Mathura: Prince Mahasattva Jataka

INDIA, Uttar Pradesh, Mathura

This railing post was discovered at Bhuteshwar, Mathura. Although the story on the post is popularly depicted throughout Central Asia and China, this appears to be the sole remaining Indian artwork to include it.
In a previous life, the Buddha was born as Prince Mahasattva, who one day encountered a starving tigress intent on eating her cubs. In pity, the prince offered his own body to the tigress instead. The story is told here in three episodes. At the top the Buddha in wearing a monastic robe and seated in the cross-legged posture on a Sumeru throne. The figure’s arm is raised in what appears to be the abhaya (fearlessness) mudra. The central figure is flanked by two attendants with arms similarly raised and wearing decorated headdresses that are nimbus-like. The middle register is largely indecipherable but the lowest register clearly shows the tigress attacking the prince. In the background are trees and a domed building.