Collection Online as of June 29, 2022

Folio 20, from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array)

1000-1100s

Part of a set. See all set records

Nepal

Gum tempera and ink on palm leaf

Average: 4.2 x 52.4 cm (1 5/8 x 20 5/8 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1955.49.1

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

The pages would have been bound into the book by strings running through the two holes in the center of the pages.

Description

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.

Inscriptions

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

Provenance

?-1955

(Heeramaneck Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1955-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned: cat. no. 752 archive.org

Exhibition history

Himalayan Gallery 237 Rotation – November 2016-April 2017. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 7, 2016-April 10, 2017).