The south wall of Cave 275 of Mogao Caves depicts the reason for Shakyamuni's ordination, while the content depicted on the north wall of the cave is related to the historical background of Shakyamuni's ordination period. The Buddhist Bunsen story paintings painted on the north wall reflect various social contradictions during the early Buddhist period in India, especially between the Brahmins and Kshatriya castes.
[Beiliang] North Wall of Cave 275: Five cruel and bloody Bunsen stories
At the westernmost end of the middle layer of the north wall is the "Bunsen of the King of Vileng-pri", which tells the story of a great king named Vileng-pear, who had a brahmin named Lauron Fork nail a thousand iron nails on himself in order to seek a wonderful method.
The painting on the east side of "Bunsheng of King Phi Rang Ni Pha" also tells the story of a king named Phanja Ni Phari in order to seek a wonderful method, so that Lao Du fork his body to rip flesh and burn a thousand lamps.
Immediately to the east of the "Bunsen" is "Bunsen, the King of the Corpse", which tells the story of a king named Bodhisattva, who exchanged his whole body for the meat of an eagle in order to save the pigeon.
The story tells that there was a king named Moonlight who was a philanthropist, but was jealous of another small king named Vimosna, and managed to recruit Lao Ducha to beg for the head of the Moonlight King. And the Moonlight King, despite the opposition of his family, ministers, and people, generously had his head cut off by Laudu.
The painting at the east end of the north wall is about a king named Kuaimu, who is benevolent and benevolent, and the king of Polo Varmi, who governs a small country, is arrogant and arrogant, and does not obey the rule of the fast-eyed king, so the fast-eyed king wants to send troops to fight against him. In order to escape the blow, King Paravami sent a blind brahmin to beg for the eyes of the quick-eyed king. Ignoring the opposition of the people, the quick-eyed king had his eyes gouged out and given alms to the blind brahmins.
This group of stories chooses several tragic themes, such as giving heads, gouging out eyes, cutting flesh, etc. When depicting these stories, the painter also emphasizes highlighting the tragic scenes, such as the executioner cutting the flesh with a knife and the executioner gouging out his eyes, etc., to contrast the "nobility" of the protagonist of the story with tragic and tragic pictures - unimaginable pain, superhuman endurance, fanaticism of abandoning everything, and persistence in sincere faith.
However, why are these kings so deferential in front of the Brahmin of Raudcha? Why did the kings respond to all kinds of begging from the Raducha and the blind brahmins? Why do kings desperately yearn for the so-called "Fa-rectification", "Mystic Law", "Sutra Law", and "Great Law"? And to beg for a murderous brahmin to say?
This has to do with the complex social background of Shakyamuni, Prince Siddhartha, at the time of his ordination. It turns out that in India society three thousand years ago, with the changes in productive forces and production relations, serious occupational differentiation and racial inferiority concepts appeared, forming the relationship between the ruler and the ruled. The first caste at that time was the Brahmin class engaged in cultural education and sacrifice; The second caste is the Kshatriya class who are engaged in administration and warfare; The third caste is the Vaishyas who are mainly engaged in commercial trade; The fourth caste is the Sudra untouchables, who are mainly engaged in the service industry.
In fact, it was not necessarily the king's inner willingness to respond to the begging of the Raducha and the blind Brahmins, but the law of India at that time. The India Manu Law states that the king "must give all the treasures to the Brahmins who are proficient in the Vedas according to their qualifications, and he should give alms to the Brahmins with all kinds of goods and money for enjoyment", because the duties of the Brahmins were to "teach the Vedas, learn the Vedas, make sacrifices, sacrifice for others, give and receive alms", and the king, the Kshatriyas, "had the best duty to protect the people" and "to obey and carry out the laws laid down by the Brahmins", and the Brahmins accepted alms and Kshatriyas to give alms, which were the duties and laws that each was supposed to follow at that time.
In addition, judging from the content of the Manu Law, the meaning of law is "the order of things", and the main duty of the king is to "protect the people", that is, to maintain social order. The interests of the common people were in fact primarily the interests of the Brahmin caste, so the Kshatriyas, as a lower Kshatriya, had to follow the instructions of the Brahmins, the highest rank, in order to maintain social order. This is why the king had to "seek the Dharma" and the Brahmins had to "speak the Dharma".
It can be seen that although Prince Siddhartha is a royal family, he is a Kshatriya class whose primary mission is to protect the interests of the Brahmins. Therefore, the reason for his ordination and cultivation actually has a lot to do with class interests. By becoming a monk, he could be transformed from a Kshatriya to a Brahmin, just as he aspired to become an aristocratic class from the bourgeoisie.