Gandhāra
Drawing style, 1st century CE
Schist
34 x 38 x 4 cm HWD

State of conservation: Two rejoined fragments. Surface slightly corroded, right below more damaged.

The relief must have continued on either side.[1] On the relief, Siddhārtha Śākyamuni forms the axis of the composition. Devoid of nimbus, he is surrounded by a series of personages. Clinging to the prince is an opponent whom he raises with his right leg. Both show bare torsos, with curly hair (typical of the wrestlers) and a forelock. An earring on the lobe of the opponent’s right ear is indicative of high rank, in this case one of them Śākya, here wearing the laṅghoṭī (loin-cloth), typical of wrestlers and athletes. The bodhisattva wears a beaded necklace, earrings and wristlets consisting of three bangles. The dhoṭī (lower garment) falls down to his ankles, leaving the breast bare. Above, four young people look on, wearing earrings and their hair being arranged in fringes and forelocks. From left to right, the first holds his left and middle finger to his mouth, while holding up in his other hand a hem of the robe.[2] The third personage wears a beaded collar, anklets similar to the previous ones and a laṅghoṭī, left hand on the hip, raises the index finger and middle fingers of his hand as in discourse. The fourth figure wears an uttarīya (upper garment), visible on the left shoulder, and anklets of the usual type.[3] To the far right, below, is a personage showing his bare torso and the usual type of headdress and wearing earrings, pouring water on a wrestler from a jar. The latter, legs bent, is lying on his left side, right arm outstretched, left elbow resting on the ground. The head is slightly raised from the ground, possibly supported by a figure to the right since lost. To the far left a standing figure is turned in the direction of the wrestlers. He wears a turban and earrings and holds up in his left hand a hem of the uttarīya, right hand raised.
Two tenons on top for insertion.
The relief depicts Siddhārtha’s wrestling match against the five hundred Śākya youths to obtain in marriage his future wife, Gopā / Yaśodharā / Gotamī, the daughter of Daṇḍapāṇi / Mahānāma.[4] The legend is recounted at length in various texts: Lalitavistara,[5] Mahāvastu,[6] Abhiniṣkramaṇasūtra,[7] etc.
On the request made by Śuddhodana to the Śākya Daṇḍapāṇi to bestow Gopā to the prince, he answered that he was not going to give his daughter up to Siddhārtha since he was not advanced in the arts, in elephant driving, in wrestling, in handling bow and sword, etc. Śuddhodana informed the prince of it, who, according to the Mahāvastu[8] answered: “Be not vexed, Father, cause a proclamation to be made in the towns and provinces that the prince will on the seventh day from this hold a tournament. Let all come who are skilled either in knowledge of the arts, in archery, fighting, boxing, cutting, stabbing, in speed, in the use of force, in the use of elephants, horses, chariots, bows and spears, or in arguments”. Again according to this text[9] seven days later “five hundred Śākya youths assembled in the arena, and Gopā […] planted a flag of victory, saying, whoever will be able to display the highest accomplishment in swordmanship, archery, elephant guiding, and wrestling, to him this shall be awarded”. According to the Lalitavistara[10]: “All the five hundred Śākya youths stood forward to wrestle with him. Thirty-two Śākya youths stood forwards ready to fight. Then Nanda and Ānanda (two Śākyas) went forward, but, on being touched by the hand of the bodhisattva, fell on the ground, unable to withstand his might and vigour. Then Prince Devadatta, Siddhārtha’s envious cousin, vain, proud, mighty, full of Śākya prowess, fell on the bodhisattva. The bodhisattva […] easily seized him with his right hand, wheeled him round three times in mid air for his punishment, and then, without feeling any enmity, with a benevolent mind, cast him on the ground without hurting his body. Then the bodhisattva said: ‘Enough of this. Let all of you come united to wrestle with me’. Then all youths in a body fell upon the bodhisattva; but, touching him, they felt his majesty, vigour, prowness and firmness to be intolerable, and touched by him they tumbled on the grounds”.[11] Although the Lalitavistara makes no mention of the name of the personage judging Siddhārtha’s wrestling, it does include reference to the judges of writing and calculation, and probably Daṇḍapāṇi for the archery competition. According to the Abhiniṣkramaṇasūtra[12] the competitions were judged by the great minister Sahadéva. With particular reference to our relief, I think that the standing personage on the left, can be either the judge or, more probably, Śuddhodana who, according to the Lalitavistara[13] went to observe Siddhārtha’s competitions preceded by the elders of the Śākyas.
In Gandhāran art the wrestling scene is very frequent in reliefs in the “Naturalistic style” – alone, preceded or followed by other scenes, in this case not necessarily following the order of the narration of the texts. We may divide them into two categories, one in which the figure on the ground is absent, in this respect differing from our sculpture,[14] and one consisting of eight reliefs, all from Swāt, of which only two are executed in the “Drawing style”.[15] The first one, a fragment in schist, shows a defeated wrestler, kneeling and squatting on his knees, bending forwards and leftwards, and traces of a standing figure. The second one – consisting of three fragments – shows, below, a wrestler lying on the ground with legs raised rightwards. Of the two companions shown standing above, the one to the left is pouring water from a jar over the body of the fallen athlete, who lies on the ground with legs raised upwards. Of the two companion shown standing over him, the one on the left is pouring water from a jar onto the fellow athlete. The two reliefs are fragmentary, so that we cannot tell what other personages may have been depicted.
Executed in the “Drawing style” of the 1st cent. CE, these are the only examples showing some stylistic affinity with the object of our attention here, which is iconographically more complete and in fact represents an unicum in this sense. Finally, together with two others it shows that the scene of the wrestling Siddhārtha had a place in the art of Gandhāra from the very earliest production, the Swāt artists being the only ones showing a penchant for the image of the defeated wrestler lying on the ground, drenched with water in the attempt to bring him round.

