PLATE XXVI
Temptation of the Buddha
The Buddha, seated in the "witness attitude" (i.e. touching the earth to call it to witness his rights), is assailed by the powers of evil, led by Māra. The assailants adopt both frightfulness and seduction. Demons in threatening human shape and also in hideous animal guise endeavour to terrify him; Māra's wanton daughters seek to divert his attention to life's evils; but his thoughts remain fixed on Bodhi ("Enlightenment"), and the fiends of every sort are routed. From a fresco at Ajantā, Berār. After Griffiths, The Paintings in the Buddhist Cave-Temples of Ajantâ, Plate VIII.
