A Study of the Buddha’s Coffin in Gandharan Art

Katsumi TANABE. 2013. “A Study of the Buddha’s Coffin in Gandharan Art,” Scripta Antiqua III, pp. 641-652.

{p. 643}

It is said that the Buddha Śākyamuni died at the age of eighty and then he was cremated at Kusinagara. However, when we look at a few coffins (Fig. 1) of the Buddha Śākyamuni depicted on Gandharan reliefs, we are liable to feel a sense of incongruity about their shape1. Almost the same opinion or judgment was already stated by A.Foucher in 1905. He pointed out clearly that “avant tout, il faut relever la forme curieuse de la bière”2.

He further notes the inappropriate appearance of the Buddha’s coffin as follows:

It is composed of two exactly equal halves that can be used interchangeably as bottom or the top. Three clamps (they are probably not hinges) riveted perpendicularly to the suture join and fix them together. The curved ends of the two parts compel us to admit that they are dug out from a log or more plausibly that they are metal (iron) vats fashioned by hammering3. 

The present author nearly agrees at Foucher’s observation and criticism. The Gandharan depiction (Fig. 1) of the coffin of the Buddha is nothing but a strange and imaginary compromise between cremation and inhumation. According to the Buddhist relevant texts the Buddha’s corpse was cremated. Therefore, such a coffin (Fig. 1) was rather unnecessary.

In addition, as is clear from such Buddhist texts as the “Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra” and the“Mahāparinibbānasuttanta” quoted below in chap- {p. 644} ter I, the Buddha’s coffin was made of iron, and it was filled with (sesame or vegetable) oil. However, according to J.S.Strong’s personal communication with a director of a local crematorium, “if a corpse were to be cremated in such a container filled with oil, with the top on, there would be a risk of explosion, and with the top off, the corpse would basically get boiled, which would result in a gross mess (fat with bones floating in it)”4. Therefore, the Gandharan depiction (Fig. 1) seems to contradict historical fact and derives rather from artistic fancy.

In this short paper dedicated to my old friend Dr. Edward Rtveladze whom I met for the first time in 1976 when I visited Tashkent as an exchange student between Akademia Nauk SSSR and the Ministry of Education, Government of Japan, I will attempt to explain why in Gandharan Buddhist reliefs the real coffin or sarcophagus was not represented at all in the scene of “Laying corpse in a coffin’’, “Mise au cercueil”, and “Aufbahrung des Sarges”5.

I. Comparison with other types of coffin and sarcophagus

If we compare the so-called Gandharan coffin (Fig. 1) of the Buddha with that of Central Asia (Fig. 2), the former is quite inappropriate as far as a coffin is concerned6. Furthermore, compared with Greek (Fig. 3), Etruscan and Roman sarcophagi (Fig. 4), Parthian lead sarcophagi (Fig. 5) of Syria and Palestine, Jewish stone sarcophagi of Roman Jerusalem, Parthian terracotta sarcophagus (Fig. 6) of Iraq (Kakzu) and Iran (Gelālak), several so-called coffins depicted on Gandharan Buddhist reliefs seem not to be coffins but large oblong chests7. The coffer of the so-called Gandharan cof- {p. 645} fins is not as deep as those of aforementioned foreign examples while the lid is unnecessarily deep. Especially, the fact that the extremities of coffer and lid are curved and the side-view of the piece is oval leads me to doubt that the so-called coffin of the Buddha is not a coffin, but another kind of vessel made of wood, not of metal. As is clarified in the next chapter, the relevant Pali and Sanskrit texts never mention a coffin or a sarcophagus but an iron vat or bathtub (droṇi) filled with oil. In addition, the length of the coffin (Fig. 1) is too short for an adult corpse to be laid within, because its Fig.119a–b; Foerster G. Sarcophagus Production in Jerusalem from the Beginning of the Common Era up to 70 C.E. // Akten des Symposiums 125 Jahre Sarkophag-Corpus. Marburg, 4.–7. Oktober 1995 / Ed. G.Koch. Mainz am Rhein, 1998. S. 295–310. Taf. 120–125; Rahbar M. Shushtar. Les tombeaux d’époque parthe de Gelalak // Les Dossiers d’Archéologie. 1999. 243. P. 92–93; Sulla Via di Alessandro da Seleucia al Gandhara / Ed. A.Invernizi. Torino, 2007. P. 182. Pl. 97.

