Page:Footfalls of Indian History.djvu/137

THE ANCIENT ABBEY OF AJANTA 103 imitation of these, but much later, four Buddhas were placed round the great stupa at Sanchi.

These points established, the course of history is clear enough. He who would understand the development of Buddhist art has only to follow the development of the stupa. This is as fixed in its succession of forms as a chronological scale. At first it is plain, as at Sanchi. Then it is ornamented with the Asokan rail itself, which by this time shares the general sanctity of association, as at Karli, Bhaja, Kenheri, and Ajanta, Caves Nine and Ten. Then it is elongated, and forms what we regard as a temple. Then the small stupa takes to itself the four Buddhas. Gradually these undergo changes. The line of development hesitates for awhile, and then branches off in a new direction. The four figures become four heads, but whether of Brahma or the Mother of the Universe is not yet determined. Gradually the name of the Great God is triumphant, the pillar-like top in the middle of the four heads is more and more emphasized, and along this line of development the stupa is finally converted into the Shiva emblem of Hinduism. One of the worship-mantras to this day ascribes to Shiva the possession of five faces. That is to say, his emblem is still to the eye of faith a dome-shaped projection in the midst of four heads.

At that moment when the four seated Buddhas were becoming the four heads, the image of Buddha was being detached from the stupa altogether, and entering on a new phase of development as an