Twenty-four miniatures from the deeds of Avalokitesvara

[Guna Karandavyuha Sutra - Buddhism]. Guna Karandavyahu [Deeds of Avalokitesvara].

€ 18,500.00

This important and beautiful manuscript of the Guna Karandavyahu contains the most extensive pictorial narrative known of the text. Although almost all manuscripts contain single depictions of Avalokitesvara, the paintings in this specimen constitute a uniquely extensive pictorial cycle. The confident execution and intelligent composition point to a senior artist who almost certainly spent time in Lhasa: Tibetan influence is seen most clearly in the round, sharp-eyed faces, the curved Chinese-style temple eaves, and certain features of the landscape such as the painterly tree-crested hills.

Most of the paintings follow the text closely and illustrate popular episodes such as that of Sri Sarthavaha, the merchant stranded on Sri Lanka, which is inhabited by flesh-eating goddesses (raksasis). A highly inventive composition shows Sarthavaha with his raksasi wife, who is disguised as a beautiful maiden. In the foreground she is revealed in her true, hideous form, while in the background Avalokitesvara appears to Sarthavaha in the flame of a lamp to warn him of his fate. The final scene from this episode shows Sarthavatha and companions escaping from the island on the back of Avalokitesvara's flying-horse manifestation, while two raksasis devour some companions who have fallen off in flight.

The manuscript ends with an unusual triptych of the Buddha, flanked by Prajnaparamita representing the Buddhist concept of Dharma, and Sadaksari representing the Buddhist concept of Sangha. Here Prajnaparamita is shown in her Tibetan form, holding a vajra sceptre rather than the Nepalese rosary, and Sadaksari has been depicted as Sangha instead of the more typical choice of Padmapani.

The Guna Karandavyahu is the major Newari Sanskrit text dealing with the exploits of Avalokitesvara, the most widely revered Boddhisattva. According to the colophon, this copy was completed in May 1833 in Kathmandu by the scribe Viradatta Deva Vajracarya for a certain Sakyabhiksu Jnanavanta Simha of Manjushrinake Vihara, and his family.