The reliefs carved on the vedikā of the Bharhut stūpa in the Satna District of Madhya Pradesh are some of the earliest artworks extant in India to articulate the Buddha’s life stories and the essence of his teaching in a complex visual form. This article proposes that the reliefs from Bharhut depicting episodes from Śākyamuni’s life and jātakas were informed by narrative practices established in the traditions of Buddhist recitation and performance. The inscriptions engraved on the Bharhut vedikā that function as labels for scenes, characters, and places, point to the use of specific storytelling strategies attested in oral recitation and picture scrolls that likely existed as aide-memoire.

中央邦萨特纳区巴胡特佛塔上雕刻的浮雕是印度现存最早的一些艺术品，以复杂的视觉形式表达了佛陀的生平故事和教义的精髓。本文提出，巴胡特的浮雕描绘了释迦牟尼的生平和本生经，是由佛教诵读和表演传统中建立的叙事实践所启发的。刻在 Bharhut vedikā上的铭文用作场景、人物和地点的标签，表明使用了特定的讲故事策略，这些策略在口头朗诵和可能作为备忘录存在的图画卷轴中得到证实。