Contest of strength
Haḍḍa, lost location - Historiated bas-relief
The scene is placed under a denticulated cornice and is bordered by an 'Indo-Corinthian' column placed in a frame. Beneath a kudu scrolled arch symbolising a gate, perhaps the entrance to a city, is a standing figure, almost naked except for a belt, with his arm firmly raised. At his feet lies an elephant, probably dead. We know of two episodes involving the Buddha, Devadatta and an elephant, and a third in which only the Buddha and an elephant appear.
The first takes place during the contests preceding Siddhārtha's marriage. In order to prove to Yaśodharā/Gopa's father that his future son-in-law excelled in the arts and was worthy of his future wife, many jousts were organised. According to the Lalitavistara, Siddhārtha won the test of writing, arithmetic, jumping, swimming, running, wrestling and archery. It was in one of these tests of strength that his cousin Devadatta is said to have killed an elephant with a finger to prove his worth. In response, Siddhārtha is said to have then sent the animal's corpse back outside the seven ramparts of Kapilavastu with the thumb of his foot.
The second episode takes place later in the legendary account, when Devadatta is said to have joined the Community during the first or second mass conversion of the sons of the Śakya. He had passed the four meditations and possessed certain magical powers from then on. According to the texts, he tried to create a schism in the community and succeeded in bringing, albeit for a short time, 'five hundred' dissidents to his side. In this context, real or supposed ambushes were planned by Devadatta. After sending assassins, then trying to crush him with a huge rock at the 'Vulture Peak', he is said to have, with the complicity of the king, sent an elephant made furious to trample him. The Buddha's benevolent aura is said to have restored the animal's sanity and calmed it down.
The third episode relates that one day, when dissidence was particularly strong within the community and attempts at schism were threatening, the Buddha went into seclusion in the company of an elephant, also disappointed by his own people. However, this episode has not been represented in art (Foucher, 1949: 264) and does not correspond to the identification of this relief.
The posture of the elephant lying on the ground and the architectural context suggested by the presence of the city gate allow us to establish that the scene probably represents the episode of the elephant killed by Devadatta. However, is the character Devadatta, the envious cousin, who has just killed the elephant so that its remains can encumber the city, or is it the future Buddha, preparing to throw it out of the seven walls of Kapilavastu? Both Siddhārtha and his cousin are depicted with the simple dhotī in other "contest" scenes, as for example in the preceding relief. Only the posture, which seems threatening, makes us lean in favour of Devadatta.
Observation :The schist reliefs discovered by Barthoux between 1926 and 1928 are mostly from the vicinity of the Great Stūpa K1 of Tapa-i Kafarihā, the south-western part of the main stūpa B12 of Bāgh Gaï (around B13) and the Great Stūpa TK140 of Tapa Kalān.
Bibliographical References :DAGENS Bruno - 1964 - Monuments préislamiques d’Afghanistan - pl. II, n°5
TISSOT Francine - 2006 - Catalogue of the National Museum of Afghanistan (1931 – 1985) - 361, K.p. Ha. 941.8.