Fig. 1. Buddha’s Coffin. Gandharan Style (Gandhаran Art from the Hirayama Collection. Pl. I.38)

{p. 646} 

Fig. 2. Buddha’s Coffin. Eastern Turkestan (Grünwedel A. Altbuddhistische

Kultstätten in Chinesisch-Turkistan. Fig. 91)

length is 30 cm while the height of the attendant two monks ranges from 31 to 32 cm. 

From the above observation it can be said that the sculptor of the relief in question (Fig. 1) employed a wood oblong chest then available in Gandhara in order to represent the so-called iron vat or bathtub of the Buddha narrated in the “Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra” and the “Mahāparinibbānasuttanta”, vol. 16 of the “Dоgha Nikāya”, because a proper iron coffin or sarcophagus was not known nor available in Gandhara when this relief was produced in the Kushan Period (II–III cent. A.D.).

II. Description of the Buddha ’s Coffin in Buddhist Literature

As regards the treatment of the corpse of the Buddha, the Mahāparinibbānasuttanta, chapter 5, 11 states clearly as follows: 

But, Lord, what are we to do with the Tathagata’s remains? Ananda, they should be dealt with like the remains of a wheel-turning monarch (cakravartin). And how is that, Lord? Ananda, the remains of a wheelturning monarch are wrapped in a linen-cloth. This they wrap in teased cotton wool, and this in a new cloth. Having done this five hundred times each, they enclose the king’s body in an oil-vat (tela-droṇi) of iron (ayasa), which is covered with another iron pot (Pali text: rañño cakkavattissa {p. 647} sarоraṃ veṭhetvā ayasāya tela-doniyā pakkhipitvā aññissā ayasāya doṇiyā paṭikujjetvā8. T.W.Rhys Davids translates the above-underlined part as “they place the body in an oil vessel of iron, and cover that close up with another oil vessel of iron”9.

The “Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra”, Vorgang 36, 5–7 states as follows:

Wie bei einem weltbeherrschenden König (cakravartin), Ananda.Wie (verfärt man), Herr, bei einem Weltherrscher? Der Körper eines weltherrschenden Königs wird mit (zu Watte) geschlagener Baumwolle umwickelt.

Wenn er mit geschlagener Baumwolle umwickelt ist, wird er mit 500 Paaren (Stoff) umwickelt. Wenn er mit 500 Paaren (Stoff) umwickelt ist, wird er in eine mit Sesamöl gefüllte, eiserne Sarghälfte gelegt (und) mit der anderen Sargfälfte bedeckt (underline mine). The Sanskrit text is: kathaṃ bhadanta rājñaś cakravartinaḥ/rājnaś cakravartinaḥ kāyo vihataiḥ karpāsair veṣṭyate/ vihataiḥ karpāsair veṣṭayitvā pañcabhir yugaśatair veṣṭyate/pañcabhir yugaśatair veṣṭayitvā tailapū rṇāyām ayodroṇyāṃ prakṣipyānyayāyodroṇyā pracchādya10.

According to these texts, the iron coffer and the double iron lid of the Buddha is not connected tightly by hinges. Therefore, the Gandharan depiction of the Buddha’s coffin (fig. 1) is not in conformity with the description of the relevant Sanskrit and Pali texts.

The Chinese and Tibetan versions of the “Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra” also state almost the same treatment of the corpse of the Buddha afforded to that of the universal king (cakravartin), except for gold and wooden coffins containing the iron vat11. However, the Tibetan Tripiṭaka XLIV, mentions clearly “an iron coffer” and “a double iron lid”, not iron vat, vessel or pot according to Snellgrove’s translation12.

However, a slightly different treatment of the corpse of the universal king (cakravartin) can be found in another Kharoṣṭhо text written in {p. 648}

Fig. 3. Greek Sarcophagus (Kurz D.C., Boardman J. Thanatos, Tod und

Jenseits bei den Griechen. Fig. 119.b)

Gandhārо of the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra, although fragmentary, which was found several years ago in Bamiyan and now kept in the Schøyen Collection, Norway (SC. 2179/44a). In this fragment, the treatment of Mahāsudaroeana’s corpse similar to that of the universal king is stated as follows:

They put it in a vat... After an interval of a week, they took it out of the vat of oil and bathed the body with all fragrant liquids... They wrapped the body with five hundred pairs of unbeaten cloth. Having wrapped the body with five hundred pairs of unbeaten cloth, they filled an iron vat with oil...13

(underline mine).

