Mathura: Life of the Buddha - Calming the Drunken Elephant

INDIA, Uttar Pradesh, Mathura

The post was once part of the stupa railings located at Bhuteshwar, Mathura. The reliefs are divided into three registers with the narrative proceeding upwards. They are framed and divided by architectural elements such as domes, balconies, and capitals that generally bear little relation to the scene depicted. The way the story is presented is similar to Gandhara reliefs but differs from the reliefs found at Sanchi and in southern India, which usually combine the whole story into a single picture.
The subject of the carving is the Buddha calming the drunken elephant sent by his cousin, Devadatta, to kill him. The lowest section shows the enraged beast lifting a man by his feet with its trunk and dashing him to the ground. In the middle register the elephant bends before the Buddha, whose arm is most likely raised in abhaya (fearlessness) mudra. A crowd of onlookers acclaim the sight and above them two heads peer from windows. At the top, what appears to be an armed man, perhaps one of those sent to assassinate him, joins his palms in reverence before the robed Buddha.