Abronze Buddha image,protected by the Naga in the attitudeof subduing Mara, is displayed in theBangkok National Museum, Thailand.Seated on the coils of the Naga, 1.65m. high, it was found at Wat Wieng(Wieng Temple), Chaiya, in theprovince of Suratthani, southernThailand (Fig. 1). This beautifulbronze image belongs to the Srivi-jayan style. On its base an inscriptioninforms it was cast either at about theend of the 12th or 13th century A.D.

According to Theravada Bud-dhism, after his enlightenment underthe Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya in India,the Lord Buddha went to meditate atmany sites in the vicinity. During hisseventh week of meditation, while he

Above: Fig. 1. The Lord Buddha underthe Naga, subduing Mara. Bronze. Ht.1.65 m. Found at Wat Wieng, Chaiya,Suratthani. Srivijayan style. End of the12th or 13th century A.D. BangkokNational Museum.

The Lord BuddhaProtected by the Nagain the Attitude of Subduing Mara

by M.C. Subhadradis Diskul

was under a tree called Mucalinda inPali or Mucilinda in Sanskrit, a stormoccurred. The Naga (serpent) Muca-linda, who lived in a nearby pond,then came up to protect the Buddhafrom the storm by lifting him up onits coiled body and spread its hoodover the head of the Master. There-fore, the iconography of the LordBuddha, protected by the Naga,should be in the attitude of medita-tion, with his right hand upon his leftand both palms turned upwards (Fig.2).

But, the same type of Buddhaimage discovered at Wat Wieng,Chaiya, Suratthani, is in the attitudeof subduing Mara. This bronzeimage's right hand in on the rightknee with palm facing downwards.This image can be separated intothree parts: the hood of the Naga,the seated Buddha in the attitude ofsubduing Mara, and the three coils ofthe snake. Some scholars suggest thatthe Naga and the Buddha may nothave been cast at the same time. Andthat is the reason why the Buddhaimage is in the attitude of subduingMara, not in the attitude of medita-tion. However, because they fit intogether so well, it is rather hard tobelieve that they were not cast at thesame time.

A French scholar, ProfessorJean Boisselier, recently discussed theChinese Tripitaka (Buddhist holymanuscripts.) Among the texts dis-cussed were those published byanother French scholar, ProfessorE. Chavannes, entitled the FiveHundred Stories and the Apologues(fables with moral intentions). Theyare typical of Mahayana Buddhism.In these books, it is mentioned thatthe Naga could remember from theaureole jutting out from the body ofthe Buddha. It is also mentioned thatthe past Buddhas and the present one(Sri Sakyamuni) attained real en-lightenment only after the week of"bad weather", which is the ultimateproof.

From this explanation, one canperceive the meaning of the Buddha'sseveral weeks of meditation. Thisaction was necessary for him, to passfrom the enlightenment to the prea-ching of the Dharma (the Law ofBuddhism). His last week of medita-tion was most difficult because it wasthe highest and necessary proof.

The Lord Buddha, upon reachinghis ultimate goal should be representedas protected by the Naga. His attitudemay be representing the Maravijaya(subduing Mara), which means theattainment of ultimate illumination,

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or his attitude may be meditating.One should not forget that during theSrivijayan Period, in SouthernThailand, the majority of the peoplefollowed Mahayana Buddhism.Therefore the bronze Buddha imagediscovered at Wat Wieng, Chaiya, canrepresent the attitude of subduingMara. Furthermore, quite a few smallbronze Buddha images, also protectedby the Naga in the attitude ofsubduing Mara, Lopburi style, havealso been discovered in Thailand.These small images were cast in thesame piece with the Naga and cannotbe separated. During the LopburiPeriod (13th-14th centuries A.D.)many people professed MahayanaBuddhism. Therefore, the same typeof Buddha image, found at WatWieng should not at all be a surprise.

