As for the seventh relievo I beg to point to my explanation, and interpretation in my “Oudheidkundige aanteekeningen” IVth (page 25 and 26). According to Foucher the sculptor should not have dared to represent Maitrakanyaka as a repentant sinner, because of his being the Bodhisattva himself. Anyhow, the redemption of this punishment by a deed of the highest self-denial appeared so very significant to me that it should not have been unnoticed, neither in metaphor nor in writing, but this would have been impossible if this punishment had not preceded the redemption itself.
And moreover, granting the one little sculpture to represent the older penitent with the flaming nimble on his head, it surely should have preceded Maitrakanyaka’s sculpture, and by no means come after this whilst M. first arrives in the town of darkness, and afterwards finds there the martyr from whom he takes possession of the nimble. And last of all, the separating trees should not have had any sense at all if they should not refer to two following events relating to the very same person.
I think it my duty to point to the following sculptures of the upper series of the front-wall which represent no jâtakas but refer to the Buddha of after life.
After the eastern staircase and the second corner, 15 (W. L., 28).
Buddha in a preaching posture forming the tyakra with the thumb and index of his right arm such as all Buddhas do, we see hewn in the niches of the highest, fifth, wall[57].
Lotus-throne and prabha, style of hair-dress and costume have been hewn in the same manner as those of the Buddhas of all niches. All round about him we see auditors rendering homage to him.
Western staircase, fifth corner, 2 (W. L., 235) shows a similar sculpture, but above the Buddha two angels are floating in the air, and near him we see stand burning incense-offerings.
After the seventh corner, 4 and 8 (W. L., 252 and 256) we see similar representations, with this difference however, that on the last sculpture the Lord has been hewn in the posture of the fifth Dhyâni-Buddha (like all Buddhas on the 4 lower walls on the north side), and that his curls of hair have not been finished.
Still other relievoes of this very same lower series have been explained by Mr. Foucher.
At the south-west corner, west of the southern staircase, has been hewn king Mândhâtar’s life, but not any sculpture before the eighth can be expounded from the Divyâvadâna text. The seven preceding sculptures are likely to refer to the same history the sculptor brought to light something more than the text’s writer did, who starts from the hero’s birth, and describes his acts of government after having given a short account of his youth.