buddhism in gandhra 59
not quite clear why the aniconic representation^62 was changed to an
anthropomorphic one. It seems that the Buddhists at that time felt the
need for an anthropomorphic representation of the Buddha whom
they might adore and worship. One incentive for the change might
have been the new movement of the Mahyna with its emphasis on
devotion.^63 Fussman^64 concludes from the text of a recently published
inscription that there was a theological as well as a technical reason for
this. According to inscriptions at Mathur, the artists of early Buddha
images pretended to represent the bodhisattva just at the very moment
before his enlightenment while sitting under the tree of enlightenment.^65
The artists, therefore, did not have to face the dif culty of showing the
extraordinary transformation of the Buddha, which was a consequence
of his enlightenment, and the resulting physical differences between the
former bodhisattva and the now samyaksabuddha, “the fully enlightened
One”.
Greek in uence on Buddhist practice may be seen in the adoption of
the Greek calendar.^66 In Buddhist dedicational inscriptions the Indian
names of months are usually found, but there are many incidences
where Greek or Macedonian names of months do appear. It seems,
therefore, that some Buddhist communities or donators used the Greek
calendar while others did not.
- Chinese Sources on Buddhism in Central Asia
Although the rst Chinese Buddhist translations were made not before
the second century AD, Buddhist activities are mentioned in Chinese
sources^67 already in the rst century AD. By this time at the latest,
Buddhists must have come to China and it is assumed that they came
overland along the Silk Road. According to Xuanzang, Buddhism was
brought to Bactria by Trapua and Bhallika, two merchants who were
(^62) In the aniconic representation of the Buddha, the three main events of the
Buddha’s career are represented by the following symbols: the enlightenment by the tree
under which he attained it, the rst sermon by “the wheel of the Law” (dharmacakra),
and the entry into Nirv 63 a by the stpa. Cf. the plates in Snellgrove 1978, p. 38.
Similar cults developed in Brahmanism and Jainism at the same time.
(^64) Fussman 1994, p. 30.
(^65) This type is called the Buddha kapardin, “wearing braided and knotted hair”. Cf.
Fussman 1994, p. 30. 66
Fussman 1994, p. 28.
(^67) Zürcher 1959, vol. 1, pp. 18ff.