Anna-Maria Quagliotti, 2009

[1] This text is a short version of my study on the piece previously published (Quagliotti 2005, 904–905).
[2] The first is a gesture of surprise, the second of joy. In Gandhāran art, we find this iconography, e. g. on the famous relief No. 49.9 in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington (cf. Lippe 1970, 15–16, Fig. 8) showing Siddhārtha’s birth. Here the personage on the extreme left jubilantly waves his upper garment in the air and touches his lower lip with the thumb and the index finger of his left hand.
[3] Here again indicating his high rang.
[4] In the various texts the names may differ.
[5] Cf. Foucaux 1884, 128–129.
[6] Cf. Jones 1952, 70–72.
[7] Cf. Beal 1985, 84.
[8] Cf. Jones 1952, 71–72.
[9] Cf. Foucaux 1884, 128–129; Mitra 1998, 187–188.
[10] Foucaux , 138–139; Mitra 1998: 194–195.
[11] The next event is the archery episode. The account ends with a long list of the arts in which Siddhārtha excelled. In the case of the sporting or “warlike” arts, the following order is adopted: wrestling, archery, quick walking, jumping, and swimming, use of arrows; riding on the neck of the elephant, on the back of the horse, and on a chariot; fighting with bows; wrestling; use of goads and the lasso.
[12] Cf. Beal 1985, 88–92.
[13] Cf. Foucaux 1884, 131; Mitra 1998 189.
[14] We quote here the following examples. In a “Naturalistic style”. a) Wrestling competition with other scenes.: I – Musée Guimet, No. MG OA 2947, from Swāt, first scene from the right (Foucher 1905, 333–334; Taddei 1964–1965, 175, no. 3; Kurita 1988, fig. 104). Here a seated figure, right hand raised, is shown to the left of the two wrestlers. According to Foucher (ibid., 333), he might well be the judge of the competition, whether Śuddhodana or the bride’s father. II – Madras, Government Museum, second scene from the right (Foucher 1905, 333–334, fig. 171; Taddei 1964–1965, 171, no. I). Here the standing personage on the extreme right raises his right hand to the mouth in a gesture of surprise. III – Lahore Museum, No. 2031/G.1249, from Sikri (Ingholt 1957, 56, pl. 29; Taddei 1964–1965, 175, no. 5). Lower register, second scene from the right. The second scene represents the tug of war episode, not described in the texts; IV – Peshawar Museum, No. 1906, from Malakand (Taddei 1964–1965, 175, no. 6). V – Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh, No. 1599 (Paul 1986, 95). VI – Victoria and Albert Museum, No. I. M. 78–1939 (Ackermann 1975, 65–66, pl. XII.a). Lower register, first scene from the right combining both the wrestling match preceding the archery competition. VII – Frieze from Chatpat, reg. No. 116 (Faccenna 2001, 56–57, pl. 140.c). VIII – Relief in a private Japanese collection (Kurita 1988, fig. 98). Third (fragmentary) scene from the right. Here a personage in a “pensive” attitude is seated to the left of the wristers. IX – Private collection Japan (Kurita 1988, fig. 85). Third scene (fragmentary) from the right. X – Private collection, Japan (Kurita 1988, fig. 91). Central scene, In a “Naturalistic style”. XI – Swāt Museum, Saidu Sharif, from Malakand (Swāt), No. MK 10, second scene from the right (Faccenna 2001, 154, pl. 140.a). b) Wresting scenes alone: 1 – Fragment from Ranigat (Nishikawa1994, pl. 124.18). 2 – Indian Museum, No. G.82, from Jamal Garhi (Nehru 1989, 60–61, n. 1, pl. 21). Here axis of the composition are two wrestlers between two standing figures. The one to the right holds an umbrella over one of the three mid-bust personages in the background (the first one on the right) who throws into the air a hem of his uttarīya. He is wearing earrings. Since he is represented under the umbrella, he might be Śuddhodana. On his right, the one in the centre (between the two wrestlers) wears a turban and might be the judge (?).
[15] The first one comes from Ranigat, cf. Nishikawa 1994, pl. 134.7. The second was published by Taddei 1964–1965, 174–176. The third, the fourth and the fifth ones come from Butkara I, and are in the Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale in Rome, Nos. 3982, 4100, and 4532 (MAI S. 7743, cf. Taddei 1964–1965, 174–176, figs. 1–4. The remaining three come from Saidu Sharif. They are the followings: Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale, Nos. 4178 (Saidu Sharif I, No. MAI S 800) and, in the same museum, No. 2316 (Saidu Sharif I, No. MAI S 55); Swāt Museum, No. MAI S 1124 (Faccenna 2001, pl. 49). These are the only two executed in the “Drawing style”.

Catalogue _ Museum DKM: Linien stiller Schönheit, 70 – 73. Gandhāra, 36 – 39, cat-no. 1.