81. The Bodhisattva receives food from the maidens of Ur?~vilvd

Now from the time that the Bodhisattva began his penance so difficult to endure, there came to him ten young maidens, daughters of the village chief, to fool; at him, greet him and offer their services. These maidens prepared all kinds of pap and offered all to the Bodhisattva. And when he had eaten thereof, gradually while he was going through the village to beg, his color, his beauty and his strength returned to him. Since that time the Bodhisattva was called "the beautiful c,ramapa" or "the great ,cramana". (265: 1, 6).

A handsome building, on the left, shows that the scene is changed to the village; it is built on a high foundation, has a niche with a monster's head, a vaulted roof towards which a pair of doves are flying and a wing on the right, so richly decorated, that it would do for a palace if on another relief; here it is used for the dwelling of the village chief. One of the maidens stands in the left corner behind the building with a flower in her hand; the others sit right in front under a palmtree; the first one of these also has a flower. Their spokeswoman is offering a bowl of food to the Bodhisattva facing her. Between the two on the ground is a large dish of flowers above which is an umbrella, a detail not given by the text; there is a single lotus next to it also on the ground. The Bodhisattva is reaching out his right hand towards the dish of flowers and holds the tip of his garment with the left; he has come from the right where the scene closes in with the traditional rocky landscape and trees; a squirrel is climbing up one and a lion looks out of his round den.

Perhaps this episode is to be found on a Gandhara-relief I) that otherwise differs entirely from Barabudur; the Bodhisattva sits quite alone in the appearance of an ascetic and a female figure with a bowl stands next to him. There are two gods present beside Vajrapani, it may be Cakra and Brahma, as his usual companions in the Sambodhi-cyclus, but there may be a special reason for their presence in connection with the request, recognised on the preceding Barabudur scene.