57. Second Encounter. The Bodhisattva sees a sick man

And when the Bodhisattva another time set out through the South gate of the city, in great splendor to the pleasure-garden, he saw on the road a man sick of a disease, overcome by hot fever, his body exhausted, soiled by his own excrements, without any to help him, without shelter and breathing with difficulty. ( 189: 8).

The style of this scene resembles the preceding one. On the left, under a tree, is the sick man, horribly thin, his belly all sunken> ribs sticking out, the muscles of the neck prominent' and with hollow cheeks; arms, legs and face made to look as diseased and thin as possible without much regard to anatomy. The miserable wretch has his hands crossed over his head and the whole figure is well suited to give the Bodhisattva a nasty shock; a realistic bit of sculpture. The retinue is arranged in the same way as on the preceding relief; first the armed escort, then the carriage with the Bodhisattva and the coachman saluting, then the umbrella-bearer and finally the group of gods. By way of variety, the horses turn their heads back. Cloud-outlines along the top of the whole relief.