In any case, the obsequies of the Buddha were conducted in the same way as those of Cakravartin king according to the above-quoted two sūtras.

According to the above description, the corpse of the Buddha was laid {p. 649}twice in a vat and in an iron vat or bathtub filled with oil (tela). According to J.Przyluski and E.Waldschmidt, the oil might have been used for transporting the corpse elsewhere (to the banks of the river Ganges, etc.) or preserving the corpse from decaying14. On the other hand, after A.Foucher, J.S.Strong opines that the purpose of the iron oil vessel had nothing to do with the transportation and preservation of the corpse but with its cremation, i.e., keeping bodily relics (úarоra) separate from the embers or the remains of the fire15. A.Bareau supposes that the relevant coffin is made of wood and that the oil was used so as to make the burning of the corpse complete without leaving embers and ashes16.

According to the “Mahāparinibbāna-suttanta” (VI. 23) only the bones of the Buddha remained after the corpse was burnt as follows:

Just as when butter or oil is burnt, no ashes or dust remain, so it was with the Lord’s body, what had been skin, under-skin, flesh, sinew, or jointfluid, all that vanished and not even ashes or dust remained, only the bones were left: seyyathā pi nāma sappissa vā telassa vā jhāyamānassa n’eva chārikā paññāyati na masi, evam eva Bhagavato sarоrassa jhāyamānassa yaṃ ahosi chavоti vā camman ti vā maṃsan ti vā nahārū ti vā lasikā ti vā tassa n’eva chārikā paññāyittha na masi, sarоrān’ eva avasissiṃsu17.

As for the (sesame) oil, the “Saṃyutta-nikāya” (LV), “Sotāpattisaṃyuttaṃ” (III), Mahānāma (1) states as follows:

Just as, Mahānāma, when a person sinks a jar of clarified butter (ghee) or (sesame) oil into a deep lake and breaks it, what is potsherds or fragments of the jar goes down but all that is clarified butter or oil ascends and reaches a higher state: seyyathā pi Mahānāma puriso sappikumbhaṃ vā telakumbhaṃ vā gambhоram udakarahadam ogāhetvā bhindeyya. Tatra yā assa sakkharā vā kaṭhalā vā sā adhogāmо assa. yañ ca khv’assa tatra sappi vā telaṃ vā tam uddhaṃgāmо assa visesāgamо18 (translation and underline

mine). {p. 650}

Fig. 4. Roman Sarcophagus (Author’s photo)

The oil might have been employed in order that after nirvāṇa and cremation the soul of the Buddha would go certainly upwards and reach a higher state, i.e., the celestial Brahmaloka (Brahma-world) and eventually to be restored to life there19. Such a term as Brahmaloka is used as equivalent for the more negative term nirvāṇa20. The “Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra”, Vorgang 49, 23 states as follows:

Yena kāyaratnena nāyako brahmalokam agaman maharddhikaḥ (Mit Welch wertvollen Körper der Lehrer, der Zaubermächtige, in die Brahma-Welt ging)21.

In any case, such a wooden chest as some Gandharan Buddhist reliefs (Fig. 1) depict, was never used as sarcophagus of the Buddha’ corpse if we follow the descriptions of these texts. Why did this discrepancy between literary evidence and figural representation take place in Gandharan Buddhist

reliefs ? In the following I will attempt to clarify at least, one reason. {p. 651}

III. Two Greco -Bactrian Bronze Sarcophagi

In Ancient India, cremation prevailed but inhumation was also adopted. As regards the latter case, burial was done by terracotta, stone sarcophagus and cist22. No iron or bronze coffin or sarcophagus has been attested by Indian archaeological reports to the best of my knowledge. However, a Greco-Bactrian bronze sarcophagus (Fig. 7.1–3) allegedly unearthed from Aï-Khanum in northern Afghanistan in 1998, is now in the possession of a private collector in Tokyo (L: 117.5 cm, H: 31 cm, W: 30.5–49.5 cm).

The piece has five handles, and the thin board lid opens on two hinges (Fig. 7.4). The lid is decorated with Medusa/Gorgon head (Fig. 7.5) which is rendered in Hellenistic style and has beyond doubt apotropaic function.

