Western Gateway, Exterior
The upper torana depicts the past Buddhas, the middle the Buddha's First Sermon, and the lowest a scene from the Chhadanta Jataka.
The upper torana shows the seven previous Buddhas, here represented in the form of trees and stupas, receiving worship and offerings (garlands) from worshippers. This picture shows only five of the seven, since the other two on the outer sections of the torana outside the frame of this shot. This same motif appears on the eastern gateway's top exterior torana.
The middle torana commemorates the First Sermon of the Buddha (here portrayed as a wheel) at Sarnath's Deer Park -the deer are visible on each side at the bottom. In that first sermon (The Four Noble Truths) the Buddha set in motion the "wheel of dharma"--that is, he actively began to propagate his teaching and to make disciples--and thus the wheel stands for the Buddha as an enlightened teacher. That first sermon had only five human listeners--a small ascetic band who had previously been his associates--so the other figures (aside from the animals) depict deities who had also come to receive the message.
The lowest torana shows a scene from the Chhadanta Jataka, in which the elephant-king Chhadanta (seen with multiple tusks in the center on either side of the tree) is sporting with his subjects. A fuller rendition of this story (one of betrayal and sacrifice) can be found on south gateway interior.
Each gateway is supported by a different type of figure (for the eastern gateway, elephants), for the western gateway it is these pot-bellied dwarves, which may depict yakshas (nature spirits). Note the differing facial expressions --the left hand figure seems to be grimacing, whereas the one on the right seems serene.
This panel depicts the Shyama Jataka. Shyama was the sole caregiver for his blind parents, but while Shyama was drawing water from a river the king of Benares mistook him for a drinking animal and shot him dead. The king's repentance and the parents' sorrow were so profound that Indra (king of the gods) brought Shyama back to life, and restored his parent's sight.
This tableau shows the old man and his wife in the upper right corner, with Shyama below drawing water. The king is shown in three different poses at bottom left--first shooting the boy, then holding his his bow (realizing what he had done), and finally standing penitently before the boy. The five figures at upper left show Shyama, his parents, the king, and Indra at the story's happy ending.
The panel across from the Shyama Jataka depicts the Mahakapi ('"Monkey-king") Jataka, stressing self-sacrifice. In a past life the Future Buddha was a monkey-king living with his subjects in a mango tree on the banks of the Ganges . When a king and his men (bottom) came for the fruit, the monkey king realized their danger. He cut a bamboo on the opposite bank, tied one end to a tree and the other to his waist, and leaped back to where his subjects were huddled. The shoot was a little short for the distance, so his body formed part of the bridge allowing his subjects to escape (top) While doing this he mortally wounded by the king, but managed to give the king a dharma-teaching before he died (top right, under the tree, Mitra 1965: 25, 27).
Mitra (1965: 35) identifies this as a critical moment in the Buddha's early career. After his enlightenment the Buddha (depicted by the tree) was uncertain whether anyone else could understand his teaching. Concerned that an enlightened being might keep his realization to himself, all the gods assembled and begged the Buddha to teach, pointing out that some people had "only a little dust covering their eyes"--that is, they would understand at least some of his message. The Buddha was persuaded and set off for Sarnath, where he preached his first sermon.