Physical characteristics of the Buddha
[2] In particular, the "32 signs of a Great Man" are described throughout the Pali Canon, and these are believed to have formed the basis for early representations of the Buddha.
[3] The earliest surviving phase of Buddhist art was generally aniconic, with the Buddha being represented as symbols such as a footprint, an empty chair, a riderless horse, or an umbrella.
In the Pali Canon a paragraph appears many times recording the Buddha describing how he began his quest for enlightenment, saying:[8] So, at a later time, while still young, a black-haired young man endowed with the blessings of youth in the first stage of life—and while my parents, unwilling, were crying with tears streaming down their faces—I shaved off my hair & beard, put on the ochre robe and went forth from the home life into homelessness.After examining the cult of the Buddha image in India, Gregory Schopen concludes that followers of Mahāyāna at this time played little to no role in introducing statuary and other physical depictions of the Buddha.
[9] Mahāyāna sūtras from this period such as the Maitreyasiṃhanāda Sūtra, only address the image cult as an object of criticism, if it is mentioned at all.
According to Mattice, the 32 characteristics can be summarized as follows:[11] By about five hundred years later, several texts mention by name the thirty-two marks of a Great Man (mahā purisa lakkhaņa), including the mark of a dharma wheels on the soles of his feet; long fingers and toes; a large, lion like torso; sensitive taste buds; white, evenly spaced teeth; a long tongue; arms that extend to his knees; very blue eyes (blue like a sapphire of the ocean, or like Krishna's skin); and having sexual organs concealed in a sheath.It is generally held, including by Bhikkhu Analayo, that the 32 marks are a later addition.
The suttas often state these are recognisable by Brahmins trained in such prognostication of a mahapurisa (a great man) who would be either a Buddha or a wheel-turning monarch.
The fleshy protuberance of the head likewise originally being just a stylistic representation of a top-knot of hair, a common feature of Indian holy men.
It is likewise speculative later Buddhists produced such iconography to reflect the trend from the Lakkhana Sutta as being a genuine necessity, or that they in fact took symbolic representation of the marks as a means of recollection (Buddhanussati).
The 32 major characteristics are listed as follows:[12][13][11] Samannāgato ca so bhavaṁ Gotamo dvattiṁsamahāpurisalakkhaṇehi: The reverend Gotama is endowed with the thirty-two marks of a great man:
2. heṭṭhā ... pādatalesu cakkāni jātāni, sahassārāni sanemikāni sanābhikāni sabbākāraparipūrāni... 2. under the soles of his feet there are wheels, with a thousand rims and naves, complete in every way...
9. ṭhitako ... anonamanto ubhohi pāṇitalehi jaṇṇukāni parimasati parimajjati... 9. when he stands ... without bending he can rub and stroke both his knees with his hands... [see ajanubahu]
31. uṇṇā ... bhamukantare jātā odātā mudutūlasannibhā... 31. the tuft of hair between the eyebrows on his forehead is very white like cotton...
[16] The 80 minor characteristics of the Buddha are known to be enumerated a number of times in the extant Āgamas of the Chinese Buddhist canon.
[17] Some scholars believe the 80 minor characteristics were an early development in the Buddhist tradition, but held as important mostly by the Sarvāstivāda school.
[18] The eighty minor characteristics are: The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra expounds the causal relations of the 32 signs of perfection of the Tathāgata.
"The table below summarizes the causal relations from which each of the 32 signs come about: Long heels A square and upright body Skin flows in one direction Fingers reaching the knee (when hand is stretched down) Usnisa (Buddhic protuberance on the crown of the head) Bodily hair turns to the right-hand side Elbows well-balanced and delicate Some have noted that in at least two discourses in the Pali Canon, the Buddha may be interpreted as being bald as if his head were shaven.
