Life of Buddha on the Stupa of Barabudur, According to the Lalitavistara (text, plates)

200 Pages·1926·9.76 MB·English

by  Nicolaas Johannes Krom

THE LIFE OF BUDDHA

Printed in the N etlzerlands

THE
~\-'
/'i
_/. -
ON THE STUPA OF BARABUpUR
ACCORDING TO
THE LALlTAVISTARA-TEXT
EDITED BY
Dr. N. J. KROM
Professor at tbe Leyden University
WITH 120 REPRODUCTIONS
THE HAGUE
;viARTil'itTS. N fJHO J_;;p·
1926

INTRODGCTION
In the beginning of our era, when tlzc 1:nterclzange of trade bctween Soutlz
India and the East Indian ArcJu:pelago gradually led to the colonisat·imt of
Java, Sztmatra and other 1:slands, the Buddhist reUgion was brought ove·r
with !he new civ-ilisation. It was the creed of the H:Z:nayäna that first gained
most adherents, till in the course of the 8th cen-iztry a great clumge took place,
politically as well as in religion and art. The hngdom of r;rivijaya, whose
centre was the present Palem.bang in Su.matra, developed itself by degrees
into a maritüne power and with its political infhtence 1\!f ah]"iyänist Bud
dhism gained the ascendancy.
This movementsoonmade itself felt in Java, where the joc14s of civilisation
at that tim.e was in the centre of the island. The dynasty tlzen rul-ing ·was
drive-n back to the East, and A-1i ddle Java came ztnder the pozoer of the r;at:
lendra's, the sanze royal hause that was ruling in r;r:z:vijaya. At the sa1ne
.#me tlze Jvf ahäyäna established üself, so that the ntle of the r; a-ilendra' s,
so so
from about 7 to 8 A. D., is also the date of the great 1\II ahäyänist 11ZO'Wlt
ments.
The most important of these is the stüpa of Barabuqur, erected 1:n the first
part of this period on the plain of KedH, right in the centre of Java. The
stüpa, as we know, is originally a meutorial, that owes its importance to the
relics preserved beneath it, or the events it commemorates. By degrees it be
came a symbolic building representative of the whole Buddhism and its creed
of salvation z. In this way the designer of Barabuqur also created thesanct
uary as a symbolic building; tradition gives his name as G14~tadharma.
Stüpa's were built in thestyle ofa massive dome-or clocll-shaped middle
part crowned by a pinnacle andresfing on a square pedestal; generally they
were erected on level ground, but in the case of Barabuqur, a hül j02md in the
r For aim and intention of stüpa's see Foucher, L'art greco-bouddhique du Gandhara I (r9o5),
and De Groot, Der Th11pa (zgzg).
VIII INTRODUCTION
lattdscape was made t.tse of, which so to say, was covered with a mantle of
stone. Forthat purpose the sides of the hill were c~tt into terraces, and enclos
ed in four square galleries and three circular platjorms one above the other.
On the top of the highest platjornz rises the centrat stupa. In accordance with
the cosmic significance of the building, the galleries are richly decorated, but
the platforms which, in cantrast to the phenomenal world below, are intended
to represent the region of formlessness, have been lejt unadorned.
Rows of reliefs take the most important place in th(decoration of the galle
ries. The reliefs represent texts that were intended to impress lessons of
wisdom on the believer' s mind as he ascended the stupa, and so to prepare him
for the attainment of the H ighest I nsight that the M ahäyäna brings before his
eyes. In this way he was also spiritually brought on a higher plane as he
approached the centrat stüpa.
One of these sacred textswill be ofinterestto a wider circle, as it c~ttains
the life-story of the historicBuddha, who preached the creed of salvation to us.
There appears tobe good reason foraseparate pttblication of the important
series of reliefs on the first gallery, representing this text, the Lalitavistara.
Not only it is in itself a most holy and authoritative work of Mahäyäna
doctrine and one ·oj the most important Sources for the lije of Buddha r, but
moreoverthecircumstance that the Sanskrittext is still extant in the same (or
almost the same) redaction as used an Barabuqur, makes it possible to quote
the actual passages that had to be depicted by the sculptors.
When new photographs had been made of the monument during the work
of restoration (I90J-I9II), the Dutch Government published a detailed_
description of Barabuqur 2, an English translation of which is in prepara
tion. It is the chapter of this work containing the above mentioned Lalitavis
tara-reliefs that is now brought Mtt separately. For all other particulars oj
the monument and of ] avanese Buddhism, the reader is referred to the com
plete edition.
K.
z For the text itself see Winternitz, Geschichte der Indischen Litteratur 11, r (I9IJ), p.
I94-20I.
" Archaeologische beschrijving van Barabudur. The Hague, Niihofj, 1920. An architectural