Another Hellenistic or Greco-Bactrian bronze sarcophagus (Fig. 8) fashioned out of two bathtubs was found from a Hellenistic cemetery in old Kandahar in southern Afghanistan (L: 277 cm, H: 60 cm)23. This big sarcophagus contained two amphorae (urns) in which ashes of the dead were {p. 652}

deposited in Greek way. Therefore, another bronze sarcophagus (Fig. 7) was probably used for containing urns filled with ashes and bones of the dead.

The form of these two bronze sarcophagi reminds us of the vat or bathtub described in afore-quoted Buddhist texts. Therefore, this type of sarcophagus might have been introduced in Gandhara and northern India by the Greco-Bactrians or Indo-Greeks in the 2nd cent. B.C., and then adopted by some monks to invent such a curious episode of the Buddha’s obsequies as is recorded in the Mahāparinibbānasuttanta and Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra.

In addition, the Mahāparinirvāṇasū tra states that the bones and ashes of the Buddha were collected by the Mallas and put into a golden urn (sauvarnaḥ kuṃbha)24. This golden urn is nothing but an amphora urn contained in the Kandahar sarcophagus. Therefore, it is almost clear that the iron vat and golden urn for Cakravartin king recorded in the relevant Buddhist sū tra was modeled after Greek or Hellenistic bronze sarcophagus accompanied by urns.

Concluding remarks

From the above observation might be drawn the following conclusion. Although it is not clarified when the extant “Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra” and “Mahāparinibbānasuttanta” were completed, the episode of the sarcophagus or coffin of the Buddha was probably inserted after the invasion of the Greco-Bactrians of the Indian Subcontinent that took place around 180 B.C. Iron was then a precious metal and eventually regarded as worthy for the coffin of the imaginary universal king, although a metallic coffin is good for inhumation or containing urns but not appropriate and of no use for cremation. It is simply because the author of the episode tried to enhance the status of the Buddha by associating His cremation with that of

the so-called Cakravartin king who is a powerful and ambitious king conquering adjacent countries25. Such Greco-Bactrian kings as Demetrius I or {p. 654} 

Eucratides I, or the Indo-Greek king Menander26, worthy of this Cakravartin name might be involved in such an enhancement.

Although we do not know whether these Greek kings were cremated or inhumed, especially with regard to Menander, Plutarch (Moralia. 821.D–E) says that after his death his ashes were divided among the cities of his kingdom and the relevant cities raised stūpas (μνημεῖα) over his ashes as well as the Buddha and the Cakravartin king were treated27. As the earliest extant image of the Cakravartin king is attested by the relief unearthed from Jaggayyapeta dating from 1st cent. B.C. to 1st cent. A.D., the idea of Cakravartin king might have been invented slightly earlier than this relief, probably in 2nd cent. B.C.

On the other hand, when the relief (Fig. 1) of laying the corpse of the Buddha was fabricated in Gandhara, the relevant sculptors avoided the representation of such a vat or bathtub as described in the above-quoted sū tras, thinking that it is not appropriate for the Buddha, or not knowing the existence of such a metallic vat or bathtub, and eventually disregarded such a description as vat or bathtub, and adopted the oblong wooden chest then available in Gandhara. According to Przyluski, droṇо and doṇо could mean or recall a wooden trough-shaped canoe hollowed from a log28. This type of canoe might recall such an oblong chest depicted in Gandharan reliefs (Fig. 1).

Alexander the Great’s campaign in Basand (Baisun)

Στο τέλος του επεισοδίου στον Κούρτιο Ρούφο, που περιγράφει λεπτομερώς την κατάληψη του Βράχου της Σισιμίθρης, υπάρχει ένα ενδιαφέρον γεγονός που αξίζει ιδιαίτερης προσοχής (Curt. 8.2.33–40). Αυτό το γεγονός στην εκστρατεία του Αλεξάνδρου στην Κεντρική Ασία, που αμαυρώθηκε από μεγάλες δυσκολίες και σφοδρές μάχες, δεν έχει ποτέ αποτελέσει αντικείμενο ειδικής μελέτης, αν και αυτή η πορεία οδήγησε στον τραγικό θάνατο δύο Μακεδόνων ηρώων - του Φιλίππου, αδελφού του προσωπικού σωματοφύλακα του Αλεξάνδρου, Λυσίμαχου, και του Εριγύιου, ενός από τους «επιφανείς στρατηγούς» του μακεδονικού στρατού. Πέθαναν κατά τη διάρκεια μιας εκστρατείας στη Βασάνδη (Baisun). Στην πρώτη περίοδο της ύπαρξής του (τέλη 4ου - αρχές 3ου αιώνα π.Χ.), το Kurganzol ήταν μια θόλος που προοριζόταν για την ταφή με λαμπρότητα και τιμή του Φιλίππου και του Εριγύιου.                                                                        --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

