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Bimba's Lament The Wife of the Buddha laments that their son has not received his inheritance

1800-1900

Asian Art Museum

Asian Art Museum
San Francisco, United States

Once, in the years after the Enlightenment, the Buddha returned to his father's palace for a visit. When he meets his former wife, whom he had given up when he set out on his spiritual quest, she laments having been abandoned and worries about the fate of their son. She urges the little boy to ask his father for his inheritance. The Buddha replies that the inheritance will be in wisdom rather than in earthly riches and has the boy ordained as a novice monk.
Here, the Buddha's former wife, holding their little boy, kneels before the Buddha. She makes the touching gesture that in Siamese art of the nineteenth century signifies weeping.

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  • Title: Bimba's Lament The Wife of the Buddha laments that their son has not received his inheritance
  • Date Created: 1800-1900
  • Location Created: Thailand
  • Physical Dimensions: H. 25 in x W. 18 1/2 in, H. 63.5 cm x W. 47.0 cm (overall)
  • Rights: Public Domain
  • Medium: Paint and gold on cloth
  • Credit Line: Asian Art Museum, Gift from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation's Southeast Asian Art Collection, 2006.27.70
Asian Art Museum

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