Professor Boisselier also dis-cussed the origin of the iconographyof this Buddha image protected by theNaga. This type of Buddha images,he said, exist in the art of SoutheastAsia, especially in Cambodia andLopburi in Thailand. In the Indianclassical art, however, during thefourth to the eighth centuries A.D.(Gupta and the post-Gupta periods),Indian artists were not much interestedwith the iconography of the Buddhaprotected by the Naga.

According to the Life Story ofthe Lord Buddha, when the LordBuddha was meditating during thelast and seventh week, after hisillumination, heavy rain fell. The rainwas out of season. This kind of rainis usually called the rain before theseason or the rain for the mangoes.Apart from that rain, the weatherbecame cold and a strong wind blewunder the trees. Small insects, such asmosquitoes which could disturb themeditation of the Lord Buddha,swarmed.

The Lord Buddha, having justattained enlightenment, was not

supposed to be disturbed. And theNaga knew this. Therefore when theNaga sensed the storm it made meritby protecting the Buddha during hismeditation. It slithered and coiled inseven layers under the Master andspread its hood over his head.

At the end of the seventh weekthe weather calmed down. The NagaMucalinda transformed itself into a human being and listened to thesermon of the Lord Buddha. CertainBuddhist texts specify that the Nagawas the first animal to hear thepreaching of the Buddha. Certaintexts, however, mention that the Nagacame into the scene because of itslongevity which is the usual customof the great Naga.

Because of the Lord Buddha'smeditation, an aureole emitted aroundhis body. This bright light spreadeverywhere. It woke up the NagaMucalinda. The Naga realised this

Fig. 2. The Lord Buddha under theNaga. Stone. Ht. 1.13 m. Found atWat Mahathat, Ayudhya. Lopburistyle. 11th century A.D. BangkokNational Museum.

event had happened three timesbefore. It remembered that each timethis happened it protected the LordBuddha, who was represented in theseevents as: the Buddha Kakusandha,Konagama and Kassapa. TheseBuddha are subsequently the twenty-second, twenty-third and twenty-fourth past Buddhas.

Professor Boisselier continuedto explain that this natural eventcould have happened in India orother tropical countries. And this hasgiven rise to the iconography.

The place where the Naga livesis the same as those inhabited byserpents or snakes. Serpents normallycome up above the water duringfloods. In monsoon countries, it isbelieved that all living creatures cometo live together when there is a specialevent. Meditation without any move-ment induces credibility amonganimals. A fisherman can be a

Fig. 3. A bas-relief representing a vacant throne protected by the NagaMucalinda. Stone. From Bharhut,India. Ancient Indian Art style. Secondcentury B.C. National Museum, NewDelhi.

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Fig. 4. The Lord Buddha in the attitude of preaching, protected by a doubleserpent hood. Stone. Indian Amaravati style. Third to fourth century A.D.Museum, London.

witness for this action. Meditationalso generates warmth which can beperceived by most of animals, es-pecially reptiles like snakes. Then thepower of friendliness. All of these

features are quite well known andbelieved in South and Southeast Asia.

Some snakes try to be friendswith human beings; this is quitedifficult to explain. One should not

forget that the python in South America does the duty of the cat.The snake's friendliness is also knownin India. In fact, many jatakas (talesof the past lives of the Buddha) relatesuch characteristics, especially injataka no.253, the MunikanthaJataka. It tells about a young hermitwho found out that the love of a friend snake towards him was pre-cious. This jataka is also representedin the Andhra or Amaravati art ofSoutheastern India. From here onecan notice that the tale about theLord Buddha and the Naga which isfull of miracles, can also occur in reallife.

Referring to sculptures, Pro-fessor Boisselier mentioned that thebas-relief representing the LordBuddha, protected by the Nagaappeared before the creation of theBuddha image in human form. Thebas-relief at Pauni or Bharhut inIndia, which dates back to about thesecond century B.C., represents a vacant throne protected by a naga with many heads. It also bears aninscription of the Naga Mucalinda(Fig. 3).