At the end of the episode in Curtius Rufus detailing the capture of the Rock of Sisimithres there is an intriguing event which deserves special attention (Curt. 8.2.33–40). This event in Alexander’s campaign in Central Asia, marred by great difficulties and fierce fighting, has never been the subject of a special study, although it was this march that led to the tragic death of two Macedonian heroes – Philippus, the brother of Alexander’s personal bodyguard Lysimachus, and Erigyius, one of the “illustrious generals” of the Macedonian army. They died during a campaign in Basand (Baisun). In the first period of its existence (late 4th–early 3rd century BC) Kurganzol was a tholos intended for the burial with splendor and honor of Philippus and Erigyius.

ΣΗΜΕΙΩΣΕΙΣ

1 Five pieces are currently known: Foucher A. Les Bas-Reliefs Gréco-Bouddhiques du Gandhāra. P., 1905. Fig. 285–286; Ingholt H. Gandhāran Art in Pakistan. N.Y., 1957. Fig. 143–144; Ebert J. Parinirvāṇa Untersuchungen zur ikonographischen Entwicklung von den indischen Anfängen bis nach China. Stuttgart, 1985. Pl. 15,26–27; Pl. 30,50; Kurita I. Gandhāran Art. Vol. I. The Buddh’s Life Story. Tokyo, 1988. Fig. 502–504, 506; Gandhāran Art from the Hirayama Collection / Ed. K.Tanabe. Tokyo, 2007. Pl. I.38.

2 Foucher A. Les Bas-Reliefs Gréco-Bouddhiques du Gandhāra. P. 576.

3 Foucher A. Les Bas-Reliefs Gréco-Bouddhiques du Gandhāra. P. 576.

4 Strong J.S. Relics of the Buddha. Princeton; Oxf., 2004. P. 106 (n. 21).

5 Foucher A. Les Bas-Reliefs Gréco-Bouddhiques du Gandhāra. P. 575; Ebert J. Parinirvāna Untersuchungen... S. 61.

6 Grünwedel A. Altbuddhistische Kultstätten in Chinesisch-Turkistan. B., 1912. P. 35 (Fig. 71), 46 (Fig. 91), 90 (Fig. 203), Idem. Alt-Kutscha: archäologische und religionsgeschichtliche Forschungen an Tempera-Gemälden aus Buddhistischen Höhlen der ersten acht Jahrhunderte nach Christi Geburt. Bd. II. B., 1920. S. 13. Fig. 17; Ebert J. Parinirvāṇa Untersuchungen...Fig.16c, 17. Pl. 31–33.

7 Andrae W., Lenzen H.J. Die Partherstadt Assur, B., 1933. Reprint in 1967, Osnabrück. P. 94–96. Pl. 45.a–d, 49.o; Furlani G. Sarcofaghi partici di Kakzu. Iraq, 1934. Vol. 1. P. 90–94. Pl. XII–XIII; Haller A. Die Gräber und Grüfte von Assur. B., 1954. P. 53–85. Pl. 11–18; Kurz D.C., Boardman J. Greek Burial Customs. N.Y., 1971. P. 270. Pl. 71; Toynbee J.M.C. Death and Burial in the Roman World. N.Y., 1971. P. 275–276. Fig. 88–89; Kurz D.C., Boardman J. Thanatos, Tod und Jenseits bei den Griechen. Mainz am Rhein, 1985. S. 324–325. 

8 Walsche M. The Long Discourses of the Buddha. A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya. Boston, 1987. P. 264; Rhys Davids T.W., Carpenter J.E. The Dїgha Nikāya. Vol. II. L., 1982. P. 142, 161 (underline mine).

9 Rhys Davids T.W. Dialogues of the Buddha. Vol. III. L., 1910. P. 182.

10 Weber Cl. Buddhistische Sutras Das Leben des Buddha in Quellentexten. München, 1999. S. 230; cf.: 259, 261; Waldschmidt E. Das Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra. Tl. III. B., 1951. S. 359–360.

