Physical characteristics of the Buddha

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One of the first representations of the Buddha, 1st-2nd century CE, Greco-Buddhist art, Gandhara.

Although the Buddha was not represented in human form until around the 1st century CE (see Buddhist art), the Physical characteristics of the Buddha are described in one of the central texts of the traditional Pali canon, the Digha Nikaya, in the discourse titled "Sutra of the Marks" (Pali: Lakkhana Sutta) (D.iii.142ff.).

These characteristics comprise 32 signs, "The 32 signs of a Great Man" (Pali: Lakkhana Mahapurisa 32), and were supplemented by another 80 Secondary Characteristics (Pali:Anubyanjana). These traits are said to have defined the appearance of the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama and have been used symbolically in many of his representations.

1 General characteristics
2 The Face of The Buddha
3 The 32 signs of the Great Man
4 Critique of 32 Marks Teaching
5 The 80 secondary characteristics
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] General characteristics

Historical Buddha as recorded in the Pali canon:

The Buddha had an elongated, lengthy body with long appendices (long arms with a span equal to body length, long fingers, long hands, elongated face, protruding and well-formed nose).
His hair was fine, black and with soft curls.
His eyes were wide, and strongly blue or bluish.^{[citation needed]}
His body was golden-colored.

[edit] The Face of The Buddha

The first statues and busts of the Buddha were made in the Gandhar (now Kandahar) region of modern day Afghanistan. The sculptors were either descendants of Greeks who settled in the region after Alexander's arrival or were influenced by Hellenistic traditions. Before any such statues were made, the Buddha was symbolised by the Chakra, a holy symbol in Buddhism. The chakra also appears on the Sarnath pillar of Ashoka.

The first representations of the Buddha were made nearly 300 years after his death. Although the holy texts and canons do contain some information about his looks, their exact authorship and time of writing is debatable.

Many statues and busts exist where the Buddha and other Boddhisatvas have a moustache. This is in keeping with the view that a man of significant stature must have a big moustache. Later versions however do not show the moustache and the Buddha is always clean shaven even during his days before he attained Buddha-hood.

[edit] The 32 signs of the Great Man

There are 32 main characteristics (Pali: Lakkhana Mahapurisa 32):

He has feet with a level sole (Pali: supati thapado). Note: "feet with level tread,/ so that he places his foot evenly on the ground,/ lifts it evenly,/ and touches the ground evenly with the entire sole." (Lakkhana Sutta)
He has the mark of a thousand-spoked wheel on the soles of his feet (Pali: he thapadatalesu cakkani jatani).
He has projecting heels (Pali: ayatapa ni).
He has long fingers and toes (Pali: digha nguli).
His hands and feet are soft-skinned (Pali: mudutalahathapado).
He has netlike lines on palms and soles (Pali: jalahathapado).
He has high raised ankles (Pali: ussa nkhapado).
He has taut calf muscles like an antelope (Pali: e nimigasadisaja ngho).
He can touch his knees with the palms of his hands without bending. (Pali: thitako va anonamanto).
His sexual organs are concealed in a sheath (Pali: kosohitavatguyho).
His skin is the color of gold (Pali: suva n nava no). "His body is more beautiful than all the gods." (Lakkhana sutta)
His skin is so fine that no dust can attach to it (Pali: sukhumacchavi).
His body hairs are separate with one hair per pore (Pali: ekekalomo).
His body hair is blue-black, the color of collyrium, and curls clockwise in rings. (Pali: uddhagalomo).
He has an upright stance like that of a brahma (Pali: brahmujugatto).
He has the seven convexities of the flesh (Pali: satusado). Note: "the seven convex surfaces,/ on both hands, both feet, both shoulders, and his trunk." (Lakkhana Sutta)
He has an immense torso, like that of a lion (Pali: sihapuba dhakayo).
The furrow between his shoulders is filled in (Pali: pitantara mso).
The distance from hand-to-hand and head-to-toe is equal (Pali: nigrodhaparima n dalo). Note: incidentally, these are also the ideal proportions according to Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man.
He has a round and smooth neck (Pali: samva d dakhando).
He has sensitive taste-buds (Pali: rasagasagi).
His jaw is like a lion's (Pali: sihahanu).
He has 40 teeth (Pali: cata.lisadanto). Note: The average person normally has 32 teeth.
His teeth are evenly spaced (Pali: samadanto).
His teeth are without gaps in-between (Pali: avira ladanto).
His teeth are quite white (Pali: sukadanto).
He has a large, long tongue (Pali: pahutajivho).
He has a voice like a Brahma’s (Pali: brahmasaro hiravikabha ni).
He has very blue eyes (Pali: abhi nila netto). Note 1: "very (abhi) blue (nila) eyes (netto)" is the literal translation. Nila is the word used to describe a sapphire and the color of the sea, but also the color of a rain cloud. It also defines the color of the Hindu God Krishna. Note 2: "His lashes are like a cow's; his eyes are blue./ Those who know such things declare/ 'A child which such fine eyes/ will be one who's looked upon with joy./ If a layman, thus he'll be/ Pleasing to the sight of all./ If ascetic he becomes,/ Then loved as healer of folk's woes.'" (Lakkhana Sutta)
He has eyelashes like an ox (Pali: gopa mukho).
He has a white soft wisp of hair in the center of the brow (Pali: una loma bhamukantare jata). Note: this became the symbolic urna.
His head is like a royal turban (Pali: u nahisiso). Note that this denotes his cranial protrusion, visible on Buddhist iconography.

