Shakyamuni Buddha's Defeat of Mara

Place CreatedIndia, Asia

CultureIndia

PeriodPala Dynasty

Date10th Century

MediumBlack stone

Credit LineThe Ester R. Portnow Collection of Asian Art, a gift of the Nathan Rubin-Ida Ladd Family Foundation

DimensionsMaximum w/out base: 24 × 15 × 6 1/2 in. (61 × 38.1 × 16.5 cm)

Object number2001.001.007

Label TextAfter three incalculable eons of spiritual striving, the former prince Siddhartha sits down beneath a large fig tree, a few leaves of which hover atop his Pala period sculpture, vowing not to stir until he awakens as a Buddha. According to narrative tradition, the demon Mara understands that Siddhartha is a Bodhisattva who is about to become the Buddha of our era. Hoping to thwart this auspicious event, Mara conjures hordes of armies to attack the Bodhisattva. Unperturbed, the Bodhisattva sits peacefully while Mara’s missiles turn to flowers, falling from the air like offerings.

To prove his attainment is genuine, the Bodhisattva touches the ground with his right hand to call as his witness Bhumi, the Earth goddess, who has seen his many lifetimes perfecting wisdom and virtue. His left hand and his feet, all marked with wheels to indicate his destiny as the future Buddha, remain stable in their meditation postures. His earlobes stretch long from the heavy earrings he wore while still a prince. Below him, two lions and an elephant hold up his throne, symbolizing the new Buddha’s spiritual nobility.
Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2004 - April 4, 2021
The Avatars of Vishnu, Michael C. Carlos Museum, April 24 - July 18, 2021
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, August 28, 2021 - Present
Published ReferencesMichael C. Carlos Museum: Highlights of the Collections (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2011), 119.

ProvenancePurchased for MCCM by Robert Walzer [Nathan Rubin - Ida Ladd Family Foundation], Georgetown, Connecticut, from Kapoor Galleries, New York, New York, July 2000.

Status

On view

Collections