The Buddha performing the miracles of Shravasti

The king at Shravasti heard that a group of opponents of the Buddha’s message was planning to perform miracles. The Buddha promised the king that he too would perform miracles, and would do so under a certain mango tree. When the Buddha found that the heretics had destroyed the mango tree, he made another tree grow to full size instantly from a seed. Then he performed other miracles such as manifesting multiple appearances of himself, all preaching the doctrine simultaneously.

Here we see the Buddha sitting beneath the branches of the mango tree. His hands make the gesture of setting in motion “the wheel of the doctrine”—that is, preaching. Above the Buddha, small apparitions of himself also preach. Below the Buddha’s lotus throne can be seen the king (with a crown) in an attitude of respect and one of the defeated opponents.