Folio 20, from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array): Sudhana and a Parrot (recto); Text (verso)

1000–1100s

Maker Unknown

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Folio 20, from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array): Sudhana and a Parrot (recto); Text (verso), 1000–1100s. Nepal. Gum tempera and ink on palm leaf; average: 4.2 x 52.4 cm (1 5/8 x 20 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1955.49.1 A young male figure, probably the pilgrim Sudhana, sits on a cushion with a bolster and interacts with a parrot, perched on the trunk of a tree. Sudhana's gesture indicates that the bird should not be afraid. Most pages from this dispersed 355-folio manuscript have a single painting only on the recto side. The pages would have been bound into the book by strings running through the two holes in the center of the pages.

Original Source

Maker/Artist: Maker Unknown
Classification: Painting
Formatted Medium: gum tempera and ink on palm leaf
Medium: gum, tempera, ink, palm, leaf
Dimensions: Average: 4.2 x 52.4 cm (1 5/8 x 20 5/8 in.)
Inscribed: Inscription: uttānīkurvan saṃprakāśayan avabhāsayan prabhāsayan upadiśan dharmadhātunayena ākāśadhātusamatayā tryadhvasamatayā dharmadhātusamatayā sattvadhātusamatayā sarvalokadhātusamatayā sarvakarmavaṃśasamatayā sattvāśayasamatayā sattvādhimuktisamatayā dharmapratibhāsasamatayā sattvaparipākakālasamatayā sarvajagadindriyasamatayā ca, evaṃ siṃhavijṛmbhitaṃ tathāgatasamādhiṃ caiṣāṃ bodhisattvānāṃ saṃprakāśayati sma daśabhirnirdeśapadaiḥ / katamairdaśabhiḥ? yaduta sarvadharmadhātuparyāpanneṣu buddhakṣetrapramāṇurajaḥsarvabuddhaparaṃparākṣetraparaṃparānirdeśaḥ / yaduta ākāśadhātuparameṣu sarvabuddhakṣetreṣu aparāntakoṭīgatakalpatathāgataguṇānucaraṇanirdeśaḥ / yaduta sarvabuddhakṣetratathāgatasamutpattyanantamadhyābhisaṃbodhimukhasamudrasaṃdarśananirdeśaḥ / yaduta ākāśadhātuparamabuddhakṣetratathāgataparṣanmaṇḍalabodhisattvasaṃghabodhimaṇḍābhimukhāvasthānanirdeśaḥ / yaduta sarvatryadhvabuddhakāyasadṛśanirmāṇasarvaromamukhapramuñcanacittakṣaṇadharmadhātuspharaṇanirdeśaḥ / yaduta sarvadiksamudreṣu sarvakṣetrasāgarasamatalādhiṣṭhānaikakāyaspharaṇaprabhāsanirdeśaḥ / yaduta sarvārambaṇataleṣu buddhabhūmivikurvitasarvatryadhvasamavasaraṇadhiṣṭhānasaṃdarśananirdeśaḥ / yaduta sarvakṣetraparamāṇurajaḥsamatryadhvakṣetraparaṃparānānābuddhavikurvitakalpasāgarasaṃdarśananirdeśaḥ / yaduta sarvatryadhvabuddhapraṇidhānasāgarasarvaroma Inscription: nigarjanāparyantādhiṣṭhānabodhisattvasaṃbhavanirdeśaḥ / yaduta dharmadhātupramāṇabuddhasiṃhāsanabodhisattvaparṣanmaṇḍalāsaṃbhinnabodhimaṇḍālaṃkāranānādharmacakrapravartanāparāntādhiṣṭhānanirdeśaḥ / iti hi bho jinaputrā etān daśān pramukhān kṛtvā anabhilāpyabuddhakṣetraparamāṇūrajaḥsamān etasya siṃhavijṛmbhitasya samādhinirdeśananugacchāmi / api tu khalu punarbho jinaputrāḥ tathāgatajñānagocara eṣaḥ // atha khalu samantabhadro bodhisattva etasyaiva siṃhavijṛmbhitasya tathāgatasamādherarthanirdeśaṃ dyotayamāno buddhādhiṣṭhānena tathāgatavadanaṃ prekṣamāṇaḥ sarvāvantaṃ parṣanmaṇḍalasamudraṃ vyavalokya acintyabuddhaviṣayānantamadhyatathāgatasamādhivikurvitāni vyavalokya acintyajñānamāyāgatadharmatāṃ vyavalokya acintyatrayadhvabuddhasamatāṃ vyavalokya acintyānantamadhyasarvavākpathaniruktisarvadharmanayān vyavalokya tasyāṃ velāyāmimā gāthā abhāṣata - sarvakṣetraparamāṇusādṛśā ekaromi jinakṣetrasāgarāḥ / bodhisattvaparṣatparīvṛtastatra buddha sthitu buddhaāsane // 1 // (Gv 26) ekaromi bahukṣetrasāgarā bodhimaṇḍasthita padmaāsane / dharmadhātu vipulam karitvanā dṛśyate drumavareṣu nāyakaḥ // 2 // sarvakṣetraparamāṇusādṛśā ekaromi jina saṃniṣaṇṇakāḥ / bodhisattvaparṣatparīvṛtāḥ sarvabhadracariyāṃ prabhāṣate // 3 // ekakṣetri jina saṃniṣaṇṇakāḥ sarvakṣetraprasarān spharitvanā / bodhisattva bahumegha akṣayā enti te daśadiśāṃ samantato // 4 // kṣetrakoṭiparamāṇusādṛśā bodhisattvaguṇasāgaraprabhāḥ / utthihantu parṣāsu śāstuno dharmadhātu sphariṣu daśa diśaḥ // 5 // sarvakṣetrapratibhāsadarśa
Departments: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Accession Number: 1955.49.1
Credit Line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Exhibitions: Himalayan Gallery 237 Rotation – November 2016-April 2017
Rights Statement: CC0
Museum Location: 237 Himalayan