斷石山 神仙寺 磨崖佛의 圖像學的 再考 ‒ 삼국시대 授記三尊과 반가상 도상의 전개 ‒

Abstract

The Buddhist rock carvings of Sinseon-sa Temple on Mt. Danseok can be divided into three groups. The first group consists of four statues on the north wall. In this paper I interpreted these images as conveying a message of the “assurance of future enlightenment”. I also suggest that the image of the pensive bodhisattva symbolizes “a person on the boundaries between different dimension”. The second group is a Buddha triad consisting of a large Buddhist statue on the eastern side of the north wall and two other figures, one on the east wall and one on the south wall. According to the epigraphy carved into the rock in situ, these statues represent Maitreya Buddha and two bodhisattvas, who look more like monks than bodhisattvas. Therefore, if the “two bodhisattvas” mentioned in the epigraphy refers to these two attendant images, I suggest their identities must be Asaṅga and Vasubandhu, the two half-brothers who developed the Yogâcāra system under the teachings of Maitreya. The third group consists of two Buddhist dedicator images and one standing small bas relief Buddha. The two dedicator images are supposed to be the bodhisattva disciples described in the epigraphy. So the “two bodhisattvas” mentioned in the epigraphy may also refer to these two standing images.