A gray schist relief depicting the Dipankara Jataka, Ancient region of Gandhara, circa 3rd century

Collection of Muneichi Nitta (1912-2006), circa 1960s.

Mansour Mokhtazadeh, London.

The Dipankara Jataka is a story of a Buddha from a past eon among a collection of stories about previous lives of the Buddha that carried particular significance in the Mahayana tradition of the kingdom of Gandhara (in present-day northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan). In this story, the Buddha-to-be is born as the ascetic named Megha who encounters the Buddha Dipankara and is deeply inspired by his compassion and wisdom. Megha decides to emulate Dipankara's virtues and vows to become a Buddha himself in the future. 

This particular frieze is fine and deeply carved, the story framed within an arched niche. The iconography itself is easily identifiable, as also exemplified by a second-century relief in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (accession no. 1998.491). In the present depiction, the ascetic Megha is shown three times: initially, standing in front of the Buddha Dipankara and offering flowers; then, lying face down in the mud with his hair spread out as a sign of reverence to the Buddha; and finally in a soaring posture beneath the proper-left arm of Buddha Dipankara.