Buddha Giving Safety (Abhayananda) to Mariners, Leaf from a Dispersed Pancavimsatisahasrika Prajnapramita
Unknown Artist
ca. 1090
Medium
Ink and color on palm leaf
Dimensions
H. 2 1/4 in. (5.7 cm); L. 22 1/8 in. (56.2 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
India (Bengal) or Bangladesh · Pala period
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Francis M. Weld Gift, 1952
Accession Number
52.93.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite palm-leaf manuscript folio, titled *Buddha Giving Safety (hayananda) to*, dates to around 1090 during India's Pala period (8th–12th century). Created by an unknown artist in Bengal (or possibly modern Bangladesh), it forms part of a dispersed *Pancavimsatisahasrikarajnaparamita*—a key Buddhist sutra extolling the "Perfection of Wisdom." The scene captures the Buddha in a protective gesture (abhaya mudra, or "fearlessness"), safeguarding seafarers amid boats and attendant deities, symbolizing compassion and divine intervention over perilous waters. Palm-leaf manuscripts like thi...