Kizil Cave 38: Prince Mahasattva Jataka
Kizil Cave 38: Prince Mahasattva Jataka
CHINA, Xinjiang, Aksu
This painting is located on the right side of the barrel-vaulted ceiling in the main chamber. The Jakata is found in the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish, where Prince Mahasattva sacrificed his life to feed a hungry tigress who had just given birth to cubs.
In this diamond-shaped painting, Prince Mahasattva wears a blue headdress and a dhoti below his bared chest. The upper section shows the prince throwing himself off a cliff to offer his body to the tigress. At the bottom of the illustration, the prince lies on the ground, with his right arm lying above his head. The mother tigress and cubs hover next to the prince where the tigress is depicted biting into his left arm. Though the painting is slightly damaged, the story content is clear with the two scenes combined in one image.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves R-L, page 508.
Cite this article:
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Johnson, Peter and Mankuang and Huntington, Susan and Edson, Gary and Neather, Robert,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves R-L},
pages = 508,
title = {{Kizil Cave 38: Prince Mahasattva Jataka}},
volume = 6,
year = {2016}}