Minneapolis Institute of Art

Binzuru (Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja), the First of the Sixteen Arhats

Japan

Date

13th–early 14th century

Medium

Hanging scroll, ink, color, and gold leaf on silk

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Buddhist “achievers” (rakan in Japanese, arhat in Sanskrit) strive for “awakening”—enlightenment—and the attaining of nirvana, or salvation. In Hinayana Buddhism, the rakan served as the “perfected one” who gained salvation through his own efforts and overcame the endless cycle of birth and rebirth but was unable to attain the full enlightenment of a bodhisattva. The rakan Kiba (scroll at right) is holding a fly whisk designed to chase away insects without harming them, following the Buddhist law against taking life. Binzuru (left) is shown with a deer, both of them gazing at a waterfall. Asia

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