The Buddha – the revered teacher and great role model – sits at the centre of this stela. Two shaven-headed monks stand immediately next to him. The two Pratyekabuddhas who form the next pair have “snail-shell” curls. The last two figures in this row wear the rich jewellery of an Indian prince and can be identified as bodhisattvas.
These three pairs symbolize the different paths that the Lotus Sutra says can lead to awakening: one followed by a monk in a monastery, one followed by a “private” person like the Pratyekabuddha, and the compassion-filled one followed by the bodhisattva.