Buddha - Enlightened Warrior by brewgirlca
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Description
Time to play the role of me being "Ms Myth Buster!"
Ok, right off the top I know many of you are gonna be thinking, "Is she off her rocker?" Everyone knows Buddha was a gentle man, with almost a cherub like build, and he was Asian. Well that is all well and good as far as legends go, but what about Prince Siddhartha the man? Who was he?
A good many of you know that the abundance of ancient images depicting Buddha with an Oriental racial structure are mistaken. These came from the great popularity of Buddhism in China, Japan and the Orient in general. And most of you know that Buddha was actually of Indian descent. So why have I shown Siddhartha with darkish Caucasian skin tones? Well it may surprise you to know that while Buddha was indeed an Indian Prince he was in fact descended from a race of invaders. He was what we now call Indo-Aryan.
These people originated on the steppes of the Ukraine and swept eastwards conquering the region of Afghanistan and eventually, by the 7th century B.C., all of India. So Siddhartha would have had a complexion considerably paler than most East Indians. More like a native of Afghanistan.
But surely in the hundreds of years that these people were in power in India they would have interbred with the locals and so Buddha should have had an Indian complexion? No? Well no indeed. For it was this group of people that started India's caste system and it was strictly forbidden for intermarriage between Siddhartha's people and the populace that they conquered. Especially for the princely warrior class Siddhartha was born into. So it is most highly probable that Buddha looked at most like a dark Caucasian.
Ok, but what about all those images of a pudgy Buddha? What about all those gentle and serenely beautiful Chinese watercolors. All propaganda! All from the Pali Canon, a series of texts written about the life of Buddha in the first century A. D., some 400 hundred years after his death! In fact the earliest texts about Buddha, the Nikaya's, describe him as a big, strong man - it has been surmised that he was probably in the order of 6 feet tall.
So why muscular and not soft like the laughing Buddha dolls?
Well Siddhartha was born as the first son of a regional warlord, near Nepal and Bengal. The Indo-Arayan's regarded war as the highest calling for a man and all able-bodied men trained to be warriors from childhood. Yes, I know, the scriptures say that Siddhartha was born the son of a king and raised in luxury and that he never got to see disease, old age and death until he was a young man. Seeing these conditions supposedly freaked him out so much that he renounced his earthly goods and became a wandering ascetic.
This is just so much revisionist poppycock. In Siddhartha's time if his father had let his son be raised in luxury the other warlords would have risen in revolt and killed them both! It was sacrilege to live a soft, privileged life style. Instead, early texts describe Siddhartha as being trained in the military from the age of six, and becoming recognized as a knight warrior at age 16. He then had to demonstrate a number of martial skills including proficiency with bow, sword, spear, club, horsemanship, swimming and hand to hand combat.
Only then did his father recognize him as heir apparent and the other nobles were satisfied that Siddhartha could competently lead them into battle. Given the almost steady state of war on the Indian subcontinent at that time there is little doubt that Siddhartha had experienced considerable combat by the time he reached 29 years of age - the age at which he gave up military life and became an ascetic. Buddha never got the chance to become soft and pudgy!
The Nikayas record that at first Buddha continued to carry a broadsword, wore his hair in a warrior's topknot and rode his charger Kanthaka.
It is this vision of the Buddha that I show here. Still Siddhartha; a young man just beginning his journey to enlightenment, a journey that would take him to being Buddha.
Comments (41)
Faemike55
Thank you very much for the enlightenment, Roxy. I knew a bit of his history ( Ilike comparative religions studies) so your revelation does not shock me. I love the image you've created. Thanks again for enlightenment may you find peace and tranquility
eekdog
great story roxy, enjoy the work you do to fit the sensational art piece.
ToniDunlap
FABULOUS!
