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From: Gautama Vajra Vajracharya <gvvajrac@facstaff.wisc.edu>

To: Members of the list <indology@liverpool.ac.uk>

Subject: Buddha's Image

Dear Prof. Rabe,

The passage that you are looking for is given in diTThijAla

section of DIghanikAya 1. 7. 147-148. It refers to the

invisibility of the Buddha after his parinirvANa

"kAyassa bhedA uddhaM jIvitapariyAdAnA na naM dakkhanti devamanussA".

The aniconic tradition of Indian art is indeed very fascinating. I have

been working on this issue for many years. I believe the words rUpa and

arUpa are very helpful to understand the aniconic phenomena of Indic visual

tradition. For example, Indian coins, minted before the subcontinent came

to contact with Greco-Roman tradition, do not bear any representation of a

human figure. Those coins in a sense are arUpa "without a figure". Later

Indian coins began to include a figure as exemplified by Kaniska's coin

bearing Buddha's image identified as 'boddo'. This coin is actually a rUpi

"having a figure". Because of this new development Indian coins received the

new name rUpi (modern rupee for Indian currency). Pali literature is full

of rUpa and arupa classification of supernatural beings and things. With

this new approach, I am tying to solve the old problem.

[paragraph omitted]

Gautama Vajracharya

Department of Art History

University of Wisconsin

Madison, WI 53705