A Lotus Lake with Hunters and Wild Geese (Hamsa-Jātaka &c.)
Copy by Christiana Jane Herringham (1852-1929)
1909-11
Tempera
Source: Herringham, Plate XXXIII
All kinds of flora and fauna appear in the illustrations of these episodes.
Scanned image and text by Jacqueline Banerjee.
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[Excerpt from] the Jātakas, or Birth-Stories of the Buddha, referred to in the Table of Plates
MAHAAMSA-JATAKA, No. 554 (cf. Nos. 502, 503) (see plates XXV, XXXIII, XLI (54)).
Once upon a time there reigned in Benares a King called the Father of Many Sons, and his Queen's name was Kahemā. At that time the Great Being was a golden goose, the chief of ninety thousand geese. The Queen dreamed that a golden goose preached to her; and, waking, she desired to find him. Persuaded by her and advised by his hunter, the King made his lakes a great sanctuary, and proclaimed this afar. But, when the golden goose came, the hunter snared the Great Being and his captain, Sumukha, and brought them to the King, by the Great Beings free will, for the hunter would have set him free, recognizing his virtue. The King was delighted and did them honour, feeding them with honey and fried grain; and, holding out his hands in supplication, he prayed them to speak of the Law.... Thus did the Great Being discourse to the King the livelong night, and the Queen's craving was appeased. [Herringhm 14]
Related Material
Bibliography
Herringham, Lady. Ajanta Frescoes. 1914-15. New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 1998. Internet Archive. Contributed by the Central Archaeological Library, New Delhi. Web. 9 November 2019.
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Created 9 November 2019