[edit] Critique of 32 Marks Teaching

Author V. Hughes wrote “The Thirty-Two Marks of the Buddha is a misnomer of monumental proportions. They are taken from early pre-Buddhist Indian writings. Certainly Gautama had some of these characteristics and may have developed more throughout his life. Many of them would make him a mythological creature instead of the man of peace and compassion he is known to have been. It is not marks that make a being express their Buddha nature.” Source

[edit] The 80 secondary characteristics

Prince Siddhartha Gautama as a bodhisattva, before becoming a Buddha.

There are also 80 secondary characteristics (Pali: Anubyanjana):

He has beautiful fingers and toes.
He has well-proportioned fingers and toes.
He has tube-shaped fingers and toes.
His fingernails and toenails have a rosy tint.
His fingernails and toenails are slightly upturned at the tip.
His fingernails and toenails are smooth and rounded without ridges.
His ankles and wrists are rounded and undented.
His feet are of equal length.
He has a beautiful gait, like that of a king-elephant.
He has a stately gait, like that of a king-lion.
He has a beautiful gait, like that of a swan.
He has a majestic gait, like that of a royal ox.
His right foot leads when walking.
His knees have no protruding kneecaps.
He has the demeanor of a great man.
His navel is without blemish.
He has a deep-shaped abdomen.
He has clockwise marks on the abdomen.
His thighs are rounded like banana sheafs.
His two arms are shaped like an elephant's trunk.
The lines on the palms of his hands have a rosy tint.
His skin is thick or thin as it should be.
His skin is unwrinkled.
His body is spotless and without lumps.
His body is unblemished above and below.
His body is absolutely free of impurities.
He has the strength of 100,000 crores or 1000 elephants.
He has a protruding nose.
His nose is well proportioned.
His upper and lower lips are equal in size and have a rosy tint.
His teeth are unblemished and with no plaque.
His teeth are long like polished conches.
His teeth are smooth and without ridges.
His five sense-organs are unblemished.
His four canine teeth are crystal and rounded.
His face is long and beautiful.
His cheeks are radiant.
The lines on his palms are deep.
The lines on his palms are long.
The lines on his palms are straight.
The lines on his palms have a rosy tint.
His body emanates a halo of light extending around him for two meters.
His cheek cavities are fully rounded and smooth.
Seated Buddha, Gandhara, 1st-2nd century CE. Tokyo National Museum.

His eyelids are well proportioned.
The five nerves of his eyes are unblemished.
The tips of his bodily hair are neither curved nor bent.
He has a rounded tongue.
His tongue is soft and has a rosy-tint.
His ears are long like lotus petals.
His earholes are beautifully rounded.
His sinews and tendons don't stick out.
His sinews and tendons are deeply embedded in the flesh.
His topknot is like a crown.
His forehead is well-proportioned in length and breadth.
His forehead is rounded and beautiful.
His eyebrows are arched like a bow.
The hair of his eyebrows is fine.
The hair of his eyebrows lies flat.
He has large brows.
His brows reach the outward corner of his eyes.
His skin is fine throughout his body.
His whole body has abundant signs of good fortune.
His body is always radiant.
His body is always refreshed like a lotus flower.
His body is exquisitely sensitive to touch.
His body has the scent of sandalwood.
His body hair is consistent in length.
He has fine bodily hair.
His breath is always fine.
His mouth always has a beautiful smile.
His mouth has the scent of a lotus flower.
His hair has the colour of a dark shadow.
His hair is strongly scented.
His hair has the scent of a white lotus.
He has curled hair.
His hair does not turn grey.
He has fine hair.
His hair is untangled.
His hair has long curls.
He has a topknot as if crowned with a flower garland.