land, and to take revenge, she persuades the king to bring her the six tusks of her former husband. On the left is the scene where the elephant king voluntarily allows its tusks to be cut off and ends the cycle of violence.
As is so often seen in this type of carving, monkeys are present at the margins as they scramble about the trees and gnaw the fruit.