51. Gopa as spouse-in-chief

Then came the Bodhisattva in the midst of eighty-four thousand women, and showed himself occupied, according to the usage of the world, with amusement and play. Among the eighty-four thousand wives, Gopa, the Cakya-daughter, was installed as spouse-in-chief. (157:6).

The explanation of this relief too is very uncertain. It consists of two parts, that apparently -have to be taken separately. The left half is clear. Gopa we recognise by her lofty headdress as chief spouse, leaning on the shoulder of a attendant; she is going towards a pendapa where a number of other women, by their attitude and attire not servants, but fellow-spouses, wait for her. This must be her first appearance as chief spouse of the Bodhisattva. But we are not able to explain clearly what happens On the right. The scene plays out-of-doors, there are trees in the background. The Bodhisattva is there on a throne in the middle, with his halo, the left leg in the sling. On the left some men sitting on the ground, not servants in appearance, some of them making a sembah. On the right, three female attendants with the usual trays and a fourth, with a fly-whisk in her hand, next to the Bodhisattva. I can not agree with Pleyte's idea (p. 79) that this last woman should be Gopa being presented by the Bodhisattva to the gakya's as his chief wife; the idea of the first of au the spouses holding a fly-whisk, the emblem of servants, seems to me absurd; but I have no better explanation to offer.