Eight Great Events from the Life of the Buddha, Pala period, 10th century, India, Bihar. Phyllite, 76.2 × 44.5 × 17.8 cm. Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of the Alsdorf Foundation, 2019.727.

Narrative events are depicted on all sides of this stele. A miniaturized scene at the lower left of the base, below the central Buddha’s feet, shows his miraculous birth from his mother’s side. Above this is the Buddha’s descent from heaven, where he went to preach to his dead mother, and farther up, the moment of his enlightenment, with his proper right hand touching the earth to witness. The upper left scene depicts his first sermon at the Deer Park in Sarnath.

On the right side are scenes representing the miracles that the Buddha performed at Shravasti, including the gift of honey from a monkey—shown in miniature at the lower right corner of the platform near his gift-giving hand—and the Buddha’s taming of a wild elephant, by his left foot. The scene of the parinirvana tops the stele: the Buddha’s life flame is extinguished as he reaches nirvana.