Buddha Preaching the First Sermon at Sarnath

India (Bihar, probably Nalanda)

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 238

A popular subject in medieval Buddhist art is the Buddha preaching his first sermon in a deer forest at Sarnath, north of Bodhgaya, where he had experienced enlightenment some weeks prior. He is seated in a full yogic position with his monastic robe drawn over both shoulders and his raised hand gesturing the turning of the wheel of Buddhist law, or dharma (dharmacakra mudra). A Sanskrit inscription in proto-Bengali script on the lotus-throne base can be read as, “To the cause of the divine religion [by] the stonecutter [sculptor] Vijaka.” This is a rare instance of a Pala-dynasty sculptor being named.

Buddha Preaching the First Sermon at Sarnath, Black stone, India (Bihar, probably Nalanda)

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Buddha Preaching the First Sermon at Sarnath, Black stone, India (Bihar, probably Nalanda)
Buddha Preaching the First Sermon at Sarnath, Black stone, India (Bihar, probably Nalanda)
Buddha Preaching the First Sermon at Sarnath, Black stone, India (Bihar, probably Nalanda)

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