“If this child stays in the world, he will become a great all-wheeled king in the future, and if he goes home, he will become a Buddha (enlightened person) who saves living beings.” It is introduced as a prophecy left by Ashita, a saint in the Himalayas, in the story of the birth of Buddha Sakyamuni. The wheel lord appearing here is a Chinese translation of the Sanskrit chakravartin or chakravartirazha. An ideal king in Indian Hindu mythology, it refers to a being who unifies all nations on earth and rules peacefully by rotating the chakras (chakras) of government in the sky. There have been several kings in Indian history who claimed to be Chakravartins, but only two were called voluntarily by Buddhists. The first is Ashoka the Great of the 3rd century BC. As the 3rd king of the Maurya dynasty, which established the first unified dynasty in the Indian subcontinent, he established Buddhism as the state religion and laid the foundation for the prosperity of Buddhism. After completing the conquests that began in the time of his grandfather Chandragupta, Ashoka turned to Buddhism, becoming disillusioned with war and slaughter, and made the ideals of mercy, non-killing, and non-violence the foundation of his rule.
King Kanishka, who led the heyday of the Kushan dynasty in the 1st and 2nd centuries, was a protagonist of Buddhism like King Ashoka, he built pagodas and temples throughout his empire, and spread Buddhist images. He also completed the compilation of Buddhist scriptures by sponsoring the 4th assembly, which took place 300 years after King Asoka’s 3rd assembly.
Many Gandhara Buddha statues that were made during the reign of King Kanishka remain. However, statues of King Kanishka are rare. There are figurines of King Kanishka in three places around the world: the Kabul Museum in Pakistan, the Guimet Museum in France, and the Mathura Museum in India. This is because the later conquerors destroyed the statues of the previous conquerors while conquering the Gandhara region. However, a rare full-height statue of King Kanishka’s face was discovered. This is a stone statue of Gandara period currently on display at Inter Art Channel, a complex cultural space in Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. This stone statue, about 120 cm high, is in the possession of a private collector from Pakistan, and was exhibited at the Gandhara art exhibition ‘Alexander the Great met the Buddha’ last year, organized by the Seoul Arts Center.
At the time, it was introduced only as a ‘Nobleman of the Kushan Dynasty’ and did not receive much attention. However, Kang Woo-bang, a Senior Art Historian, and director of the Institute of Korean Art History, Il-hyang, saw that the statue was of an extraordinary resemblence to that of a Buddha. This is because the entire statue was full of spirit signs (patterns expressing the principle of rebirth of all things in the form of plants and animals) that can only be seen on Buddha statues…
The features held by the main character of the sculpture were unusual. A character holds a specific object that symbolizes the power of the protagonist in a myth. For Hermes, staff and winged shoes appear, for Bodhisattva Kannon, Jeongbyeong and lotus flowers appear, and so on.
The figure in the Gandhara sculpture in question is holding a flower that looks like a lotus in his right hand, and his left hand is likely to be holding a sword, judging from the shape of the scabbard that has been blown away. The sword is a symbol of the emperor, and the lotus is a symbol of mercy.
Also, various aikido patterns were abundantly expressed on the conical hat, necklace, sheath decoration, and shoes the person is wearing. In particular, the round orb was being changed in various forms as the source of the spiritual rebirth of all things. The orb, called ‘Chintamani’ in Sanskrit, is originally a gift of the Buddha Sakyamuni, and is expressed as a source of vitality that creates all things. Director Kang concluded that the pearl-like orb pattern that appears countless times on the statue symbolizes a person with power comparable to that of Sakyamuni. Who is such a person? A being who is comparable to the Buddha while staying in the worldly world, he is the King of Wheels [Dharmachakra]. In history, only King Ashoka and King Kanishka have left behind achievements that can be called the Wheel-Turning Kings. However, the stone statue in question is a Gandhara stone statue. Therefore, there is a high possibility that it is King Kanishka.
So, while tracing the art materials related to King Kanishka, Director Kang discovered that the shape of the statue was similar to that of the statue of King Kanishka in the Kabul Museum, where only the lower body remained. The round orb pattern was similar to the part where the ankle bones of both feet were.
However, an unusual symbol of unknown meaning was found on the left side of the stone stand where the statue was dedicated. To be called an inscription, there were only two symbols, and it was not in Sanskrit. Dr. Park Gyo-soon, who received a master’s and doctoral degree in Pakistan and is working as a local Gandhara art researcher, provided decisive evidence. Kimal Akishev (1924-2003), a Gandhara art researcher from the former Soviet Union, found the symbol in a table that classified the symbols of the seven kings of the Kushan dynasty based on excavations in Afghanistan and Central Asia. In the case of King Kanishka, 5 symbols were used, and it was confirmed that they were consistent with 2 of them.
The symbol of the seven kings of the Kushan dynasty. The third is the symbol of King Kanishka.” [The Original Article in South Korean]
What strikes the most in the statue is the European facial features of the King. Also, is it not the Scythian cap he is wearing?
Kushan Empire Fireworshiping Kings with Tridents >
“Royal Scythia, Greece, Kyiv Rus” book takes a closer look at the origin of the Scythians/ Saka.
