Text, folio 20 (verso) from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array) (1000–1100s): Art, History and Details

Text, folio 20 (verso) from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array) (1000–1100s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

According to the text, the exemplary youth Sudhana was inspired to seek enlightenment after hearing the teachings of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom. Manjushri sent him to find a teacher, who explained one aspect of reaching enlightenment, and who, in turn, sent him to find another, and on until he heard the teachings of 52 teachers and reached his goal.

Object facts

• Title: Text, folio 20 (verso) from a Gandavyuha-sutra (Scripture of the Supreme Array)
• Date: 1000–1100s
• Culture: Nepal
• Type: Painting
• Technique: ink on palm leaf
• Dimensions: Average: 4.2 x 52.4 cm (1 5/8 x 20 5/8 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1955.49.1.b

A detail from the museum

In this text, enlightened teachers are called "True Friends" (kalyanamitra).

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.