Mogao Cave 98: Illustration of the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish - The Ugly Daughter of King Prasenajit

CHINA, Gansu, Dunhuang; Five Dynasties

This detail from the illustration of the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish is located on the 2nd panel from the right in the lower section of the south wall. The narrative is told in a series of scenes running from top to bottom. The story describes how a girl once slandered a Pratyekabuddha, calling him ugly, and received karmic retribution in her next life by being born as the profoundly ugly princess of King Prasenajit. The princess was confined to the palace, and the king paid an impoverished noble to marry her and keep her hidden from the outside world. Eventually, the people of the kingdom became curious. One day they held a banquet and persuaded the prince to drink wine until he was drunk, then they broke into the palace to find her. Just prior to this event, the Buddha went to visit the princess and, seeing that she was repentant of her past misdeeds, taught her the Dharma, and she was transformed into a beautiful woman.
A banquet is depicted in the upper register. In an adjoining room, the drunken noble lies unconscious on a bed. The Buddha, at the center of the image, can be seen in the courtyard of the palace, having arrived to teach the Dharma to the princess.