11 The gen ben shuo yiqui youbu pi nai na za shi (Kṣūdrakavastuvinaya of the Mūlasarvāstivādins), the Bkah-hgyur and Bstan-hgyur, Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō. Vol. 24. P. 394c; Waldschmidt E. Das Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra. Tl. III. P. 361; Rockhill W.W. The Life of the Buddha and the Early History of His Order. L., 1992 (reprint of Trübner, 1884 edition). P. 137.

12 Snellgrove D.L. Śākyamuni’s Final Nirvāṇa // Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 1973. Vol. XXXVI. Part 2. P. 399–411; Waldschmidt E. Das Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra. Tl. III. S. 411.

13 Gandhārī text: droniye nikṣipisu satahasya acayena teladronito udhvaritvaṃ sarvagaṃdhotakehi kayaṃ sapayisu... strayuvaoeatehi kayaṃ veḍhayisu ahatehi paṃcahi vastrayugaoeatehi kayaṃ veḍhitva ayaṃsadroni telena (Allon M., Salomon R. Kharoṣṭhī Fragments of a Gāndhārī Version of the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra // Buddhist Manuscripts / Ed. J.Braarvig. Vol. I. Oslo, 2000. P. 247, 258–260).

14 Przyluski J. Le parinirvāṇa et les funérailles du Bouddha. P., 1920. P. 184–185; Idem. Le partage des reliques du Buddha // Mélanges Chinois et Bouddhiques. Vol. IV. 1936. P. 355–357; Waldschmidt E. Die Überlieferung vom Lebensende des Buddha. Göttingen, 1944. S. 273, 345; Snellgrove D.L. Śākyamuni’s Final Nirvāṇa. P. 408.

15 Foucher A. La vie du Bouddha, d’après les textes et les monuments de l’Inde. P., 1949. P. 318; Strong J.S. Relics of the Buddha. P. 108–109.

16 Bareau A. Recherches sur la biographie du Buddha dans les Sūtrapiṭaka et les Vinayapiṭaka anciens: II. Les derniers mois, le Parinirvāṇa et les funérailles. T. II. P., 1971. P. 43–44.

17 Walsche M. The Long Discourses of the Buddha. A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya. Boston, 1987. P. 275; Rhys Davids T.W., Carpenter J.E. The Dоgha Nikāya. Vol. II. L., 1903. P. 164.

18 Feer M.L. The Saṃyutta-Nikāya of the Sutta-Piṭaka. Oxf., 1898. P. 370.

19 Przyluski J. Le parinirvāṇa et les funérailles du Bouddha. P., 1920. P. 11, 13, 15, 21.

20 Snellgrove D.L. Śākyamuni’s Final Nirvāṇa. P. 407.

21 Waldschmidt E. Das Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra. Tl. III. P. 430; Weber Cl. Buddhistische Sutras Das Leben des Buddha in Quellentexten. S. 261.

22 Singh P. Burial Practices in Ancient India. Varanasi, 1970. Pl. 31, 36, 47.

23 Bernard P. Deux nouvelles inscriptions grecques d’Asie centrale. III. Commentaire historique // Journal des Savants. 2004. Juillet–Décembre, P. 324.

24 Waldschmidt E. Das Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra. Tl. III. P. 410, 432.

26 Przyluski J. Le partage des reliques du Buddha // Mélanges Chinois et Bouddhiques. Vol. IV. 1936. P. 354–355; Strong J.S. Relics of the Buddha. P. 101.

27 Tarn W.W. The Greeks in Bactria and India. Cambr., 1938. P. 264, 266.

28 Przyluski J. Le partage des reliques du Buddha // Mélanges Chinois et Bouddhiques. 1936. Vol. IV. P. 341–343.

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https://www.academia.edu/128943420/Scripta_antiqua_%D0%92%D0%BE%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%8B_%D0%B4%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B9_%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B8_%D1%84%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%B8%D0%B8_%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BA%D1%83%D1%81%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B0_%D0%B8_%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B9_%D0%BA%D1%83%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%82%D1%83%D1%80%D1%8B_%D0%92%D1%8B%D0%BF_III

Katsumi TANABE. 2013. “A Study of the Buddha’s Coffin in Gandharan Art,” Scripta Antiqua III, pp. 641-652.

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