A PAINTING DEPICTING THE PARINIRVANA OF BUDDHA Japan, 16th / 17th century

ink and color on silk, mounted in brocade as a hanging scroll

Private Japanese Collection, 1970s

The commemoration of Buddha's parinirvana is one of the most important events in the Buddhist calendar, marking the final of the eight major events in his life. Commemorated with special ceremonies on the 15^th day of the second month, large painted images of the Buddha entering the 'ultimate' nirvana, death of the physical body and freedom from the cycle of birth and rebirth, appeared as the focus of such ceremonies from the Nara period (710-794) onwards. The present painting follows the standard stylistic and iconographic conventions of earlier paintings as can be seen from the earliest surviving examples dating to the Heian period.

In the present example, Buddha lies peacefully on a raised platform beneath flowering sala trees, surrounded by a large grieving crowd.  Some like the animals and oni are so overcome with grief that they roll around on the ground, their attachment to Buddha's physical body revealing their imperfect wisdom. Even Ananda lies passed out from grief, while the older, wiser Kasyapa tries to revive him. The enlightened bodhisattvas on the other hand, depicted with golden bodies, stand serenely by, understanding that all beings eventually die, and that the ultimate goal is release from samsara, the bitter realm of existence.  Ksitigargha bodhisattva, however, known in Japanese as Jizo, is depicted as a monk, kneeling calmly by Buddha's side. In the upper right Buddha's mother Mahamaya hastens down from heaven accompanied by an entourage.

As mentioned, paranirvana is the ultimate nirvana which occurs with the death of the physical body of someone who has attained enlightenment. It implies a release from  all suffering, an end to future rebirths and the dissolution of the aggregates that make up existence. Shakyamuni Buddha’s parinirvana has been depicted in sculpture and paintings since very early on in India. The purpose of such depictions is to help devotees put things into perspective by reminding them that all beings die, and that nothing is permanent. Everything is subject to decay and final reunification with the cosmos.  

There are many extant examples of such paintings in temples and museums. The oldest known piece dating to the 11^th century, is a national treasure housed in Kongobuji in Koyasan, while a 12^th century example is in the Tokyo National Museum. There are 14^th century examples in the Museum fur Ostasiatische Kunst, Koln and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated in Zaigai Nihon no shino, I Bukkyo kaiga, Tokyo, 1980, nos. 8-10. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has four such paintings, including a woodblock print on the subject.