Tracesl
excellent
LivingPixels
superb compositon great lighting and rendered beautifully Rox! lovely work!!
anitalee
Excellent
Sylvia
OUTSTANDING Thanks for sharing!!!
angelbearzs
wow nice image i love it:)
leroysquab
Great scene... wonderful composition and color! I love the questioning of pop history and seeing how different the story can look when other facts or perspectives appear. I really like this very different approach to Buddha. Excellent job!
adorety
Fantastic image. Great conception and illustration. I was definitely clueless about him being descended from an invading race. I knew of buddhism starting in India, but that's about it. Ukraine eh? Was he a Kirgen a' la Highlander ;) Very cool.
RJS
Bravo, Roxy! This is a refreshingly frank, well-researched exposition on the Buddha. You have a better grasp of the historical context than many of his followers. Somehow it seems totally appropriate that you would be the one to set the record straight. I salute you for doing so. I also love the image of The Enlightened One as a young warrior. That sword is not quite historically accurate, but the facial characteristics are pretty close, and I notice you did include some lotus blossoms. Very symbolic, that. Nicely done!
Gameforce
Very nicely done!
NetWorthy
Wonderful image and thanks for the history lesson too! The image is all that I could imagine - very expertly posed and lit, with great textures. Nice!
zil2008
Excellent image and thanks for the detailed explaination of your character and the history of Buddha. Great job!
ssteph
Splendid tone and composition, great work
vintorix
"It was sacrilege to live a soft, privileged life style." Exactly precisly so! For example, this morning I brushed my teeth in cold water! It is a very beautifully colored painting, with fabulous teuture especially on the shield. In Roxy's book, Siddhartha/Buddha look like a Dark Fantasy warlord. What a coincidence! :) I look forward to hear the real story about Jesus.. brewgirlca is a true artist that forms the fragments of her imagination in ways we merely mortals never can dream about.
BiggDevo
most excellent.
Bossie_Boots
What a fabulous read and an amazing image too superb work !!
lyron
Great work!!
pantalone
Excellent choice of subject matter and a enjoyed the exposition of religeous myth. An image with a point to make is so much more than just a picture. Well done. Buddha lasted another 40-something years after this, didn't he? Plenty of time to get plump&smiley!
renecyberdoc
delightful in full view roxu especially the texture on the horse, excellent history lesson i was not aware of this. and also that luxury is a sacrileg would be not to bad as education to the spoiled generations from todays world (including me lol) as not to take everything as a given thing.peoples lost their lives so we can sit comfortably in our chairs and fart and mouthfart above all. bla...bla..bla..
Ash888
Ah another bit of mythological research. Great! Yes you seem to be quite on the mark here. It is always interesting what believe systems make of history. Good work :-)
RodolfoCiminelli
Fantastic scene.....!!!
magnus073
Wonderful image Roxie, and the history you provided as well as your thoughts on it made this one a joy.
tamburro
Fantastic artwork and story Roxy!!!!!!! Bravo!!!!!
MineFujiko
Excellent work! love the copper material on his shield and pot.
drifterlee
Beautiful work!!!!!
mrestey
Hmmmmmmmmmmm ... aside from the excellent artwork here this is quite interesting Roxy. Normally, my time is too limited to spend reading an artist's commentary which appears to be as long as the dead sea scrolls but this one really caught my attention as I knew/know next to nothing of Buddha. I kind of wish you had noted some literary references but I can, and likely will, research this on my own now. I love this type of historical stuff and look for TV shows of this sort of topic on channels like the history channel. Excellent, informative stuff here Roxy, and as usual, excellent artwork as well.
RodS
See, that's why I love your work, Roxy! Not only are we treated to your wonderful, detailed artwork, but we often get an excellent look into history as well. I now have a whole new mental image of Buddha. A fascinating bit of history! Hmmmm.... for years, I've been told if you get a little Buddha, and rub his tummy every so often, it will bring you good luck. Now I know why it didn't work.... wink So when do we see you on "MythBusters?" LOL!
dragonmuse
wonderful history and image.. thank you.