He therefore adheres to thetheory that says, "A text creates a sculpture, not a sculpture that createsa text". Here the writer would like tocontest the eminent professor. Becausethe above theory should not be totallygeneralised. There were times whensculptures existed before a text waswritten to document them such as thetext entitled Sadhanamala.

In India, the iconography of theBuddha protected by the Naga waspopular in southeastern India'sAndhra or Amaravati art. This artwas prevalent between the third tothe fourth centuries A.D. But there isa peculiarity in their representation:Naga is double, and the hoods do notonly belong to the Naga Mucalinda.The mentioned sculpture is now pre-

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served in the British Museum, London(Fig. 4).

We have to refer to the SanskritMahavastu text. It belongs to theMahasanghika sect in MahayanaBuddhism which says "the NagaVinipata joins the Naga Mucalinda inperforming merit". Another text, theLalitavistara, which relates the lifestory of the Buddha in MahayanaBuddhism, mentions that there is notonly the Naga Mucalinda during thescene but "a group of Naga".

It is rather surprising to knowthat this phrase also appears in theThai Pathom Sompot text (PathamaSambodhi which relates the life storyof the Buddha in the Thai language).This phrase is also represented in a Bangkok period mural painting in theordination hall of Wat Ratchasittha-ram, Thonburi. In the painting, theLord Buddha is seated and meditatingon the snake coils. He is under thehood of the Naga Mucalinda. Buttwo other snakes figure, one on eachside of the coils (Fig. 5).

The iconography of the LordBuddha protected by the Naga waspopular in ancient Cambodia. It wasprobably so because it was believedthat their first monarch was bornfrom an Indian brahmin and a Nagaprincess. The king of the Naga wasa maternal grandfather. He built a town for his grandson to rule and wastherefore worshipped as the protectorof the Khmer Kingdom (ancientCambodia) as well as the kingdom'snumerous shrines.

The Khmer version of Buddhaimage protected by the Naga appearedabout the middle of the tenth centuryA.D. (the reign of RajendravarmanII). Professor Boisselier thinks thatit's place of origin may be probablypart of present-day Thailand. An

inscription at Wat Sithor (Sithor Temple) in Cambodia mentions thata Khmer official who wanted to reviveBuddhism during the Angkorianperiod ordered to seek the text "ina foreign land". This foreign land hashad a long tradition in the productionof the Buddha protected by the Naga.According to the professor, thisforeign land is the present-dayThailand.

Many Buddha images protectedby the Naga in Dvaravati style havebeen discovered at U-tong in Suphan-buri Province, Western Thailand. Onewas also found at Ban Fai, AmphoeLamplaimat, Buriram Province,Northeast Thailand. A Buddhistvotive tablet found in the town ofKrabi on the western coast of SouthernThailand reveals a very ancienttradition, the iconography of the

Fig. 5. Mural painting representingthe Buddha in the attitude ofmeditation, protected by the NagaMucalinda and two other serpents.Bangkok style. Wat Ratchasittharam,Thonburi, 19th-early 20th centuryA.D.

seated Buddha protected by the Nagain the attitude of argumentation. Thisrelates to the Andhra or Amaravatistyle in Southeastern India and datesback to the fourth and fifth centuriesA.D. at the latest (Fig. 6).

From what has been mentioned,one can say that the bronze Buddhaimage protected by the Naga in theattitude of subduing Mara is not a wrong representation. The artist'swork is in accordance with the con-cept of Mahayana Buddhism, whenthe Lord Buddha attained his ulti-mate illumination in the last andseventh week after his enlightenment.As for the iconography of the KhmerBuddha version, which was verypopular in Cambodia from the 10thto 13th centuries A.D., the represen-tation was probably derived from theDvaravati art in Thailand.

Fig. 6. Votive tablet representing theBuddha in the attitude of preaching,under the Naga Mucalinda. The tabletshows the influence of the IndianAmaravati style. Clay. Found at Krabi,Southern Thailand. Fourth to Fifthcentury A.D.